 During World War II, the economy collapsed as the shipping traffic was drastically reduced.As the British coal industry went into decline in the 1980s, this source of income dried up, and Britain had to abandon its Cape Verdean interests — which ended up being the final strike to the highly dependent local economy.During World War II, British ships were stationed in Mindelo, later with Winston Churchill's interest in Cape Verde, in April 1941, thousands of troops were stationed on the island.