The way in which British people view Britain’s role in the world is still influenced by its past. Today Britain is an important regional power, but in the recent past it was a world power. Until World War II, Britain ruled the largest empire that the world has ever known. Incredible as it may seem today, during the 1920s, almost one-fifth of the world’s population lived under British rule. But the empire disappeared rapidly during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s as the colonies that had made up the empire gained their independence. In the aftermath of the empire, British leaders were not very successful in adapting to play a much smaller part in world affairs. However, Britain’s allies made it clear that they no longer saw Britain as a major force in world politics. The “special relationship” which was said to exist between Britain and the United States weakened as other European countries, particularly Germany, recovered after World War II. So, whereas London had been recognized by American leaders as the “capital” of Europe during the 1940s and the 1950s, Bonn was seen as the new capital of Europe during the 1960s.