Economic weakness was the main reason why Britain decolonized’ how far do you agree?

When approaching a question which requires you to establish key factors it is imperative to understand what the question is actually asking you. So, broken down, the question is asking about factors which encouraged decolonisation, and is asking YOU to decide which one is more important. Once you have identified 3-4 factors (including the factor in the question e.g. economic weakness) it is important to plan which you think is the most important and why, why other factors were not important, and why some may have been a facilitating force, but not essential. Noting your ideas will help you develop a line of argument which runs through your essay, and is the 'bare-bones' to any high-level answer. So in this case, I have decided that my factors are; the impact of WW2, the impact of the Cold War, the spread of colonial nationalism and, the factor in the question, economic weaknesses. Once I've decided on my factors and how important each factor is in relation to decolonisation I might create topic sentences which really help to clarify my line of argument and engage the examiner/teacher. E.g. 'The impact of the Second World War facilitated the decolonisation of the empire.' Obviously, in an examine you might not be able to write a whole sentence, but writing key words which relate to the role of the factor will ensure your essay is argument driven. I would supply students with a word bank of argument related words for topic sentences to ensure a variety of vocabulary creates more nuance in their answers. Equipped with a plan, it is now time to 'flesh out' my answer. Perhaps the most impressive and key way to do this is to not only use evidence, but explain why the evidence shows the factor is important. So in the context of this question, examples of colonial nationalism would corroborate the view that it was an important factor. E.g. Resistance to British rule was in Ghana was instigated by the Convention’s People Party. I would then explain that the evidence of resistance shows that colonial nationalism was an important factor because without it, the incentive to keep empire would have been stronger. By supporting my argument with 2-3 bits of evidence for each factor, I have shown the examiner I not only understand WHAT examples of colonial nationalism I know, but WHY they are important. This step should be repeated for each factor. In total, I will have 2-3 main 'factor paragraphs' and an introduction and conclusion. Once my paragraphs have been fleshed out with my argument, evidence and how the evidence substantiates my argument, it may not be possible to draw links between factors. In this context, I might argue that the WW2 encouraged colonial-nationalism and therefore played a fundamental role. Such links may be placed in the conclusion as it shows examiners how I have actively engaged with the course content and drawn my argument to a sophisticated close. However, it is important that links between factors make logistical sense in the wider structure of the argument. It is better to have a clear argument that runs throughout your essay, than an argument that examiner's can't distinguish.