The Twentieth Century

Abstract

Abstract Historians disagree about exactly when the decline of the British empire began. Some point to the insecurities of the 1880s and 1890s; others prefer the South African War as a landmark. Most see the First World War as a crucial turning point, and all agree that by the time the Second World War was over Britain was no longer a superpower. After that, widespread decolonization was inevitable. During the first half of the twentieth century, how- ever, the empire also showed signs of remarkable loyalty to Britain, and British policy by no means readily accepted the possibility of rapid decolonization. The empire remained enormously popular among ordinary people in Britain until after the Second World War. Even in the colonies of settlement, where definitions of citizenship were shifting from ‘British subject’ to ‘Canadian’ or ‘Australian’, most people were aware of their part in a global imperial network. Nevertheless, by the 1960s Britain was forced to accept the eventual loss of its imperial identity.