The War That Undermined Britain's Empire

Britain won World War I, but it’s the victory that actually broke its empire.

Before 1914, Britain was the world’s financial superpower, basically everyone’s

bank. But the war was insanely expensive. To win, they had to borrow

huge sums of money, mostly from the USA. By the end of the war,

Britain was in massive debt, and the US had become the new world banker. This was a huge

power shift. The war also changed everything at home—the government took control of industries,

introduced summer time to save fuel, and women finally got the vote. So while Britain

looked victorious, the war’s cost was the beginning of the end for its global dominance.