How successfully did Britain deal with the problems of decolonisation and the changing nature of the Commonwealth? Flashcards
1
Q
Why did Britain grant independance to the majority of its colonies in the period 1957-64?
-Impact of WW2
A
- War damaged European prestige + changed the relations between British colonial rulers and the people they ruled.
- Humiliating surrender of Singapore to Japan in ‘42 + rapid collapse of French + Dutch empires in far east demonstrated that white European rule wasn’t invincible.
- During war, British colonial administrators tried to exploit economic resources of Empire more effectively as food + raw materials were in short supply in Britain. This distrupted the rural societies of some countries that had to e.g. sell their crops off to the govt. at fixed prices.
- Discontent within colonies grew with the fact that they weren’t allowed to buy manufactured goods from Britain + were often prevented from buying them elsewhere- this encourage nationalist movements.
2
Q
Why did Britain grant independance to the majority of its colonies in the period 1957-64?
-Britain’s economic weakness
A
- So serious that it became government policy to exploit colonial resources even more than during WW2.
- End of ‘48, govt. set up the Colonial Development Coporation + projects like East African Groundnut Scheme. -These schemes often further disrupted colonial communities, increased resentment of those affected and contributed to growth of hostility to British rule.
- -British economic weakness meant that it could no longer supply colonies with the investment capital and manufactured goods that they needed.
3
Q
Why did Britain grant independance to the majority of its colonies in the period 1957-64?
-Growth of colonial nationalism
A
- Growth of resentment towards British rule allowed charismatic leaders to emerge to lead nationalist movements.
- These leaders had often been educated in the west (usually in Britain/USA), they studied Western democratic ideals.
- They were encouraged by men such as Nasser in challenging British rule.
- In US, African Americans protested against the fact that they were treated as second class citizens as part of a systematic discrimination.
- In 1955, representatives in 25 newly independent Third World Nations met at Bandung, Indonesia to create the non-aligned movement and denounce European imperialism.
4
Q
Why did Britain grant independance to the majority of its colonies in the period 1957-64?
-The impact of the Cold War
A
- Late 40s + early 50s, mericans encouraged British to keep colonial empire- thought that newly independent nations would be too weak to resist communist influence.
- Once Britain was struggling to control anti- colonial protests in places like Egypt + Cyprus, both US + USSR began producing anti-colonial propaganda with their own slanted propaganda attached to win support in Africa + Asia. -This became more important as the UN grew in size and increasingly became a forum for countries to criticise European empires.
5
Q
How successful were British colonial policies?
A
- Britain wanted to turn colonies into independent nations that would remain within the Commonwealth and Sterling area (Britain’s economic sphere) by initiating political reform in their colonies.
- ^^ This would give Britain the benefits of empire without costs, difficulties + criticisms.
- BUT, Britain couldn’t control this process- ended up handing power over often to the nationalists whom they had once branded as extremists such as Nkrumah in Ghana and Kenyatta in Kenya.
- Cons govt. tried to make the smaller + weaker colonies economically + politically stronger by uniting adjacent territories and making them federations.- 1953, Central African Federation (CAF) was created.
- A similar policy was adpoted in West Indies in ‘58 as well as some small territories in Arabian Peninsula. -Policy wasn’t successful + all 3 federations were shot lived as political divisions amongst memebers were made worse.
