But I do find it amusing how much the English thought the world rotated around England at that time in history (the French no doubt thought the same about France)

Between 1815 and 1914, a period referred to as Britain's "imperial century",[3][4] around 10,000,000 square miles (26,000,000 km2) of territory and roughly 400 million people were added to the British Empire.[5] Victory over Napoleonic France left the British without any serious international rival, other than perhaps Russia in central Asia.[6] When Russia tried expanding its influence in the Balkans, the British and French defeated them in the Crimean War (1854–1856), thereby protecting the feeble Ottoman Empire.
Britain's Royal Navy controlled most of the key maritime trade routes and enjoyed unchallenged sea power. Alongside the formal control exerted over its own colonies, Britain's dominant position in world trade meant that it effectively controlled access to many regions, such as Asia and Latin America. British merchants, shippers and bankers had such an overwhelming advantage over everyone else that in addition to its colonies it had an "informal empire".

The martians may well have singled Britain out for destruction first.