End of empire
The expense of World War One destroyed British global pre-eminence. Territorially the British empire was larger than ever.
In the Middle East, Britain and France had divided most of the former Ottoman Empire between them. But the underlying reality was that Britain could no longer afford to build the bases or ships to defend its empire as it had before 1914.
It was the United States' overwhelming industrial might that had swung the balance against Germany during the war, and it was the American president whose ideas defined the peace.
'By 1927 Britain had universal suffrage for the first time in history.'
The years between the world wars were Britain's last hurrah as the great imperial power it had been for the previous 200 years.
The country was £900 million in debt to the US for war loans, which were to be repaid immediately. Britain's enviable worldwide investments were wiped out, its coal and cotton export markets had collapsed.
This was a period of retraction abroad (by the late 1920s the white 'dominions' determined their own foreign policies) and social reform at home.
A limited number of women were allowed to vote in 1918, but by 1927 all women over the age of 21 could vote and Britain had universal suffrage for the first time in history.
The electorate trebled, bringing in the first government under the Labour party to represent the views of the working class.
Published: 2006-09-20
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