In 1914, it could truly be said that the "sun never set on the British Empire" whether or not as the French disparagingly claimed this was because God didn't trust the British in the dark. While the size of the Empire increased after W.W.II with the acquisition of territories held by the German and Ottoman Empires by 1966, most of the more important parts of the Empire had left formal British control. In this essay, I intend to examine the causes of this dramatic decline in the area under Britain's direct control and to decide which of these factors were...
readiness for self rule in the colonies, but to increasing pressures on Britain's control of it.

In conclusion, it seems that while pressures and problems at other levels either contributed to or resulted from the undermining of the British Empire, the most important factor in its decline was the changing international situation especially pressure from the USA and the changing nature of the world economy which made the Empire unprofitable and in some aspects a liability to Britain. This conclusion is perhaps reinforced by the fact that no other Western power retains a formal Empire any more either.