a standard part of discussions in the Chamber of Deputies,

演变成了下议院的标志性议题
and every government after Jules Ferry's

朱尔·费里之后的每一届政府
presided over a steadily expanding colonial empire.

都有着一份稳定的殖民帝国扩张计划
This new prominence of colonial issues in French national politics

殖民事务之所以成为法国国家政治的新要务
was in many ways due to the activities of a growing

从很多方面来说都是由于法国社会中
and very influential colonial lobby in French society.

有权有势的殖民游说团体的活动不断增多所致
So, in many ways it was this colonial lobby that

所以从很多方面来说殖民游说团体
was most responsible for imagining and spreading the idea

要对国家强大与殖民扩张之间联系密切
that national greatness was closely tied to colonial expansion.

这一观念的形成及发展负最主要的责任
What was this colonial lobby?

那么殖民游说团体是什么呢
I want to emphasize that it was not a single organization

我要强调一下它不是一个单独的组织
or formal movement, it really was more a large

也不是正式的运动而更像是一个