ABSTRACT
The Labour Cabinet contained powerful individuals, such as Prime Minister Attlee and Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin, who were determined to defend Britain's extra-European role in an unpredictable post-war world. Alongside severe military and economic strain, British imperialism had faced a huge moral blow during the Second World War. The contribution of the colonial empire to the British war effort during 1939-45 in manpower and material seemed a 'validation of Britain's unique role as an imperial state'. American economic liberalism thus threatened to strike at the imperial trade preferences and currency controls which had knitted the empire together as an economic unit. The 'new imperialism' was a means of Britain continuing to play an independent, global role in the world. British post-war leaders were committed to creating a 'third force' in world politics, the idea of expanding Britain's power to equal the United States and the Soviet Union.
