How much did British people care about the Empire 1945-67 Flashcards
People didn’t care about empire economically (domestic problems at home)
British people were facing economic hardship at home post-ww2, so naturally cared more about domestic issues than foreign issues. They didn’t care what territories Britain kept hold of, only that the domestic situation improved.
This hardship is evident in continued food rationing in Britain: potato rationing starts in 1947 after bad frosts, sugar rationing continued until 1953, and meat and other food stuffs until 1954
People didn’t care about the empire economically (imports and exports from Europe)
Manufactured goods were becoming more valuable than raw materials, so western Europe and the US were becoming more useful to Britain. Also, the failure of Colonial Development showed that making Africa economically profitable wasn’t realistic, making the British lose even more interest in Empire/the Commonwealth.
Europe took 20.5% of total British imports in 1948, but as much as 30.6% in 1965. By contrast, imports from the commonwealth were decreasing (44.9% down to 29.8%)
Europe took 24.8% of total British exports in 1948, but as much as 32.5% in 1965 (overtaking exports to the Commonwealth which had decreased from 46.1% to 27.9%)
Also mention application to the EEC as early as 1961
People didn’t care about the empire economically (failure of colonial development)
Failure of Colonial Development shows a lack of real commitment to consolidating economic links with the Commonwealth. Eg the Tanganyikan Ground Nut Scheme didn’t produce enough for a single nut to be sold, and the Gambian Poultry Scheme similarly failed to generate any profit.
People cared about empire economically immediately after WWII because they saw it as an opportunity for economic gain (imports, exports, EEC application)
Imports from the Commonwealth increase from 44.9% (1948) to 48.3% (1954)
Imports are high partly because of territories like Malaya, which provided dollar-earning raw materials like rubber and tin, helping Britain pay off the $31.4 billion loan from the US during WWII
Exports to the Commonwealth increase from 46.1% (1948) to 48% (1954)
Importance of empire is also evident in the EEC’s rejection of Britain’s application for membership in 1963 and 1967 owing to her insistence that she could continue free trade with the Commonwealth
People did care about empire economically (colonial development may have failed, but not because of a lack of interest/care from the British side, but because the mission of making Africa economically profitable was simply just very difficult and costly)
The 1945 Colonial Development Act legislated for £120m to be spent over 10 years, indicating a huge surge in economic interest and commitment to the Empire (especially when compared to the previous 1m)
A total of £49m was spent on the Tanganyikan Ground Nut Scheme. May have failed, but this demonstrates that British people were initially very actively committed. Anyways, the failure marked only another form of ‘caring’ about empire, which was actively encouraging decolonisation in Africa due to the poor cost-benefit analysis.
People cared about empire because it was costly to maintain, so they pushed for decolonisation
Since January 1945, Britain had spent over £100m on governing Palestine
Putting down the Mau Mau Rebellion in Kenya (1952-60) cost the British £55m
People cared about the empire culturally (literature)
William Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies’ (1954) countered imperial ideology by showing white Britons capable of savagery (subtle criticism of empire)
Richard Aldington’s biography of ‘Laurence of Arabia’ (1955) exposed him as a fraud who lied to the Arabs for selfish military gain, rather than as a saviour who unified his troops for a good, common cause.
People cared about the empire culturally (programmes and films)
Imperial problems were aired in topical programmes such as ‘Tonight’ and ‘Panorama’ (e.g. expressing criticism of Britain during the Nyasaland Emergency of 1959)
By 1960, almost 75% of homes in Britain had a TV (widespread)
‘Zulu’ (1964) had a new take on Britain’s victorious defence of Rorke’s Drift during the Zulu war, expressing a fatalistic mood and exploring the pointlessness of imperial war (the sergeant comments ‘we are here because there’s no one else’)
People didn’t care about empire culturally (literature, films, and Empire day)
A lot of literature can be read as subtly criticising Empire, but wasn’t necessarily read because of that (ie the ‘Lord of the Flies’ was read often just for entertainment, and taught in schools because of literary techniques and style rather than hidden political messages)
TV became much more commonplace in the 1960s but wasn’t that influential earlier on (only 350,000 TV’s in homes in Britain in 1950)
Empire Day was abolished in 1962, reflecting people’s apathetic feelings to the empire and commonwealth
Commonwealth games happened yearly so not that big of an impact. The award of honours would only have reached certain classes of British people (ie not lower class probably)
The government tried to maintain the unity/symbolic importance of Empire culturally, showing they cared
Commonwealth games happened yearly
Honours were made in the name of the British Empire (ie MBE and ‘Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire’)
Attitudes to migration showing how British people cared about empire
210,000 people from the Commonwealth in Britain by 1958
Summer 1958: Britain’s ‘teddy boys’ attacked coloured immigrants - engaging with and resenting the direct consequences of empire and the commonwealth
In 1962, a poll showed that 90% of British people supported legislation to curb immigration
This active engagement with the issue of immigration pressured the government into abandoning the British Nationality act of 1948 with the Commonwealth Immigrants Act of 1962. This new Act ended free immigration for former colonial subjects, instead introducing a work permit (voucher) - wasn’t explicitly discriminatory but ended up being so.
Attitudes to migration not actually showing that people cared about the empire
It was only after the post-war construction boom ended (causing employment to surge to ½ million) that people really started caring about and criticising migration.
So, anti-immigration attitudes were more a result of domestic financial struggles.
Also, arguably more to do with racism than empire.
The government cared about empire politically (active steps to decolonise)
Macmillan’s ‘Wind of Change’ speech in 1960 demonstrated how the government weren’t just passively giving up colonial territories, but actively speeding up decolonisation on moral grounds. He talked about the ‘basis of a free society’ including ‘the opportunity to have an increasing share in political power and responsibility’
This is evident in the creation of new constitutions in Africa paving the way for responsible government
- introduction of the liberal 1951 ‘Macpherson constitution’ in Nigeria which replaced the Richard’s constitution – it provided for “semi-responsible government” (independence in 1960)
- introduction of the ‘Macleod constitution’ in 1960 paving the way for eventual black rule (independence in 1963)
The government cared about empire in terms of wanting to strengthen colonial ties
In places that were strategically/economically valuable, the government actively engages with empire in terms of defending the colonial territories (ie resisting nationalism in Kenya and Malaya - spend £55m on suppressing the Mau Mau rebellion 1952-60)
The existence of the Commonwealth, and the fact that Britain adapts the its requirements in order to expand its membership (by enabling India to be a member and a republic in 1949) shows active political engagement with empire
The government not caring about empire (ignoring American pressures to keep territories East of Suez)
April 1967: the Cabinet agrees to reducing the British presence in South-East Asia by half by 1970-1, and leaving completely by 1975-6
Nov. 1967: Withdrawal from Aden
The government not caring about empire (focusing instead on domestic policy)
No party had imperialism as their ideology. Both the Conservative and Labour parties gained support through their stance on domestic issues rather than foreign policy.
Labour’s ‘National Plan’ (1965) signalled a change in policy: British savings would be redirected into investment at home rather than abroad
People don’t dismiss the Conservatives just because they made a mess of Suez (1956) and Mau Mau etc. (even though the Labour Party is trying to make them look bad). The Conservatives get 49.7% of the votes in 1955 and 49.3% in 1959.
