Rise of the Commonwealth of Nations

📋 Course Outline

1. Commonwealth Identity and Independence
2. Origins and Decolonization
3. Membership and Political Status
4. Benefits and Document Analysis

📖 1. Commonwealth Identity and Independence

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Independence : The status of being free from foreign control or from a common power.
• Commonwealth : An organization and association of independent countries united by common values and their history as former British colonies.

★ Must-know

• Commonwealth countries are united by common values and by the fact that they were former British colonies.

Further detail

• The Commonwealth gives member countries the possibility of acting as an organization and group.

💡 Memory Hook

Independence means freedom from foreign control, whereas Commonwealth membership means voluntary association.

📖 2. Origins and Decolonization

★ Must-know

• The Commonwealth was established in 1931 as an association of independent countries linked to the former British Empire.

• 🔄 The Commonwealth developed through: decolonization, self-government, voluntary association between former colonies and the British Empire

• After the Second World War, many colonies gained independence from the British Empire.

Further detail