Within the context of 1880-1980, to what extent did British actions accelerate British decolonisation in Africa?

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Within the context of 1880-1980, to what extent did British actions accelerate British decolonisation in Africa?

In the later years of the 19th century the scramble for the African continent by Western imperialist powers was reaching its climax. It appeared that the “dark continent” was to be no longer “dark”, but to be the product of Western colonial expansion with several European countries dividing up the land. No where was this more apparent than with Britain whose Empire was at its height at the turn of the century. Egypt, for instance, was a colony for 40 years (1882-1922) with its pinnacle at the turn of the century; however the decolonisation of the country as early as this is an anomaly in itself as only South Africa had previously been granted independence by the British, albeit as a self-governing dominion. In a bizarre turn of events which historians still debate today, the Empire crumbled and by the 1970s only two African states remained British colonies: Rhodesia and South West Africa. The Empire had taken the best part of a century to amalgamate, yet was mostly swept away in just over a decade. Many reasons have been proposed for the vast acceleration of decolonisation including economic difficulties at the metropole (Cain and Hopkins) and the rise of local nationalist movements (Hodgkin).  More recently the actions of the British have been cited as a possible factor for the acceleration of decolonisation in Africa, marking a change in the historiography of the period. Turner and Lapping are promoters of this theory, which is gaining credence in the academic world.

The 1945 election of the Labour party is a watershed in decolonisation acceleration. WW2 had recently ended which marked a shift in British culture and society, including a changed attitude to Empire. Interestingly, whilst many of the new Cabinet were anti-imperialists, the new government did not have a direct plan to fully decolonise. It was more a case of the Empire having to take a “backseat” to far more pressing matters: imperialism, in effect, slipped through the cracks of government. The party was elected on the mandate of and closely focused upon British welfare; the African colonies were working and therefore the government’s attention was deviated, however it was one of the actions directed at the metropole which accelerated independence for many colonies. The introduction of the Welfare State in 1948 led many Britons to consider the priority and indeed the importance of the Empire when compared to home-grown issues. WW2 brought increased globalisation and it is possible that through this many British citizens saw their needs ahead of the colonies: an archaic and out-of-date segment of British foreign policy. If the colonies had representation in the British Parliament and were a province of, rather than simply a colony of Great Britain, this attitude may have been different: French Algeria, for instance, was certainly more respected at the metropole then any of Britain’s African colonies. There is a debate however, as to whether the British public had undergone a liberal revolution or were simply acting with self-interest. White has theorised that the latter is true, citing that the reason as to why “the colonies were ditched was to release resources for domestic welfare spending. Moreover, the fact National Service was revoked in 1960 reduced Britain’s ability to defend its colonies against uprising nationalist movements: conscription was ended through self-interest, as the majority of British youths didn’t want to have to fight in the far off terrains of Sub-Saharan Africa. This further implies that the average British citizen was becoming disinterested by the Empire or, at the very least, impartial to its future. I will cover nationalism in greater depth below, but with such a lack of metropole interest, the Empire could not be expected to last long. The British action of electing a Labour government effectively, in an indirect form, accelerated decolonisation for many of the African colonies.

WW1 expanded the Empire both geographically and as a world power, with Britain gaining several new mandates from the Ottoman Empire. The geographical expansion of the Empire post-WW1 and the reluctance of the metropole to grant these new mandates independence, imply that attitudes had not changed and many (both in government and in society) saw the Empire as a credible and useful segment of British politics: therefore, with the exception of the more economically advanced Egypt, African decolonisation by the British did not occur between the wars. Rather, many African colonies developed and became more stable societies. Take the Gold Coast for instance: between the wars its economy, communications and education became, to a certain extent, “Westernised” and the country flourished. Admittedly this led to the acceleration of nationalist movements in the area which, in turn, accelerated decolonisation, but the country was undeniably prospering due to the British-led government of the time. Many citizens of the African colonies (including Egypt and the Gold Coast) fought alongside British soldiers in WW1 and the respect and prestige for the peoples increased because of it. Indeed, the 1914-1939 era can be seen as one of the strongest periods of the British African Empire. This implies that a post-1945 factor (e.g. the Suez Crisis, see below) accelerated decolonisation.

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In comparison, World War 2 accelerated decolonisation at a far greater rate than many could have imagined just a few years prior. Effectively, the war established rather paradoxically that imperialism (both British and otherwise) was both positive and negative. Ferguson has noted that the British Empire sacrificed itself to stop the spread of the evil empire of Nazi Germany: indeed, the British Empire had “never had a finer hour than when it was self-sacrificing. During the war it was inevitable that Britain would have to, to a certain extent, neglect the colonies to focus on defeating the enemy. Through this the ...

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