United Kingdom, 1939–1945
Democracy · Monarchy · Western Europe · World War II era
Wartime Britain under a national government, a democracy mobilizing totally for war against Nazi Germany while preserving parliamentary rule.
Britain fought the Second World War under a cross-party national government led by Winston Churchill, mobilizing its economy, society and empire almost totally for the war effort while preserving parliamentary government, elections-in-abeyance by agreement, and civil liberties in large part. It withstood the 1940 air campaign and, with allies, contributed to Axis defeat. The war left the country victorious but economically exhausted.
Dominant patterns
- External Expansion
- Militarization
- Regime Stabilization
- Democratization
- Economic Crisis
Political-science factor profile
Each factor 0–100; higher = stronger authoritarian / crisis pole (except institutional stability, where higher = stronger institutions).
| Centralization of Power | 62 |
| Media Control | 55 |
| Repression | 42 |
| Nationalism | 72 |
| Militarization | 92 |
| Economic Stress | 60 |
| External Conflict | 95 |
| Cult of Personality | 45 |
| Elite Fragmentation | 35 |
| Institutions | 78 |
| Social Polarization | 35 |
| Corruption & Patrimonialism | 28 |
| Ideological Mobilization | 50 |
| External Sovereignty | 95 |
Economy & society
| GDP per capita | $6900 (intl-$) |
| GDP growth | +2%/yr |
| Population | 48.0M people |
| Share of world population | 2.1% |
| Urban share | 79% |
| Territory | ~245k km² |
| Capital population | ~8.2M |
Closest historical twins
The country-eras whose structural profile most resembles United Kingdom 1939–1945, by similarity score (0–100).
- United States, 1941–1945 – similarity 94/100 · shared: External Expansion, Militarization, Regime Stabilization, Democratization
- Prussia, 1797–1815 – similarity 87/100 · shared: External Expansion, Militarization, Regime Stabilization, Democratization
- Great Britain, 1783–1815 – similarity 85/100 · shared: External Expansion, Militarization, Regime Stabilization, Democratization
- Japan, 1868–1912 – similarity 83/100 · shared: External Expansion, Militarization, Regime Stabilization, Democratization
- Sweden, 1697–1721 CE – similarity 83/100 · shared: External Expansion, Militarization, Regime Stabilization, Economic Crisis
- Prussia, 1740–1786 – similarity 81/100 · shared: External Expansion, Militarization, Regime Stabilization, Democratization
- Sparta, 490–371 BCE – similarity 81/100 · shared: External Expansion, Militarization, Regime Stabilization, Democratization
- Japan, 1905–1918 – similarity 81/100 · shared: External Expansion, Militarization, Regime Stabilization, Democratization
What followed
- Total mobilization and victory in the Second World War.
- Constitutional continuity through total war.