British, French, and Dutch Colonies
Imperialism of European states was at its peak in 18th – 19th centuries, and spanned from around 15th to 20th century. At these times prominent European nations, such as the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and others, were “extending control and authority over foreign entities as a means of acquisition and/or maintenance of empires” (Wiki, 2006). This control extension was typically gained through direct territorial conquest. For leading European countries such conquest were relatively easy because of Europe’s highly technological development and industrialization as compared to the rest of the world. Although there were other methods of indirect control through politics and economy, military intervention was usually the method. At different points in time almost half of the world’s population and land was under control of one or several European states. 
British Empire is the most notable European state when discoing European colonialism period. It was considered the foremost global power, and the Greatest Empire. As mentioned earlier, “it was a product of European Age of Discovery” (Wiki, 2006), thus being much more advanced in technologies at those times, which gave it much advantage. British imperialism or colonialism began in the 15th century, and has not ended up till present days. The beginning of the 19th century was the peak of British imperialism; at the beginning of the 19th century the United Kingdom or rather the British Empire controlled about the quarter of world’s population (approx. 450 million people), and about of quarter of world’s land area (approx. 14 million sq. miles) (Wiki, 2006). Interestingly, there was not a moment when sun has not shown on any of British colonies, which demonstrated its vastness and greatness. As a result, in the 19th century the United Kingdom was referred to as the empire on which the sun never sets.
The results of global British imperialism are vivid even today. English language is spoken around the world, and has become and international language. Sports (namely football or soccer) originated in Britain are now played globally. Also, government, economic, and legal systems of many countries of the world have been profoundly influenced by the British Empire.
The second largest European imperialist after Britain is France. It had numerous and vast colonial possessions in four continents, and was considered a global empire. Its colonialism lasted since 17th till mid-20th century. In the first half of the 20th century, the French controlled about 5 million sq. miles of land (Wiki, 2006). France had colonies in North and South Americas (which explains French language being Canada’s second national language), in vast regions of Africa, middle East, and Asia. Generally, the French empire is considered the second largest empire, following the British Empire. 
The third imperial state I address here does not logically follow in the list. The Netherlands was not the third largest European imperialist state. Rather it followed Spain and Portugal, which in turn followed France and England. The colonialist period of Dutch Empire lasted since 17th till 20th century. At those times, the Netherlands acquired many states in Oceania, and relatively small regions in India, South and West Africa, East of North America, and North-East of South America. As compared to British or French global possessions, the Dutch were tens of times smaller. In addition, the Netherlands lost many of its colonies to the British, which increased the gap between these two European Empires. 
Ultimately, out of the three European imperial states discussed above, the British Empire is definitely most “successful.” France is the second “successful” empire. The Netherlands, however, is quite far from these two leaders. Although all three Empires had colonial possessions around the world, Britain had the most, which is why it had influenced language, culture, sport, economics, politics and other spheres in many countries of the world. 
Bibliography
1.	Wikipedia contributors (2006). British Empire. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 23, 2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_colonies
2.	Wikipedia contributors (2006). Dutch Empire. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 23, 2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_colonial_empire
3.	Wikipedia contributors (2006). French colonial empires.. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 23, 2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_colonialism