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Britain was offered a loan at 2% interest to be paid over 50 years starting in 1950 by both Canada and the United States. Historian Alan Sked has commented that, "the U.S. didn't seem to realize that Britain was bankrupt", and that the loan was "denounced in the House of Lords, but in the end the country had no choice."
However, during World War I, the British government was forced to borrow heavily in order to finance the war effort. The national debt increased from £650m in 1914 to £7.4 billion in 1919. During World War II the government was again forced to borrow heavily in order to finance war with the Axis powers.
Eden had ignored Britain's financial dependence on the US in the wake of World War II, and was forced to bow to American pressure to withdraw. Eden had poor staff support because the Foreign Office , Commonwealth Relations Office , and Colonial Office had been slow to realise the need for change in Britain's world role.
Deindustrialisation or the loss of heavy industry, especially coal mining, shipbuilding and manufacturing, grew worse after 1970 as the British economy shifted to services. London and the South East maintained prosperity, as London became the leading financial centre in Europe and played a major role in world affairs.
After 1840, Britain committed its economy to free trade, with few barriers or tariffs. [71] This was most evident in the repeal in 1846 of the Corn Laws, which had imposed stiff tariffs on imported grain. The end of these laws opened the British market to unfettered competition; grain prices fell, and food became more plentiful within Great ...
For general overviews of British politics since 1945, see: Post-war Britain (1945–1979) Political history of the United Kingdom (1979–present) While coverage of British social history over the same period can be found below: Social history of post-war Britain (1945–1979) Social history of the United Kingdom (1979–present)
Nottingham isn’t the first significant city in Britain to tread in bankruptcy territory—in September, Birmingham, the U.K.’s second-largest city, also did the same after not not having ...
A £5 note (White fiver) forged by Sachsenhausen concentration camp prisonersOperation Bernhard was an exercise by Nazi Germany to forge British bank notes.The initial plan was to drop the notes over Britain to bring about a collapse of the British economy during the Second World War.