Germany was able (this would be impossible without a highly developed technological base even if you want to) to develop synthetic material to survive the war for almost 5 years despite being blockaded.
Sources? You do know that most of Asia and Africa were colonized by UK and France, and many were even before the rise of Germany. And I agree, another reason was that Britain had a superior navy as well as shipbuilding and marine engineering industry. But overall the problem is more about diplomacy and geography.
And look at 1913-1914, Germany was able to maintain over 4 million soldiers plus a big navy (second largest) at the same time, and its economy had no problem supplying them.
Well the thing is many of the nations of Europe had quite sophisticated centres of science, including some that were not seen as big industrial players. However surviving a war is the objective and victory condition for those attacked, if you are the one launching the attacks you need to have something to show for it afterwards.
Germany in 1913-1914 did not maintain 4 million soldiers, the peacetime strength was 830,000 the rest were reservists employed in civilian occupations, further but its economy had experienced a problem maintaining the World's second largest Navy and so the effort had been abandoned in 1912.
So we have a situation in which Germany sort to avoid war with the British because it could not go to war with them 1 v 1 as you have claimed. Germany would have to rely on the resources of other powers...for example it often not mentioned how much in the way of supplies Germany raped away from Austria-Hungary. The result was the Germans cannibalised the very ally they had nominally gone to war to uphold in order to preserve their ability to continue resistance despite being able to loot several large conquered areas. This is not in fact an indicator of robust economic strength.
The German genius however is for peaceful trade, something born out by your examples. War, in part because of geography, in part because the choices required for war do not play to Germany's inherent strengths was always going to be a silly option.
Now the British economy was a different beast to that of Germany but not it would seem inherently weaker, producing some 90% plus of the comparative GDP product, though GDP is not always a good means of measuring comparative capacity, with a population some two thirds that of Germany. It focused on its strengths but retained the capacity to exploit most cutting edge science and engineering of its day. Further but the British while if anything even more vulnerable to blockade were in fact able to ensure that such a blockade would not succeed.
Of course the British were not likely to be able to conquer another great power in this era but that was a useful diplomatic tool. British power was defensive and would aid an ally's defence. There was no need to undertake the offensive.
Britain also grew rich off of peaceful trade.