Britain after the First World War was less dependent on American finance than it would be after the Second, and it remained a creditor elsewhere. American pressure also carried the cost of assuming Britain's global security role or accepting the instability caused by its retreat. A collapse of democratic partners would leave the United States facing wider wars even if its domestic economy could remain self-sufficient. Domestic pro-British networks in the United States further complicated any simple debt-for-disarmament ultimatum.
Notable Point · 39:22-42:06
Why First World War debt was not an American trump card
Britain's post-1918 debt position and global policing role limited how far the United States could coerce Royal Navy policy.