"in the minds of other races the war dealt a terrible blow

"在其他种族看来一战揭露了
to the moral standing of a civilization

欧洲好自吹其道德地位的事实
which Europeans claimed with pride to be superior, yet in whose name

欧洲人自称其欧洲文明举世无双
Europeans spent more than four years savagely killing each other.

却以其名义相互恶战了四年多
Europe's prestige had been greatly compromised.

欧洲的声望大大受损
It has long been commonplace to contrast European greatness

长久以来欧洲的强盛与亚非的衰颓
with Asian or African decadence.

这一鲜明对比早已成了常识
The contrast now seems to be reversed."

但这个对比现在看上去截然相反"
Indeed empire would have a very different relationship to

确实在一战后的岁月中
national identity in the years after World War I.

帝国和民族同一性的关系大为改变
For growing numbers of people in France,

对于越来越多的法国人来说
empire slowly came to seem too difficult to maintain, too expensive,

帝国看上去开销太大太难维持