The distinction proposed here reserves superpower status for the post-World War II combination of nuclear weapons, advanced technology, infrastructure, and global reach. Interwar Britain's bases, imperial production, and deployable forces made it first among comparatively close competitors. A coalition of several rival great powers could still overturn the leading state's position, as the Napoleonic example illustrates. The postwar United States and Soviet Union are contrasted with that system because their manpower, capital, and military investment placed them much further ahead of the other major states. American access to continental resources and the absence of a nearby naval peer further strengthened its position.
Notable Point · 39:56-45:44
Why a leading great power was not yet a superpower
Britain's position among rival great powers differed from the much larger postwar gap separating the United States and Soviet Union from other states.