The Triumphs of the British Empire- Courage

   The British Empire once controlled almost all of Europe. No country could defeat them, and only a few strong countries like France, Spain, and Portugal could fend off the British. The British Isles is a very, very small place. It is only about 3/4 the size of France, and only a little more heavily populated. Very few people can claim that they defeated the British. Joan of Arc was one, and even George Washington was an example of that. Britain being so small, it is surprising how it could even take over a single country. It wasn't the diversity of the army, as France had the most advanced technology. It wasn't the population, because Britain was such a small place.

    There is really only two reasons that historians and scholars have been able to reason could be the explanation of the huge expansion of the British Empire. The first and probably less great one was that Britain certainly was lucky. A fair few battles were won on chance mostly. The second was the true way that Britain was able to win all of those wars. It was the soldiers they had. They had some of the most die-hard courage in the entire world. They would fling themselves right into enemy lines and fire, and though many of them were killed, they killed more of the enemy. The sheer bravery of the people shattered carefully laid battle plans, and won all of the wars they faced. There was, however, a downside to such courage.

    This wasn't regular courage that the army is always advertising. It was cold, heartless courage. It caused much unnecessarily death among the enemies of Britain. The cold courage would make you kill your own family if the king or the government so commanded it.

     So thus, Britain was the ultimate power of the world, at least until the discovery of America. I am not going to lie to you. The American Revolution was won 90% on sheer dumb luck. Lucky reactions that stopped the British, and ultimately spelled their demise. Luck aside, there is something to be said about the courage of the American people. They didn't fight for a country, but for a cause. There is no greater force than that of a man with a cause. That courage, along with luck and the introduction of Guerrilla warfare, was what won us that war, and gave the British their first real defeat for generations.