Counting on the African people to fight off British invaders was utterly unreliable. If they had truly possessed such formidable combat strength, the colonial era would have ended long ago.
Still, pits had to be dug. No matter how much effect they had, they could at least slow the British expansion.
Every country's expansion had its limits, and the British Empire, the world's foremost colonial empire, was no exception.
Population was a crippling weakness. The British Isles together had only thirty million people, placing them last among Europe's four great powers. As France and Austria completed their industrialization, the balance of power was undergoing astonishing changes.
There was no need to wait until the twentieth century. Even now, in terms of domestic economic output, Britain had fallen to third in Europe and fifth in the world.
Of course, they remained the world's number one industrial power. In this era, agriculture still accounted for a very significant share of total economic output, which was why Britain ranked even below India.
There was nothing strange about that. A large population did not necessarily mean great strength, but it at least meant a large total economy.
Unfortunately, total economic output was not the same as national power. Industry determined a nation's strength, and the British Empire was still the most powerful country in the world.
But this put them at a disadvantage in expansion. Britain's population was less than two-thirds of France's—including Sardinia—and less than half of Austria's—including the Balkans. Among them were several million Irish people who were not of one mind with Britain and dreamed every day of independence.
Britain had too few people, yet its colonial territories were enormous. On average, every Briton possessed more than one square kilometer of colonies.
After the Near East War, it was not hard