Abstract
In 1870 Great Britain was the principal world power. It controlled roughly a fifth of the earth’s surface, including India, Canada and Australasia. It was also the world’s leading economy, accounting for nearly a quarter of total manufacturing output and a similar proportion of world trade. The first industrial nation had become the greatest empire in world history.
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Further Reading
Correlli Barnett, The Collapse of British Power (London, 1972); John Gallagher, The Decline, Revival and Fall of the British Empire, ed. Anil Seal (Cambridge, 1982); Michael Howard, The Continental Commitment: The Dilemma of British Defence Policy in the Era of the Two World Wars (Harmondsworth, 1974); Paul Kennedy, The Realities behind Diplomacy: Background Influences on British External Policy, 1865–1980 (London, 1981); Bernard Porter, Britain, Europe and the World, 1850–1986: Delusions of Grandeur (London, 2nd edn, 1987); David Weigall, Britain and the World, 1815–1986: A Dictionary of International Relations (London, 1987).
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© 1988 London Weekend Television
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Reynolds, D. (1988). Britannia Overruled: the Shrinking of a World Power. In: Smith, L.M. (eds) The Making of Britain. The Making of Britain. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-19180-2_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-19180-2_3
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-45655-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-19180-2
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