In the nineteenth century, the rise of nationalism contributed to the development of the nation-states that would continue into this century, and expansionist programs on the part of many of the stronger nations contributed to the creation of empires built around colonies in different parts of the world. The British Empire was probably the largest of these and included colonies all over the world. In the twentieth century, many of the existing empires and nation-states have undergone transformations as various pressures have caused them to disintegrate, to break up into discrete units around nationalistic, geographic, and ethnic differences. An examination of the decline and disintegration of the British Empire, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia will serve to develop rules as to why countries decline, and these rules will then be applied to Canada, Brazil, and India to see what may happen there in the future. Three dimensions appear important in the disintegration of a nation: economic problems, ethnic differences, and nationalistic aspirations. These forces can be seen in the disintegration of the British Empire, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia.
The British Empire was quite extensive at one time, as noted, and one by one British possessions, colonies, and protectorates were stripped away in this century. The impetus for the British to expand and to acquire territory was made explicit and coherent by Disraeli in 1872 when he envisioned Britain as an imperial country, noting that England had outgrown the continent of Europe and needed more territory to preserve her greatness and to assure trade (James, 1977, 25-26). Just as the acquisition of territory had an economic rationale, so did the breakup of the Empire have an economic component. The Great Depression caused the people of Britain to concentrate more on domestic concerns and less on the Commonwealth, with the exception of India. The ethnic groups in the different re...