Part Four

• At its peak, the British Empire covered about one quarter of the world's total land area and contained around 450 million people
• Today the British Empire (now called the British Overseas Territories) consists of only a few small areas
• By 1914, several of Britain's colonies-such as Canada and Australia-were running their own affairs
• Some critics of British rule suggested that Britain was more comfortable to allow self-rule in colonies that contained a white settler majority rather than non-white colonies such as India or in Africa
• They suggested that the British thought people of European descent were superior to non-Europeans
• Before the First World War, Britain was a rich industrial power, but after four years of fighting, Britain was in debt
• During the First World War many countries had been cut off from the supply of British goods so had been forced to build up their own industries
• Britain's trade with Europe and the USA became far more important than its trade with countries in the empire
• Britain was also no longer as important on the world stage-it was now overshadowed by the USA and the Soviet Union
• By the end of the Second World War, many more British colonies were demanding Independence
• Britain no longer had the military strength or the wealth to hold on to their colonies and many British people felt that rebuilding Britain after the war was more important than holding on to distant colonies
• British-style education systems in some of the colonies (such as India) meant greater access to western ideas the democracy freedom and nationalism
• Many Africans and Indians who fought for Britain in the world wars felt they had fought to defend freedom but were getting increasingly frustrated that their own countries were not yet free
• Researchers and historians were showing how important the cultures and achievements of Africa and Asia had been before the Europeans took over
• Many people in the colonies were very nationalistic and wanted to revive their old traditions, and this could only be done if the British left
• The Indian National Congress was founded

  1885
• Mohandas Gandhi


  A Hindu and former lawyer. He led a series of non-violent protests against the British. Championed the poor and lived a simple way of life. Assassinated in January 1948 by an extremist Hindu, who hated his tolerance of Muslims and others
• In 1956, Egypt's President Nasser took control of the British- and French-controlled Suez Canal
• When talks failed, British and French troops landed in the canal zone and Israel (an ally of the two countries) attacked Egypt overland
• Both the USA and the United Nations condemned the invasion
• The troops were forced to withdraw and Britain's Prime Minister resigned in humiliation
• Britain could no longer go to war to preserve its interests if the rest of the world disapproved
• The British decided to allow independence in colonies they felt were stable and prosperous enough to run their own affairs. They hoped that by freely granting independence, they were more likely to have a successful relationship with the newly formed countries
• An independence campaign began in West Africa in the 1920s. The National Congress of British West Africa asked the British government for more control of their own affairs, but the request was rejected
• There were large independence movements in several African nations including the Gold Coast in the 1940s
• The British felt it was important that any new countries in the region were stable and democratic
• The Gold Coast was one of the most stable and prosperous countries
• Kwame Nkrumah (1909-72) had a troubled time as Ghana's leader. Ghana became a republic in 1960, and Nkrumah was elected President. There were tensions between him and other political leaders and there was an attempted assassination in 1962. He dealt harshly with groups that opposed him. The economy declined in the early 1960s and the army and the police seized power in 1966
• Several independence groups formed in Kenya in the 1940s, including the Kenya African Union (KAU) and its leader Jomo Kenyatta (1891-1978)
• Jomo Kenyatta campaigned for both independence and access to white-owned land
• Another group, known as the Mau Mau, used violent methods to fight colonial rule in the 1950s. The British fought the Mau Mau with their own violent crackdown
• Many Kenyan independence leaders, including those with connections to the Mau Mau, such as Kenyatta, were arrested and jailed
• The Mau Mau Rebellion lasted for over eight years and eventually persuaded the British that independence was necessary
• In December 1963, Kenya gained its independence. Kenyatta, who had been released from prison in 1961, became Prime Minister
• In 2013, the British government apologised for the way it had dealt with the Mau Mau Rebellion and agreed to pay compensation
• When Ireland, the West Indies, Cyprus, East Asia, West Africa, Europe, and South Asia gained independence from Britain, many immigrants came to Britain after 1945 as refugees or to find work
• As immigration to Britain increased, some politicians with extreme anti-immigration views gained some support, but racist political parties remained fairly small
• In the 1960s, the government tried to slow down the number of black and Asian people entering Britain through the 1962 Immigration Act and the 1968 Commonwealth Immigrants Act
• These policies divided the country. They were welcomed by some, while others felt that the laws were racist
• Nearly all former colonies of the British Empire now belong to an organisation called the Commonwealth of Nations, which promotes democracy, human rights, good government, fair laws and world peace in the nations that were formerly controlled by Britain