# The End of Empires > The First World War destroys the Russian, German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires, Siam joins the peace conference, Japan's empire rises and falls, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Burma, Indochina, Malaya and Africa win independence, the United Nations grows from 51 to 193 members, the Soviet Union dissolves, Hong Kong and Macau are handed over, and a final replay shows four thousand years of empires on one globe. Episode 13, the final episode of the World Empires series. Interactive film: https://www.planetpast.com/stories/empires-end-of-empire/ Publisher: PlanetPast (https://www.planetpast.com/) · Published 2026-10-13 · History ## Prologue ### The End of Empires *World Empires · Episode 13* From a world of empires to a world of nations. In 1914, a handful of empires ruled most of the world’s land and people. Britain, France, Russia, the Ottomans, Austria-Hungary, Germany and Japan, plus older empires like Portugal’s. In Asia, only a few states, among them Japan, China, Siam and Persia, were not ruled directly by a European power, and most of those were under heavy outside pressure. Prologue · Episode 13 of the World Empires series #### The world in 1914 Episode 12 ended with empires at their peak. This episode follows their end, in about eighty years. Outlines are approximate and simplified. Sources: [Wikipedia: Decolonization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decolonization); [Wikipedia: List of largest empires](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_empires) ## Chapter I · World wars ### Four empires fall *Chapter I · 1914–1923* The First World War breaks the old order. The First World War destroyed four empires: the Russian in 1917, the German and Austro-Hungarian in 1918, and the Ottoman by 1922. New states appeared across Eastern Europe. At Paris in 1919, the victors spoke of self-determination, but mostly applied it in Europe. Ottoman Arab lands and German colonies became “mandates” run by Britain and France. Siam had joined the war on the Allied side in 1917. It sat at the peace conference and joined the League of Nations, and used that position to start renegotiating its unequal treaties. Chapter I · Step 1 #### Four empires fall - 1917 Russian Empire collapses - 1918 German and Austro-Hungarian empires end - 1919 Paris Peace Conference; League of Nations - 1922 Ottoman sultanate abolished Siam sent a volunteer force to France in 1918. Sources: [Wikipedia: Aftermath of World War I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aftermath_of_World_War_I); [Wikipedia: Siam in World War I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siam_in_World_War_I) ### Japan’s empire *Chapter I · 1895–1945* The last great empire built by conquest. Japan built an empire on the Western model: Taiwan in 1895, Korea in 1910, Manchuria in 1931, then war with China from 1937. From December 1941 it overran Southeast Asia, from Burma to the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies, under the slogan of an Asia freed from Western rule. Its occupation was often brutal. Its defeat in 1945 ended its empire. But European powers returning to Asia found that the old colonial order could not simply be restored. Chapter I · Step 2 #### Japan’s empire - 1895 Taiwan - 1910 Korea annexed - 1931–1932 Manchuria (Manchukuo) - 1941–1945 War in Asia and the Pacific - Aug 1945 Surrender Thailand, under military government, allied with Japan in 1941; a Free Thai resistance movement worked with the Allies. Sources: [Wikipedia: Empire of Japan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Japan) ## Chapter II · Decolonisation ### Asia goes first *Chapter II · 1945–1949* Independence across South and Southeast Asia. Indonesia declared independence on 17 August 1945 and fought the Dutch until 1949. The Philippines became independent from the United States in 1946. On 15 August 1947 British India became two states, India and Pakistan. Partition caused mass migration of perhaps 15 million people, and violence in which hundreds of thousands, perhaps over a million, died. Burma and Ceylon, today’s Sri Lanka, became independent in 1948. Chapter II · Step 3 #### Asia goes first - 1945 Indonesia declares independence (recognised 1949) - 1946 Philippines - 1947 India and Pakistan - 1948 Burma, Ceylon Sources: [Wikipedia: Decolonisation of Asia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decolonisation_of_Asia); [Wikipedia: Partition of India](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_of_India) ### Mainland Southeast Asia *Chapter II · 1946–1965* Wars and negotiations. In Vietnam, France fought the Viet Minh from 1946. Its defeat at Điện Biên Phủ in 1954 ended French Indochina. Laos and Cambodia had gained independence by 1953. Vietnam was divided, and the war that followed lasted until 1975. Malaya became independent from Britain in 1957. Malaysia formed in 1963, and Singapore became a separate state in 1965. Chapter II · Step 4 #### Mainland Southeast Asia - 1953 Laos and Cambodia independent - 1954 Điện Biên Phủ; Geneva accords - 1957 Malaya - 1963 Malaysia - 1965 Singapore Thailand, never colonised, is the only country in this region that did not go through this transition. Sources: [Wikipedia: Decolonisation of Asia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decolonisation_of_Asia) ### Africa *Chapter II · 1957–1975* Seventeen countries in one year. In 1957 Ghana became the first colony in sub-Saharan Africa to win independence. In 1960, the “Year of Africa”, seventeen African countries became independent. Some transitions were peaceful. Others came through long wars: Algeria fought France from 1954 to 1962, and Kenya saw the Mau Mau uprising against Britain. Portugal held on longest. After a revolution in Lisbon in 1974, Angola, Mozambique and its other colonies became independent in 1975. Chapter