The Second World War also led to an increase in nationalism among the people living in the colonies. Britain’s colonies and dominions contributed a great deal to the war effort and the people in these countries began to want the independence and ‘freedom’ they were supposedly fighting for.
The British Empire did shrink during and after World War Two, especially in the Far East. However, there are also places where it remained strong; Britain showed no inclination to decolonise in Africa and the same strong feelings of Nationalism present in some colonies was not found in Africa. There was some discontent and with improved education, expectations of being granted independence grew. The war led to economic development in British Africa. Britain developed a policy of ‘new imperialism’ which aimed to make the colonies more economically efficient. However, while much investment was promised to the Africans, little was actually done, increasing discontent. Overall, Africa was slowly moving along the path to independence with rising discontent caused by wartime shortages and inflation, and a better education system meaning people were in a better position to campaign for their freedom. The Second World War, while having some affect on the British Empire in Africa, did not dramatically speed up the decolonisation of Africa and in the immediate post-war period it appeared that Britain planned to keep a tight hold on its African Empire.
One of the most significant changes for the British Empire after the Second World War was the decolonisation of India. At the outbreak of war in 1939, the Indians initially refused to support the British, saying they refused to fight for freedom when they themselves were not free. The British attempted to appease the Indians by offering them dominion status but this was not enough for them and ultimately it was made clear that they would only enter the war on the side of Britain in exchange for their independence.
India had become less valuable to Britain as a colony. Indian independence had reached such high levels that India was almost ungovernable due to demonstrations and a refusal to cooperate with British authorities. Where once, India was economically important to Britain, it had become much less so. The war had accelerated Indian industrialisation, transforming India’s financial position from debtor into creditor of Britain’s. With this valuable reason for holding onto India gone, it was obvious that attempting to keep control over India ‘at any cost’ was no longer a practical solution and so after the war, steps were made to grant it independence, which eventually happened in 1948.
However, the Second World War was not the only reason for decolonisation in India; the First World War also played a role. Unlike 1939, when war broke out in 1914, the Indians immediately pledged support to the British, giving them both money and men to use for the war effort. However this support for Britain did not last long and it was during the war that Indian nationalism began to grow, to eventually reach the level it had by the time independence was granted in 1948. The Indian National Congress and Muslim League began to campaign for independence. People such as Gandhi called for non-violent protests against British rule. Events such as the Amritsar Massacre in 1919, in which British soldiers shot into an unarmed crowd who gathered to protest about British rule. After this, in 1920, the Khilafat movement called for a campaign of non-cooperation. Though this was called off by Gandhi in 1922 amid growing violence but by this time the Congress had been transformed in to a mass movement and the British began to see that they would have to start moving towards Indian self-governance.
Another reason for the British unpopularity in India was the use of the Indian army. Even after the war, Indian troops remained posted all over the world, pushing spending on the army to its limit. It was eventually decided that the Indian government would only pay for the direct costs of defending India and that Britain would finance the use of the army for imperial purposes. This meant that Britain’s debt to India rapidly increased and India’s military and economic value was beginning to decline for Britain.
In 1930, a report recommended a move towards dominion status for India, and a conference was held to discuss India’s constitutional status. However, such a conference could not be successful when the main Indian leaders were in prison.
As a compromise to the Indians, the Government of India Act was passed in 1935, which granted provincial self-governement but left the viceroy in control of important matters such as foreign policy. It also provided for elections, held in 1937, in which the INC won with a comfortable majority of seven out of eleven provinces. This showed the growing support the congress had in India and therefore the increased unpopularity of British rule. By the time the Viceroy declared war on behalf of India in 1939, without first consulting the Indian leaders, Indian nationalism was already strong and it is likely that even without the Second World War, the Indians would have campaigned for, and possibly even won independence. In this way, the Second World War was not so much the key turning point for India as the First World War.
The First World War also affected Britain’s relationship with its dominions. The dominions were beginning to demand a greater say in the running of the Empire. They felt they ought to be consulted on decisions such as going to war, which would have a significant impact on their own countries. All of the dominions offered their support to Britain in the First World War but after the war the sacrifices they had made meant that they became even more assertive with their demands for greater consultation. Britain obliged by giving the dominions a greater say in the war, through the Imperial War Cabinet and in 1931 Statute of Westminster was passed, giving the dominions the definition of countries which were equal to Britain and united by a common allegiance to the crown, with the freedom to run their own affairs. This did not signify a complete break from the British Empire though, as they remained part of the British Commonwealth, showing that while Britain’s relationship with the dominions changed it was not destroyed. This was proven in 1939 when all of the dominions came to the aid of Britain in the Second World War.
Public opinion of the Empire in Britain also played an important role in decolonisation and while there was a drop in support for the Empire after World War Two, it was long before this that the British public began to doubt the need for an Empire. In particular the Boer War showed the British people that not all of those under their rule wished to be so. There were those in Britain who believed that it was morally wrong to maintain the British Empire when it was so unpopular. The resources used by the Boer War also helped contribute to the Empire’s fall in popularity as they began to wonder if it was worth their while to maintain such an expensive and troublesome Empire. Public feeling against the Empire continued to grow throughout both world wars and had an affect on Britain’s relationship with its Empire.
Overall, the Second World War was a significant turning point in Britain’s relationship with her Empire. However many of the things which happened as a result of the Second World War, were already beginning as a result of other turning points such as the Boer War and First World War. The First World War led to the increase in Indian nationalism, which ultimately contributed to decolonisation after the Second World War. Also, while the change in international relations was not so obvious as in World War Two, the First World War did help expose Britain’s weaknesses and cast doubt into the minds of the people as to whether Britain’s Empire was sustainable. I think that World War Two was very important in triggering many of the changes in Britain’s Empire, however in my opinion the long term causes had been present for much longer.
