After six years of heavy fighting against the Germans throughout regions of Europe, the once hegemon, Empire of Great Britain was left in shambles. By Germany’s surrender on May 8th, 1945, most European allies were close to complete collapse themselves due to the years of extreme conflict.  The Anglo-American loan was a post World War II loan that was granted to Great Britain by the United States and Canada.  The United States loaned 3.75 billion US dollars at a 2% interest rate, and in addition Canada loaned 1.19 billion US Dollars at a similar rate. These 4.9 billion dollars could not be used for any territorial endeavors but rather to rebuild the mainland of England.  Britain was forced to give up their far away territories due to this great debt.  In addition, Japanese superiority in the East showed potential British weakness and anti-British campaigns became more popular in India after the war. The end of World War II indefinitely marked the end of British “Domination” and global status in the world.

Left Image: Englishmen and women in London coming back to regions devastated by the bombing to see what is left.

Middle Image: Civilians wearing gas masks during the bombing on Britain. Bomb Drills and living very frugal lifestyles became common during the war.

Right Image: The astronomical amount of red pin-points on the map represent the locations where bombs fell on London during “The Blitz”, which was Germany’s attempt to cripple the British Empire during World War 2.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-American_loan