How did the island of England become a power(wayyyy back then, not now) and conquer larger lands when they had such limited land, food and supplies?
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They were a mid-ranking European state for centuries, able to punch above their weight because they were a unitary kingdom with a strong tax system (a legacy of the Danish invasions) and a forum for the elites in parliament. But not a match for France or Castile or the Empire. Then they went Protestant, had a Civil War and were in fear of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. So they invested continually in the navy as the first line, captured lucrative trades and outposts, which gave them the cash flow to sustain war (capturing more trade and outposts and valuable places like Bengal and the West Indian sugar islands), which gave them lots more cash which was invested in improving farming and in industry, which eventually led to the breakthrough into steam power, which gave them a huge technological edge for a century or more (really, up to 1945).
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