Commonwealth

Lore & Background

The term evolved to become a title to a number of political entities. Three countries – Australia, The Bahamas, and Dominica – have the official title "Commonwealth", as do four U.S. states and two U.S. territories. Since the early 20th century, the term has been used to name some associations of states, most notably the Commonwealth of Nations, an organisation primarily of former territories of the British Empire. It is also used in the translation for the organisation made up of formerly Soviet states, the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The Commonwealth of England was the official name of the political unit (de facto military rule in the name of parliamentary supremacy) that replaced the Kingdom of England (after the English Civil War) from 1649 to 1653 and 1659 to 1660, under the rule of Oliver Cromwell and his son and successor Richard. From 1653 to 1659, although still legally known as a Commonwealth, the republic, united with the former Kingdom of Scotland, operated under different institutions (at times as a de facto monarchy) and is known by historians as the Protectorate.

In a British context, it is sometimes referred to as the "Old Commonwealth". The period of Icelandic history from the establishment of the Althing in 930 to the pledge of fealty to the Norwegian king in 1262 is usually called the Icelandic Nation (Icelandic: Þjóðveldið) in Icelandic and the Icelandic Commonwealth in English. The Commonwealth of the Philippines was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 to 1945 when Japan occupied the country.

It replaced the Insular Government, a United States territorial government, and was established by the Tydings–McDuffie Act. The Commonwealth was designed as a transitional administration in preparation for the country's full achievement of independence, which was achieved in 1946. The Commonwealth of the Philippines was a founding member of the United Nations. Republic is still an alternative translation of the traditional name Rzeczpospolita of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Wincenty Kadłubek (Vincent Kadlubo, 1160–1223) used for the first time the original Latin term res publica in the context of Poland in his "Chronicles of the Kings and Princes of Poland". The name was used officially for the confederal union formed by Poland and Lithuania (1569–1795). Between 1914 and 1925, Catalonia functioned as an administrative union of its four provinces under the Mancomunitat de Catalunya, often translated into English as the “Commonwealth of Catalonia”.

Between 1838 and 1847, Liberia was officially known as the "Commonwealth of Liberia". It changed its name to the "Republic of Liberia" when it declared independence (and adopted a new constitution) in 1847. The Lunda Empire in southeastern DR Congo has frequently been referred to as a commonwealth because it was not ruled from one centre and involved numerous independent though connected states.

Reader's Guide

The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of 56 independent sovereign states, most of which were once part of the British Empire. The Commonwealth's membership includes both republics and monarchies. The Head of the Commonwealth is King Charles III, who also reigns as monarch in the 15 member states known as Commonwealth realms since his accession in 2022. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a loose alliance or confederation consisting of nine of the 15 former Soviet Republics, the exceptions being Turkmenistan (a CIS associate member), Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, and Georgia.

Georgia left the CIS in August 2008 following the 2008 invasion of the Russian military into South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Its creation signalled the dissolution of the Soviet Union, its purpose being to "allow a civilised divorce" between the Soviet Republics. The CIS has developed as a forum by which the member-states can co-operate in economics, defence, and foreign policy. Labour MP Tony Benn sponsored a Commonwealth of Britain Bill several times between 1991 and 2001, intended to abolish the monarchy and establish a British republic. It never reached second reading.