Populism and British Stories of Decline

The British Empire reached its territorial peak less than a century ago in 1920 when one could walk from South Africa to Kuwait and not set foot in a country in which English was not the language of government. By 1959, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Egypt, Sudan, and other countries were no longer within Britain's imperial fold. In the space of little more than 30 years, the British Empire suffered a precipitous decline and collapse that left the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland little more than the rump successor state of a once great empire. Yet, imperial attitudes lingered and have an undue influence on British life, culture, and politics up to the present day. Through the lens of pivotal moments in the world since World War II, this article examines the breakup of the British Empire and how the vision of empire lives on in the context of global populism.