![]() A new financial order was established that henceforth would govern monetary relations among signatory states. Under this treaty, the mighty US dollar was to become the financial ambassador for dominant US imperialism. The first step was taken even before the end of the war, in July 1944, with the ratification of the Bretton Woods agreement. US indifference to promoting international economic recovery was to become a contributory factor towards both the Great Depression in 1931 and the rise of fascism in Germany.Īs the world’s undisputed economic colossus after 1945, the US now realised that it must move quickly to stabilise Europe and Asia. Twenty years on, Trotsky’s prophetic words were further borne out by the decision of American imperialism to take the controlling role in reshaping the world economy and geopolitical affairs in the form of the installation of the Bretton Woods financial agreement in 1944, the Marshall Aid Plan four years later, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) in 1949.Īmerica’s ruling class chose an isolationist path after 1918, largely cutting itself off from any involvement in assisting war-torn Britain and France, both struggling with unpayable war debts that dragged their economies into deep and persistent recessions.ĭefeated Germany was punished with punitive war reparations that further devastated its economy and political stability. The socialist revolutionary, Leon Trotsky, in a speech analysing inter-imperialist and global relations, in July 1924, observed: “For the master of the capitalist world – and let us firmly understand this! – is New York, with Washington as its state department,” adding that despite “draping itself in the toga of pacifism, American capitalism is seeking the position of world domination it wants to establish an American imperialist autocracy over our planet. The United States emerged from the carnage of World War One immeasurably strengthened, both economically and militarily. War and global crises led to the reconstruction of global relations after the Second World War, with many lessons today for the workers’ movement. ![]() ![]() During the Covid-19 crisis, many commentators have talked about a ‘new Bretton Woods’ and the need for post-crisis international capitalist cooperation and reconstruction. ![]()
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