Geography

The luck of geography played directly to Great Britain’s advantage. The relatively small and consolidated terrain coupled with rich farm land, a good river and improving road network, and an excellent coastline with sufficient ports linking Great Britain to the wider world ensured that the nation was knitted together economically on a far more efficient basis than its European counterparts. Long before their rivals on the continent, these advantages helped the British to reduce and then eliminate internal barriers to commerce. France, by comparison, had three times as many people as Great Britain in the 18th century. However, that nation retained much of its regional distinctiveness until and even after the French Revolution. A poor road network and many internal and local tolls and customs duties prevented France from adopting a new commercial attitude prior to the disruption of the revolutionary and Napoleonic eras. As an island fortress, Great Britain’s separation from Europe allowed it to avoid on its home soil the ravages of warfare (other than the Civil War of the 1640s) that had devastated continental Europe during the 17th century and the international conflicts of the 18th century. Thus, Great Britain invested less in defense and retained more of its young, talented, and energetic citizens who in ever increasing numbers turned their attention to economic matters. Even during the upheavals of the Napoleonic Wars, Great Britain did not resort to burdensome taxation and military conscription. After the defeat of Napoleon’s fleet in 1805 at the Battle of Trafalgar, little disruption occurred in Britain’s trade network. Furthermore, Napoleon’s heralded Continental System, which had as its purpose the boycotting of British goods and stifling of its economic clout, collapsed under the weight of Britain’s cheaper and higher quality products.