The Commonwealth
Among the things shared by Commonwealth countries are many sporting and cultural
traditions, such as cricket
At the end of the Second World War, Britain was at the centre of a vast Empire that
covered a large part of the world; but the age of empires was already ending. Countries
like Canada and Australia had already become independent; and Gandhi's struggle led
to Indian independence in 1948. After that, one by one, almost all Britain's "colonies"
followed the same path, and in the space of about 20 years, the British Empire ceased to
exist. Today, the Falkland Islands are among the few "colonies" (now called dependent
territories) that still exist .
However, most of the former colonies have chosen not to break all their links with
Britain, but to join Britain in a new association of independent states, the
Commonwealth.
Today, the Commonwealth is the biggest international grouping of states after the
United Nations, and far from getting smaller, it has got bigger in recent years; two
French-speaking countries in Africa, Gabon and Togo joined the Commonwealth in 2022.
So what is the Commonwealth? What does it mean to people?
What is the Commonwealth?
What does a professor in Pakistan have in common with a cowboy in Canada, a lawyer in
London and a shopkeeper in Soweto?
Not much, maybe, but they do share some things: firstly, they can all probably speak the
same language, English even if they also speak another language. Secondly, they are all
citizens of the Commonwealth.
Until the 1960's, that meant that any of them could come and live and work in Britain if
they wanted to. That "freedom of movement" did not last very long, and Britain no longer
has an open door for Commonwealth immigrants. Yet millions of men, women and
children from different parts of the Commonwealth, and their descendants, now live in
Britain.
However, the 67 million people who live in Britain are only a very small minority of the
total population of the Commonwealth, which includes nearly 2.5 billion people, almost
two thirds of them in India.
The Commonwealth came into existence in 1931, when Britain gave independence to four
of its most important colonies, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The five
countries decided that although each was an independent state, they had a lot of things in
common, particularly a common cultural heritage, and they would continue to keep close
links in a lot of fields. They also agreed that the King of England would be the symbolic
head of state, even if each country was free to govern itself in the way it wanted to.
After the Second World War, most of Britain's colonies became independent, and most
chose to become members of the Commonwealth when they did so; however, India
caused a problem in 1949, by saying it wished to remain in the Commonwealth but
become a republic. Obviously, if India became a republic, the King of Britain could not
continue to be head of state, even symbolically.
Fortunately, Commonwealth leaders came up with a solution; and since then, states which
belong to the Commonwealth have been free to choose any form of democratic
constitution. Sixteen of them, including Canada, Australia and New Zealand, recognise the
Queen as their head of state; five others have their own monarchies, but thirty-three
Commonwealth countries are republics.
An association of equals
The King is the
symbolic head of the whole Commonwealth, though of course he does not have any
power. In fact, one of the most important things about the Commonwealth is that it has no
power, just influence. The nations belonging to the organisation all come together as
equals – at least in theory – from the smallest, Nauru (an island in the Pacific, population
8,000!) to the biggest, India (population 1.4 billion). Britain is not in any way the "chief
country", even if other countries recognise its special position, as the country which gave
Commonwealth nations their common language, and the basis of their legal, educational
and sporting traditions. The current Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Patricia
Scotland, is from the Caribbean island of Dominica.
Queen Elizabeth was highly respected in the Commonwealth, and made frequent visits to
different countries.
THE ENGLISH SPEAKING WORLD
The Commonwealth in the world
In many ways, the Commonwealth is like a smaller version of the United Nations, made up
of most of the world's English-speaking countries with the exception of the USA. After the
U.N., it is the most important organisation in the world in which rich developed countries
(like Britain, Canada, and Australia) can discuss cultural and economic questions with
developing countries including some of the richest in the world (such as Brunei) and some
of the poorest (e.g. Namibia and Bangla Desh).
Unlike the United Nations, it does not have any permanent assembly.
Heads of government from all Commonwealth countries meet once every two years.
However, there are also regional Commonwealth conferences, where countries from a
particular part of the world come together and discuss the problems of their continent or
region of the world.
If the Commonwealth still exists in 2024, after almost 90 years, it is obvious that some
people consider it to be an important and useful institution.
Originally, the Commonwealth was an important trading block. That is no longer the case.
When Britain joined the Common Market, Commonwealth countries, notably Australia
and New Zealand, lost many of their special trading privileges with Britain, and had to find
new markets for their products.
Interestingly, the Commonwealth is still represented in the European Union, even though
the UK has left it. Malta and Cyprus are both EU member-states, and also members of the
Commonwealth.
Today the Commonwealth's main aim is to promote peace, friendship and cooperation
between the different nations which are members
For example in 2020, the Commonwealth provided help and information on the COVID-
19 crisis, which was very useful for smaller nations. When the Queen made an exceptional
televised speech about the pandemic, she made it for the people of the whole
Commonwealth, not just for people in the U.K.
Jamaican music, in particular Reggae, became popular in Britain then in other countries,
thanks to the strong Jamaican culture that exists in parts of Britain. Bob Marley was one of
the biggest stars of his time.
The Commonwealth and democracy
In 1961, South Africa, one of the first members of the Commonwealth, decided to leave
the organisation. Perhaps that was a good decision for South Africa at the time; if it had
not left in 1961, it would probably have been expelled a few years later, because other
Commonwealth countries condemned Apartheid.
The Commonwealth is an organisation which includes people of all races and religions. It
has, in theory, no placefor racism, for dictators or for repressive regimes.
