Empire and Commonwealth

[stoogmeister]

What's the difference, if any, between the British Empire and the Commonwealth?

[firefly]

Emperors, empresses or equivalent rule Empires, only Monarchs can rule Commonwealths. I think the term was 'The British Empire' was used to describe India, which is an Imperial State (as opposed to a Commonwealth one). The Commonwealth describes all territory governed by our Queen abroad. I'm not putting this very succinctly am I? Can anyone do better?

[geofbob]

I don't think the dictionary meanings of the words "empire" and "commonwealth" are much help here. The main distinction between the old British Empire and the present Commonwealth is that the UK exercised control over the individual countries comprising the former entity; whereas the Commonwealth is a voluntary grouping (though of course the UK still has a great cultural and economic influence). For more information on the Commonwealth, click on http://www.thecommonwealth.org/.

[incitatus]

Ok...the empire became an empire when we took over India from the Honourable Company. The empire consisted of all our colonies and dominions, including places like canada and australia, though these became increasingly independent. We ruled them from here, basically. The Commonwealth is voluntary and is largely made up of our ex colonies, and is simply a fraternal group...although many states still recognise the queen as head of state, and have a govewrnor general, they are self governing. In fact some countries we never subjugated have joined the commonwealth as a trading organisation.. Firefly...an emperor is a monarch. In terms of usage an emperor is probably defined as a senior king who rules over lesser kings. The first commonwealth was ruled over by parliament (then cromwell), the monarch having misplaced his head....

[firefly]

Inciatitus you are right by saying a emporer is a Monarch, but it is higher than a King or a Queen. (Rulers of Empires are higher than Rulers of one country. After all, a Prince or Grand Duke may also be a Monarch.