Challenges to Colonial Rule Post 1947
History: AQA A Level The British Empire, topic 4.6.1
Challenges to Colonial Rule in Asia and Africa
The devolution of colonial power came partly as a result of anti-imperialist colonial nationalists, and partly because of the decreasing British means and will to maintain power over her Empire.
Raymond Bette (1970) on decolonisation
- "The chief agency of political change was the negotiation between the colonial administration and the emergent national political party. Thus, the British converted the most vociferous national party into the majority party and its leader eventually became Prime Minister."
Challenges to colonial rule in Asia
- Britain's territorial losses to Japan in World War Two showed that Britain was waning as a power and highlighted the Empire's vulnerability.
Challenges to colonial rule in Africa
- Accra, Nairobi, Lagos, Mombasa developed economically during World War Two as Britain came to rely on its Empire even more heavily.
- Urbanisation, increasing incomes and paying an increasing price for British rule all helped to mobilise anti-British movements towards self-determination.
Why did nationalist movements grow?
- British nationalism arguably led it to create an Empire, taking control of countries that it had no natural connection to.
- After World War Two, local nationalist sentiment grew in the Empire.
- The sacrifices made for the British war effort, British lack of care for local development (e.g. Tanganyika Groundnuts project failure), Britain's lack of care for local populations, and Britain's racist views of local populations all contributed to nationalism.
- Many nationalist movements were segmented because of different ethnic and religious rivalries, created by the Western imposition of borders through things like the Berlin Conference and the Sykes-Picot Agreement.
- Well-educated leaders and expanding the franchise helped to create new nationalist governments.
Test yourself on Challenges to Colonial Rule Post 1947
What was the "chief agency of political change" in Asia and Africa in Raymond Bette's view?
What factors contributed to rising nationalist sentiment after WW2?