The final reason for why Britain was the first country to industrialize was due in large part to its vast colonial empire. When the Industrial Revolution began, Britain was in the midst of the Age of Imperialism, which saw European nations explore and dominate vast areas of land around the world. Britain had the largest empire out of all of the countries participating in the Age of Imperialism. For example, by the 1700s, Britain had control over areas such as: North America, South Africa, Egypt, India and Australia. This is important because it gave Britain access to huge amounts of natural resources that it could then use in the factories that developed during the Industrial Revolution. As well, the colonies also gave Britain exclusive trading rights to hundreds of millions of people. This resulted in Britain having a massive market for its goods to be sold in. For example, during the Industrial Revolution, Britain collected cotton from India, transported it to Britain, where it was turned into cloth and clothing and then sold the finished goods back to India.
In conclusion, historians have identified several reasons for the development of industrialization in Britain, and for why Britain was such an ideal spot for the Industrial Revolution to begin. These reasons include: the effects of the Agricultural Revolution, large supplies of coal, geography of the country, a positive political climate, and a vast colonial empire. They all combined to allow Britain to have the necessary conditions that caused industrialization to flourish.
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