Fusing national aspirations with empire-building proved less successful than open imperialism.

Evidence

French methods, therefore, which always tried to combine national aspirations with empire building, were much less successful than British methods, which, after the eighties of the last century, were openly imperialistic, although restrained by a mother country that retained its national democratic institutions. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 365

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to French ‘civilizing mission’ vs. British ‘openly imperialistic’ colonial ideologies; useful contrast for postcolonial readings of assimilationist vs. segregationist colonial rule.