During the Victorian era, one quarter of the globe was under British rule. At the time, the British had the largest Empire in history, and England was the most powerful nation on Earth. Britannia ruled the waves, although 'Britannia' eventually gave up the name to an airline and a building society.
At the head of the greatest army of the time were the officer classes, public schoolboys and Oxford or Cambridge graduates, calling each other nicknames such as Bunter, Charmers, Strangely Brown and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich. The calmness under fire of these officers is best ridiculed by the 'African War' scene in Monty Python 's film The Meaning Of Life .
It could be assumed that the British Empire was founded on five main principles:
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That anyone who went to Eton, Oxford or Cambridge should get a position of power and a knighthood.
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That anyone who didn't go to Eton, Oxford or Cambridge should be forced to work for a pittance to help maintain the Empire, and should be forced to be cheerful and cockney.
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That the best possible type of leader for an African province was a British one who