The Evolution of the Modern Commonwealth, 1902–80

183 Pages·1982·18.38 MB·English

by  Denis Judd, Peter Slinn (auth.)

THE EVOLUTION OF THE MODERN
COMMONWEALTH, 1902-80
Also by Denis Judd
BALFOUR AND THE BRITISH EMPIRE
THE VICTORIAN EMPIRE
POSTERS OF WORLD WAR TWO
THE BRITISH RAJ
LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA
GEORGE V
THE HOUSE OF WINDSOR
SOMEONE HAS BLUNDERED: Calamities of the British Army
in the Victorian Age
EDWARD VII
PALMERSTON
THE CRIMEAN WAR
ECLIPSE OF KINGS
RADICAL JOE: A Life of Joseph Chamberlain
THE BOER WAR
PRINCE PHILIP: A Biography
THE EVOLUTION
OF THE MODERN
COMMONWEALTH,
1902-80
Denis Judd
and
Peter Slinn
Foreword by
Shridath S. Ramphal
Commonwealth Secretary-General
© Denis Judd and Peter Slinn 1 982
Softcover reprint of the hardcover ist edition 1982 978-0-333-30840-0
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
without permission
First published 1982 by
THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
London and Basingstoke
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
ISBN 978-0-333-32988-7 ISBN 978-1-349-16893-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-16893-4
The paperback edition of this book is sold subject to the
condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent,
resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's
prior consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that
in which it is published and without a similar condition including
this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser
To Arthur Presswell
and in memory of
Roger Fearon
CONTENTS
List of Maps lX
Foreword by Shridath S. Ramphal, Xl
Commonwealth Secretary-General
Preface Xlll
Introduction 4
PART I The Empire and Imperialism in 1902
Britain and the Empire in 1902 4
Imperialists and Others 8
PART 2 Consolidation and Cataclysm, 1902-19
Britain and the Dominions, 1902-14 14
South Africa 22
Canada, Australia and New Zealand,
1902-14. Some Domestic Themes 27
The Indian Empire, 1902-14 32
The Colonial Empire, 1902-14 35
The Empire at War 37
PART 3 The Empire/Commonwealth at Peace, 1919-39
The Heyday of the Colonial Empire,
1919-39 41
India 191 9-39 - the Road to Swaraj 52
Inter-imperial Relations: the Balfour
definition and beyond 61
Separatism and Loyalty: the Dominions
and the Empire/Commonwealth 72
VII
vm The Evolution ef the Modern Commonwealth, 1902-80
PART 4 The Second World War and its Aftermath,
1939-51
The Empire's War, 1939-41 81
World War, 1941-45 84
The Labour Government and the
Empire, l 945-5 l 87
PART 5 The Commonwealth in Transition, 1951-65
The Dependent Empire: the 'wind of
change' 95
The New Commonwealth in the
Mili~ l~
PART 6 Crisis in Confidence, 1966-71 l l l
PART 7 The Commonwealth Revived, 1971-80 l 18
Appendix l~
Notes l~
Select Bibliograpfry l~
Index l~
LIST OF MAPS
1 The British Empire at its Greatest Extent, 1920 XIV
2 The Commonwealth, 1980 146
ix
FOREWORD
In the 1980s we are living through a time of transition: from the
postwar era of status to a new era of contract, from a world
organised on the basis of power to one responsive to the dispersal of
power, from relationships of dominance and dependency to new
realities of interdependence. It is a time of strain and tension in
which political, social and economic elements of change entwine
and reinforce each other. Among the major challenges of the 1980s
are those of reducing the great disparities between the world's
peoples by eliminating poverty amidst prosperity and of enlarging
the security of all states by working for peace rather than preparing
for war.
The Commonwealth, which brings together a quarter of the
world's people and a larger fraction of its states, has already shown
its determination to assist in achieving solutions to these paramount
issues, and revealed the relevance ofits special qualities to the task.
Among international organisations, it is unique outside the United
Nations in embracing countries at all levels of economic
development. Born out of the processes of decolonisation that have
been so central an element of contemporary history, this voluntary
association of now forty-six nations has evolved into a thoroughly
contemporary instrument of internationalism, in tune with the
modern world and reflective of it.
The Commonwealth has developed its own methods of working
together based on informality and consensus, an original inter
national style which has proved capable of bringing freshness and
movement to issues immured in ritual and deadlock. The forms of
the association range from non-governmental organisations of
professional groups or like-minded individuals, through functional
co-operation developed by member countries through the Com
monwealth Secretariat, to summit meetings of Commonwealth
XI