Stable Government

With the exception of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Britain witnessed stable government with efficient monarchs.

Other European nations like France witnessed violent revolution in 1789 and afterwards the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon’s defeat in 1815, significantly weakened France’s position and from then on it was forced to side with Britain. The Italians got united as a nation as late in 1861. The Dutch and Spain were also involved in the 80-years war in the 17th century which weakened Portuguese imperialism. The Dutch East India Company, affected by bankruptcy in 1800 coupled with the revolution in 1830, was forced to sell its possessions to Britain and quit Asia.