African Colonies vs EEC Flashcards
What did Britain introduce in 1940, showing their economic commitment to Africa?
The Colonial Development and Welfare Act which permitted £50m to be spent on African colonies over 10 years
What did Attlee increase the amount available under the Colonial Development and Welfare Act to in 1950?
£140m
What were the drawbacks with the economic commitments shown in the Colonial Development and Welfare Act?
- The funds and actual expenditures fell short of the authorized amounts and allocations
- The high increase in the cost of goods and services meant that the increasing authorizations did not represent as large an increase in buying power
- Development was often slow, inconsistent and focussed on social development rather than economic development
How much money did the London government hold at the end of the war belonging to the colonies? Belonging to African colonies?
£600m
£215m belonging to African colonies
Why did Britain seek to maintain and promote the colonial balances? How could colonies earn dollars to balance Britain’s trade deficit with the US?
Since it supported the pound
Colonies could sell mineral and agricultural products to the US to earn dollars
How did Britain seek to maximize its colonies contribution to lowering its trade deficit?
By maintaining war restrictions on colonial imports, controlling colonial exports and buying colonial products in bulk at less than market price.
These helped build up dollar surpluses in the colonies
What was the dollar surplus generated by the colonies 1946-1951? What proportion was generated by African colonies?
$1.83bn
30% of that generated by African colonies
What was Bevin’s intention for Africa after the war?
He sought to expand African production of minerals and foodstuffs to meet British domestic needs and help solve Britain’s balance of payments problem
When did papers, committees and schemes particularly emerge in an attempt to increase African production?
1947-48
Which two government corporations were set up under Attlee to encourage food and mineral production in the colonies?
The Colonial Development Corporation
Overseas Food Corporation
What was the largest project funded by the two Attlee corporations? What happened to it?
The Tanganyika groundnut scheme which had failed by 1951
Why did the Colonial Development Corporation abandon many of its projects?
Since it lost money every year through to 1955
Where did prominent riots occur in the British empire in 1948? How might this and other events such as the Mau Mau rebellion have contributed to the turn away from Africa?
1948 riots in Accra
Such events showed how the empire was becoming more and more costly to the metropole
When was the European Coal and Steel Community established? What did Britain miss out on since they weren’t part of it?
1951
Britain missed out on a common market for coal and steel
What was concluded under the 1957 Treaty of Rome?
The establishment of the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Agency Community (EURATOM)
