ABSTRACT
J 945: THE BEGINNING OF THE END? Given the weak posit ion of Britain by the end of the Second World War, there is a temptation to regard the decolonisation of ~he Briti sh Empire as an inevitability . M etropolitan crises induced by wartime debt in the 19205 and world slump in the 19305 were exacerbated by the combined onslaught from Germany, Italy and Japan between 1939 and 1945. Britain in contrast to other European imperial powers, such as France, was undefeated in Europe. None the less, the economic costs of total war were apparently too great for Britain to remain a great power in the postwar world. The British war effort had been dependent on massive loans from the United States and the liquidation of overseas assets. This meant that by the end of the global conflict, Brit - ain was overspending its own income by over £2,000 million a year, its industrial machinery was worn out, and its exports had lost two-thirds of their value. The esteemed economist, Lord Keynes, warned in August 1945 of a 'financial Dunkirk' facing peacetime Britain [Doc. 11 .
