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Pillars of Empire: Ireland and India, 1914–49

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Decolonisation and the British Empire, 1775–1997

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Abstract

The British Empire by 1914 was extensive; by 1918 it was even larger. But this collection of territories, governed in various and contrasting ways, ranging from white colonies of settlement, now looking more like nations, to small islands with no perceptible sense of identity, and wholly dependent on Britain for their administration, was supported by three main pillars, or, if Ireland in the United Kingdom be considered, four — for, as Unionists saw it, the Irish home crises of 1886, 1893 and 1912–14 all challenged the integrity of the kingdom, which was, in the eyes of some, to jeopardise the whole empire. Even those who defended home rule did so on the grounds that, in strengthening the loyalty of Ireland to the kingdom, it would thereby strengthen the empire. The other pillars were the great subcontinent of India; the recently acquired British possessions in the continent of Africa; and the increasingly vital territories in the Middle East. These pillars were the main edifices on which the empire rested; if they were lost, then all the smaller bits and pieces would shrink to unimportance, for the empire would lose all coherence and meaning.

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Notes

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© 1999 D. George Boyce

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Boyce, D.G. (1999). Pillars of Empire: Ireland and India, 1914–49. In: Decolonisation and the British Empire, 1775–1997. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27755-1_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27755-1_5

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-333-62104-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-27755-1

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