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SavannahYear 8
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HistoryBritain, Europe and the wider world, 1901–present40 min★★★ difficulty

Lesson 7: Britain and the world after empire

Decolonisation, Suez, European integration and new Commonwealth relationships transformed power and identity.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Challenges 1901 to the present: Understand social, cultural and technological change in post-war British society
  • Historical enquiry: Understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance
  • Challenges 1901 to the present: Understand the changing nature of the United Kingdom's relationships with the rest of Europe and the wider world in the twentieth century

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Understand the changing nature of the United Kingdom's relationships with the rest of Europe and the wider world in the twentieth century

Key learning points

  • • End of empire
  • • Changing relationships
  • • Final enquiry

This lesson at a glance

  • 40 minutes
  • 18 parts to scroll through
  • 3 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

changingnatureunitedkingdomrelationships

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 18 · Discover6%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 18

Watch first

Lesson 7: Britain and the world after empire

An English teaching video on this topic from Learn with Skillsets Connect . Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Understand the changing nature of the United Kingdom's relationships with the rest of Europe and the wider world in the twentieth century

2

What you already know

Part 2 of 18

Before we start

What you already know

You should already know that Britain governed a large empire, and that many colonies became independent states after 1945.

Recap: Lesson 6: 1945 and a changing Britain
3

Key words

Part 3 of 18

Key words

Words you'll need today

Decolonisation
The process by which colonies became independent states.
Suez Crisis
The 1956 crisis that exposed the limits of British power.
Commonwealth
The association of states with historic links to Britain.
Integration
Closer political and economic ties between states, as in Europe.
4

Your lesson plan

Part 4 of 18

Lesson brief

How did Britain's global role change?

By the end, you will be able to

  • • Build an accurate twentieth-century chronology
  • • Connect British, European and global developments
  • • Use official records and testimony ethically and critically

Resources

  • • Empire Windrush passenger list (1948)
  • • Lesson notes and marked knowledge check
4 minRecall the chronology and frame the enquiry
16 minRead the textbook explanation and build the argument
12 minInterrogate the archive evidence in context
8 minAnswer the checks and write a supported conclusion
5

Learning cycle

Part 5 of 18

Learning cycle 1 of 2

The end of empire

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 18

Learn

End of empire

Independence movements and post-war conditions accelerated decolonisation. The process varied and could be violent.

7

Explore the idea

Part 7 of 18

Learn

Changing relationships

Suez exposed limits to British power. Membership of European institutions and later Brexit reflected competing ideas about Britain's place.

8

Reset break

Part 8 of 18

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
9

Quick check

Part 9 of 18

Quick check

Suez showed…

10

Quick check

Part 10 of 18

Quick check

Decolonisation means…

11

Learning cycle

Part 11 of 18

Learning cycle 2 of 2

A final enquiry

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 18

Learn

Final enquiry

Use political records, migration evidence and testimony to explain change without treating decline as the only story.

13

Quick check

Part 13 of 18

Quick check

Best final answer?

14

Investigate evidence

Part 14 of 18

Evidence 1 of 1

primary

Empire Windrush passenger list

British shipping and immigration authorities, 1948

The passenger list records names, occupations and intended addresses of people arriving from the Caribbean.

An administrative record establishes who travelled and stated plans. Oral histories are needed to understand hopes, treatment and later lives.

Think like a historian

What can a passenger list tell us—and what can it never capture alone?

Source: The National Archives, Windrush stories

View the archive record ↗
15

Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 18

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • People often think decolonisation was peaceful everywhere. It varied and in several places involved violence.
  • People often reduce the period to 'decline'. Britain's role changed rather than simply shrinking.
16

Challenge round

Part 16 of 18

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

17

Mastery quiz

Part 17 of 18

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Lesson 7: Britain and the world after empire

5 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Suez in 1956 showed…

  2. 2. Decolonisation is best described as…

  3. 3. Membership of European institutions reflected…

  4. 4. Evidence for this period includes…

  5. 5. The best final answer explains change without…

18

Lesson round-up

Part 18 of 18

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Source

A factory inspector's notebook, 1842

"I visited the mill at seven in the morning. The machines were already running. I counted fourteen children at the frames, the youngest no more than nine years of age. The overseer told me they work from six until seven, with forty minutes for dinner."

"The air is thick with cotton dust and the windows are kept shut so the thread does not break. Two of the children showed me hands cut by the shuttles. The owner assured me that the work is light and that the families beg him for the places, since without the children's wages the rent cannot be paid."

"I have written to the magistrates. I doubt much will follow from it."

Original source-style text written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Who wrote this, when, and why might that make it useful to a historian?
  2. What does the source tell you about children's work — and what does it not tell you?
  3. How far does this source show that mill owners were to blame? Answer with a judgement and evidence.

Source for this lesson

Use this for the source work task below.

Empire Windrush passenger list

primary

British shipping and immigration authorities, 1948

The passenger list records names, occupations and intended addresses of people arriving from the Caribbean.

An administrative record establishes who travelled and stated plans. Oral histories are needed to understand hopes, treatment and later lives.

Source: The National Archives, Windrush stories

View the original record ↗

  • Source work

    Reading

    Read the source closely. Write who made it, when, and what it tells you — then what it does not tell you.

    2 paragraphs

  • Essay answer

    Writing

    Answer the enquiry question with a clear judgement. Use two pieces of evidence and finish with a sentence that weighs them up.

    300–400 words

  • Timeline

    Diagram

    Draw a timeline of the events in this lesson with dates, then photograph it.

    6–8 events

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 18 · Watch & discover

How this is going

  • Not looked at yet

    Understand social, cultural and technological change in post-war British society

  • Not looked at yet

    Understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance

  • Not looked at yet

    Understand the changing nature of the United Kingdom's relationships with the rest of Europe and the wider world in the twentieth century

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