The British Imperial Establishment, Post Imperial Era, and the ‘Churchillian’ World View, 1945-2016. (Adjustments & Challenges in Contemporary British Diplomatic Strategy)

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This
chapter also examines how rising foreign competition, economic and
political, from the United States,
Germany, France and Japan made it more and
more expensive for Britain to maintain an effective imperial
defence. We shall
see how the industrialisation and financial activities of Britain, which made
her
unchallengeable in the nineteenth century, in the twentieth century resulted in a
challenge to her
supremacy. This is to say that British investments in America
and Europe assisted in the development of these
very countries that later
challenged her.

In
Chapter Five I shall proceed first with an examination of the
organization of the United Kingdom central
Government with regard to
accountability, as the government went about various procedures
before
implementation. After this I shall look at how the Labour political elite, as the frst
majority
government after the war, tried to deal with the issue of safeguarding
British interests, whilst taking into
account that its doctrine was, of course, a
socialist one. I shall be examining what economic considerations
the Labour
Government of 1945-51 took into account with regard to British interests, and
how their
socialist doctrine interacted with this. The way in which the Labour
Government took into account the demands
of the nationalist leaders (whilst still
protecting British interests) in Asia, and especially India, whilst
doubting the
legitimacy of some of the African leaders, is also discussed in this chapter.

In
Chapter Six I shall deal with the Conservative Party’s reaction, as the
imperial party, to the
circumstances which brought about the decolonisation
process. The chapter includes the tactics that the
Conservative political elite used
to preserve or safeguard British interests and her political influence. I
shall see
how they planned for the defence of the Modern Commonwealth – the Anglo-
American ‘special
relationship’ – which was essential to the security of British
interests. Moreover, I shall be looking at
Churchill’s proposal for Britain to play

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