ABSTRACT
The disappearance of the British Empire was part of a wider reaction against colonialism that also brought to an end the empires of France, the Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal. The Colonial Office still tended to see Empire and Commonwealth as synonymous, but the beginning of the end of Empire came with the Second World War. Paradoxically, the outbreak of war saw evidence that the Commonwealth did mean something. The war brought issues of independence for the remaining parts of the Empire to the forefront. Although Winston Churchill was still saying that he was not in office to preside over the dissolution of the British Empire, it was difficult to talk about freedom in Europe and not to see its implications for Empire. There was also the further fact of the United States, that prided itself on its anti-imperialism and was particularly influenced by events in India.
