Great yet not so Great? ?

Many Americans (not all by far) claim that America is the greatest nation on Earth (if there even is such a thing). While it is a good place with great potential, I think we can all agree that there is really only one nation that has the right to claim this word great and can officially do so, with true international recognition, that is "Great Britain". Check its list of achievements -

1) It took two world wars to break its economy and empire (while America manages to do this by itself)

2) It established English as the worlds international language (Much of America's success is that this language is already readily available making trade and cooperation much easier)

3) It is the founder of most of the worlds successful nations/places (Canada, US, Aus, New Zealand, Hong Kong)

4) It is the ONLY nation in history (I've heard of) that would willingly lose its empire and wealth to defend another nation. To draw a line against the darkness. (WW2 - Britain declares war on Germany for the invasion of Poland. A choice as Hitler knew British people as Germanic for the Anglo-Saxon heritage)

5) The British Empire abolished slavery some 100 years before the US even contemplated it. Possibly the first ever empire to even consider abolishing slavery as its main labor pool.

6) Had the greatest empire the world has ever known with a foot in every continent yet somehow at the end of it all manages to keep strong alliances with most of its old vassals and colonies.(India, commonwealth nations, China etc... all share friendly feeling with the UK)

7) Holds the oldest democracy in the world and has not been conquered for over 1000 years. Despite a continous spate of wars with France that lasted approx 100 years http://ask.yahoo.com/20020227.html. Britain of course won.

From Greatest Empire to Greatest Savior, whose great wealth let America develop, whose bravery halted the 3rd Reich, whose influence is strong in the Commonwealth, America, EU, China and India. Whose democracy has withstood evil oppressors for over 1000 years, whose language is now the world's, whose technological discoveries (Forensic science, computing etc...) are still being explored today.

America, your roots are from here, they are strong. But when such an island, of just over 57 million and just 94600 sq m in total land mass. When it is true that 'Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few' Winston Churchill then you can rightfully claim that the nation is GREAT.