The Commonwealth Nations: Birth from Crumbling British Empire and colonization

Commonwealth origins may be traced back to the British Empire, a time when Britain governed several nations. Different British Empire nations attained varying degrees of independence from Britain throughout time. Early in the nineteenth century, British imperial policies started to slacken in response to calls for more self-determination, first coming largely from the inhabitants of the most developed colonies who were of British ancestry. In the 1840s, Canada became the first country to have self-government. It was also the first dominion (1867). The relationship between a colony and an imperial state was profoundly altered by dominion status, which permitted self-government and substantial freedom in international affairs.

The Commonwealth of today did not necessarily arise through time. It was created as a result of the strong relationships that grew between leaders and people, particularly during the decolonization process and the early stages of the Commonwealth's development as a group of independent republics