It was not realised at the time, nor intended, that the Empire would begin to dissolve as fast as it did after the Queen had come to the throne. The three High Commission Territories in southern Africa (Bechuanaland, Basutoland and Swaziland),Īll are now independent, and have become republics, although all (Zimbabwe being the exception) belong to what used to be known as – but is no longer known as – the “British” Commonwealth. The two Rhodesias (Zambia and Zimbabwe) and Nyasaland (Malawi) And there was still Africa.įour in east Africa (inclusive of Zanzibar, then still separate from Tanganyika), There were still other territories in Asia, notably Malaya, odd outposts in Latin America and various islands in Oceania. India had been the “Jewel in the Crown”, but had proceeded to a violently partitioned independence involving the creation of predominantly Muslim Pakistan in 1947. At its height, the British Empire extended over something like a third of the world, but was already in recession when the Queen came to the throne.
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