I believe the answer is: Benjamin disraeli
The challenge that initiated by Benjamin Disraeli damaged the relationship between the British empires and their colonies.
Before this, British empire colonized other countries for a trade/business relationship. But with Disraeli's new way of thinking, more of them were advocated to make the colonized countries become a part of the British empire and heavily involved in their politics.
There were many ways varying from plain sabotage where they claimed that the Portuguese merchants were thieves, up to more controversial means such as ordering their assassinations and telling the king that he should have them killed because they didn't give him presents and plan to enrich their wealth at his expense.
About 470,693 square miles (1.22 million km²)
Micronesia has a total land area about the size of the state of Rhode Island.
D. a combination of history and legend