The Commonwealth

Commonwealth Country

Attention, this term indicates also States and territories of The United States, this article treats only British association.

The Commonwealth is the association, created after First World War, of the country having formed part of old Worsen British (old colonies or protectorates). The sovereign of directs the Commonwealth.

The originality of the Commonwealth comes from its organization: the Member States are linked by their common interests, but are sovereign. They are bound per none treaty, and can remain neutral when a conflict engages one or more of them.

To date, the Commonwealth counts 53 Member States.

Origins

The Commonwealth is the successor of the British Empire and car its origins of Imperial conferences end of (of the conferences of British Prime Ministers and colonial were held periodically since ), where the independence of the dominions and sovereign colonies was recognized, and finally ratified by Statute of Westminster of . The Commonwealth was established like an association of free and equal countries, whose adhesion rested on an allegiance common to the British crown.

The Empire was partly dismantled after , following the emergence of independence movements in the fixed territories (and more particularly in India under the influence of the pacifist one ) and with the weakening of the British government vis-a-vis at the cost of the war. Bermuda, and it forms part of the rare colonies not having never adhered to the Commonwealth after their independence, respectively in and . However, the most famous example of group of old British colonies, them The United States of America, does not form part of it, since its independence precedes of more than one century creation of this institution. Ireland in was member, but left the Commonwealth at the time of the institution of the republic in . The Commonwealth increased considerably in the last decades: formerly composed of 10 members in , it gathered some more than 50 in . The Commonwealth indicates also the English Republic founded by Oliver Cromwell in , which ends in .