The monograph is devoted to the problem of transformation of the British Empire at one of the key stages of its development. The study is, in fact, the first on this topic in Russian historiography. The main attention in the book is paid to the ideological and political side of the efforts that were intended to protect the empire from collapse. The relationship between the metropolis and its dominions - Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa - has become the main storyline that allows us to trace the evolution of the imperial idea and the fate of Great Britain as a superpower.