Commonwealth

Commonwealth, body of people in a politically organized community that is independent or semi-independent, and in which the government functions by the common consent of the people. The term commonwealth is also sometimes used as a synonym for commonweal, or “general welfare”. It arose as a principle of political legitimacy opposed to the idea of a state as private possession of a monarch. In addition it is applied to an association of people having a common interest, as in art or literature, and to the uniting interest itself, as in the commonwealth of learning. The first formally constituted commonwealth was formed between Poland and Lithuania in 1569 for mutual defence against Muscovy (modern Russia). In English history, the Commonwealth was the government established by Parliament and headed by Oliver Cromwell after the execution of King Charles I in 1649 and continuing until the Restoration in 1660. Four states of the United States—Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia—officially designated themselves commonwealths in their titles, in deference to the principle of government by common consent. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was established in 1991 to co-ordinate the interests of the member states of the defunct Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The Commonwealth of Nations is a body created as a successor to the British Empire, and coordinating the various states formerly in that empire. It is divided into the so-called “Old Commonwealth” countries, such as Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, which were extensively colonized and granted formal independence before 1914, and the “New Commonwealth” states—India, Pakistan, South Africa, and most others—whose members were predominantly conquered rather than colonized and which won their independence after World War II. It serves mostly as a forum for debate, having no powers over its members.