So in the EU4 community, players frequently have flame wars over nations being ahistorically strong or weak. Specifically, many players complain that England (and the British Isles) start the game in a very weak position. The game covers a time period from 1444 to 1821.
However, others claim that England was that weak in reality. They point to sources that show England's 1350 population at 3 million (1), compared to France, which was at 20 million at that same time. Given that, it makes sense that England starts out significantly weaker than its contemporaries.
But given that England was much poorer and less populous than its European rivals throughout the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, how exactly did it become the greatest superpower of the 19th century?
Banking. England had a remarkable level of economic stability and adopted many capitalistic practices earlier on than most European nations. This meant that it could borrow more money than France at a cheaper rate, allowing it to go to war with a smaller impact on its economy, support the money and economy heavy, but manpower cheap standing navy that buttressed its economic growth, and support network of continental allies who could bear the brunt of the dirty work in case it went to war with France. Remember that what brought down the French Empire in the late 1700's was a financial and debt crisis, something which plagued French monarchs since the 1300's, as they never really modernized their economic methods.