Elizabeth II: From the British Empire to the Disunited Kingdom.
She leaves the throne to Charles III who should take up multiple challenges.
The fortieth British sovereign after William the Conqueror, Elizabeth II has just passed away at the age of 96 after 70 years of reign. Since her accession to the throne in 1952, she was the demanding and knowledgeable interlocutor of fifteen prime ministers, from Winston Churchill to Liz Truss.
Even when she was not in power, Elizabeth II was the essence of power, allowing her influence and influence to extend beyond the United Kingdom. She symbolized not only the unity and continuity of her country but also the values of freedom that she was able to embody, from the war against Nazism to the epidemic of COVID-19, to which she was able to call upon the spirit of the Blitz.
She reinforced the authority and legitimacy of the monarchy while modernizing it, both in its functioning, by lightening the protocol, rationalizing its finances and subjecting it to taxation, and in its relationship with the citizens, notably by using modern means of communication, from television to social networks.
The tour de force of Elizabeth II - which resembles the work accomplished by General de Gaulle in France at the time of the founding of the Fifth Republic - remains to have accompanied the tremendous changes in the United Kingdom since the end of the Second World War - including its decline - while allowing her subjects to continue to be proud of their country and their history.
The evolution of the United Kingdom since 1952 symbolizes the marginalization of Europe and the de-Westernization of the world in many ways.
The immense British empire that spanned five continents and ruled a third of humanity has been reduced to a nation of 69 million people. The proud colonial power was, like France, harshly reminded in 1956 at Suez of its downgrading by the bipolar order of the Cold War dominated by the United States and the Soviet Union. But the British genius consisted in transcending this withdrawal by creating the Commonwealth and by the great illusion of a special relationship with the United States.
At the same time, the United Kingdom paid for the sublime hours of its heroic resistance to Nazi Germany, then at the height of its expansion, with an interminable economic decline and a chronic social crisis. Not without many twists and turns, the United Kingdom embarked on the only alternative strategy available to it by joining the European Union in 1973.
Then, the liberal shock therapy applied with an iron fist by Margaret Thatcher allowed the rebuilding of a successful economic model at the cost of a quasi-civil war. The deregulation and opening up of the economy were accelerated by the fall of the Soviet Union and globalization, which made it an ideal bridgehead for companies and international investors wishing to access the European market. this role was comparable to that of Hong Kong concerning China until its brutal normalization by Xi Jinping in 2020. With the opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994 as a symbol.
Served by exceptional diplomacy, the United Kingdom succeeded in gaining decisive political and legal influence in the Union, without participating in either the euro or the Schengen area, and while benefiting from a 50% discount on its contribution. At the European level, too, the late and forced rallying to the community construction was converted into a power multiplier.
This recovery was ruined, however, by Brexit, which is in many ways the most serious and consequential failure of Elizabeth II's reign, even if it is not her responsibility. The populist fever that swept the Conservative Party under the influence of Boris Johnson with the 2016 referendum and then the orchestration of the maximalist Brexit implemented on January 1, 2021, ruined the British model without providing a credible substitute.
King Charles III thus comes to power at a time when Elizabeth II's legacy is in jeopardy and the United Kingdom is being taken back to some of the most challenging times in its history.
The United Kingdom was facing a perfect storm, with a recession and inflation of over 10%, the aftermath of the COVID-19 epidemic and the energy shock caused by the war in Ukraine, and the growing desire for independence among the nations that make up the Kingdom. Charles III will have to respond with a weakened monarchy, a weakened political system, and a destabilized parliamentary democracy, as shown by the succession of four Conservative Prime Ministers in seven years.
If he wants to meet the challenge, Charles III has no choice but to change everything so that nothing changes.
Some reading
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