Before South Africa left the Commonwealth, other Commonwealth nations asked Pretoria
to give up its policies of racial segregation; Pretoria did not take any notice of them.
Nelson Mandela (left) who ended apartheid in South Africa, and brought the country back
into the Commonwelth
After South Africa's departure, developing nations in the Commonwealth put strong
pressure on the larger nations, particularly Britain and Australia, to cut cultural and
sporting links with South Africa. The British government did not at first want to do so, but
in the end the links were stopped; a lot of countries in the Commonwealth had threatened
to walk out if they were not. This way, the Commonwealth helped to put international
pressure on Pretoria to change its degrading policy of racial segregation. It also put
pressure on Britain to be more active in fighting against racism.
In 1994, two weeks after Nelson Mandela became President of the new multi-racial
South Africa, he asked for South Africa to be readmitted to the Commonwealth. A week
later, he was in London with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, for an official ceremony, attended
by the Queen.
South Africa was the second nation to rejoin the Commonwealth. Pakistan left the
Commonwealth in 1972, but came back in 1979 after the military government was ousted
from power.
In 2002, Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth for human rights violations
by the regime of Robert Mugabe. Mugabe is now dead, and Zimbabwe hopes to rejoin the
Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth Games
After the Olympic games, the world's biggest athletics competition is the Commonwealth
Games, which take place, like the Olympics, every four years. The atmosphere is similar,
and many of the world's best athletes take part each time. The last Commonwealth Games
were held in Birmingham, England, in 2022
Words guide
attended by : in the presence of - apartheid : a system where people of different races
must live in different places - citizen: member - come up with: discover - current: present -
debt: money which is owed to other people - degrading: inhuman, bad - expel: throw out
- former: which were in the past - heritage: traditions that have been acquired over a long
period of time - issues: questions - link: connection - no longer the case: not true any
more - obviously: clearly - oust: throw out - Pretoria - the capital of South Africa -
purpose: function, role - share: have things in common - statement: communiqu‚, short
report - struggle: fight - take notice: pay attention, listen - trade: commerce - unlike:
different to - walk out: leave
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Student Worksheet - being prepared...
The Commonwealth
Careful reading: Reading for information : write the answers in the boxes.
• The smallest country in the Commonwealth;
• The countries where Reggae music is popular;
• Countries that left the Commonwealth.
• The first countries to belong to the Commonwealth.
• The year in which it all started.
• The origin of the Commonwealth.
• The first republic in the Commonwealth.
• The things that link Commonwealth countries.
• One of the richest countries in the World
• Patricia Scotland
After you have read the text on the Commonwealth, say which of these statements are
true: write down the sentence / expressions that justify your answer.
1. People from any Commonwealth country can come and live in Britain if they want
to.
2. India is the largest country in the Commonwealth.
3. The Commonwealth has existed for over seventy years.
4. When India became a republic, the British monarch continued to be its symbolic
head of state.
5. Most Commonwealth countries are now Republics.
6. South Africa was thrown out of the Commonwealth because of Apartheid.
7. The Commonwealth has no permanent Assembly.
8. Nelson Mandela disapproved of the Commonwealth.
FOR TEACHERS
Reading:
(a) Skimming: Being able to skim through a document and extract the most important bits
of information is a valuable skill. Pupils must be made to realise that one can "read" a
document without understanding all the words. Indeed, one can get a good idea about the
meaning of a text in which a large number of words are incomprehensible. It is important
to give pupils confidence, and make sure that they do not put up mental blockages as soon
as they come to a word or group of words that they do not understand. Skimming is a way
to practise this.
Write up these questions on the board:
What is the Commonwealth?
What problems has it faced?
What is Britain's place in the Commonwealth?
What do people think of the Commonwealth.
Now give your pupils five minutes (at most) to read the whole ocument, and try and find
answers to these questions. They can note them down on paper, or prepare them in their
heads.
Ask students for oral answers to the questions; if other students disagree with an
answer they hear, or want to add more details, they should do so.
(b) Careful reading: Either get students to fill in the careful reading questions above, or
else as soon as the phase of oral discussion has ended (and it may not last very long at all),
move directly on to more detailed reading, putting up the following lines on the board or
screen (you can write them up while pupils are skimming if you cannot project) - or
copying and distributing them.
The smallest country in the Commonwealth;
The countries where Reggae music is popular;
Countries that left the Commonwealth.
The first countries to belong to the Commonwealth.
The year in which it all started.
The origin of the Commonwealth.
The first republic in the Commonwealth.
The things that link Commonwealth countries.
One of the richest countries in the World
Patricia Scotland
Divide pupils into pairs, and have them read through the document as carefully as they
can, finding what each of the above lines refers to.
This should take ten to fifteen minutes. Once rapid pupils have finished, they can go on
to the True/False exercise while others continue reading.
After the time is up, return to an oral phase, and get pupils to give make statements
based on the ten sentences you have written on the board. As before, other pupils should
be encouraged to add more details, contradict etc.
Homework:
Have students find out the names of as many Commonwealth countries as they can. Here
are the main countries: Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, India,
Pakistan, Bangla Desh, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe,
Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Papua New Guinea,
Jamaica, Malta, Cyprus.
Get students to prepare a short statement saying something about two commonwealth
countries, one "Old Commonwealth" country (one of the developed countries), and one
"New Commonwealth" country (a developing country).
