What Caused the Collapse of the British Empire?

[bailey_187]

???

[Muzk]

They failed to defend a quarter of the worlds population

[LeninBalls]

Two major, crippling world wars, rise of US and Soviet dominance, rise of anti-imperialist/nationalist/independence movements is what I'd say in a nutshell.

[Mikhail Tukhachevsky]

Many things. I will briefly describe some points.

I have to say that the British Empire started collapsing after the First World War. Essentialy a fight between the slave-owners for the distribution of the spoils, WW1 had a destructive effect on European capitalism and led to the rise the US as an imperialist super-power.

De-industrialization and the internal market. The British empire used to be the largest producer fo manufactured goods, using primary resources from its colonies. Following the rise of imperialist capitalism and the export of finance capital, the capitalists made more profits where labour costs were lower. That essentialy meant that Britain was stripped off its manufacturing base in the 20th century.

The internal market, based on the Commonwealth also was diminishing with the growth of industries in Canada, Australia etc. Also after the de-colonization, Britain lost important markets such as India to other imperialist powers such as the US. That left Britain with a small internal market, mainly in the island itself as well as Ireland, leading to the further decrease in industrial output.

That's a very brief explanation. For a better understanding of Imperialism in general, I reccomend Lenin's Imperialism the Highest Stage of Capitalism, which will give you the tools that can improve your understanding on the issue, apart from historical books that deal with this topic.

[red cat]

I wouldn't say that the British empire actually collapsed. A major change in the characteristics of imperialist capital took place after WW2. Imperialism was no more defined with primary reference to particular countries. Several MNCs from different imperialist nations grouped together. Almost every colony was transformed to semi-colonies within a few years, to effectively divert their respective liberation movements. Now the MNCs could control these countries without actually sending their men in. So we can't say that the British empire actually collapsed; it just changed its form.

[Mikhail Tukhachevsky]

I wouldn't say that the British empire actually collapsed. A major change in the characteristics of imperialist capital took place after WW2. Imperialism was no more defined with primary reference to particular countries. Several MNCs from different imperialist nations grouped together. Almost every colony was transformed to semi-colonies within a few years, to effectively divert their respective liberation movements. Now the MNCs could control these countries without actually sending their men in. So we can't say that the British empire actually collapsed; it just changed its form.

Comrade,

I agree that British imperialism has changed it's form. But I disagree that the British Empire hasn't collapsed. Yes Britain is still an imperialist power, but much weaker than before and is no where near to the characterization as empire. Not all imperialist powers are Empires. The American Empire took it's place and and itself now has shown the first signs of collapse.

In that sense you are mistaken.

[red cat]

Comrade,

I agree that British imperialism has changed it's form. But I disagree that the British Empire hasn't collapsed. Yes Britain is still an imperialist power, but much weaker than before and is no where near to the characterization as empire. Not all imperialist powers are Empires. The American Empire took it's place and and itself now has shown the first signs of collapse.

In that sense you are mistaken.
By empire do you mean the biggest set of colonies or semi-colonies? Then I agree with you.