The Dismantling of the British Empire

World War I raged from 1914 to1918. The European powers were all greatly affected by the war, both in terms of financial cost, loss of resources, and loss of life. To get soldiers to fight on their side, the British had promised several of their colonies more self-rule, promises they were reluctant to honour once the war was over.

In the peace negotiations after World War I in 1919, Germany and its allies were forced to surrender their foreign territories to the allied forces. Britain, being one of them, gained colonies in Africa and the Middle East, and these additions made the British Empire reach its peak in the early 1920s.

However, the Empire had begun to disintegrate: Australia, Canada and New Zealand were making strides via dominion status towards independence. Dominion status elevated the countries from 'mere colonies' to having autonomy: the countries were no ruled by Britain. (Canada officially became fully independent from Britain in 1982, and Australia and New Zealand in 1986).

In 1931, The Commonwealth of Nations was founded by Britain, Australia, Canada, South Africa, and Newfoundland to ensure friendly relations between the former colonies and Britain.

World War II changed the world order profoundly. The emergence of two new superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, changed the world’s power balance. The Cold War and the threat of nuclear war meant that the time of the old powers had passed. The United States urged the colonial powers of Western Europe, and in particular their ally Britain, to dismantle their empire. Having colonies around the world did not fit the political agenda anymore. Suddenly, Britain looked like a country of the past, while America represented the future.

The idea that Europeans were superior to other races, and had a God-given right to civilise them, also lost support as people saw the harm done by Nazi Germany's race ideology.

Furthermore, maintaining the Empire became a costly affair for Britain, as finances were difficult after the war. Britain needed loans from America to invest in its own health and infrastructure, and spending money on a far-flung empire became a luxury they could not afford.

Mahatma Gandhi led a peaceful campaign to free India from British rule. When the Indian subcontinent became independent in 1947, it was divided into East and West Pakistan (Muslim) and India (Hindu). East Pakistan became Bangladesh in 1971.

Independence and partition created a domino effect, and in 1957, Ghana, in West Africa, was the first sub-Saharan African colony to become independent.

Britain realised that it was only a matter of time before the British Empire would collapse, and they sought a new form of attachment and cooperation through the Commonwealth of Nations. In some colonies, independence came quietly, while in others there were periods of unrest and violence. Many former colonies still grapple with political, economic, and social instability.

It took centuries to build the British Empire, even though the second Empire came about rapidly from the late 19th to the mid-20th century. After World War II, decolonialisation occurred swiftly. The Commonwealth of Nations (originally the British Commonwealth of Nations) helped Britain maintain ties with the former colonies.

The Commonwealth is a political organisation. It is committed to the institution of world peace; promotion of representative democracy and individual liberty; free trade; environmental sustainability; the pursuit of equality and opposition to racism; the fight against poverty, ignorance, and disease; and opposition to discrimination based on gender.

Member states have no legal obligations to one another but are connected through their use of the English language and historical ties. Today, the Commonwealth consists of 54 independent and equal countries, all of them are former British colonies except for Rwanda and Mozambique.

The United Kingdom lost its empire and was reduced to a medium-sized west-European country, both in terms of influence and power.

Many consider the end of British rule in Hong Kong in 1997 as the end of the British Empire. However, Britain has at the time of writing (2022) fourteen overseas territories, among them Gibraltar, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, and the Falkland Islands.

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