GROWTH OF BRITISH EMPIRE
The English took an astounding journey from the 17th century to the 20th as Britain went from a small insulated isle to a huge empire that controlled an estimated 400-500 million people, roughly a quarter of the world’s population, and stretched over 30 million square kilometers [1] . (Maps of Empire Growth) The zenith of the British Empire didn’t occur until the 1930’s and 40’s at which time it controlled this massive amount of people and land.
The answer to what allowed this extraordinary development to occur is many fold: it begins with the geographical position of Great Britain as an island with excellent natural resources, separated and protected from its neighboring countries by water, inhabited by a people who were innovative in many different areas: in technology and industry, in economic institutions, and in its form of government. Britain’s modern government reached a more capitalistic position under a constitutional monarchy long before France or Austria Hungary did.
Some historians might propose that it was its unsurpassable navy that allowed Great Britain to expand into the largest empire in history. However, the navy could not have developed without the very significant influence of the factors mentioned above. The navy would never had been as technologically unsurpassed as it was, were it not for the new financial institutions that promoted capitalism, innovation, and discovery.
The development of an empire can only be understood as the positive interaction of many different forces. Exploration and trade required a stronger navy, but the British also allowed for this military technology to be harnessed by the private sector for its missions of exploration, conquest, and settlement. It was these positive interactions between factors that allowed England to go from a small island with a small population to one that included a quarter of the world with an extensive list of countries under its control.