Britain's Retreat from Empire

20th Century British History

By Professor A J Stockwell. Produced by Simon Brown, published 12th August 2015

Decolonisation and the legacy of the British Empire

In this podcast Professor A J Stockwell looks at Britain's retreat from Empire from 1914, examining how and why this retreat began, the pressure for independence across the Empire, new imperialism, the changing relationship between rulers and ruled, how Britain attempted to manage retreat, decolonisation and the legacy of the British Empire.

1. Introduction.
2. Why, when and how did the process of retreat from Empire begin?
3. India, Burma, Palestine and Ceylon (Sri Lanka): the pressure for independence. New imperialism in Africa and South East Asia. Empire as a means for containing communist expansion.
4. Partnership between rulers and ruled. Attempts at managing the Empire's decline whilst maintaining influence over former colonies.
5. Nationalism, Anti-Colonialism, Pan Africanism and the Third World Movement: Britain loses the initiative in preparing for gradual withdrawal. The Suez Crisis.
6. The limited extent of Britain's control over the British Empire and the end of Empire.
7. The legacy of the British Empire.


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