British Government Perspectives on the Commonwealth, 1964–71: An Asset or a Liability?

The Commonwealth has always been a subject of lively academic debate and publication but in recent years the historical context seems to have gone by default. Forty years ago the picture was different. Commonwealth historians were among the leading historians of their generation. This article revisits some of the contemporary assessments of the Commonwealth in the 1960s, and contrasts them with the Commonwealth policies pursued by the British government between 1964 and 1971. It is open to interpretation whether these were years of unremitting crisis or a time of adjustment leading to a more mature and realistic appreciation of what the Commonwealth represented and what it might achieve. The article begins with a discussion of economic relationships, and proceeds to the political aspects, the centrepiece of which was a 1967 assessment within Whitehall of the value of the Commonwealth to Britain. The overall conclusion is one of British government disillusionment with the Commonwealth and a readiness to stand firm against the pressure of threatened departures from the Commonwealth. While the government in London never itself contemplated action to break the Commonwealth, ministers always believed that it would place British interests first in any conflict with Commonwealth members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]