and how did it manage to become so powerful? The countries it dominated didn't quake in fear of its mercantilist policies. It was the guns. And it was the tr

and how did it manage to become so powerful? The countries it dominated didn't quake in fear of its mercantilist policies. It was the guns. And it was the trade that their manufacturing made possible and the rule of law that made it successful entrepreneurship possible. And yes, it all eroded away. It wasn't the loss of the colonies, but the loss of the things that gave it the ability to project its power in the first place.