Britain distributed its comparatively small army across overseas campaigns. British troops conducted limited operations around the world while continental powers fielded larger armies in Europe. Taking islands and colonies weakened enemy economies and added useful positions to Britain's own network. Britain's long alliance with the Dutch gave its planners a clear view of how heavily Dutch independence depended on those imperial assets. Colonial conquest functioned as economic warfare alongside territorial expansion.
Notable Point · 28:05-29:13
Colonial conquest as economic warfare
Britain's dispersed army attacked overseas colonies to seize territory and strip enemy powers of the trade and infrastructure that sustained them.