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Travel & Geography
28 Geographic Coincidences That Shaped History More Than Human Decisions
Fact 1 of 284%
A shallow seabed allowed Britain to dominate global trade for centuries.
The English Channel acted as a natural protective moat.
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The sudden flooding of the English Channel 450,000 years ago created an island fortress. This geological fluke prevented land-based invasions while forcing the nation to develop the world's most powerful navy.
"Britain's isolation is the primary driver of its imperial history."
Without this glacial lake outburst, Britain would likely have remained a peripheral province of mainland Europe.
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