re: Who Had the Greatest Colonial Power in History?

It's Britain and it isn't even close (although I probably put the Spanish second). The Royal Navy was their ultimate trump card.

The Spaniards got the early lead, but were too exploitative and short-sighted. Pound-for-pound, the Dutch did very well (as did the Portuguese). The French had some interesting colonies (not the least of which was New France), but always seemed to be "also rans" to either the British or Spanish (or both).

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Look at all the countries who still speak Spanish.

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Compared to English?

If you just count Asia and Africa, there are probably 2 1/2 to 3 billion humans for which English is their second or third language and they are at least competent in that language. That's ignoring entire continents that English is the primary language (North America and Australia).