WI- No War Debts?

[Smuz]

What if the US had cancelled the debts owed by Britain, Belgium and France, or at least dramatically reduced them, when it entered WW2? We'd see far quicker economic recovery post war with no debt repayments

Or alternatively, what if Britain had been given more US aid post-WW2? I'd just thinking about how to keep Europe strong, rather than the depressions of the 50s. Would Britain have gone the welfare state route? For that matter, would Churchill have been ousted? And would Britain (and France?) have been forced to lose their Empires so fast, if not, could we see a more peaceful Africa today?

 

[Wozza]

What depression of the 50s?

 

[Kit]

What if the US had cancelled the debts owed by Britain, Belgium and France, or at least dramatically reduced them, when it entered WW2? We'd see far quicker economic recovery post war with no debt repayments

Or alternatively, what if Britain had been given more US aid post-WW2? I'd just thinking about how to keep Europe strong, rather than the depressions of the 50s. Would Britain have gone the welfare state route? For that matter, would Churchill have been ousted? And would Britain (and France?) have been forced to lose their Empires so fast, if not, could we see a more peaceful Africa today?

There wasn't a depression in the 50s. The period up until around 1970 saw significant and sustained economic growth.

The war debt repayments weren't all that heavy. They were well within the capacity of us to repay and they didn't have much of an efffect on major policy decisions like whether or not to create a Welfare state or when to dismantle the Empire. They were one (relatively small) factor among many more important ones.