外来移民和外国商人：英国崛起的外来因素

Immigrants and Foreign Merchants:External Factors in the Rise of England

英国从一个中世纪的落后岛国,到18世纪成长为世界第一工业强国,其间不断接受着外来移民、外国商人及其资本。在某种意义上,英国的早期发展和最初崛起,离不开这些外来因素的促进和推动。当其处在经济落后阶段时,外来因素弥补了英国经济总量弱小所带来的不足和困难;当其经济发展进入欧洲前列时,外来因素为英国增加了推动力量。从中世纪的犹太人、意大利商人、汉萨商人、佛兰德尔织工移民,到近代早期的尼德兰宗教难民、法国胡格诺教徒、德国工匠、荷兰商人与资本,都为英国的发展做出了贡献。

Between the middle ages and the eighteenth century,England developed from a backward island nation to the world's foremost industrial power.During this period,the country received a large amount of foreign immigrants,merchants and capital.In a sense,England's early development and initial rise owed much to the impulse provided by these external factors.While England was still backward,such external factors made up for the inadequacies and difficulties arising from the small overall size of its economy;and when it became one of the economic leaders in Europe,such external factors further promoted its economic development.Foreign influences,from the Jews,Italian merchants,Hanseatic merchants and Flemish weavers of medieval times to religious refugees from the Low Countries,French Huguenots,German craftsmen,and Dutch merchants and their capital,contributed to the development of England.