Description

The Long Shadow of Default focuses on an important but neglected example of sovereign default between two of the wealthiest and most powerful democracies in modern history The United Kingdom accrued considerable financial debts to the United States during and immediately after the First World War In 1934 the British government unilaterally suspended payment on these debts This book examines why the United Kingdom was one of the last major powers to default on its war debts to the United States and how these outstanding obligations affected political and economic relations between both governments The British governments unpaid debts cast a surprisingly long shadow over policymaking on both sides of the Atlantic Memories of British default would limit transatlantic cooperation before and after the Second World War inform Congressional debates about the economic difficulties of the 1970s and generate legal challenges for both governments up until the 1990s More than a century later the United Kingdoms war debts to the United States remain unpaid and outstanding

David James Gill provides one of the most detailed historical analyses of any sovereign default He brings attention to an oftenneglected episode in international history to inform refine and sometimes challenge the wider study of sovereign default