A 19th-century english social darwinist would say that his or her nations power was proof of

He would claim that it was proof of superiority. Social Darwinism is an idea that people or countries who succeed in life and who become rich did so because they could adapt to the environment and that those who are poor are inferior to them because they couldn't. In country leading, the idea is that the countries that became wealthy were superior and thus easily became rich while poor countries are inferior in their opinions.