Explain the importance in relation to other factors of the impact of WWII on Britain’s decline as a great power by about 1950.
There are many factors as to why Britain declined as a great power by 1950. Perhaps some of the most important factors are Britain’s economic status, the rise and dependency upon powerful states such as USA and loss of empire as a result of Nationalism. However although these factors are important it is my opinion that the most important factor for Britain’s decline as a great power was the Second World War. This is because all of the other factors involved in Britain’s decline in power are as a direct result of the Second World War.
Britain’s Empire was a significant contribution to its status as a great international power. The Empire provided Britain with economic opportunities such as cheap raw materials, military resources like soldiers and it gave Britain strategic influence in the form of military presence on a global scale. However from around 1918 onwards the British Empire suffered from an increase in Nationalism as the countries of the empire wanted independence. At this point the British still felt that the empire had economic potential and could provide Britain with economic growth to increase its power so instead of giving the countries of the empire independence the British followed a policy of Colonial Economic Development (CED). However after McMillan’s profit and loss analysis it was clear that CED was ineffective and the cost of holding onto the Empire outweighed the advantages it provided. This led to Britain giving independence to some countries such as India in 1947 followed by Burma and withdrawal from Palestine in 1948. Although Britain decolonising does show a decline in its power it wasn’t really a very important factor in its decline as a great power. By 1945 the empire was strategically irrelevant anyway due to the creation of nuclear power which enabled country’s to attack each other across the world. Great Britain developed a new relationship with the its white dominions called the Common Wealth. Also the empire did not contribute to economic growth and so therefore did not contribute to Britain’s becoming a great power. By 1950 the empire wasn’t really a great loss for Britain because Europe and the USA was its future.
