Populism and British Stories of Decline

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12277
• Author: Joshua Murphy
• Date: 01 May 2019
• Published date: 01 May 2019

Populism and British Stories of Decline

By Joshua Murphy*

abstract. The British Empire reached its territorial peak less than a

century ago in 1920 when one could walk from South Africa to Kuwait

and not set foot in a country in which English was not the language

of government. By 1959, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa,

Egypt, Sudan, and other countries were no longer within Britain’s

imperial fold. In the space of little more than 30 years, the British

Empire suffered a precipitous decline and collapse that left the United

Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland little more than the

rump successor state of a once great empire. Yet, imperial attitudes

lingered and have an undue influence on British life, culture, and

politics up to the present day. Through the lens of pivotal moments in

the world since World War II, this article examines the breakup of the

British Empire and how the vision of empire lives on in the context of

global populism.

Introduct ion

At its red, white, and blue core, British culture and political history

are fundamentally tragedies, in the most Shakespearean sense. “Rule

Britannia,” the island nation’s famously self-aggrandizing patriotic

song, promises that “Britannia rule[s] the waves” and that “Britons

never will be slaves” in addition to issuing a blanket call for Britannia

to rule in general. The country’s national anthem contains supplica-

tions to God to “scatter her enemies and make them fall.” In addition,

the song expresses the hope that divine help will “confound their [the

enemy’s] politics, [and] frustrate their knavish tricks,” all in the service

of sending the monarch from the field of battle, victorious, happy,

and glorious, having successfully defended (or extended) the Empire.

American Jour nal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 78, No. 3 (May, 2 019).

DOI: 10 .1111/ajes.122 77

© 2019 American Journa l of Economics and Sociology, Inc.

*Student at the University of Connecticut School of Law. BA, Political Science (Sacred

Heart University); Master’s in Political Science, Public Policy and Urban Affairs (Southern

Connecticut State University). Article adapted from Master’s thesis and presentation at

New England Political Science Association Conference. Email: Joshua.murphy@uconn.

edu

742 The American Journal of Economics and Sociology

At one time, this vision of British imperial power may have been

true. It may be difficult to imagine, but the British Empire reached

its territorial peak less than a century ago in 1920 (Taylor 2015). At

that time, one could walk from South Africa to Kuwait, setting foot

only in countries in which (1) English was the language of govern-

ment, (2) the monarch’s portrait was hung in every home, and (3)

the Union Jack was flown from every flagpole. Still, by 1959, India,

Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Egypt, Sudan, and countless

other countries were no longer within the imperial fold. In the space

of little more than 30 years, the British Empire suffered a precipitous

decline and collapse that left the United Kingdom of Great Britain and

Northern Ireland little more than the rump successor state of a once

great empire. Yet, imperial attitudes linger on and have an undue

influence on British life, culture, and politics up to the present day.

Through the lens of pivotal moments in the post World War II world,

this essay examines the breakup of the British Empire and how the

vision of empire lives on, particularly in the context of global popu-

lism and a rapidly globalizing world. Brexit, the 2016 vote by popular

referendum in the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European

Union, is closely tied to the identity forged a century ago, at the height

of the British Empire.

Loss of an Empire

The story of Brexit is intri nsically tied to decline, either perceived

or extant. Economic, political, cultural, and imperia l decline rav-

aged the British Empire long before World War II b egan its final

destruction. At its peak, the Empire was held together by a system

of imperial preferences in trade that created a free-trade agree-

ment between the United Ki ngdom, it colonies, and other com-

monwealth nations. It also imposed tariffs to prevent other nations

from establishing trade with those countries. President Frankli n D.

Roosevelt insisted on the abolition of imperial preference in trade

in return for assistance from the United States during World War II.

As a result, after the war, the British Empire no longer possessed

a preferential network of partners through which it could exer-

cise sufficient political, cultural, and economic pressure to keep