Of all the countries on the plain, France was best situated to take advantage of it. France is the only European country to be both a northern and southern power. It contains the largest expanse of fertile land in Western Europe, and many of its rivers connect with each other; one flows west all the way to the Atlantic (the Loire), another south to the Mediterranean (the Rhône). These factors, together with its relative flatness, lent themselves to unification of regions, and – especially from the time of Napoleon – centralisation of power.
