USA in British Commonwealth?

What is the possibility of the United States joining the British Commonwealth of Nations and be with its mother country and English-speaking allies? I have no problems with that as there also are several republics in Africa and Asia in the Commonwealth such as India, Singapore, Ghana, among others. What would the POD be for the US to join? Would it be post-1945?
 

Ryan

Donor
America is far too independent for it to consider joining the Commonwealth. If it did join into a supranational organization with Britain and its former empire it would have to be an entirely new organization in which it is a founding member to remove any suggestion that the US is submitting itself to Britain. Such an organization would essentially be a UN for the free world following WW2 and colonies would become members as they gained independence.
 
What is the possibility of the United States joining the British Commonwealth of Nations and be with its mother country and English-speaking allies? I have no problems with that as there also are several republics in Africa and Asia in the Commonwealth such as India, Singapore, Ghana, among others. What would the POD be for the US to join? Would it be post-1945?

I don't think there is any chance in the 1900s. I believe you need a POD during the Revolution; perhaps a better strategy avoiding the defeat at Yorktown along with something that makes King George and Parliament more accommodating. There were a number of loyalists in the South and I believe Cornwallis made a poor choice moving his Army to Charleston. Why occupy territory that would probably fall in line anyway (as long as they get to keep their "peculiar institution" a large number of Southern gentlemen are quite pliable). Perhaps make a deal with the Southern Colonies to isolate the North?
 
Given the massive British investment in the US in the last two centuries, & all the other trade and financial connections I dont see much difference. One can pick over technical details, but in shear numbers the two nations have been joined at the hip.
 
The us largely defined itself as rejecting the British monarchy. Joining an organization with that monarchy at its head would be counter intuitive. Also the us is a big major civilization in its own right and own accomplishment, why join when most people don't consider themselves British anyway.
 
Kenya's in the commonwealth. Do Kenyans consider themselves British?

Well, at the time that they joined, most of the population still had a memory of being part of the British Empire, at least. Not so if the US joins the Commonewealth in the 20th Century, as posited by this thread.
 
It could certainly be possible, but would probably require a radically different 20th century where the British Empire doesn't suffer the devastating economic, social and psychological effects of WWI.

Say the Entente Cordiale never happens; Britain isn't drawn into the conflict between the Central Powers and the Franco-Russian Entente. The Central Powers win, but the toll that victory exerts destroys Austria-Hungary and causes enormous ructions in the German Empire. In order to maintain its colossal European hegemony - a domination of a continent from La Coruna to the Urals, won at an unimaginable cost in blood and treasure - the Germans take a hard turn against democracy and shut the British and Americans (who both made fortunes selling weapons to both sides) out of their markets.

The British and Americans now find themselves ideological and economic allies against unFascist GrossEuropa (with an option on Communist governments in China and trans-Uralic Russia). The British look at converting their colonial empire into an EEC-like affair with added mutual defence, but when Mexico falls to a German-backed coup the Americans decide that 'united we stand' trumps '1776 forever' and petition to get involved.

Of course, the Americans still carry enough weight that calling it 'British' or 'Imperial' anything isn't going to fly, but a compromise is reached by calling it the Commonwealth of Nations; republican enough for Washington, British enough for the Imperialists and egalitarian enough for the socialists. Within a decade of its founding, it also includes those nations nervously clinging to the rim of GrossEuropa (Portugal, Greece, Norway) along with US client states in the Caribbean, Pacific and Latin America. There's even tentative ties with Italy, growing increasingly uncomfortable with German hegemony and encroachment on the Adriatic littoral.

And that's when the next war breaks out.

So, not quite the OP fulfilled outright, but close enough, I hope, for most people's liking.
 
What is the possibility of the United States joining the British Commonwealth of Nations and be with its mother country and English-speaking allies? I have no problems with that as there also are several republics in Africa and Asia in the Commonwealth such as India, Singapore, Ghana, among others. What would the POD be for the US to join? Would it be post-1945?

Sure there is, just rename it the "American Commonwealth" and make the head of the organization the President of the United Sates of America. ;)
 
The US is clearly not going to join the 'British Commonwealth'. However, that doesn't exist anymore. It is now just 'The Commonwealth', so that barrier is gone.

Churchill spoke (and wrote) a lot about the 'Commonwealth of English Speaking Nations', and if the US were to join it could be rebranded to that.
 
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