From British Empire to Commonwealth of Nations: Political and Geographical Aspects of the Transformation

Diplomová práce Politicko-geografické aspekty transformace Britského impéria na Společenství národů Abstract The masterʼs degree thesis "From British Empire to Commonwealth of Nations: Political and Geographical Aspects of the Transformation" deals with gradual transformation of the British Empire, one of the biggest colonial empires of all time, into Commonwealth of Nations, i. e. into a loose association of the United Kingdom and its former Dominions and colonies. The masterʼs degree thesis aims to profoundly analyze all the substantial aspects of this complicated process, namely in broader (above all in political-geographical, historical and legal) relations. The initial historical chapter describes the origins and the following territorial expansion of the British Empire. The second chapter concentrates on different types of administrative units that existed within the British Empire; a special emphasis is given to Dominions whose creation marked the beginning of the disintegrative tendencies within the Empire. The third part of the thesis examines the key period of the transformation of the British Empire into a looser association of states, which means the events of the first half of the twentieth century, when couple of crucial documents amending the character of the British Empire were adopted. The..