The development of the American Empire is examined up to the present dominance of the USA from two perspectives: One focus views this path as a continuation of the race among European powers for hegemony on the old continent. This led, after the subjugation of India and the establishment of a semi-protectorate over China as a result of the Opium Wars around 1860, to the global hegemony of Great Britain. The American Empire is described as a transformation of this British world power status. London's dominance evolved into a dual leadership of London - Washington by 1910. After the victory over the Central Powers in World War I, Washington's hegemony took its place. Since the declaration of the Monroe Doctrine (1823), what the USA has always considered its manifest destiny has been achieved in a hundred-year-long struggle—its obvious fate.