Post -Imperial imaginaries Timeline Flashcards
What happens in 1945?
– End of the Second World War.Labour government elected under Prime Minister Clement Atlee.
What happens in 1947
The partition of India and Pakistan at midnight on August 15th, creating new,
independent nations. The largest movement of people in history crosses the
border between the two, as more than 10 million people are displaced and
violence surrounding the partition kills at least half a million people. One reason
independence was granted was that, following WWII, Britain had an overseas
deficit of £2 billion.
What happens in 1948?
The establishment of two significant parts of the British Welfare State: the
National Health Service (NHS) and the National Insurance Scheme (which
was established to provide unemployment benefit, sickness benefit, retirement
pensions and other benefits).
The British Nationality Act of 1948 formally places Commonwealth citizens and
citizens in British colonies on the same legal footing as citizens in the United
Kingdom: they are all “British subjects” and can officially live and work in the UK.
The arrival of the Empire Windrush from the West Indies on 22 June is often
taken as the beginning of a new era of migration from Britain’s colonies and
former colonies.
What happens in 1947?
Conservative government elected under Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
The UN Convention on Refugees is signed and sets out the rights of people to
seek asylum and the responsibilities of states to provide it.
What happens in 1948?
Death of King George VI, beginning of reign on Queen Elizabeth II.
What happens in 1951?
Suez Crisis, in which France and Britain back an Israeli incursion into Egyptian
territory after the Egyptians nationalise the Suez Canal. Britain is pressured by
the Americans to withdraw. The episode is often considered evidence of the end
of Britain’s status as a world superpower and its dependence on the United
States and also prompted the resignation of the Conservative Prime Minister,
Anthony Eden.
What happens in 1952?
Notting Hill Riots, in which attacks by white youths escalate into a mob of
hundreds of people attacking the homes of West Indian families on Bramley Road
in Notting Hill. Black residents report that the police had previously disregarded
their evidence of attacks and had not taken the violence seriously. The following
year a Caribbean Carnival is held in the community, which will develop into the
annual Notting Hill Carnival
What happens in 1956?
Prime Minister Harold Macmillan delivers the “Wind of Change” speech in
the South African Parliament, making it clear that his Conservative Government
would return to the policy of decolonisation that had begun under the post-war
Labour governments: “The wind of change is blowing through this continent, and,
whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact.”
(e.g. Ghana 1957, Nigeria 1960, Kenya 1963).
What happens in 1958?
The Commonwealth Immigrants Act sets limits on immigration from
Commonwealth countries, removing the automatic rights of entry, abode and
employment from Commonwealth citizens. Between 1948 and 1962
approximately 500,000 migrants had exercised their right to relocate to the
United Kingdom.
What happens in 1960?
The Bristol Bus Boycott overturns the Bristol Omnibus Company’s colour bar on
employing Black or Asian workers as bus drivers.
What happens in 1962?
Labour government elected under Prime Minister Harold Wilson.
What happens in 1963?
– The Race Relations Act makes discrimination “on the grounds of colour, race, or
ethnic or national origins” illegal in public places in GB (not NI). Discrimination
becomes a civil wrong (rather than a criminal offence), but the act also creates a
new criminal offence: “incitement to racial hatred”. There had been eight
previous attempts to introduce this legislation, starting in 1956.
What happens in 1964?
–MP Enoch Powell delivers the “Rivers of Blood” speech at a local Conservative
Party meeting in Birmingham. The speech uses apocalyptic imagery of a
prophetic vision of the river Tiber running with blood, originally from Virgil’s
Aeneid. Powell was objecting to the passing of the 1968 Race Relations Act
which, among other things, banned racial discrimination by employers.
The Commonwealth Immigrants Act divided commonwealth immigrants into
two groups: those who had ties to the UK (such as an immediate relative who was
born there) and those who did not. The former retained the right to abode, the
latter were subject to immigration controls.
What happens in 1965`?
– Conversative government elected under Prime Minister Ted Heath
What happens in 1968?
Immigration Act which would allow for free movement for European Community
citizens. In combination with the 1968 Commonwealth Immigrants Act, this
legislation signals a move from favouring immigration from commonwealth
countries towards favouring immigration from European countries. The act also
introduces powers for detaining people for the purpose of immigration control.
What happens in 1970?
Bloody Sunday, the massacre of 14 unarmed Catholic civilians during a protest
march in the Bogside area of Derry by the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment.
What happens in 1971
Accession to European Communities (popularly called the “Common Market”
and later called the European Economic Area)
What happens in 1972?
Labour government elected under Prime Minister Harold Wilson
Sunningdale Agreement signed, in an attempt to establish power-sharing and
peace in Northern Ireland. The agreement collapsed because of Unionist
opposition.
What happens in 1973?
European Communities Membership Referendum, in which the country votes
in favour of staying within the Common Market.
What happens in 1974?
Conservative government elected under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
She is the country’s first woman Prime Minister.
Assassination of Lord Louis Mountbatten by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
What happens in 1975?
The British Nationality Act develops three new categories of citizenship: British
citizenship; British Dependent Territories Citizenship; British Overseas
Citizenship. British immigration law will become increasingly complex as the
special status of people from different places (pre-1922 Irish diaspora, Kenyan
and Ugandan Asians after independence, the Falkland Islanders after the war,
Hong Kong people after the handover) and the 1981 Act and its caveats perhaps
mark the beginning of this.
Riots by Black youth across Britain (Brixton, Toxteth, Handsworth, Moss Side,
Chapeltown) in response to police tactics of “stop and search” and racial
profiling.
What happens in 1981?
The Falklands War, a war of ten weeks, beginning when Argentina occupies the
Falkland Islands (which are about 500km off the east coast of Argentina).
What happens in 1984?
IRA bombing at the Conservative Party Conference in Brighton, where
Thatcher narrowly escapes being killed at the Brighton Grand Hotel. There had
been bombings in England for the last decade including pubs, shopping areas
and seaside holiday towns. The bombing campaign would continue into the
1990s.
What happens in 1985?
Riots (the Brixton Riots, the Broadwater Farm Riots) both in response to the
death and sever injury of two Black women after London Metropolitan Police
visited their homes: Cynthia Jarret died of heart failure during a police search;
Dorothy “Cherry” Groce was shot by a police officer and paralysed.
The Anglo-Irish Agreement is signed, involving the Irish government in the
process of introducing devolved government in Northern Ireland. It established
some of the cross-border structures that would be necessary for the peace
process, eventually resulting in the Good Friday Agreement.
