From Pounds to Dollars: The Shift of International Economic Hegemony (1933-1945)

Author: Zhang Zhenjiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: This book is a research monograph on the issue of international economic hegemony. It covers topics such as the Great Depression and the shift in U.S.-British foreign economic strategies, the complex economic relationship between the U.S. and Britain, the negotiation and conclusion of the "U.S.-British Trade Treaty," the adjustment of U.S. foreign economic strategies during World War II, and the Lend-Lease negotiations and the establishment of post-war international economic principles. It is suitable for economic researchers to reference and study. The book examines U.S.-British economic diplomacy from 1933 to 1945. The economic crisis that broke out in the late 1920s and early 1930s in the major developed countries of the West completely destroyed the international economic system based on the gold standard. As the leader of the old system, Britain, and the United States, which had already become the world's largest economy, both formulated their respective foreign economic strategies. Symbolized by the 1934 "Reciprocal Trade Act," the United States sought to implement a "New Deal" in the international economic arena, aiming to establish a U.S.-dominated world economic system and international peace. Facing the crisis and declining international status and influence, Britain chose a strategy of retreating and self-preservation: abandoning free trade and forming an "Imperial Preferential System" centered around Britain, with the British Empire as a defense line. Through numerous bilateral payment and trade agreements, Britain maintained and expanded its economic sphere of influence. These two entirely different strategies determined the inevitable confrontation between the two sides. Thus, around the 1933 London World Economic Conference, the 1936 U.S.-British-French monetary agreement, the 1938 "U.S.-British Trade Treaty," and issues affecting the entire wartime international relationship, such as war debts and reparations, the two sides engaged in a prolonged and largely evenly matched diplomatic struggle. However, the outbreak of World War II completely changed the struggle pattern between the two countries in the 1930s. As the leader of World War II and a supplier of strategic materials, the United States developed a strategic plan to reshape the post-war international economic system. The domestic consensus and will to pursue world economic hegemony were like an arrow drawn back, poised to strike. Britain's situation was the opposite; it became increasingly dependent on the United States in both military and strategic material aspects. As a result, around Article 4 of the "Atlantic Charter," the "Lend-Lease Compensation" negotiations, the international financial blueprint and international trade plans shaping the post-war international economic system, and the "U.S.-British Financial Agreement" by the end of 1945, Britain had to step by step evade, accommodate, struggle, retreat, and ultimately accept the U.S. plan to dominate the post-war international economic system. This was a war without smoke, a historical episode of the transition from an old hegemon to a rising power in the field of international economics. Understanding this history is of great significance for comprehending the essence of the modern international economic system, world economic hegemony, and U.S. strategy, as well as for thinking about and guiding China's relationship with the international economic system and its hegemonic nations.