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
What 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
What did the 1948 British nationality act do?
Gave full British citizenship to every inhabitant of the empire and commonwealth (justified how windrush was acceptable)
What was the unexpected consequence of passing the British nationality act?
A huge wave of migration from Caribbean and South Asia
Who were the first post-war immigrants to attract media interest in Britain?
802 mostly male passengers from the Caribbean who arrived at tilbury in 1948 on the empire Windrush steamship
What was the British government’s reaction to the arrival of the windrush?
Labour gov tired to block the ship from arriving
- senior government figures discussed diverting the ship to east Africa, and make its passengers work there, harvesting groundnuts (even though the passengers on the ship were skilled mechanics, electricians etc)
. 11 MPs wrote a letter to Attlee warning that ‘an influx of coloured’ people would not be met well with the British public (not wrong)
Where did the passengers of the windrush live?
Hosted the immigrants in a temporary shelter in Clapham. This windrush generation formed the later immigration community in nearby Brixton
Why did Britain change its policy towards non-white migrants by 1950s to be more accepting of them?
It was economically necessary, as the economy had recovered from the war so there was plenty of well-paid work for unskilled people in factories and a shortage of workers
- to maximise production and modernise Britain, this shortage of workers had to be fixed and could be through non-white migrants
. As there was plenty of jobs available, Britain took no action to limit immigration
How was Britains not limiting immigration not as positive as it would seem?
. Action wasn’t taken to help migrants settle or find decent accommodation
. Many were exploited by landlords
. Many discriminated against the grounds of race
How successful were immigrants from the colonies in getting jobs in Britain?
There were successful recruitment drives to encourage people to take up jobs in public transport and in NHS
. 1956 London transport took on nearly 4000 new employees, mostly from Barbados
Did most of the immigrants from the colonies who got work in Britain stay in the colonies?
It varied:
. Some left their roots from their colonies and got their wives, children etc to join them in Britain
. Some earned enough to repay their passage to the Caribbean etc
Who founded the union movement (UM) and when?
Oswald Mosley in 1948
What were some of the actions of Oswald Mosley against immigrants?
. Stood on anti-immigration platform in 1959 election in Kensington north , issuing pamphlets featuring black people with spears (primitive image)
. Called for assisted repatriation
. Spread scare stories regarding criminality and bad behaviour of immigrants
His campaigns increased white extremism
How popular was the union movement?
Only got 8.1% of the vote in the 1959 election but definitely increased anti-immigrant attitudes
How many commonwealth immigrants were in Britain by 1958?
. Caribbean: 115k
. India and Pakistan: 55k
. West Africa: 25k
. Cyprus: 10k (due to war 1955-59)
Why did many Asians settle in Oldham and Bradford?
There was declining textile industries there that were desperate for cheap, trainable labour
How did British attitudes to non-white immigration shift from 1950s onwards?
. In early 1950s, they were viewed with indifference more so than intolerance
. After post-War recovery, prejudice and worries about them came to the surface:
- worries about British culture and national identity dying
- concern to protect houses and jobs
- commonwealth immigrant often had to be made redundant from jobs due to these attitudes
How was immigrant living standards not satisfactory in Britain?
Often in poorest houses in least desirable parts of town. As most immigrants all concentrated into these areas, the communities grew and white residents viewed them as a threat
What are examples of action taken against non-white immigrants from 1958?
. 1958 - gangs of white ‘teddy boy’ youths attacked black people and violent riots broke out in Nottingham and Notting Hill
. Union movement increased its activities as people began to get on board with the anti-black/immigration attitudes
What were the attempts to dampen racial tensions of the late 1950s?
. Efforts to mix socially and improve community relations
. Steel band music performed by immigrant Trinidadians became popular in pubs
. 1964 - Caribbean immigrant set up Notting Hill carnival, celebrating Caribbean tradition such as with Caribbean food (jerk chicken)
Who was Claudia jones?
. One of the founders of Notting Hill carnival
. Founder and editor of the first black British weekly newspaper, the West Indian gazette
When did the union movement gain more leverage as people started to align with its beliefs?
