What would happen if the British did not created British empire?

[Mans not hot]

Would the French or the Spaniard take over? Would the economy not be stronger than now in UK? Less immigrants? Would the English language be not formal in the world? So on...

[Grace O'Malley]

I don't think Ireland would have escaped even if there wasn't a British empire because it was the Normans who invaded Ireland and from that England had a foothold. The US would be French or Spanish speaking and Australia would most probably have been Dutch.

[Autrigón]

I'm passionate of Alternate History Fiction. In my wise opinion modern European empires (XVI-XX) don't have a huge impact, only in new colonized and conquered territories.
For example USA is the most powerful country on earth but they don't have a huge impact in my life, only in soft things like films, series, etc.

For me is more important this question: What would have happened if Carthage had conquered and destroyed Rome?

[Roy]

I'm passionate of Alternate History Fiction. In my wise opinion modern European empires (XVI-XX) don't have a huge impact, only in new colonized and conquered territories.
For example USA is the most powerful country on earth but they don't have a huge impact in my life, only in soft things like films, series, etc.

For me is more important this question: What would have happened if Carthage had conquered and destroyed Rome?

Now, that's an interesting trigger for some discussion

Maybe Latin languages would be restricted to the Apennine Peninsula?

Either way their empire would have died out sooner or later, one should not forget about the plague epidemies already in the Early Middle Ages (like in 542-541 AD) that would have disastrous effect on them regardless of the barbarians.

[Testostorschmidt]

It would not be called the British empire.

[lonewolfcypriot]

French would probably be lingua de franca

[Westbrook]

Depends who would have taken the rest of North America without the British. If pretty much the entire western hemisphere ends up being Spanish then I think it'd be Spanish.

French would probably be lingua de franca

[Westbrook]

Were the Dutch exploring the Pacific?

I don't think Ireland would have escaped even if there wasn't a British empire because it was the Normans who invaded Ireland and from that England had a foothold. The US would be French or Spanish speaking and Australia would most probably have been Dutch.

[♥ Lily ♥]

I guess the US and Canada would be like Mexico and other Hispanic and Latin American nations. I guess there would be millions more Indian, African, and Aboriginal Australian people too... given the millions of them who were killed under the British Empire.

[♥ Lily ♥]

Were the Dutch exploring the Pacific?

Yes: 'New Holland (Dutch: Nieuw Holland) is a historical European name for mainland Australia. The name was first applied to Australia in 1644 by the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman. The name came to be applied to the whole "Southern land" or Terra Australis, though the coastline of the continent had still not been fully explored; but after the British settlement in Sydney in 1788 the territory to the east of the continent claimed by Britain was named New South Wales, leaving the western part as New Holland. New Holland continued to be used semi-officially and in popular usage as the name for the whole continent until at least the mid-1850s.'