The British Empire
The British Empire was the largest in the world
Britain was already an empire by the beginning of the Victorian era, but during this period it expanded its holdings abroad to such an extent that Britain eventually became the world’s greatest empire. It was described as “the empire on which the sun never sets”, meaning that it was always daytime in at least one of its territories across the globe.
The many colonies provided Britain with taxes and raw materials such as cotton from Egypt which was then manufactured into clothes in Lancashire, England. Britain was already known as the workshop of the world, and its many products were sold in the colonies, making Britain the dominant trading nation and very wealthy. Many Brits found work in relation to the colonies or even settled there permanently. Bec...