keep sth. in check困难

It took place on many different planes: between Napoleon’s French army and the angry inhabitants; between the British, ever keen to exacerbate the emperor’s difficulties, and the marshals sent from Paris to try to keep them in check; between new forces of science and meritocracy and old ones of conservatism and birth.

这场斗争在许多不同层面上展开：拿破仑的法国军队与愤怒的当地居民之间；一心想加剧皇帝困境的英国人与从巴黎派来试图遏制他们的元帅们之间；科学与任人唯贤的新势力和保守主义与门第出身的旧势力之间。