“We refer to the group of self-governing communities composed of Great Britain and the Dominions. Their position and mutual relation may be readily defined. They are autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations.”
– Balfour Declaration of 1926, issued by the 1926 Imperial Conference of British Empire leaders in London
British nations are hit hard in the Great War, a major turning point for the British Empire
Canada lost nearly 1% of its population in World War One, and Australia and New Zealand lost more than 1% of their respective populations therein. The British Isles themselves actually lost roughly 2% of the UK population during this infamous “Great War.” Small wonder, then, that the First World War was a turning point for the British Empire. I plan to cover the lead-up to the Great War elsewhere, so I will not try to attempt such coverage here. Thus, suffice it to say here that things exploded in 1914, when these various parts of the British Empire were all sucked into the conflict. The year 1914, specifically, is thus considered to be a major turning point for the British Empire. To some degree, even India and South Africa were affected by the carnage, although their death rates were somewhat lower than those listed above. Like the United States, these various portions of the British Empire would later send some troops to fight in the Russian Civil War as well, when the broader world war had ended. But these interventions ultimately failed, and communism was nonetheless instituted in Russia. In the negotiations for the postwar peace treaty, all of these portions of the British Empire were represented in the Allied delegation therein. These included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, and (of course) Britain itself. It was then acknowledged that groups like the Anzacs and the Canadians had fought very bravely alongside their comrades from the British Isles. Thus, it was felt that they, too, should have a place at the bargaining table there. This was an unofficial recognition of their status in the still-ongoing British Empire. During the war, the British Isles also saw the Irish rebellion of 1916. This soon led to the creation of the “Irish Free State,” which later became the “Republic of Ireland.” (More about that later.)
Australian troops at Gallipoli, circa 1915 – part of World War One
Irish soldiers at the Somme, 1916 – part of World War One
Influence of the Balfour Declaration of 1926, and the crucial Statute of Westminster 1931
After the war, there was a “Balfour Declaration of 1926” – not to be confused with the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which promised a “national home for the Jewish people.” (More about that here.) The 1926 Balfour Declaration made an early reference to the “British Commonwealth of Nations.” (See the quotation at the beginning of this blog post for the details.) But the 1926 Balfour Declaration lacked legal force in and of itself – like many other declarations, before and since. Thus, only five years later, the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the “Statute of Westminster 1931.” After a somewhat lengthy preamble, the act first clarified that “In this Act the expression ‘Dominion’ means any of the following Dominions, that is to say, the Dominion of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, the Irish Free State and Newfoundland [which was then part of Britain, but is today part of Canada].” (Source: Statute of Westminster 1931) With this in mind, a later part of the act clarified that “No Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom passed after the commencement of this Act shall extend or be deemed to extend, to a Dominion as part of the law of that Dominion, unless it is expressly declared in that Act that that Dominion has requested, and consented to, the enactment thereof.” (Source: Statute of Westminster 1931) This gave some legal significance to the earlier Balfour Declaration of 1926, and was likewise a turning point for the British Empire. The foundations were already being laid for the future British Commonwealth – or, as the 1926 Balfour Declaration had called it, the “British Commonwealth of Nations.”
Lord Arthur Balfour, the namesake of the Balfour Declaration of 1926
King George V surrounded by prime ministers of various dominions at the 1926 conference
The Second World War is another major turning point for the British Empire
Under Neville Chamberlain, the British had tried hard – perhaps too hard – to avoid a confrontation with Nazi Germany. (More about that here.) But, in 1939, the British and the French jointly declared war on Germany (see the text of that declaration here). This had legal significance elsewhere in the British Empire – because it now meant that they, too, would be at war with Germany. For the Canadians, the conflict with Nazi Germany (and, to a lesser extent, Fascist Italy) would remain the focus of their efforts throughout the war. This was also the case with the United Kingdom itself. But the South African death rate therein was somewhat lower than that of the United States, and the Canadian death rate therein was larger (but not much larger) than that of their American neighbors. However, the casualties of India and Australia were somewhat higher, and the casualties of New Zealand were quite high. Of the major parts of the British Empire, the casualties of New Zealand were exceeded only by those of the United Kingdom itself. However, I should note that the Republic of Ireland remained officially neutral throughout the Second World War. But back to the British Empire nations. India, Australia, and New Zealand were much closer to Imperial Japan – which soon attacked the British Empire in Singapore and Malaya in 1941. This may explain their higher casualties. Incidentally, the Japanese attacks were simultaneous with their distant attack on Pearl Harbor, which was in American Hawaii. Thus, when the Pacific War began, it was a big deal for those nations that were geographically closer to Japan. The Pacific quickly became the theater of focus for India, Australia, and New Zealand – and remained such for basically the rest of the war. In 1945, Nazi Germany finally surrendered to the Allies, and the war in Europe was over. Later that year, the Americans also dropped their atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As I argue in another of my blog posts, this caused the end of the war in the East. (See my arguments on that score here.) 1945 was another turning point for the British Empire, as was World War Two itself.
