Attitude to Empire and Post-Colonial Ties

Question 1

How did Britain maintain its political influence in former colonies

Answer 1

• establishment of a Commonwealth Secretary General and his Secretariat in 1965 permitted the co-ordination of many Commonwealth activities.
• Regular Commonwealth Conferences, attended by PMs/Presidents took place at least once every 2 years in London.

Question 2

In what ways did continued post-colonial ties enable Britain to maintain a significant international position?

Answer 2

• Commonwealth helped bolster Britain’s international position, providing a strong and wide-ranging diplomatic network and ensuring Britain’s membership of key international bodies.
• Britain’s place on the UN Security Council can be seen as a reflection of Britain’s status acquired through empire and maintained through Britain’s world-wide influence.

Question 3

what ways did the Commonwealth still continue to strengthen British military power?

Answer 3

• continued to maintain a military with a ‘global reach’ and recruited from Commonwealth nations.
• military bases:
• Malta
• Cyprus
• Hong Kong
• Singapore

Question 4

what ways did the Commonwealth continue to be financially linked to Britain?

Answer 4

• major Commonwealth Economic Conference in 1952.
• London remained as one of the world’s major financial centres.
• gov made every effort to keep ex-colonies within the Stirling Area – it could be said Britain
  replaced its ‘formal’ empire with is old ‘informal’ one of training links and economic ties.

Question 5

How significant was trade with the Commonwealth to Britain?

Answer 5

• conventions of international trade and law and Britain’s imperial connections had given rise to multi-national companies with branches around the world.
• had important trading links that continued to be of major importance – particularly given Britain’s exclusion from the EEC until 1973.

Question 6

What roles did the Monarch play in the continuation of close relations with Britain’s former colonies?

Answer 6

• Queen remained a symbol of Commonwealth.
• held her own regular meetings with Heads of Government from Commonwealth countries.
• reinforced the connections through regular Commonwealth visits.

Question 7

what ways did Britain remain culturally connected with former colonies

Answer 7

• Union Jack was retained in the corned or many flags.
• Citizens of the Commonwealth remained eligible for British honours.
• Boy Scout movement maintained its ties across former Empire.

Question 8

Why did British people migrate to Commonwealth countries post WW2

Answer 8

• experience of war, continued rationing (until 1954) and increasing demand for labour in countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand which offered better prospects.
• 87,100 emigrated to Australia and 65,800 emigrated to Canada.

Question 9

Why was migration from Britain significant in maintain post-colonial ties?

Answer 9

• intensified the range and depth of personal contacts between ordinary British people and the White Dominions.
• 1948, a survey shoed that around 25% of the population were in contact with relatives in the Dominions.

Question 10

What was the British Nationality Act (1948)

Answer 10

• in recognition of the Empire’s contribution to the war.
• It gave full British citizenship, including the right of free entry into Britain, to every inhabitant of the Empire/Commonwealth.

Question 11

What was Empire Windrush?

Answer 11

• steamship carrying 492 Jamaican passengers which arrived in 1948.
• It arrived without prior notification and the authorities were hastily forced to house the immigrants in a temporary shelter at Clapham.

Question 12

Why were there recruitment drives in the 1950s to encourage people to migrate to Britain?

Answer 12

• As the economy recovered from the war, there was plentiful and well paid unskilled work in the factories.
• successful recruitment drives to encourage unskilled workers to take up work in public
  transport and the NHS.
• 1956, London Transport took on nearly 4000 new employees -> mostly from Barbados.

Question 13

Why did racial tensions increase in the 50s

Answer 13

• initial reaction to increased exposure to other races was curiosity mixed with uncertainty -> however mostly indifference.
• as boom slackened, prejudice and anxieties grew.
• worries about dilution of British cultural and national identity which were coupled with a
  concern to protect houses and jobs.

Question 14

How did the British public respond to the arrival of migrants from the Empire?

Answer 14

• 1958 gangs of ‘Teddy Boy’ youths attacked black people and violent riots broke out in Nottingham and Notting Hill, London. (Notting Hill riots).
• Oswald Mosley’s anti-immigration Union Movement also increased activities.
  -> survey 1962, 90% of the British population supported legislation to curb immigration and 80% agreed there were already too many immigrants in Britain.
• Racist attitudes strongest among working-class communities that found themselves living in, or
  near, predominantly immigrant communities.

Question 15

What were the Notting Hill Riots 1958

Answer 15

• area had high rates of poverty and crime -> competition for housing between poor black and white families.
• youths -> ‘teddy boys’ were openly hostile to black newcomers.
• broke out on Aug 20th -> property owned by Caribbean immigrants was vandalised and owners were subject to physical harassment.

Question 16

What efforts were made to improve community relations and the experience of immigrants?

Answer 16

• Steel band music performed by immigrant Trinidadians became popular in local pubs.
• 1964, a local festival, set up by West Indian immigrants, provided the first Notting Hill Carnival which enabled some assimilation and interchange of culture.

