1945–1950s: (The Second Colonial Occupation in Economic Terms — Europe Economically Exhausted, African Colonies More Important Than Ever, Britain Relying Hea…

1945–1950s: (The Second Colonial Occupation in Economic Terms — Europe Economically Exhausted, African Colonies More Important Than Ever, Britain Relying Heavily on Territories Outside Dollar Control, Portugal Clinging Longest Precisely Because It Was Weakest, Britain Decolonizing Fastest Because It Was Strongest, and the Paradox of Economic Weakness and Imperial Longevity): In 1945 Europe was economically exhausted — in this new bipolar world, Europe had lost the preeminence it had enjoyed for four centuries, marginalized by the power of the United States and the Soviet Union. This placed colonial powers in a new relationship with their African territories: colonies were more important than ever in economic terms. The British arguably came to rely more heavily on their African possessions than ever before, and there was again a second colonial occupation involving efforts to open new areas for trade, investment, and production. Large areas of eastern and central Africa were regarded as newly important sources of raw materials vital to resource-starved Britain — importantly, they were outside dollar control and thus vital to British recovery without total dependence on the United States. A crucial paradox emerged: Portugal, the weakest colonial empire in economic terms, lasted the longest — until the 1970s — precisely because of its economic disadvantages, clinging to its overseas empire as a vital commercial and industrial crutch. By contrast, Britain, which recovered relatively quickly and was the strongest European colonial power by the 1950s, decolonized fastest — precisely because its economic buoyancy and political influence meant it could afford to decolonize while retaining post-colonial influence. For Lisbon, economic control equaled political control; for Britain and France, economic control could be maintained without political administration. The contrast between their colonial visions was that between the late nineteenth century and the mid-twentieth.