1947

Abstract

In the early part of 1947 the British Government took a number of decisions whose importance nobody doubted at the time, but which would prove of even greater importance than most contemporaries contemplated: decisions which would determine in outline the future of Britain and of a very large part of the world from that day to this. These decisions bore on Britain’s economic position; on her role as an imperial power; on her mandatory duties; and on much wider question of international relations in the developing ‘cold war’. To appreciate the circumstances in which these decisions were taken, it is necessary to look at the background of events in several parts of the world.