The British Empire Series | Episode 1: How a Small Island Nation Came to Rule a Quarter of the World

[In the 16th century, a small island nation was at the edge of the world]

16th-century Europe.
Everyone believed the center of the world was Spain.

Vast amounts of silver were being brought in from the New World.
The Tercio infantry, feared as the strongest in Europe.
A massive fleet that dominated the Mediterranean.
And vast colonies.
It was truly the beginning of the empire on which the sun never sets.

Meanwhile, there was a small island nation floating in the sea to the northwest.
England.

Its population was less than half that of Spain.
It had no vast territories on the continent.
It was not blessed with resources.
Its standing army was not particularly strong either.
At the time, England was,
nothing more than a second-rate nation in the eyes of the European powers.

However, about three hundred years later,
that small island nation would rule approximately one-quarter of the world's population,
growing into an empire that flew the British flag over one-quarter of the world's land area.

Canada.
India.
Australia.
New Zealand.
Egypt.
The Malay Peninsula.
Hong Kong.
Singapore.
South Africa.
And the Gold Coast of West Africa (modern-day Ghana).

British influence spread across the globe.
How was such a thing possible?

It was not the number of troops.
It was not the population.
It was not the resources.

They were the first in the world to,

reach the idea of "placing the sea itself at the center of the nation."

as a concept.

[Elizabeth I changed how the nation fought]

In 1558, a 25-year-old woman ascended to the English throne.
Elizabeth I.
Her father was Henry VIII.

Her mother, Anne Boleyn, was executed for treason,
and she herself grew up with her life in danger during the struggle for the throne.

That is why she knew.
She knew that she could not win by engaging in a direct test of strength.

Spain had a massive army.
England did not.

Spain had the silver of the New World.
England did not.

So, how could they win?
The answer she provided was,

"to change the battlefield itself."

Not land, but sea.
Not a massive army, but mobility.
Not just the national budget, but the power of the private sector.
Elizabeth I concentrated national resources on the navy,

improved ports, refined shipbuilding technology, and fostered merchant ships.
This decision was not merely a military reform.
It changed the direction in which the nation of England was heading.

[The idea of the "sea" changed the nation]

What is important here is not that England strengthened its navy.
It was that they began to think of the sea not as a "defensive line," but as a "place for national activity."

Until then, many countries thought of the sea as a place from which enemies would attack by crossing it.
But England was different.

The sea was a wall to prevent enemies, but at the same time, it was a road leading to the world.
Ships do not just carry soldiers.

They carry people.
They carry goods.
They carry information.
They carry culture.
And they carry wealth.

Controlling the sea meant controlling trade.
Controlling trade meant moving the world economy.
This shift in thinking was the starting point of the British Empire.

[An untold story: Pirates were state-sanctioned entrepreneurs]

Around this time, one man became active.
Francis Drake.
He is a figure later remembered as a hero of the British Navy.

However, his starting point was not as a naval admiral.
He was a privateer captain.
In other words, a "state-sanctioned pirate" who received official permission from the royal family.

The mission given to them was clear.
Attack only the ships of the enemy nation, Spain.
Capture galleons loaded with silver.

Share the profits with the royal family.
If successful, massive profits.
If they failed, the burden on the national treasury was minimal.

In modern terms,
it was like the state outsourcing performance-based projects to private companies.

Drake succeeded in circumnavigating the globe and brought back a large amount of treasure.
It is said that the profit was dozens of times the investment amount.
Elizabeth I knighted Drake with her own hands upon his return.

Therein lies the English character.
It is not about status.
It is about evaluating results.
Utilizing not only the state but also the power of the private sector.
This flexibility,
would later lead to the ideas of the East India Company and the joint-stock company.

[1588, the day the world's strongest fleet was defeated]

In 1588, King Philip II of Spain made a decision.

"Destroy England."

What was sent was the Invincible Armada, consisting of about 130 ships.
At the time, it was a navy feared as the strongest in the world.

The opposing English fleet was inferior in both ship size and military strength.
No one doubted Spain's victory.
However, the result defied historical expectations.

The English fleet avoided close-quarters combat and repeated long-range shelling.
Instead of the conventional battle where large ships collided with each other,
they deployed a new type of naval warfare that utilized mobility.

Furthermore, a storm in the North Sea struck the Spanish fleet.
Many ships ran aground, and the Invincible Armada suffered devastating damage.
Of course, the storm was not the only reason for the victory.
England had changed the design of its ships, its tactics, and the very way it fought.
In other words, they,

"created the playing field on which they could win themselves."

With this defeat, the world would learn for the first time.
That the ruler of the seas had begun to change.

[An empire would not have been born just by controlling the sea]

However, one question remains here.
If one could become a world empire just by having a strong navy,
Portugal and Spain should have ruled the world forever.

In reality, that did not happen.
England had one more weapon that other countries did not have.
That was,

the idea of "not ruling the world with the state alone."The royal family alone has its limits.

The military alone has its limits.
Then, one should use private companies.
One company born from this way of thinking,

would eventually rule India and rewrite world history.
The name of that company was,


the East India Company.The British Empire was not born from controlling the sea.


It began its path to becoming a world empire by connecting the sea and companies.

[It was not the state, but a company that created the world empire]

In 1600, a company was born in London.

The East India Company.

On the surface, it was a private company aimed at trade with Asia.
The purpose was simple.

Buy spices.
Buy silk.
Buy tea.

However, that company would later change the face of the nation.

It has an army.
It has a fleet.
It concludes treaties.
It issues currency.
It conducts trials.
It collects taxes.
In modern times, a single company possessed the authority that only a state would have.

