What led to the collapse of Britain’s former economic power?
Although the US government committed itself to supplying Britain and the other Allies with weapons and other materials, US law insisted these goods had to be paid for.
By 1940 it was clear that Britain was running out of money, so the American President Roosevelt proposed the idea of ‘lend lease’, which allowed the United States to supply strategic materials in exchange for anything that the president decided was of benefit to his country. Britain received huge amounts of armaments and food, building up a colossal debt that caused great hardship in the early postwar years. Repayment meant increased taxation and the loss of many British assets.
How did Mao Zedong gain power in China?
When the Japanese occupied much of China during World War II, the Nationalists allied themselves with the newly emerging Communists and fought back.
However, after the defeat of the Japanese, the alliance between these natural enemies broke down. The Communists were able to drive the Nationalists out of most of the country because they were supported by the peasants. By 1949, the Nationalist forces had been forced to leave the mainland and establish themselves on the island of Taiwan, where they still remain. The Communist Chinese leader, Mao Zedong, formed the People’s Republic of China in October 1949. Mao Zedong first became interested in politics while fighting in the revolution in 1911. He became a member of the Chinese Communist Party in 1923.
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