British shipping was omnipresent. The pound sterling was the chief
medium of foreign exchange. The British Navy patrolled the seas. English
was replacing French as the language of commerce and diplomacy.

During this British Century, from 1815 to 1897, Great Britain was
dominant among the European great powers, but it was never supreme.
Always there were countervailing forces. For centuries France had been a
major factor in the control and direction of European affairs. Defeat at
Waterloo reduced but did not destroy French influence. After 1870
Bismark's Germany began playing a major role. Russia, Austria, Holland,
Italy and Spain were also European powers. Overseas, the United States
of America and Japan were spreading their imperial wings.

With the explosive advances made by science, technology, productivity,
income and wealth accumulation, other countries were moving to the fore.
Even though Britain maintained her actual levels of economic output and
potential diplomatic presence she was one among several relatively equal
European states and world empires. At the same time her natural
resources were being depleted and with the growing importance of cotton,
rubber and petroleum, all of which Britain must import, her economic
ascendancy was progressively undermined. During the wars of 1914-18 and
1936-45 Britain entered an era of decreasing relative importance. Her
empire was largely intact, but her economic and political strength was
stretched to the breaking point.

Throughout its history, until the wars of 1914-45, western civilization
had its headquarters in central and west Europe, with branch offices
elsewhere on the planet. At no time after 1870 did any one European
power occupy a position of easy superiority over its rivals. If Great
Britain was top dog, France, the long established continental power was