That aristocratic world died amidst the mud of Flanders, old boy: the death rate of British soldiers was 12%; officers 17% and Eton College graduates was 20%. The number of senior officers; Generals and Staff officers killed was higher than any other conflict in British military history.
Colonel Blimp may've been an old buffer, but a coward he was not.
Afterr most of the British aristocrats made money in industrial and commercial investment, their first choice was to buy land and acquire fixed assets. As a result, throughout the 19th century, the British aristocracy was caught in an infinite loop of making money—buying land—making money—buying land. Even some old men bought land at all costs for comparison. Unexpectedly, with the reduction of preservation technology and transoceanic transportation costs, a large amount of food from the British colonies and other overseas countries began to flood into the British Isles. At the same time, in order to support industrialization, the British government has also tightened its price protection policy for local agricultural and sideline products.
As a result, the price of agricultural products represented by wheat continued to fall at the end of the 19th century, and the price of land also depreciated wildly. Under this circumstance, the property of the nobles who had been hoarding madly a while ago began to shrink.
By 1910, the United Kingdom enacted and implemented the "Bill of Rights", abolishing the House of Lords' absolute legislative veto power. Since then, the hereditary aristocratic lords have almost completely lost their direct influence on the decision-making of the British government.
Because of this, the nobles can no longer protect their own interests from the national level by means of legislation.
As a result the British aristocracy at the beginning of the 20th century were up to their necks in debt and bankruptcy.
(P.G. Wodehouse refers to this state of affairs several times when Bertie Wooster's father threatens to cut off his allowance and make him get a job. The books are generally accepted to be based on this era when Wodehouse was at Dulwich College in the 1890s.)
And in the 18th century, when Britain was governed by the Landed Gentry, corruption was even worse: Walpole was drummed out of office because of his greedy guts.
Norman Tebbit? On yer bike, man!
