How was it possible for such a small nation like Britain to rule 3 quarters of the world ?

Answer 1

We said it was huge. Nobody checked.

Answer 2

Like all conquering nations Britain at the time was the most powerful nation on the seas. So with having a superior navy merchant routes were opened up which led to trade, colonisation. Then along comes the Industrial Revolution and progress went at light speed.
Like every dominating super power time runs out and the sun certainly set on the British Empire when India woke up and set the ball in motion for Independance. Still there is a srtong legacy left behind by Britain, some good and some terrible.

Answer 3

Because Britain controlled trade due to its large and powerful navy (as all of the most profitable trade was done by sea, those who Britain liked were allowed to grow and prosper - Portugal for instance, those it didn't were piratised and their ships sunk and trade crippled - like Spain), and also made VAST sums of money selling human beings into slavery. You control the markets, you control the world; just look at America. Britain also happened to have quite a liberal attitude to science (i.e. the church didn't ban it) which meant progress was fast. Britain led the industrial revolution, and so had a head-start at becoming an industrialised nation.

Answer 4

After having been invaded countless times, as a vulnerable small island, we decided attack was the best form of defence. It was our industrial strength, THAT WE CREATED, that gave it huge impetus, starting in the late eighteenth century and continuing through to the early nineteenth century.

We had the largest navy in the world during those years. Another thing that allowed our empire to develop, was the ditching of that expensive resource consuming colony, 'The Americas'.

I think three quarters of the world is a bit of an exaggeration. I believe that it was about two fifths, (depends how you measure it) but it was certainly more than a quarter.

Don't forget that other Nations were trying to build empires as well. We had to fight for ours, it wasn't handed to us. We also gave the world the English Language. 'Lefties' will continue, mainly through the schooling system, to portray it as a bad thing, and try to make us all feel guilty.

Answer 5

At the time, Great Britain/the United Kingdom had naval and merchant shipping superiority, world-leading industrial technology and a first-rate army. All of those factors made empire-building possible.

Answer 6

They did it via commerce and steam.Prince Albert and Queen Victoria inspired commerce which delivered approximately the British shooting India and the large spice commerce.the large Exhibition of 1851 which sprung from the Society of the arts.Of which Albert replaced into president.All this alongside with the railroad and steam ships made Britain very prosperous.

Answer 7

Politically, "Great Britain" describes the combination of England, Scotland, and Wales, and therefore includes a number of outlying islands such as the Isle of Wight, Anglesey, the Isles of Scilly, the Hebrides, and the island groups of Orkney and Shetland, but does not include the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.

Great Britain has evolved politically from the gradual union of England and Scotland which started in 1603 with the Union of Crowns under James VI of Scotland and eventually resulted in the Acts of Union in 1707 which merged the parliaments of each nation and thus resulted in the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain, which covered the entire island, to the situation following 1801 in which Great Britain together with the island of Ireland constituted the larger United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (UK). The UK became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1922 following the independence of five-sixths of Ireland as first the Irish Free State, a Dominion of the then British Commonwealth, and then later as an independent republic outside the British Commonwealth as the Republic of Ireland.

Answer 8

Effective logistics and advanced technology and tactics. Which incidentally is the same reason a small nation like Rome was able to rule the known world as well.

Answer 9

Because we were greedy and had the biggest most powerful navy the world had ever seen.Look at the opposition France who,s greatest skills are involved in surrendering and changing sides,Spain who prefer sleep to action.We increased our Empire by being ruthless and taking all our competitors empires(French,Turkish,German,Dutch)

Answer 10

I think you'll find it was one quarter of the world. Also alot of the territory was in the 'new world'. Canada and Australia are great examples, massive countries that only have a few native tribes to conquer and hey you have a massive country under your control. India is pretty big as well and we also controlled large parts of Africa. If our empire included large parts of Europe then it would of been more difficult to achieve as European peoples actually had guns as well making it a fair fight. Defeating people with spears isn't that difficult.

Answer 11

To start off Britain is not a small nation. In fact, they are one of the biggest. They are a lot like us.