Britain Decolonising.?

Question

There is a theory that britain decolonised because America and the USSR wanted us to. Are there examples of this?

Answer 1

Hi dm,

There's no truth to such a theory. The reason Britain gave up most of her colonies after WW II is that she simply could not afford to hold on to them. Aside from the expense of maintaining an Imperial Army and Navy, the national liberation movements in these countries was simply too great a force to be deflected.

After the war, Britain was exhausted and nearly bankrupt. The combination of domestic exhaustion and colonial fervor for independence meant that Britain really had no choice. The US, (and CERTAINLY the USSR) had no role in these calculations.

Answer 2

No though the post war American governments were blamed for the British and French withdrawing from Egypt.It is int resting to note that the Americans encouraged the Chinese nationalists to go into Hong Kong following the Jap surrender and they actually started to move towards the border.In Hong Kong the people put up Chinese flags until a British naval battle group was spotted on the horizon and the flags were swapped very quickly.It appears that the USA did think that the British empire should be broken up at the end of WWII but were thwarted.These two are the only examples I know of the USA trying to interfere with British possessions.

Answer 3

I've never heard of that theory.What I do know is that many of the major colonies were dominions anyway and while some were quiet content with that situation,there were others who actively seeked complete independence from Britain like South Africa and India.And I suppose the others followed suit so really Britain decolonised because of pressure from her colonies.

Answer 4

Dirk
Diego Garcia, or more properly the Chagos islands archipelago are still technically a dependence of the United Kingdom.
Yes there is a massive air and navy base there (not just a sig int) manned by the U.S., but there is a force of 50 or so British troops based there to 'perpetuate' British sovereignty.

For this reason the Chagos Islanders have taken the British Government to court to demand to be allowed back to their homes after being evicted unceremoniously to Mauritius at the Request of the U.S. Military.

Answer 5

I see you've got your usual quota of Americans who suddenly know all about European history. Glad they've managed to find an map at last.
In a nutshell, it did come down to cost, as did our withdrawal from America in George III's time. Certainly, neither USA nor USSR had any influence on our foreign policy - unlike today when Blair seems to follow the Bush camp. You can see how serious Blair is about UK foreign policy when he gave the job of Foreign Secretary to that odd Beckett woman. Wasn't she the one who messed up with our own internal policy of making sure our farmers received their EU subsidies? And then having to pay a fine with our money when she didn't!
Sorry, got sidetracked. No, there are no examples of Britain giving up parts of its Empire because of American or Russian pressure - except America, of course!

Answer 6

At the time of the decolonisation...a new colony was found (mostly formed out of remnants of older colonies), and surrendered to the USA: San Diego, currently in use as a sigint-base and base for operations in Afghanistan.

Answer 7

Stalin being a communist was obviously no supporter of colonialism and Roosevelt made no secret of his intention to ensure that the British Empire was dismantled as soon as the war was over. Paradoxically Hitler believed the British Empire to be one of the great institutions of the world.
I think that of the meetings between Churchill and Roosevelt, most reference was made to the British Empire in the meeting on the Prince of Wales.

Answer 8

They decolonised because they got their fat bu**s kicked out by the people that actually owned these places, look it up, I kid you not!
Start with India, then Cyprus then Aden, and watch out soon for Northern Ireland.
Hope this helps??

Answer 9

De colonising means "to release from the colon" which obviously describes a fart. So just fart and everything will be better.