Why Did Britain Grant Independence To The Majority Of Its Colonies In The Period 1957-1964 Flashcards
What demonstrated that white European rule was not invincible?
The humiliating surrender of Singapore to the Japanese in 1942 and the rapid collapse of the French and Dutch empires in the Far East
What did Farmers in Kenya resent during WW2, when British colonial administrator tried to exploit the economic resources of the Empire?
They resented having to sell their crops to the government at a fixed price
What was a post-war economic government policy to British colonies?
To exploit colonies even more extensively than during the war
What British post-war schemes often further disrupted colonial communities and increased resentment?
Government set up the Colonial Development Corporation and projects such as the East African Groundnut Scheme
Where did representative from 25 newly independent Third World representatives meet in 1955 to create the non-aligned movement and denounce European imperialism?
Bandung in Indonesia
How many were killed in the virtual civil war in Kenya between those who benefited of colonialism and those who thought it should be resisted between 1952 and 1956?
14,000
What did Britain believe would happen to nations if they initiated political reform in their colonies?
They would remain within the Commonwealth and the British economic sphere, known as the sterling area
What federations did the Conservative government make to help smaller and weaker colonies economically and politically stronger?
Central African Federation (CAF) in 1953, a similar policy for the West Indies in 1958 and the Arabian Peninsula in 1963
What was the population of Malaya?
Approximately 45% Chinese, 40% Malay and 15% Indian
Between what years did Malayan Chinese communist had an insurrection in Malaya?
Between 1948 and 1960
When did Britain grant Malaya independence to the conservative Malays?
August 1957
How did Britain respond to riots in Accra in 1948?
By granting universal suffrage and creating an elected parliament
Which radical nationalist won elections held in Ghana in 1951?
Kwame Nkrumah
What polices did Kwame Nkrumah make that appeased the British?
Kept Ghana in both the Commonwealth and the British trade bloc and accepted a federal constitution, which devolved some powers to the ethnically diverse central and northern regions
When was Kwame Nkrumah overthrown in a military coup?
1966
What are the regional differences in Nigeria?
The north was Muslim, traditional and rural, whereas the south was Christian, more commercial and westernised but had the Ibo in the east and Yoruba in the west
When did Nigeria become independent?
October 1960
When was their a civil war in Nigeria?
Between 1967 and 1970
What was the social divide in Kenya?
An Asian community which dominated the commercial life of the colony, white settlers who farmer the most productive land and three indigenous black national groups, Kikuyu, Masai and Luo
Which groups began a guerrilla campaign known as the Mau Mau Rising in Kenya in 1953?
The Kikuyu, resentful of their exclusion from the land farmed by white settlers
When did Kenya become independent?
December 1963
When did Greek Cypriots begin a terror campaign in Cyprus to expel British authorities and united the island with Greece?
April 1955, which gained the extension of 25,000 British troops in a bitter and fruitless campaign
How much of the Cypriot population was Turkish and opposed to union with Greece?
20%
When was their a Turkish invasion of Cyprus leading to the partition of the island?
1974
In Southern Rhodesia approximately how many whites monopolised power over more than 3 million blacks?
200,000 and in November 1965 the white minority government unilaterally declared the colony independent of Britain
What did Wilson hope would strangle the Rhodesian economy?
British trade sanctions on Rhodesia
When was the independence of Rhodesia?
1980
