In reality, compared to late-developing countries like East Africa, France's foundation is still too strong. From the end of the 19th century to the early 20th century, France had already become the world's second-largest capital-exporting country, second only to the United Kingdom.
During this period, Europe was undoubtedly the world's financial center. In addition to the UK, France, and Germany, countries like Belgium, Netherlands, and Switzerland had relatively well-developed financial industries. Even Belgium's external capital export was around thirty billion Rhine Shields, which is approximately five hundred million US Dollars.
However, before the war, these countries had different directions and focuses for their capital exports. The United Kingdom's investments primarily focused within the empire, in the vast colonies it occupied, followed by all of America.
