So, on that February day in nineteen forty-seven, Britain told the United States it would soon end all support for Greece.īritain's second message that day was about Turkey.
It needed all its strength to rebuild after the war. A few years later, Britain could no longer help. On the other side were communist-led rebels supported by Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union.īritish forces had helped keep Greece from becoming communist at the end of World War Two. On one side of the fighting was the Greek royal family supported by Britain. Greece had been occupied by Germany during the war. They had two messages from their government. British diplomats in Washington called the State Department. It was February twenty-first, nineteen forty-seven. One can almost name the day when this happened. This week in our series, we look at how British power gave way to American influence after World War Two. I’m Steve Ember.īritain was once the most powerful nation in the world.
STEVE EMBER: Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English.