II · Step 5 #### Africa - 1957 Ghana - 1960 17 countries, the “Year of Africa” - 1962 Algeria - 1974–1975 Portugal’s African colonies - 1990 Namibia Sources: [Wikipedia: Decolonisation of Africa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decolonisation_of_Africa) ### A world of nations *Chapter II · 1945 → 2011* From 51 to 193. The United Nations was founded in 1945 with 51 members. In 1960 its General Assembly declared that colonialism should be brought to a speedy end. Membership grew as each colony became a state. Today there are 193 members; the newest, South Sudan, joined in 2011. For the first time in history, almost every person on Earth lives in a state that claims to govern in the name of its own people. Chapter II · Step 6 #### A world of nations - **UN members, 1945**: 51 - **UN members today**: 193 - **Resolution 1514**: 14 Dec 1960 Declaration on decolonisation Sources: [United Nations: growth in UN membership](https://www.un.org/en/about-us/growth-in-un-membership); [United Nations: decolonization, historical documents (Resolution 1514)](https://www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/history/historical-documents) ## Chapter III · Last empires ### The Soviet Union *Chapter III · 1945–1991* Was it an empire? The Soviet Union was a federation of fifteen republics, and after 1945 it also dominated the communist states of Eastern Europe. Some historians call it an empire, pointing to central control from Moscow and the use of force in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. Others stress that it officially rejected empire and promoted its many nationalities. In 1989 the Berlin Wall fell. On 26 December 1991 the Soviet Union was dissolved, and fifteen independent states took its place. Chapter III · Step 7 #### The Soviet Union - 1922 USSR founded - 1956, 1968 Hungary, Czechoslovakia - 1989 Fall of the Berlin Wall - 26 Dec 1991 Dissolution: 15 states Whether to call the USSR an empire remains a political as well as a historical question. Sources: [Wikipedia: Dissolution of the Soviet Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union) ### The last colonies *Chapter III · 1997 → today* A handful of territories remain. On 1 July 1997 Britain handed Hong Kong to China. Portugal returned Macau in 1999. They were the last major European colonies in Asia. The United Nations still lists 17 “non-self-governing territories”, from Western Sahara to small islands in the Pacific and Caribbean. Some, like Gibraltar or the Falklands, are disputed. Others have voted to keep their links with former imperial powers. Chapter III · Step 8 #### The last colonies - **Hong Kong handover**: 1 Jul 1997 - **Macau handover**: 20 Dec 1999 - **UN non-self-governing territories**: 17 current UN list Sources: [Wikipedia: Handover of Hong Kong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handover_of_Hong_Kong); [United Nations: Non-Self-Governing Territories](https://www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/nsgt) ## Chapter IV · Legacy ### What empires left behind *Chapter IV · Today* Borders, languages and arguments. Many of today’s borders were drawn by empires, especially in Africa and the Middle East, where straight lines on maps cut across peoples. English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian and Arabic spread as world languages through empire. Fifty-six countries, most of them former British territories, belong to the Commonwealth. Debates continue: about apologies and reparations, about museum objects taken in colonial times, and about how to teach this history. Chapter IV · Step 9 #### What empires left behind - Borders Many drawn by imperial treaties - Languages English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic - Commonwealth 56 member countries - Debates Apologies, reparations, museum returns Sources: [The Commonwealth: member countries](https://thecommonwealth.org/our-member-countries); [Wikipedia: Decolonization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decolonization) ### Four thousand years in one minute *Chapter IV · 2334 BC → AD 1997* The whole series on one globe. Watch four thousand years again at speed. First the river empires: Akkad, Egypt, Babylon and Assyria. Then Persia, the Mauryas, Qin and Han, and Rome. Then the caliphates, Angkor, the Mongols and the Ottomans. Then the Aztecs and Incas, and the sea empires. Every empire in this series fell. Some lasted decades, some centuries. None lasted for ever. Chapter IV · Step 10 #### Four thousand years in one minute Sources: [Wikipedia: List of largest empires](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_empires) ## Epilogue ### After empire *Epilogue* The end of the series. Empires shaped the languages we speak, the religions we follow, the borders we cross and the foods we eat. Understanding them, in order and side by side, helps explain why the world looks as it does today. Thank you for watching the World Empires series. Every episode is listed below. Epilogue #### After empire #### The series - **00**The Rise and Fall of Empires (overview) - **01**The First Empires: Mesopotamia - **02**Egypt of the Pharaohs - **03**Persia and Alexander - **04**The Maurya Empire of India - **05**China Unified: Qin and Han - **06**Rome - **07**The Islamic Caliphates - **08**The Khmer Empire of Angkor - **09**The Mongol Empire - **10**The Ottoman Empire - **11**The Aztec and Inca Empires - **12**The Age of Sea Empires - **13** The End of Empires (this film) The still images on the chapter cards are AI-generated illustrations. Outlines are approximate and simplified. Sources: [Wikipedia: Decolonization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decolonization); [United Nations: growth in UN membership](https://www.un.org/en/about-us/growth-in-un-membership); [Wikipedia: List of largest empires](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_empires)