ABSTRACT
In the 1870s Great Britain was the ‘top’ nation, possessing a flourishing industrial economy, the strongest naval force, the finest merchant fleet and the biggest empire the world has ever known. Even by 1914, among the Great Powers, Britain alone possessed territories and interests in every part of the globe. There were many emulators in maritime and colonial fields, but no rivals for pre-eminence. Those responsible for conducting the foreign policy of such a state were bound to work for ensuring the security of the homeland as well as for maintaining its Great Power status. This conditioned their perceptions and hence the conduct of relations with other European powers.
