Royal death and living memorials: the funerals and commemoration of George V and George VI, 1936–52. Ina Zweiniger-Bargielowska
The death, funerals and commemoration of George V and George VI have received relatively little attention. The elaborately staged funerals established new democratic spaces where people could affirm their loyalty and live broadcasts generated nationally shared experiences. New mass media were significant but the funerals also incorporated commemorative rituals established after the First World War including the two-minute silence and memorial appeals building on the war memorials movement. National philanthropic schemes or living memorials promoted young people’s welfare inspired by both kings’ belief in the physical, moral and social benefits of outdoor recreation. Drawing extensively on unexplored sources, this article argues that royal death affirmed a shared Britishness, which strengthened the monarchy and enhanced social and national cohesion in the era of total war.
This article analyses Anglo-French relations with regard to Rhodesia’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence (U.D.I.). It highlights how long-standing ideas about co-operation and competition shaped British and French views of each other in the Rhodesian context, as well as French policies towards U.D.I. The article then moves beyond the dichotomy between alliance and acrimony, identifying other themes that informed Anglo-French relations in this rebellious British colony. By exploring interaction between Britain, France and Rhodesia, it challenges the binaries that dominate the study of the end of European colonial rule in the twentieth century, offering instead a connected history of decolonization.