How the U.S. Left Britain Bankrupt After World War II

Britain didn’t lose World War II on the battlefield —
but it lost the war financially.

History celebrates 1945 as a moment of victory. What it rarely explains is what came next: a bankrupt empire, crushing debt, and a quiet transfer of global power from London to Washington.

Decades after the war ended, Britain was still paying the bill.

In 2006, the UK made its final payment on a wartime loan taken to survive the aftermath of victory — a reminder that the cost of World War II didn’t end when the fighting stopped.

This video uncovers the hidden economic defeat behind Britain’s greatest military triumph.

In this video, we explore:

• Why Britain was effectively bankrupt by 1945, with debt exceeding 200% of GDP
• How the sudden cutoff of wartime aid triggered a financial crisis
• Why John Maynard Keynes failed to secure a grant — and accepted a loan with brutal conditions
• How forced currency convertibility shattered Sterling’s global power
• How this debt accelerated the collapse of the British Empire
• Why the U.S. dollar emerged as the world’s dominant reserve currency

World War II reshaped borders, alliances, and ideologies —
but its economic consequences quietly rewrote global power.

This is the story of how Britain “won” the war — and lost the world.

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