Question 17

What was the 1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act?

Answer 17

• attempt to control escalating immigration.
• Free migration for former colonial subjects was ended, even when they had a British passport.
• work permit scheme was put in place, which although didn’t explicitly discriminate against
  black or Asian workers, it had the same effect.

Question 18

How did people react to the 1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act

Answer 18

• was unfair and difficult to operate, but received massive public support; opinion polls suggested 70% approval.
• As immigrants feared they would be unable to return if they left Britain, the Act had the effect of encouraging immigrants to put down roots in Britain and bring their families over (which was still permissible).

Question 19

What were the key features of the 1959 election (Oswald Molesly)

Answer 19

• Kensington North -> issued pamphlets showing blacks with spears entering the country.
  -> ‘stop coloured migration’
  -> ‘houses for white people’
• spread scare stories regarding the criminality of migrants.

Question 20

What were the key features of the 1964 election

Answer 20

• Peter Griffiths (Conservative) won his seat by using the slogan ‘If you want a N***** for a neighbour, vote Labour’.
• Harold Wilson, the new Labour Prime minister called such campaigning ‘a disgrace to British democracy’ but it was clear many voters shared Griffiths’ view.

Question 21

What was the Race Relations Board (1965)? Why was it created?

Answer 21

• attempt made to reduce tensions with the passing of the 1965 Race Relations Act which forbade discrimination in public places ‘on the grounds of colour, race or ethnic or national origins’.
• however Discrimination in housing and employment were excluded and incitement to race hatred was not made a criminal offence.
• Over half complaints were about racial stereotypes in advertising rather than direct examples of discrimination.

Question 22

Why was it more difficult for migrants from India and Pakistan to settle in Britain

Answer 22

• Survey in Nottingham in early 1960s -> only 2% of Indians and Pakistanis felt ‘British before arrival and only 6% wanted their children to feel English’.
• Indians and Pakistanis, who were often very hard-working and whose children were high achievers in school were still regarded as more alien.
• Some cultural traditions did not easily fit in a country which pre-war had been almost exclusively Christian.
  -> E.g. Islamic rule on the consumption of alcohol kept Muslims out of the local pubs and yet this was the centre of white British working-class culture.

Question 23

In what way did Empire continue to shape culture through Television

Answer 23

• Till Death Do Us Part – show in the 1960-70s
  -> Satire (racism) but often taken as fact.
  -> Shows attitudes of racial superiority and stereotyping.
• Black and White Minstrel Show:
  -> White people wearing blackface
  -> Shows racial superiority
  -> empire values were still in Britain
• People start to have televisions in their homes -> new widespread medium for sharing imperial ideas.

Question 24

Explain how Empire continued to influence through sport

Answer 24

• most obvious impact was in sport: football, racket sports etc.
• Rugby was firmly established in New Zealand and South Africa.
• Cricket in Australia and India where colonial administrators ensured their spread.
• Commonwealth games brought former colonies together every 4 years.

Question 25

Explain how empire continued to influence through awards/honours

Answer 25

• Imperial Royal honours:
  -> Knight/Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (GBE).
  -> Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE).
  -> The British Empire Medal (BEM).

Question 26

Explain how Empire continued to influence through music

Answer 26

• 1954 -> 2nd half of ‘last night of the proms’ -> Sir Malcolm Sargent established a tradition of using this for a rendering of patriotic British music.
• Performances of Edward Elgar’s ‘Pomp and Circumstance March’ and Thomas Arne’s ‘Rule Brittannica’ and the British national anthem demonstrated an imperial spirit on at least one night of the year.

Question 27

Explain how literature changed in post-colonial Britain

Answer 27

• Collapse of Empire weakened appeal of imperial topics in the media.
• Children’s stories and comics abandoned imperial themes and groundbreaking boy’s comic ‘Eagle’ informed its writers that foreigners were not to be depicted as enemies or villains.

Question 28

Explain how cinema changed in post-colonial Britain

Answer 28

• audiences no longer welcomed patriotic films.
• fewer films used Empire as a backdrop although a wide range of romances, comedies and adventure-stories did.
  -> North-West Frontier -> Hinted that Empire was necessary to preserve order in India.
  -> Lawrence of Arabia (1962) -> Lawrence torn between loyalty to Empire and to Arab allies.
  -> Had a critical view of Empire.

Question 29

Explain how TV changed in post-colonial Britain

Answer 29

• TV replaced radio as the mean for spread of culture.
• Documentaries allowed public to be more aware of other countries and cultures.
  -> criticism of empire attitudes in 1960s satire boom -> E.g. ‘that was the week, that was’ hosted by David Frost.

Question 30

Explain how TV maintained racist attitudes in post-colonial Britain

Answer 30

• Comedy programmes like ‘till death do us part’ and comedians used pop music to ridicule immigrant communities.
• Theatre and TV comedy used racist stereotyping -> Black + White Minstrel’s show -> white singers portrayed African-American characters while wearing blackface -> popular until the 70s.