\paperw3360 \margr0\margl0\ATXph16380 \plain \fs20 \f1 \fs22 During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries a number of inter-related circumstances contributed to making a relati
vely small country into a major world power. England who had, up to that point, vied with the Dutch for commercial and naval supremacy, made an alliance with its erstwhile rival in order to foil French aims at expansion elsewhere in the Mediterranean.
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The ensuing War of the Spanish Succession gave England the chance to flex her maritime muscles. This led to primacy in trade, and the strength to defend trade routes. Commerce itself was also changing. As the poor migrated towards the mines and manufa
cturing centres, productive output increased, thus calling for new and cheaper sources of raw materials and fresh markets overseas. Great Britain, as she had now become was able to supply the growing export markets with textiles, raw materials and newer
manufactures from the output of foundries to weapons, tools, and households goods. Britain began building her empire abroad, while at home it provided the capital required for major architectural achievements, fine gardens and transport, in particular ra
ilways. In fact mobility became a driving force in industry. Further impetus was added by the rise of a well-to-do middle class anxious to forget the smell of factory smoke and attain gentility.\par
