The key nodes in the competition between the UK and the US can be seen as a series of steps in the transfer of hegemonic power:
1/ In 1913, before World War I, the US surpassed the UK in economic strength.
2/ In 1929, the economic crisis that started in the US swept across the globe. Germany, Italy, and Japan established right-wing fascist regimes (preparing for World War II).
3/ In 1932, the British Empire's preferential system excluded the US from the tariff barriers of the British Empire.
4/ In 1939, World War II broke out, and under Churchill's leadership, the UK joined the war, facing financial difficulties and had to seek help from the US.
5/ In 1941, the US and the UK signed the Atlantic Charter, one key point of which was national self-determination, effectively meaning the UK relinquished its legal claims over its colonies. Subsequently, the Pearl Harbor incident occurred, and the US entered the war.
6/ In 1944, the Bretton Woods global monetary system was established with the US dollar at its core.
History may not repeat itself, but it always rhymes.
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Detailed Events:
In 1776, the War of Independence was essentially France helping the Americans drive out the British.
In 1812, the War of 1812 occurred, where the US sought to annex Canada (a British colony), but was invaded by British/Canadian forces, burning the White House. Both sides reached a peace agreement.
In 1823, the US announced the Monroe Doctrine, expressing its desire to prevent European powers (mainly the UK) from entering the Americas, essentially declaring that the US aimed to dominate the Americas itself.
In 1861, during the American Civil War, the UK secretly supported the South in its attempt to secede, but the war ended with the North's victory and the reunification of the US. The Civil War can be considered the founding war of the US. The UK had to recognize US hegemony in the Americas in exchange for US neutrality in European affairs.
By 1913, the US had the world's leading economic power, with its GDP accounting for 19% of the world and foreign trade making up 11% of the global total.
In 1914, World War I broke out, and the US joined the war in 1917.
In 1919, at the Paris Peace Conference, the US entered as one of the victors but was not welcomed by the UK and France. The newly formed League of Nations did not include the US as a key player.
In 1929, the economic crisis that started in the US swept across the globe. Germany, Italy, and Japan established right-wing fascist regimes.
In 1932, the Imperial Economic Conference was held in Ottawa, where the imperial preferential system was established, mainly consisting of: member countries reducing or exempting tariffs on imported goods among themselves; imposing high tariffs, up to 30%, on imported goods from outside member countries; and all member country trade being settled in pounds.
In 1939, Germany invaded Poland, and World War II broke out.
In September 1941, Roosevelt and Churchill formulated the Atlantic Charter, which bore similarities to Wilson's Fourteen Points and was an important document shaped by the idea of establishing a world order based on the US. Its basic principles were later adopted by the United Nations Charter. At this time, the UK, in exchange for US assistance, no longer opposed the principles of freedom of navigation on the high seas and national self-determination, leading to the disintegration of the British Empire.
On December 7, 1941, the Pearl Harbor incident occurred, and the US declared war on Germany, Italy, and Japan the following day.
On July 1, 1944, the Bretton Woods Agreement was signed, establishing a new international monetary system that linked the currencies of various countries to the US dollar, which in turn was linked to gold, creating a "double peg" gold exchange standard, with the International Monetary Fund's headquarters located in Washington.
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