Why did the British Empire collapse
When discussing the British Empire we are talking about the great imperial rule of Britain rule which controlled around 20 per cent of the land on earth. It was a huge empire which roots started in the 16th century under Elizabeth I’s with the famous sir Francis Drake. The end Second World War marked the start of the decolonisation of the British Empire although it is argued by some historians that the start or roots of decolonisation had started at the end of the First World War a view that is supported by John Gallagher. ... To understand the collapse of the empire we need to first discuss the stagnation of colonisation in the inter-war period and the changes brought about in the world at the end of the Second World War. Then we can fully examine the chain of events which occurred after the War to the end of the empire. ... ’ We see that the framework for the empire of Britain lost the boom that had started in the 17th century and began to recede. ... They still had European status and their empire in 1945 but the new attitudes of those in power e. ... So we see the pressures Britain faced but what about the colonies, how did they react after the war, what internal conflicts led to the break up of an empire. ... McIntyre gives us a quite a good insight on the fall of the British empire and initially stars his argument with the new labour Government and the problems with Suez as does Boyce from Atlee to Churchill. ... Instead of having an imperial rule, which was seen as indirect rule after the First World War, there was the notion of the British Commonwealth. At first this commonwealth did not work but later countries found themselves coming back into the commonwealth of there own accord, but the commonwealth was never and is not as large as the empire. ... It seems that Darwin and McIntyre agree that Atlee’s transfer of power to India was the start of the fall of the empire. ... A great blow to Britain’s pride and status, further more America refused to accept Anglo-French forces as part of UNEF, further demolishing British pride and status.