Emerging as a union between the British isles create by England the Kingdom of Great Britain blossomed into a global empire in the the 18th century. Britain's supreme naval power allowed her to colonize an annex vast territories, many of which had never been settled by an organized civilization before. At home the world's first factories created manufactured goods from raw materials taken from the wider empire. Empire and industrialization paved the way for the formation of the market economy and with government support private businesses turned Great Britain int the world's largest economy. On the other hand Great Britain's new dominance created unforeseen problems, distant colonial revolts and economic downturn created by market cycle strained Great Britain in the late 1700's.