Why is Germany an economic rival of Great Britain?

Answer

All industrial nations are rivals with one another. They compete for resources and markets constantly.

Britain, owing to political unity earlier than most of the other European nations, was able to gather a huge empire, at one point comprising about one fourth the entire globe in area and population.

The rule in the pre-WWII era was that colonies were captive markets. In other words other nations could not sell there except at a great disadvantage (tariffs and other restrictions) nor buy there except at inflated prices. Of course this tended to impoverish the locals (but these were African and Asians for whom the British cared not a twit). The Russians and French also had huge empires that were run much like the British.

Obviously such a situation leads to tension and sometimes even war.

The British and French lost their empires within a few years of the end of World War 2 - in the case of France after expensive wars and humiliating defeats in Vietnam and Algeria. The Russian kept their empire for several decades (until about 1991) but ultimately economic problems caused them to lose theirs too.

Only the USA had the ability to see that restrictions on trade and high tariffs were recipes for long term economic problems and huge international tensions. With leadership from a variety of presidents, the USA had worked harder than any to eliminate these restrictions. It is probably one of the main reasons that there has been no major world war since 1945.

First answer by ID3636395708. Last edit by ID3636395708. Question popularity: 64 [recommend question]