Wider Still and Wider!

Wider still and Wider shows a world where a British Empire, much stronger than in OTL, hold sway over countries to this day. The Empire, or “The Commonwealth”, as it is formally called by, has the world’s largest economy, military, and wealth, although not divided equally, with parts of the Empire being in disrepair and poverty, but changes are being made in order to alleviate it.

“Wider still and Wider !, shall thy bounds be set!”

POD
The Point of Divergence from our timeline begins in an unusual place, in the old Filipino capital of Manila, which was a Spanish colony at the time, during the Seven Years’ War. In OTL, the British invade a Manila that is undefended, after the British fight a naval battle of the coast of Manila Bay, and threaten to burn it to the ground. Troops, led by Brigadier-General William Draper, occupied the city and the nearby port of Cavite, for a period of 20 months, from 1762 to 1764. It was not profitable however, as the British were not able to take most of the interior, thus making an occupation unattainable.

In this timeline, the British do manage to take over all of the islands thru a series of battles with Spanish forces on the isles and making agreements with indigenous peoples in the mountains of interior Luzon, thereby giving the British de facto control, however, the transfer was not finalized until the end of the war in 1764, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.