7. Britain in the post-war period

After the war, the victorious Allies created the United Nations. The Allies formed themselves into a Security Council into which they invited some less powerful nations. They hoped that the success of wartime alliance would be carried into peacetime. But the idea of common purpose which had previously united them, no longer existed.

In 1948-49 the Soviet Union stopped all road and rail traffic to West Berlin. It was only due to a huge airlift of essential supplies from the West that West Berlin survived the blockade which lasted almost a year. As a result of the struggle for West Berlin, two opposing alliances were set up: the NATO of the western nations and the Warsaw Treaty Organization, or the Warsaw Pact of the eastern bloc.

In 1950, the United Nations faced a problem in the Far East. Troops of North Korea started a war against South Korea. British troops formed part of the United Nations force which defended South Korea. Only fear on both sides limited the level and extent of the war. But while Britain became more fearful of Soviet intentions, it also became unhappy with the forceful attitude of its ally, the United States of America.

Britain’s foreign policy was also concerned with finding a new part to play in the changing world. It had to get used to changing relations with its friends, particularly with America, with the European countries, and with members of the Commonwealth, a new association of former British possessions.

8. The fall of the colonial system

At the end of World War II, the German colonies in Africa, as well as Iraq and Palestine in the Middle East, were added to Britain’s area of control. The empire was now bigger than ever before and covered a quarter of the entire land surface of the world.

The UN Charter in 1945 called for an end to colonialism and for progress towards self-government. In India, there had been a growing demand for freedom back in the 1920s and 1930s. The national liberation movement was led by Mahatma Gandhi. In 1947 the British troops and officials finally left India. The first Indian President was J. Nehru. The former colony split into a Hindu state called India and a smaller Muslim state called Pakistan. Later, in 1971, part of Pakistan broke away to form Bangladesh. Ceylon became independent in 1948 and changed its name into Sri Lanka in 1972.

Britain also left Palestine where it was unable to keep the promises either to the Arab or to the Jewish population. As a result of the establishment of a new independent state of Israel in 1948, Palestinian Arabs were left not only without a state, but without a territory or even autonomy of their own.

For most of the 1950s Britain managed to keep its other possessions, but after the Suez conflict it began to give them up. Until 1956, Britain had controlled the Suez Canal, but in 1956 Egypt decided to take it over. Britain, together with France and Israel, attacked Egypt. But the rest of the world, particularly the USA, loudly disapproved of Britain’s actions and forced Britain to withdraw troops from Egypt.

The 1960s are known in history as the decade of decolonization and bitter struggle of colonies for independence. Between 1945 and 1965, 500 million people in the former British colonies became independent. As a result, the former British possessions, which greatly depended on Britain economically, and even more politically, formed the Commonwealth of Nations.