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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for a
multi-faceted Commonwealth, where an independent state might claim the
British King as its head (as in
Australia), or where a republic might have a
president as head (as in Tanzania), or even where a state might
have its own
monarch (as in Malaysia, Swaziland or Tonga). The common Commonwealth
link between such
diverse political structures was the acknowledgement of the
British monarch as the ‘head of the
Commonwealth’.”4 However this outcome is
to anticipate the rush
of political developments in the 1950s and 1960s.

The
additional change that India brought onto the commonwealth’s
structure became in fact a further model
regarding the process of acquiring full
nationhood by the many colonies which, until 1950, had not even
experimented
with the elective principle, let alone taken on powers and duties involved in
self-
government and independence. It accelerated steps towards achieving full
independence. By 1970
most colonies had gained full nationhood though the
elective principle was not always established.

Nevertheless in the early 1950s the political elite in Great Britain planned
a gradual and thorough
preparation for independence in spite of the fast changes.
It meant “the principles of democracy, of
fair and open elections, had to be
instilled in the minds of the people. The Westminster system of government
was
considered to be the most suitable model, perhaps with a few local adaptations to
suit chiefs and
existing political leaders. So the emergence of parties was
encouraged, to provide a government and a loyal
opposition. The practice of
cabinet government under a prime minister was introduced, with
indigenes
working their way into ministerial positions and co-operating under one leader.”5
Programmes of familiarising the people with the idea of expressing their
political
wishes through voting and of participating in the local and national levels of
political life
were at the same time being undertaken.

Unfortunately, however, the emerging political elites in the colonies,
particularly those newly emerged
political elites in the African colonies, would

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