What British colonies were actually profitable in the postwar world? Obviously profits are not all direct — plenty of benefit to the metropole can be had via trade, resource extraction…etc. even if the state itself is making little revenue. But had the UK tried to decolonize “strategically” to benefit its ruined finances as much as possible after WW2, what colonies should it have tried to hold onto (whether it actually could have done so is another matter of course).
Hong Kong is an example of one they held on to as long as possible, I assume it was very profitable for them to hold that “gateway” into Chinese trade. Are there other examples of territories that would have been similarly beneficial to try to retain?
I’ve seen a lot of breakdowns of Imperial German colonial possessions and their profitability (or lack thereof) by 1914 – does anyone have similar numbers for British colonies in the 40s and beyond?
I’m not making any normative statements about colonialism here, just asking about profitability. I’ve heard that by the end “empire” was a financial drain on the metropole, but I've also heard that the UK's finances were thrown into turmoil by the loss of imperial trade revenues/end of the built-in commercial advantage British companies had in imperial territories – curious which of those hold up under scrutiny.
Hong Kong is an example of one they held on to as long as possible, I assume it was very profitable for them to hold that “gateway” into Chinese trade. Are there other examples of territories that would have been similarly beneficial to try to retain?
I’ve seen a lot of breakdowns of Imperial German colonial possessions and their profitability (or lack thereof) by 1914 – does anyone have similar numbers for British colonies in the 40s and beyond?
I’m not making any normative statements about colonialism here, just asking about profitability. I’ve heard that by the end “empire” was a financial drain on the metropole, but I've also heard that the UK's finances were thrown into turmoil by the loss of imperial trade revenues/end of the built-in commercial advantage British companies had in imperial territories – curious which of those hold up under scrutiny.