History
After the United States entry into WWII, Britain changed its security classifications to match American classifications. Prior to the U.S.'s coming into the war, the classifications included the top classification: "Most Confidential". Documents were then shared with the U.S., when they entered the war. However, these British classifications were not understood in the U.S., and classified information appeared in the U.S. press. This spearheaded the uniformity in classification between the UK and the U.S.
Read more about this topic: Security Clearance (UN), United Kingdom
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