page_title: History of the United Kingdom
section_title: Empire to Commonwealth
hierarchical_section_title: History of the United Kingdom / Postwar / Empire to Commonwealth
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of British decolonisation in Africa. The beige areas were under British military administration after WW2. The different shades of pink refer to the stages of decolonization according to decades.
context_page_description: The core of the United Kingdom as a unified state came into being in 1707 with the political union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland, into a new unitary state called Great Britain. Of this new state of Great Britain the historian Simon Schama said:
  What began as a hostile merger would end in a full partnership in the most powerful going concern in the world... it was one of the most astonishing transformations in European history.
  — Simon Schama,
  The Act of Union 1800 added the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
  The first decades were marked by Jacobite risings which ended with defeat for the Stuart cause at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. In 1763, victory in the Seven Years' War led to the growth of the First British Empire. With defeat by the United States, France and Spain in the War of American Independence, Britain lost its 13 American colonies and rebuilt a Second British Empire based in Asia and Africa. As a result British culture, and its technological, political, constitutional, and linguistic influence, became worldwide.
context_section_description: Britain's control over its Empire loosened during the interwar period. Nationalism strengthened in other parts of the empire, particularly in India and in Egypt.
  Between 1867 and 1910, the UK had granted Australia, Canada, and New Zealand "Dominion" status (near complete autonomy within the Empire). They became charter members of the British Commonwealth of Nations (known as the Commonwealth of Nations since 1949), an informal but close-knit association that succeeded the British Empire. Beginning with the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, the remainder of the British Empire was almost completely dismantled. Today, most of Britain's former colonies belong to the Commonwealth, almost all of them as independent members. There are, however, 13 former British colonies, including Bermuda, Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands, and others, which have elected to continue rule by London and are known as British Overseas Territories.
caption: British decolonisation in Africa
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