I was about to mention this as a counter to Bryan's suggestion here that empires would have endured. The two world wars exhausted Europe's capacity to maintain global empires, and to some degree its willingness too. My guess is that the break ups were inevitable, and even free trade zones unlikely.
Malta voted to join the UK but was rejected and given independence against their will, for a second example.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956_Maltese_United_Kingdom_integration_referendum
I was about to mention this as a counter to Bryan's suggestion here that empires would have endured. The two world wars exhausted Europe's capacity to maintain global empires, and to some degree its willingness too. My guess is that the break ups were inevitable, and even free trade zones unlikely.