By late 1950s (post-1958)
. 1962 survey showed that 90% of British population supported legislation to curb immigration
When did immigration to Britain get absolutely huge?
1960-62: more migrants arrived than in the whole of the 20th century to that point
. By 1967: Britain’s black population was almost 1 million
By the 1960s, was it more common to see assimilation with immigrant communities or active campaigning against them and what is the evidence?
Active campaigning against them:
. 1965 survey in north London showed than 1 in 5 objected to working with black people or Asians
. There were also some extreme racist attitudes, especially on tv
Who was Alf Garnett?
Extreme racist fictional character from TV series ‘till death do us part’, which appeared from 1965
- constantly swore about immigrants, creating a cult following with racist attitudes (awful influence), even though the writer’s intentions was for it to be satirical
How did some of the British government conform to anti-immigration attitudes?
Group of conservative MPs from West Midlands pushed for political action against immigration as they argued that Britain was soon going to fail to be a European nation and would become a mixed African-Asian society
How did the conservative government respond to intensifying anti-immigrant attitudes?
1962 commonwealth immigrants act
- this was heavily an attempt to win political support
What did the 1962 commonwealth immigration act do?
Divided would-be immigrants into 3 groups:
1. Those with employment in the UK already arranged
2. Those with skills or qualifications in short supply in UK
3. All other placed on a waiting list, with ex-servicemen at top
System of quotas created a limited number of entry vouchers to be issued annually
Attempt to control immigration
How did free immigration situation change from 1962 (due to commonwealth immigration act) , and how did it highlight racist attitudes?
It was ended, even when they held a British passport
. Work permit (voucher) scheme put in place
Irish were exempt from this scheme and most white immigrants could obtain vouchers easily
Unskilled black and Asian immigrants struggled to obtain permits
- clearly the act discriminated against these groups indirectly
How successful was the 1962 commonwealth immigrants act in its aims and support?
. In 12 months following the act, only 34.5k arrived in Britain
. Opinion polls suggested that 70% British public were in favour of the act, despite how discriminatory and unfair it was considering the loyalty to the empire the colonies had shown
How did the commonwealth immigrants act reduce the options for immigrants on leaving/staying in Britain?
They feared they would be unable to return to Britain if they left, so immigrants tended to bring their families over, which was still permissible under the act (can’t split up family)
This seems a bit counterintuitive as it meant that more immigrants came into the country even though the act was intended to control immigration
When did the issue of immigration really find its way into politics?
1964 general election as heavily anti-immigrant areas could easily be swayed to vote for a party based on their immigration views, for example:
. In Smethwick, which had the highest concentration of immigrant in any county borough in England (70k), Peter Griffiths (Tory) won the seat by using racist slogans
- Harold Wilson (labour pm) called this campaigning a ‘disgrace to British democracy’
How did the new labour government after the 1964 general election strengthen the harshness of the 1962 commonwealth immigrants act?
Reduced the quotas of vouchers and barred children over 16 from entering Britain as family members
What were some of the labour governments (since 1964) attempts to reduce anti-immigration tensions?
1965 race relations act - forbade racial discrimination in public places
- however, discrimination in housing and employment were excluded and incitement to race hatred wasn’t made a criminal offence
. Complaints of discrimination could be made to a race relations board which would consider the two sides of the story
When was the race relations board set up, why, and what did it do?
1965, to consider all aspects of race relations
- compiled stats, produced reports and held ‘hearing’s’
How successful were the ‘hearings’ of the race relations board?
In its first year, 734 of the 982 complaints were dismissed for lack of evidence
- most complaints were on racial stereotyping in advertising rather than direct discrimination, which the board couldn’t do much about
What were the overall negative impacts of commonwealth immigration by 1967?
. Immigration met with fierce resistance and racism, challenging Britains claims of toleration and expression of freedom
What were the overall positive impacts of commonwealth immigration by 1967?
. Some racial assimilation was underway and began to change Britain to a more multi-racial society
. Media representations of black people gradually increased e.g tv dramas such as Z cars featured more black actors
. Appearance of Chinese takeaways began to transform British tastes
