moral failure? I got a long list of solution for the British government:
1. not to fight the Opium War and sell Opium in the first place.
2. not to invade other country on the other side of the world.
3. not to pretend to be a dominant power.
if you focus on the first two points, they seem to be morally right in ALL culture.
Your comment isn't coherent. However, fighting a war in the 1830s and 1840s was most certainly in the best interests of Britain. Certainly your "long list of solution" wasn't a good enough reason for them to abandon their empire. And no, Britain didn't need to pretend. They were THE dominant power starting from the fall of Napoleon to the end of WWI.
1. not to fight the Opium War and sell Opium in the first place. 2. not to invade other country on the other side of the world. 3. not to pretend to be a dominant power.
if you focus on the first two points, they seem to be morally right in ALL culture.