re: Legacy of the British Empire

WWI started to kill their empire. The British overall were concerned with defeating the Germans in France . As such they devoted most of their GDP to it. Additionally, the British also used close to a million plus troops from the empire, particularly from India.

Those troops made their way back to their respective home countries during and after the war and they realized that the "home" country was vulnerable and also they were fighting over something that overall did not affect them. India in particular had a nascent independence movement...all these disaffected young men fed it. Plus, in Great Britain there were limits running a large empire was costly. Naval protection and garrisons troops in in places like Sudan, Kenya and Malaysia cost money.

In the aftermath of WWI Britain actually turns out well. The British ended up in control of Palestine, Jordan and Mesopotamia also had protectorate on the Arabian Peninsula and had absorbed German colonies in Africa like Tanzania and West Africa. They controlled much of the oil coming out of the middle east.

Then comes WWII and the double whammy of the Germans threatening the French and the English guaranteeing their overseas empire in North Africa and the Japanese occupying much of Burma, all of Malaysia and Singapore and French Indo-China and threatening India. The British were on the winning side but they were broke financially and psychically and probably spiritually. India had been pressing for independence for 30+ years at this point. Thirty years and two big wars leaves the British Armed Forces at its breaking point.

By the late 50's Britain simply could not afford empire any longer. It wasn't progressivism or getting soft as progressivism would imply. They could not afford it anymore. The independence movements were proving to be costly financially and in terms of violence. They were done.