How Far Was France Justified In Declaring England To Be Master Of The Sea?

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declaring England to be “Master of the Sea ”. England enjoyed such a reputation that when the commander of a British fleet told the Neapolitan king that he would destroy his palace unless he withdrew from the anti-Austrian alliance, the king immediately withdrew . The Pragmatic Army also enjoyed successes on the field, though they didn’t prove to be terribly important. During the War of Austrian succession, Britain had practically destroyed France’s naval capability, which is notoriously expensive and time-consuming to building up, thereby making themselves masters of the Atlantic as well . France’s plan after the unsatisfying peace of Aix-la-Chapelle was to dominate the Atlantic, and by extension, the Americas, so that they could wrest away Britain’s advantage by “denying the fruits of her transatlantic empire” and tangling her in military capabilities in warfare abroad . The colonies were also another reason for the rise in British power. They supplied valuable and expensive goods, though Britain was primarily interested in her Caribbean colonies than her North American ones . …show more content…
Domestic strength became international strength as Britain forged an empire that touched three continents and was only weakened by the shock of the American Revolutionary War. The efficiency and legitimacy that that the tax collection enjoyed created large revenues for the state, which helped finance war. No amount of taxes were enough to pay for the extraordinary expenditures that war entails, however, so the British created a system of public finance that helped them borrow money. Due to the transparency and efficiency of this system, it inspired public confidence and low interest rates. All of this well-oiled machinery of the military-fiscal state made Britain a formidable
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