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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Chapter III

From Empire to the Modern Commonwealth

The Path to Independence

The
Indians set the example for the political independence of the
developing world. The achievement of
recognition as a nation for the Indians
came after a long and difficult struggle, whereas similar achievement
for the
white colonies came much more easily. The Indians had been frustrated in their
claim to Dominion
status throughout the early twentieth century. It was the
Japanese eruption into south-east Asia which
brought many more political
changes than the British political elite had ever contemplated in the 1930s.
“The
sudden and striking victory of the yellow man imposed a drastic rethinking as to
the nature of
imperial control in the area, and had reverberations around the whole
of the colonial world, whether British,
French or Dutch. The precipitous surrender
of the British at Singapore in 1942 signalled to many colonial
peoples the fragility
of the British Raj.”1

However,
when the British returned to their Asian empire after the
Japanese surrendered, it was felt by the British
political elite, in particular after
Churchill’s defeat, that India could easily slip from their hold.
The Indian naval
mutiny in 1946 provided a foretaste. It was understood that India could not be
held by
force. Moreover, the return of the former imperial powers to south-east
Asia was being seriously restrained
as the outburst of Japan was viewed by the
conquered territories that after all imperial powers could be
challenged. Such
challenges gave birth to the doctrine of nationalism. It meant fight for

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