Faced with a provocation, even an entirely legal one involving the nationalisation of a foreign-Corbis owned asset like the Suez canal, the instinct of such Europeans was to go to war.

• 面对挑衅，即使是完全合法的从外国人手中国有化像苏伊士运河一样的财产，这些欧洲人骨子里也会为此而战。