Funding the Great War and the Beginning of the End for British Hegemony
22 Pages Posted: 30 Jul 2019
Date Written: July 2019
Abstract
Britain was the richest country in the world at the outbreak of the Great War, benefitting from all the resources of an industrialised country and a large empire. Funding the war contributed to the beginning of the end for British hegemony. Financiers in London extracted a high price for lending their money to the government to pay for the supplies and munitions needed to win the war. The US extracted a similarly high price for lending to Britain during the war. Russia never paid its war debts to Britain; France, Italy and Belgium got off lightly; but for a long time the US insisted on Britain repaying in full.
Keywords: British Hegemony, National Debt, World War I
JEL Classification: N24, N44
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation