However, even after the war, Britain’s empire remained strong. While the attitudes of some British people had changed, the majority either still supported or had no strong feelings about the empire. The empire also continued to grow after the war and certainly no colonies were lost as a result. ON the whole, the British empire was somewhat shaken by the Boer War, but in general it remained strong and stable and in no immediate danger of collapse.
The next significant even to an impact on Britain’s control of the empire, was the First World War of 1914-1918. This war proved to be both bad and good for the empire. It did a mark a change in Britain’s control over its empire and it was a more significant one than after the Boer War. Nationalism, particularly in India, began to grow after WW1, though it remained moderate and Britain did not seem in any real danger of losing its ‘jewel in the crown’. However, in response to the increasing demands for independence, Britain was forced to make concessions to India such as the 1919 Government of India Act which seemed to give Indians more control over their own affairs. In truth, however, the act did not give as much power as it seemed to and Britain generally remained firmly in control of India. 1918 was not the first time Indian nationalism was present however as it had been around since 1909, before WW1. India began to lose value for Britain after the war, particularly as a market for cotton and also as a result of the tariffs India introduced on British goods from 1919. India’s value to Britain continued to decline and from 1934 onwards, Britain was faced with the prospect of paying for the Indian army, which had been one of India’s greatest assets to Britain.
However, WW1, while important, was still not the decisive factor in Britain’s loss of control over the empire. No colonies were lost as a result and Britain even gained territory in the form of mandates from the broken up German and Ottoman Empires. Although there was supposedly a view that these territories were to be taken only until they could govern themselves, this was not really the case. In addition to this, Britain’s empire in Africa remained generally strong and showed no signs of weakening.
Nevertheless, WW1 did mark a change in the attitudes of the dominions who did not feel it was right that Britain could still declare war on their behalf. Led by Canada they began to demand a greater say in their foreign affairs. This was granted to an extent but the dominions remained supportive of Britain and at the outbreak of WW2 all but South Africa immediately offered support in the form of soldiers and financial aid.
The next, and most important event cause a change in Britain’s relationship with its empire was the Second World War of 1939-45. After this war, Britain’s status as a world power weakened considerably. It became the weakest of the three world superpowers, falling behind the USA and the USSR. Britain incurred huge costs as a result of the war and as such became financially dependent on the USA for aid. This put Britain under pressure to decolonise as the USA were anti-imperialist and wanted to be able to trade within Britain’s empire. They would only support Britain’s empire where decolonisation could mean the ex-colony falling into the hands of the USSR.
The other most significant result of WW2, was the loss of India in 1947. After the war, India lost even more value to Britain as it was forced to pay for the use of the army and this and tariffs meant Britain was massively in debt to the India. Indian nationalism during the war grew to an extent where India became ungovernable and as a result in 1947, Britain decolonised India, previously one of its most prized possessions.
Yet, WW2 did not mean the total loss of Britain’s empire. It still retained many of its colonies particularly those in Africa, where they followed a policy of ‘new Imperialism’ rather than decolonisation. However African nationalists were soon influenced by those in India eventually were also granted independence, as they too began to lose value and become costly to maintain.
The final event to mark a change in Britain’s imperial strength was the Suez Crisis of 1956. The crisis affected relations with the Middle East and lost Britain control of the Suez Canal, previously its most important trade route. However much of Britain’s empire was already in decline by this point and while the Suez Crisis highlighted the extent of Britain’s loss of control and showed the world, most particularly those African nationalists still fighting for independence, it was not the most important event to cause a change in Britain’s imperial power.
Overall, WW2 marked the decisive change in Britain’s control of its empire as it was at this time that Britain lost its most important colony of India and found its status in the world to weaken dramatically.