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English came to power due to many reasons, mostly because of WWII as previously stated, but even before that it was essentially the language of science and business, mostly thanks to the Vatican *I won't go into hard facts about this, as my knowledge has been mostly skewed after reading Angels and Demons*.
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I think you'll find that English became the most popular global language during the period when the British Empire pretty much covered the planet, long before either World War.
As Styphon said, languages have always traditionally spread depending on who owned all the territory at any given time. French was popular throughout the middle ages as a lot of the nobility and ruling classes from around Europe were born and raised in France. Hell, King Richard III spent far more of his life when he wasn't looting the middle east in France than in England.
Once the British Empire started spreading across the world, it was only natural that English would become the most commonly spoken language. Nowadays, it's highly unlikely that any country will conduct a military territorial campaign (Ignoring the US's jaunts in the middle east as you guys just about speak English) of big enough scale to cause a change in the accepted global language. It's also unlikely to change because of trade due to English being taken up in China quicker than Chinese is catching on abroad.
Jam it back in, in the dark.
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Fluffykitten McGrundlepuss