This led to the spread of the English language, British Imperial system of measures, and rules for commodity markets based on English common law. When colonies had the capacity (but not the right) to trade directly with each other, challenges to central rule erupted, and the New Imperialism largely arose as a response. Pax Britannica was weakened by the breakdown of the continental order established by the Congress of Vienna and the consequent establishment of new nation-states in Italy and Germany after the Franco-Prussian War. The industrialization of Germany and the United States also contributed to the decline of British industrial supremacy following the 1870s.
See also: commodity markets, British Empire