The end of a great power
The end of a great power
The end of a great power
TexteRelations with the former colonies
Cartoon by Behrendt on the British colonial empire (14 March 1956)
Image‘There go my footholds...' In March 1956, the cartoonist Behrendt gives his view of the decline of the former British colonial empire.
'What sort of Commonwealth?' from The New Statesman and Nation (26 June 1957)
TexteOn 26 June 1957, the London weekly political magazine The New Statesman and Nation considers the nature of the United Kingdom’s relations with the countries of the Commonwealth and wonders about the future thereof.
'The Commonwealth is more attractive' from the Deutsche Zeitung (31 July 1957)
TexteOn 31 July 1957, the German daily newspaper Deutsche Zeitung analyses the consequences for Europe in the throes of integration of the preferential relations between the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.
The British Commonwealth (1945-2015)
CarteMap showing the development of the British Commonwealth from its creation to December 2015.
Relations between the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (9 March 1961)
ImageIn London on 9 March 1961, British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan and Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, discuss the future of the Commonwealth.
Cartoon by Oesterle on the consequences of the end of the British Empire and the establishment of closer relations with Europe (28 October 1961)
Image‘Towards new shores’. In 1961, the emancipation of the Commonwealth countries and the end of the British Empire are conditions for the United Kingdom’s accession to the European Economic Community (EEC). On 28 October 1961, as the British Empire ‘sinks’, German cartoonist Manfred Oesterle emphasises the efforts of Ludwig Erhard, Federal Minister for the Economy, to rescue British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in a lifeboat and bring him aboard the ship ‘Europe’, while French President de Gaulle casually observes the rescue operation without offering to help. The French President is opposed to the United Kingdom’s application for accession, citing the incompatibility between the economic interests of the continent and the United Kingdom.
Cartoon by Low on the dilemma facing the United Kingdom over the development of its relations with the EEC (14 November 1961)
ImageOn 14 November 1961, British cartoonist David Low illustrates the difficult choice facing the United Kingdom: whether to remain faithful to the historical links uniting it to the Commonwealth countries or to start on the road to accession to the European Economic Community.
"Les liens affectifs et économiques avec le Commonwealth ont déjà perdu de leur ancienne vigueur" dans Le Monde diplomatique (Juin 1967)
TexteEn juin 1967, le mensuel français Le Monde diplomatique analyse les liens entre le Royaume-Uni et le Commonwealth un mois après le dépôt, le 11 mai, de la seconde demande d'adhésion du Royaume-Uni aux Communautés européennes.
Cartoon by Cummings on the issues surrounding British accession to the EEC
Image‘One shotgun wedding is enough, but two at once …’ The British cartoonist, Michael Cummings, portrays the dilemma facing the United Kingdom: remain faithful to the Commonwealth or join the European Economic Community.
Relations with the United States
‘Britain wants to use Europe so as to maintain its position on the international stage' from La Libre Belgique (14 February 1957)
TexteOn 14 February 1957, during a meeting in Bermuda between the American President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, the Belgian Conservative daily newspaper La Libre Belgique outlines the United Kingdom’s foreign policy.
Relations between the United States and the United Kingdom (1961)
Image In London, on 5 June 1961, US President, John F. Kennedy, and British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, discuss relations between their two countries, in anticipation of the United Kingdom's application for accession to the European Communities.