<P> Though Britain and the empire emerged victorious from the Second World War , the effects of the conflict were profound , both at home and abroad . Much of Europe , a continent that had dominated the world for several centuries , was in ruins , and host to the armies of the United States and the Soviet Union , who now held the balance of global power . Britain was left essentially bankrupt , with insolvency only averted in 1946 after the negotiation of a $ US 4.33 billion loan from the United States , the last instalment of which was repaid in 2006 . At the same time , anti-colonial movements were on the rise in the colonies of European nations . The situation was complicated further by the increasing Cold War rivalry of the United States and the Soviet Union . In principle , both nations were opposed to European colonialism . In practice , however , American anti-communism prevailed over anti-imperialism , and therefore the United States supported the continued existence of the British Empire to keep Communist expansion in check . The `` wind of change '' ultimately meant that the British Empire 's days were numbered , and on the whole , Britain adopted a policy of peaceful disengagement from its colonies once stable , non-Communist governments were available to transfer power to . This was in contrast to other European powers such as France and Portugal , which waged costly and ultimately unsuccessful wars to keep their empires intact . Between 1945 and 1965 , the number of people under British rule outside the UK itself fell from 700 million to five million , three million of whom were in Hong Kong . </P>
<P> Though Britain and the empire emerged victorious from the Second World War , the effects of the conflict were profound , both at home and abroad . Much of Europe , a continent that had dominated the world for several centuries , was in ruins , and host to the armies of the United States and the Soviet Union , who now held the balance of global power . Britain was left essentially bankrupt , with insolvency only averted in 1946 after the negotiation of a $ US 4.33 billion loan from the United States , the last instalment of which was repaid in 2006 . At the same time , anti-colonial movements were on the rise in the colonies of European nations . The situation was complicated further by the increasing Cold War rivalry of the United States and the Soviet Union . In principle , both nations were opposed to European colonialism . In practice , however , American anti-communism prevailed over anti-imperialism , and therefore the United States supported the continued existence of the British Empire to keep Communist expansion in check . The `` wind of change '' ultimately meant that the British Empire 's days were numbered , and on the whole , Britain adopted a policy of peaceful disengagement from its colonies once stable , non-Communist governments were available to transfer power to . This was in contrast to other European powers such as France and Portugal , which waged costly and ultimately unsuccessful wars to keep their empires intact . Between 1945 and 1965 , the number of people under British rule outside the UK itself fell from 700 million to five million , three million of whom were in Hong Kong . </P>
when did the british empire start to end
when did the british empire start to end
1945
1945