The Commonwealth of Nations (unit 11) Reading: The British Empire and the Commonwealth a) Read the text below. b) Read the text again and choose the correct title for each paragraph in the text. c) Tick the statement that is true for Canada according to the text above. a) Canada is still a part of the United Kingdom and part of the British Empire. b) Canada is an independent country, but part of the Commonwealth of Nations. in8n7u 1 The Second British Empire • How the “First British Empire” became so huge • The things that happened after World War I • The Commonwealth of Nations • A general introduction 1. A general introduction If we talk about an ‘empire’, we mean a group of countries/regions/areas that are ruled by a single monarch. So, what was the British Empire? Britain was the ‘mother country’, and then there were the colonies overseas, countries that were ruled to some degree by and from Britain. 2. Between 1497 and 1763, English seamen discovered new lands, set up colonies and traded all over the world. By 1783, Britain had a large empire with colonies in America, for example, Canada, and the West Indies. This was called the ‘first British Empire’ which came to an end after the American Revolution in the 18th century. 3. However, in the 19th century, the British built a second worldwide empire, based on British sea power, made up of India and massive conquests in Africa. In the century from 1815 to 1914, 10 million square miles of territory and 400 million people were added to the British Empire. By the British Empire Exhibition of 1924 Britain was the ‘Mother Country’ of a worldwide empire which covered a 5th of the land in the world. 4. However, after World War One it became difficult for Britain to hold on to her Empire. It was clear that Britain could no longer afford an empire and had no right to rule people who did not want to be ruled by Britain. Moreover, Britain realised that the Royal Navy was not strong enough to protect the whole Empire all over the world. 5. The British Empire was basically gone and replaced by a voluntary organisation of former colonies called the “Commonwealth of Nations”. In 1926, the British government agreed that Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa were completely independent countries. In 1947, India and Pakistan were given independence. Most of Britain’s African and Caribbean colonies had their independence in the 1960s. In 1997, Britain gave Hong Kong back to China. 134 16 Unit Fact detectives one hundred and thirty-four Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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