Conflate \Con*flate"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Conflated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Conflating}.] [L. conflatus, p. p. of conflare to blow together; con- + flare to blow.] 1. To blow together; to bring together; to collect; to fuse together; to join or weld; to consolidate.
The State-General, created and conflated by the passionate effort of the whole nation. --Carlyle.
2. to ignore distinctions between, by treating two or more distinguishable objects or ideas as one; to confuse. [PJC]
But it is probably a mistake to conflate the post-1945 story - an initial lag followed by partial modernisation - with Britain's loss of industrial dominance in the 19th century.