Why did imperial powers give up colonies after world war 2?

Answer 1

It was all part of the "Deal " from the USA.. The Arsenal of Democracy. England had to agree in order that the USA would supply Ships,Arms,Food, Fuel etc:

Prior to WW2 the USA had problems in commerce to the English (and French) colonies as both countries had instructions to the colonies to accept goods,etc. With approval only from England or France. Naturally the majority of goods came from those countries.

Opening the colonies for business was only one part of the Deal the USA wrung out of England.. All the Gold from England and the Colonies, in particular South Africa was shipped to the USA. Major manufacturing plants in the USA owned by England was also sold under pressure. As was inventions,special plant and equipment. After the last drop of commercial enterprise and Gold was had by the USA. The USA then set about supplying England with the Ships,Arms,Food,Fuel etc: At a price of course, over the War something like $30 billion.1945 costs, which England finally paid off in 2006?.

You have to ask yourself... With friends like these.

Answer 2

For several reasons, how important each reason was depends on the power in question and the time period.

1st - They are militarily defeated by a colonial rebellion, this normally means another major power has helped the rebels in some way - supply of arms or money. Rarely did the rebellion actually completely defeat the colonial power, but they could make the fight too costly for the occupying nation to sustain. French Indochina (Vietnam) is a good example, the French being unwilling to commit massed conscript troops and being unable to defeat the rebellion with just their colonial forces.

2nd Politically and socially it becomes impossible for the colonial power to remain without unrest or upset, at home and in the colony. British India is the major example of this. Any attempt for the British to remain in control would have been impossible without the continued co-operation of the Indians working for them.

3rd The colony is judged to be "self governing". This happened to many of the British settler colonies - Canada, Australia etc. - where the majority of the population were colonists rather than a conquered people. (It was still bad to be a conquered people.)

4th They just give up and go home, several countries in Africa didn't really have much of an Independence movement, but the costs of keeping the colonies was greater then the home governments wanted, as a result they were "released".

The major colonial Empires all finally collapsed in the aftermath of the second world war, generally, the home nations were exhausted and in many cases the home population wouldn't tolerate a new colonial war. The colonised populations had also often been instrumental in their mother nation's war effort and so felt they now deserved self determination as per 2, 3, and 4 above.

Answer 3

In many cases, they were either unable to maintain the territories economically or could not withstand the public outcry worldwide for self-determination all over the world.