The Roman Empire expanded its territory through legions.
The Ottoman Empire prospered by controlling trade routes.
The Habsburg Empire expanded its domain through marriage.
But England was different.

The state alone cannot rule the world.

Understanding that limit earlier than anyone else,
they incorporated the new power of the company into their national strategy.
Herein lay the new form of an empire called the British Empire.

[An untold story: The joint-stock company was an invention to create an empire]

Voyages during the Age of Discovery were life-threatening.

Storms.
Epidemics.
Pirates.
Shipwrecks.

If one ship sank, all the invested capital would be lost.
It was not a risk that an individual could bear.

So, the British came up with a system.
Collect funds little by little from many people.
Share the profits.
Share the losses.

It is the prototype of thejoint-stock companythat is taken for granted today.
What is important is that this system was not just a management method.

"Do not bear failure alone."
That is why anyone can take on the challenge.

As a result, many people were able to participate in massive voyages and trade that previously only a few royals and aristocrats could do.

Capital gathers.
Ships increase.
Ports are improved.
Merchants head all over the world.

In this way, economic activities on a scale that the state alone could not achieve began.
The British Empire was an empire that spread to the world not only through military power,
but through the mechanism of finance.

[The decisive difference from the Roman Empire, Ottoman Empire, and Habsburg Empire]

Here, I would like to compare the four empires again.

The Roman Empire,
improved roads and governed the world through law and administration.

The Ottoman Empire,
mastered East-West trade and prospered by allowing diverse religious communities to coexist.

The Habsburg Empire,
maintained a multi-ethnic state through marriage and the credibility of the dynasty.

Then, what was the British Empire?
The British Empire was,

an "empire of markets."

What they aimed for was not just increasing territory.

It was to connect ports around the world,
create a system where goods flow,
capital moves,
and companies generate profits.
In other words,

while Rome spread laws,
the Ottomans spread trade,
and the Habsburgs spread dynasties,
England

spread the market itself to the world.

[Differences from previous empires]
Roman Empire
Improve roads
↓
Move legions
↓
Spread laws
↓
Govern the empire

Ottoman Empire
Control trade routes
↓
Collect tariffs
↓
Dominate trade
↓
Maintain the empire

Habsburg Empire
Conclude marriages
↓
Build dynasty credibility
↓
Integrate multi-ethnic groups
↓
Sustain the empire

British Empire
Control the sea
↓
Foster companies
↓
Expand markets
↓
Move the world economy

In other words, previous empires prospered by dominating territory.
But England,

dominated the "flow."

The flow of people.
The flow of goods.
The flow of money.
The flow of information.

This idea would go on to shape the modern world.

[The reason only the British Empire could become a world empire]

Britain was not the most populous country.
It was not the country with the most resources.
It was not the country with the largest military.
Yet, the reason it was able to become the world's largest empire.

Is because it did not think,
“Let the state alone rule the world.”

The navy.
Merchants.
Banks.
Insurance companies.
Stock markets.
And joint-stock companies.

The state dedicated itself to the role of supporting them.
It incorporated private vitality into national strategy and expanded it to the world.
The greatest weapon they created was not the battleship.

It was a "system."

[Ideas that are inherited even today]

Let's look at the world of the 21st century.

Apple.
Amazon.
Google.
Microsoft.

They do not possess territory.
They do not possess armies either.
However, they are changing the lives of people all over the world.

Why?
They,

Create markets.
Create standards.
Create rules.

Just as the British Empire linked the sea and companies to build a world market 400 years ago,
modern giant corporations also,
are connecting the world with the digital space as a new "sea" stage.

Even if the form of the empire changes,

the structure that those who hold the system that moves the world hold the initiative

has not changed.

[The empire is still alive]

The British Empire ruled the sea.
However, what they were truly ruling,
was not the sea itself.
It was the flow of the world through the sea.After World War II,

the role of protecting the world's sea lanes was passed on to the U.S. Navy.
Crude oil reaching Japan.

LNG.
Iron ore.
Food.
Container ships.
They are still being transported across safe seas today.

The affluent lives we take for granted,
are supported by the world's system of free maritime traffic.

In other words,the British Empire is over.
However,the idea of a maritime nation is not over.

The hegemony shifted from Britain to America.
Even so, the structure that "those who control the sea support the world economy"
has not changed even now in the 21st century.

[Summary]

In the 16th century, England was a small island nation in a corner of Europe.

In terms of population,
resources,
or military,
it could not match the great powers.

So they thought.
"Where can we fight to win?"
The answer was the sea.

And one more thing.
The idea of advancing into the world using not just the state,
but companies.

The Roman Empire expanded its laws.
The Ottoman Empire secured trade routes.
The Habsburg Empire connected dynasties.
And the British Empire,
linked the sea and markets, turning the world into a single economic zone.

The greatest legacy the empire left behind is not territory.
It is a "system" where people, goods, and capital from all over the world are connected.

That is why, even though the British Empire has disappeared from history,
its ideas continue to live on in the modern world.

Next Episode Preview

The British Empire Series | Episode 2
"Why was Britain able to rule India?"

Just one private company ruled India, where over 100 million people lived.
The East India Company.
Robert Clive.
The Battle of Plassey.
How was a company stronger than a state born?

We approach the true image of the most unique "corporate empire" in world history.

★This is the post article index.
★If there are any articles you are interested in, please take a look.

Post Article Index ★Introducing all episodes
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Ottoman Empire Series INDEX
Roman Empire Series INDEX
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