 | | At the beginning of the 20th century, Britain covered more than 11,400,000 square |
| | miles of territory, making it the largest empire ever known.
|
| | It's colonies include India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Rhodesia, |
| | Gibralter, islands in the West Indies and various colonies on the African coast.
|
| | The British Empire is protected by a Royal Navy that included 18 modern |
| | dreadnoughts, 29 battleships (pre-dreadnought design), 10 battlecruisers, 20 town
cruisers, 15 scout cruisers, 200 destroyers and 150 cruisers.
|
| | Britain is a constitutional monarchy under George V. The government is formed by |
| | the majority party of the House of Commons. Members of this parliament are
elected by some 8 million registered male voters. The aristocratic House of Lords
had limited power to veto legislation.
|
| | By August 1914, Britain has 247,432 regular troops. About 120,000 of these in |
| | are stationed abroad. There are soldiers in all Britain's overseas possessions
except the white dominions of Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
|
