Abstract

This article examines the global crisis of commodity glut that came in the wake of the Fall of France and Italy’s entry into the Second World War in June 1940, when the extension of the British blockade and shipping problems cut off primary producers around the world from major continental European markets. As a surplus of unmarketable primary commodities piled up in British colonies, as well as in Latin America and French, Dutch, and Belgian colonies, this jeapordized the blockade and threatened political unrest across the British Empire, as well as the spread of Nazi influence in Latin America. This article examines how the British government attempted to respond to this crisis, both unilaterally and in combination with the U.S. government. In doing so, it argues that Anglo-American negotiations over a joint approach to the problem of commodity glut led to some of the earliest attempts to create new international economic organizations for the postwar period. While these plans were transformed as the surplus problem itself changed in late 1941, they nonetheless laid the groundwork for Anglo-American relief planning, contentious negotiations over an international wheat agreement, and international commodity price stabilization schemes.

摘要

本文考察了 1940 年 6 月法国垮台和意大利加入第二次世界大战之后发生的全球大宗商品过剩危机，当时英国封锁的延长和航运问题切断了世界各地的初级生产者与主要生产者的联系。欧洲大陆市场。由于在英国殖民地以及拉丁美洲和法国、荷兰和比利时的殖民地堆积了大量无法销售的初级商品，这危及大英帝国的封锁并威胁到整个大英帝国的政治动荡，以及纳粹影响在拉丁美洲。本文探讨了英国政府如何试图单方面应对这场危机，并与美国政府联合进行。在这样做，它认为，英美就商品过剩问题的联合解决方案进行的谈判促成了一些最早的为战后时期建立新的国际经济组织的尝试。虽然这些计划随着 1941 年末剩余问题本身的变化而改变，但它们仍然为英美救援计划、关于国际小麦协议的有争议的谈判以及国际商品价格稳定计划奠定了基础。