Canard
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It is hard to understand the situation that existed in the UK from the view point of countries, say Canada and the US, that have never experienced all out war on their own soil. (Yes, there was the Civil War in the US, but that was a long time ago and was somewhat regionally restricted in the devastation that it caused.)
The UK had unfathomably large war debts to pay off. It was particularly indebted to the US. It's manufacturing sector had been bombed into rubble or converted exclusively to armaments production. It had little to offer, initially, as post-war trade goods. It had little capital to help with reconstruction. It had also lost a lot of its adult male population, a lot of skilled labour lying in domestic and European cemeteries.
Hence it tried to restrict imports to avoid further indebtedness.
My relatives in Yorkshire endured great penury. I believe that rationing of food, fuel, and other goods persisted until 1954. Even in the 1960s, Canadian mail order catalogues from Eatons and Sears offered care packages of tinned and other non-perishable foods that Canadians could buy and have delivered to family and friends in the UK.
It was not until the prosperity of the mid to late 60s that the UK's economy took off again. There were almost two decades of relative poverty and economic struggle after the war.
The UK had unfathomably large war debts to pay off. It was particularly indebted to the US. It's manufacturing sector had been bombed into rubble or converted exclusively to armaments production. It had little to offer, initially, as post-war trade goods. It had little capital to help with reconstruction. It had also lost a lot of its adult male population, a lot of skilled labour lying in domestic and European cemeteries.
Hence it tried to restrict imports to avoid further indebtedness.
My relatives in Yorkshire endured great penury. I believe that rationing of food, fuel, and other goods persisted until 1954. Even in the 1960s, Canadian mail order catalogues from Eatons and Sears offered care packages of tinned and other non-perishable foods that Canadians could buy and have delivered to family and friends in the UK.
It was not until the prosperity of the mid to late 60s that the UK's economy took off again. There were almost two decades of relative poverty and economic struggle after the war.
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