Britain's Ascendency Practice Test

France’s absolutism consistently produced cheaper borrowing than Britain’s Parliament, enabling France to dominate global trade throughout the eighteenth century.

Britain’s representative institutions improved confidence in repayment, lowering borrowing costs and sustaining long wars even when France had stronger bureaucracy.

French administrative centralization automatically translated into naval supremacy, while Britain’s decentralized system prevented coordinated shipbuilding and blockades.

Comparative analysis shows institutions were irrelevant; geography alone explains British power, since credit, taxation, and trade policy had no impact.

Britain’s credit collapsed because Parliament refused taxation, forcing reliance on plunder and ending the possibility of long‑term naval investment.