Post-colonial Ties Flashcards
What does David Olosuga believe about the attitudes of migrants after arriving in Britain from the empire?
They were disappointed by the way they were treated and felt unwelcome
- many felt lied to by the empire
What was the state of British political ties in the post-colonial world?
Still strong ties with former colonies
- Britain tried to maintain the empire’s positive image after losing world power by boasting its pride in ‘creating’ new ‘nation’ states with their own representation and practices
- in reality, Britain had been forced to allow this representation, it wasn’t created intentionally and willingly
What was the role of colonial officials in the ‘new nation states’?
Only really stayed on as advisers to key positions
- however, the fact that they were still in the colonies at all shows a lasting belief in British superiority
How did the commonwealth maintain British political ties in the post-colonial world?
. Had commonwealth conferences at least once every two years, with a notable commonwealth economic conference in 1952
. Britain tried to use it to strengthen its international position and compete with big powers such as USA through its wide-ranging diplomatic network
. Although not officially a military alliance, the commonwealth was used to create a British military with ‘global reach’ from commonwealth nations
- commonwealth nations were eligible to serve in British forces
How did Britain manage to maintain an image of power through the commonwealth?
. All except one commonwealth conference was in London, showing that they ‘dominated’ the commonwealth
. Queen still remained a vital symbol of the commonwealth, but maybe less so than originally
How did Britain’s status as a former empire help get them some worldwide ‘influence’?
Got Britain a place on UN Security Council
What was the role of the queen in the commonwealth post-colonially?
. Regularly visited commonwealth nations to reinforce ties with member countries
. Held regular meetings with heads of government from commonwealth nations
How did the commonwealth become more organised in the post-colonial world?
1965: establishment of a commonwealth security general and associated secretariat helped coordinate commonwealth activities
What is evidence of the sustained close and positive relations between the empire and commonwealth?
. Citizens of commonwealth remained eligible for British honours
. Many listened to monarch’s annual Christmas Day message
How did the former status of the empire uphold Britain as a globalised economy?
. City of London still one of world’s major financial centres and headquarters of banking
. Conventions of free trade and law had been brought in through the empire
. Britain’s imperial connections gave rise to multi-national companies with branches around world
What was the economic state of Britain in the post-colonial world?
. Britain maintained vast overseas investment portfolio and important trading links
. Tried to keep ex-colonies within sterling area
Britain returning to ‘informal’ empire rather than ‘formal’ empire (imperialism of decolonisation)
In trying to hold onto economic ties with its ex-colonies, how did Britain economically shoot itself in the foot?
Made it more difficult to enter the EEC until 1973
What factors encouraged a strong post-war increase in emigration from Britain?
. Experiences of wartime
. Continuation of rationing until as late as 1954
. Increasing demand for labour in countries such as Australia, Canada and NZ (better prospects)
How many people left Britain to go to the dominions between 1946-57 and what was the effect of this?
Around 1 million
- this meant that there was a greater intensity and range of personal contacts between Britain and the dominions
- mass observation survey in 1948 showered that around 25% of British population were in contact with relatives in dominions
How did the informal contact between Britain and the dominions influence the legacy of empire?
. Impacted Briton’s understanding of the empire
- may have been in the context of the specific countries to which their friends/relatives had gone to
- alternatively, it may have more broadly emphasised the legacy of empire
Which groups left Britain with the intention to experience the empire first hand?
. Administrators, civil servants and senior army officers.
. In the lower social order, the only groups would have been those required to do national service as they became involved in later colonial wars such as Malayan emergency
Why were administrators, civil servants and senior army officers particularly interested in experiencing the empire first hand?
Been through a public school system which instilled the belief and prepared them for imperial rule
When did the number of people migrating from Britain to dominions decrease and why?
Late 1950s, because there were:
. Improved living standards in Britain
. Full employment in Britain
. Dominion governments increasingly looked to other sources of skilled labour around the world rather than just the empire
How did racial hierarchies introduced during imperial rule in the dominions persist?
In Australia, the ‘white Australia’ policy barred immigration by ‘non-white’ people to Australia until 1973
What did national service end in Britain?
1960
What happened to movement between Britain and empire as decolonisation gathered pace?
By late 1960s, the movement tended to be from the empire and ex-empire to britain, as colonial servants and soldiers were repatriated (went back to Britain as empire collapsed)
- direct personal experience of empire among British became rarer
What was the state of immigration before 1947?
. Colonial migrants had been settling in Britain, especially sailors from Asia and Caribbean
. Large numbers of Indian soldiers were temporarily housed in Britain during WW1, but largely segregated
. In 1919 (start of WW1), there was an outbreak of racial violence in major seaports such as London and Cardiff, where African, Caribbean and south Asian seamen were targeted by white sailors for ‘stealing their jobs’
Clearly migration to Britain wasn’t new and wasn’t welcomed very well, maybe those coming from the empire should’ve known how they’d be treated
When did immigrants from different colonies come to Britain?
Caribbean - 1950s
India - 1960s
Kenya - 1967 as Kenyatta pressurised Asian Kenyans to leave as he wanted Kenya to be purely African
Why did Britain pass the British nationality act in 1948?
. To recognise empire’s war-time contribution (grateful)
. Hope that citizens of the dominions would come back to the ‘mother country’ and contribute to the economy