During that point in history, who had more money was the most powerful. Industrialization changed the world forever, it started in Britain went to the other European powers, the base of the Western economy shifted from farming and handicrafts to the manufacturing by machines and industrial factories.
This made possible for the Western economies to produce most of the industrialized goods that were available, which also made possible for this countries to dominate the World Affairs since money was a major reason to dominate power.
