winds of change Flashcards
gold coast
rise of an educated african elite would mean allowing some degree of african political representation - british wanted change to be gradual so it would not impair british economic and political interests
labour government wanted to give indigenous people more self government
burns constitution 1946 - established a legislative council of 12 british nominees and elected 18 african members. final power still remained in the hands of the british governor, and a wave of protests spread across the country as protests against british rule, gathered momentum
1949 - the convention people’s party founded by nkrumah and pressured british administration to make further concessions the legislative council was in large and rename the legislative assembly and the number of people who could vote for increased but the british governor retained ultimate power
1951 - the cpp won 2/3 of the seats in the legislative assembly, and it became clear to burns that the cpp would have to be brought into government in order to bring the troubles under control.
1952 - nkrumah made prime minister with members of the cpp, taking posts as government ministers
this elected government was given extensive control over internal affairs and nkrumah’s popularity and standing grew
1956 - a plebiscite in togoland delivered an overwhelming vote in favour of unification with the gold coast. the support of independence was such that in 1957 new elections were held on full adult suffrage
6th march 1957 - became fully independent as ghana
nigeria
1946 – richards constitution allowed for greater african representation, but with the governor general and executive council, which the governor appointed retaining ultimate power
the country was regionally, an ethnically divided, and the british took the view that any move towards an independent nigeria should take the form of a federation of separate regional states
an expanded legislative council was created to discuss issues affecting the whole country three assemblies, the west east and south were created to debate local matters and advise british governors
1951 - the mcpherson constitution extended the right to vote and created a national council of ministers answerable to an 185 seat federal house of representatives - stimulated the growth of nigerian political parties
each region was allowed at own government, as well as an elected assembly. the federal house of representatives could not over rule these regional governments that affect was to exacerbate tensions between the different ethnicities, rather than ease them.
the political parties emerged representing different ethnic groups, and the british found themselves being pushed along the path of granting concessions more quickly than they had originally envisaged
1954 - a government was formed consisting of three british officials together with nine ministers drawn from the various regional political parties in order to strike a balance at the national level between the different regions. however, more power was increasingly devolved to the various regional governments and following federal elections in 1959, moves were made towards full independence for the country in october 1960.
kenya
kikuyu suffered from a shortage of land, which have been taken by white settlers, and from unemployment and poor conditions in the towns
1952 - there was an escalation of murders by mau mau some of white farmers, but more of fellow kikuyu who had refused to take the mau mau oath. the chief of kikuyu spoke out against the atrocities this fuelled panic among the white settlers, and prompted a fierce backlash
such violence put the british in a difficult position - guerilla tactics were not easy to deal with and a new british governor evelyn baring resorted to declaring a state of emergency in 1952. suspended all black african political rights and the mau mau were treated as political, terrorists black leaders, including kenyatta were imprisoned for conspiring with the mau mau
thousands of british troops were taken to kenya to stamp out insurrection which places the british in an awkward moral position as a white outside of using force to impose its will on the majority black indigenous people
britain recruited a home guard of loyal kikuyu and used british ground troops aided by helicopters and planes. kikuyu villages were uprooted and relocated, cutting the mau mau off from their sources of support in the white highlands. the mau mau were gradually cornered in the forest below mount kenya and destroyed through military force
british hangs suspects on the least excuse and intern thousands in rehabilitation camps, where they systematically interrogated the inmates to sift out the mau mau sympathisers. torture was used to force admissions of complicity and guilt between 1952 and 1956, 12,000 people were killed, and 81,000 detained
macmillan’s wind of change speech in 1960 and the shifting policy towards african Independence was undoubtably linked to the mau mau insurrection. new governor of Kenya, rennison pave the way for a move to independence and black majority rule, which was granted in 1963, whereupon 1500 remaining mau mau guerrillas lay down their arms
south africa
white minority had enjoyed full control over south africa’s internal affairs since 1931 following the granting of dominion status by the statute of westminster - increasingly divisive racial policies had become firmly entrenched
1948 - afrikaner nationalist party won power and implemented the policy of apartheid, segregating races in all walks of life
opposition emerged, led by the african national congress
throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the south african state responded with brutal suppression of all protesters - 69 killed by the police at sharpville in march 1960
central african federation
1953
constitution included some protection for african rights - discriminatory legislation against africans could be vetoed by britain and there was some limited provision for african representation in the new federal assembly
powerful nationalist movements emerged in all 3 territories led by africans who were suspicious of british intentions
white governors of the caf responded fiercely - nationalist leaders were arrested and imprisoned
by the end of the 1950s, britain concluded that decolonisation was necessary and in 1960-61, the british government ordered the release of nationalist leaders in northern rhodesia and nyasaland, and drew up constitutions for these territories which paved the way for majority rule and independence
1963 - caf dissolved and in 1964, kenneth kuanda led northern rhodesia to independence as zambia
southern rhodesia
udi - unilateral declaration of independence 1965
harold wilson said on tv that he wasn’t going to use military force to stop rhodesia becoming independent
britain punish rhodesia with economic sanctions instead of war but wilson only had 1 vote in parliament, so it didn’t work. trades with south africa
ian smith said sanctions were like a shot in the arm and made life better
udi triggered a 15 year long civil war between whites and black nationalists
malaya
britain faced problems after ww2 - ethnic tensions between chinese/indian and malay people. chinese joined malay chinese association (mca) or malay communist party (mcp) malays joined united malayas national organisation (umno). chinese were 38% of the population in 1947 and 45% of population in 1957. (this fell to 36% by 1961)
1947- britain abandoned plan for ‘malay union’ which would have granted each group equal malay citizenship. 1948 britain tried to create a federation of malaya with a restricted definition of malay citizenship and a proven ability to speak english and malay therefore excluding chinese. legislative council would become a fully elected body by 1955
economic tensions (famine in 1942) and chinese grievances led britain to declare a state of emergency in June 1948. troubles raged between 1948 and 1952. britain has restored order by 1952 but british position was untenable - had to promise malays independence and promise the malay chinese association that chinese would have equal rights
1952 - 1954 umno and mca worked together against the british and won 81% of votes in 1955 elections. british feared rebellion. lord reid drew up new democratic constitution
1957 Malaya became independent. singapore still used by british military. malaya still in sterling area- and had a positive relationship with britain