New Zealand troops land on Vella Lavella in the Solomons – Pacific, 1943
Canadian soldiers at Juno Beach on D-Day – Normandy, France 1944
India gains its independence, and London Declaration of 1949 cements the Commonwealth
After the war, independence came to many former parts of the British Empire. These included Malaya, Burma, and Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka) – among many other places. Most crucially, this included India and Pakistan, which then became independent in 1947. This was owing to the efforts of people like Mahatma Gandhi, and his nonviolent resistance against the British Empire there. (More about that here.) Incidentally, Bangladesh would later become independent from Pakistan in its turn in the 1970s. But back to the 1940s. Some of the major portions of the British Empire would soon hold a Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ Conference in 1949. In it, these prime ministers jointly made the “London Declaration of 1949.” This declaration made another important reference to what it was simply calling the “Commonwealth of Nations” – the formal name for what we now call the “British Commonwealth.” (See the footnote to this blog post for the details.) At the time that I write this, there are currently 56 states – including the United Kingdom itself – that have chosen to be a part of the British Commonwealth. (See the list of these states here.) Interestingly, India and Pakistan (not to mention Bangladesh) are still parts of the Commonwealth today, despite their previous disagreements with the British. But the Republic of Ireland left the Commonwealth back in 1949. For whatever reason, they didn’t want to remain part of the British Commonwealth. But, in 1956, the British Empire declined somewhat after the “Suez Crisis,” in which the American president Dwight Eisenhower pulled the plug on their invasion of Egypt. Eisenhower even threatened to destabilize the British pound sterling, forcing the British to abandon their efforts there. This same fiasco, incidentally, also led to the decline of France as a world power – which, along with Israel, had been allied with Britain in that same invasion. Nonetheless, the British Commonwealth remains a major force in the world today. Some of its portions are still under British control today, while others are not. Many of them are former parts of the British Empire, but some of them are not. And many of them have large English-speaking communities – pretty much all of them, in fact. In fact, the English language may be the single greatest unifier for the “Commonwealth of Nations” – although there are others, like economics. Three portions of the current British Commonwealth have actually gained nuclear weapons, either during or since the Cold War. These included Britain itself in 1952, India in 1974, and Pakistan in 1998 – the only Muslim nation, so far, to get nuclear weapons.
Mahatma Gandhi in 1942, the year that he launched the Quit India movement
Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ Conference with the king – Buckingham Palace, 1949
Epilogue about how the history of the British Commonwealth is still being written today
We still debate the legacy of the British Empire today. Certainly it had its darker moments, with the British East India Company (and the later “British Raj” in India), not to mention its brutal colonization in certain parts of Africa. Indeed, its darker side once led both America and Southern Ireland to fight wars of independence against the British – although Northern Ireland remains a part of the United Kingdom today. But, along with its somewhat darker aspects, we have also seen some good aspects of its legacy. The British helped to spread democracy and free markets to many different parts of the world. Some parts of the British Commonwealth, including the British Isles themselves, have since tended to move away from free markets. But even these parts remain more democratic than most other parts of the world. To paraphrase Andrew Marr, it’s “still a stroke of luck to be born British.” Even America’s Founding Fathers, who fought a war of independence from Great Britain, remained proud of their British heritage during (and since) the American Revolution. (More about that here.) And, as I argue in another of my blog posts, Britain remains our most important ally in the world today. (More about that here.) Thus, we continue to benefit from our British ties and influence even today. The history of the British Commonwealth is still being written today. Some aspects of its fate have yet to be decided. But I hope that the British Commonwealth may continue to be a force for good in the years to come, and may continue to be a much-needed sanctuary for liberty – as it has been for many decades now.
“Accordingly the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan and Ceylon [modern-day Sri Lanka] hereby declare that they remain united as free and equal members of the Commonwealth of Nations, freely co-operating in the pursuit of peace, liberty and progress.”
– London Declaration of 1949, a declaration issued by the 1949 Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ Conference – incidentally, “Ceylon” (modern-day Sri Lanka) is an island off of the coast of India, and the British Empire ruled Ceylon from the years 1815 to 1948
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