The 'winds of change' and decolonisation.

Question 1

What had already begun by 1951?

Answer 1

Britain’s retreat from the Empire - withdrawing from India in 1947 was the most dramatic example of this.

Question 2

Describe the colonial independence movements in the 1950s.

Answer 2

Pressure from them became harder to contain. British forces found themselves fighting against national independence movements in Malaya, Kenya and Cyprus.

Question 3

What did British rulers think they could do in terms of transition and colonial resistance?

Answer 3

Manage a gradual transition from the Empire to the New Commonwealth and that colonial resistance movements could be controlled until their peoples were ‘ready’ for independence.

Question 4

Give an example of the sudden rush to independence.

Answer 4

Mau Mau rebellion broke out in Kenya in 1952 and it was assumed that it could be quashed by the military.

Question 5

What demonstrated problems with British colonial policies?

Answer 5

The difficult struggle to contain the Mau Mau rebellion.

Question 6

What happened after Suez?

Answer 6

British policymakers began to reconsider the pace of decolonisation.

Question 7

What happened in 1957?

Answer 7

Ghana became the first of Britain’s African colonies to be granted independence.

Question 8

Was decolonisation successful?

Answer 8

Yes. It was completed more swiftly and with less violence that other colonial powers such as Belgium and Portugal.
By 1964, the transition from Empire to Commonwealth seemed to represent a significant achievement.