WW2 Aftermath Flashcards
Darwin overarching argument
Britain did not abandon in spirit of post-imperial benevolence, tried to keep as much influence as possible, for as long as it could, in the best terms it could
Darwin on strategic not inevitable:
“diplomatic calculations, not moral awakening”
Darwin on the wide effect of WW2 on decolonisation
strategic adaptions to new global pressures
war exhausted empire resources, ‘shattered the illusions that imperual power was unchallengeable’.
3 specifics Darwin draws on for effect of WW2
- foreign policy shifted to development
- rise of nationalism (Kenya, India, Malaya)
- Development as strategy
“language of development masked a strategy of imperial retrenchment”
Sarah stockwell key term
‘Imperial Liberalism’
calls it a late colonial strategy
what did the ideology stockwell talking about do
ideology aimed to produce stable, western oriented liberal states through institutions like education
what does Sarah Stockwell call education?
‘a gift and a gate’
used to produce moderate African elites to inherit the state, designed to shape post colonial subjects to protect British interests.
World War stats:
- Canada: 1million men in wartime manufacturing, 800,000 vehicles
- by 1945 India made up 2.25 million of armed forces
- Africans: 374,000 recruited
- Caribbean own regiments of 10,000 men
Black men remained barred from the Royal Navy
counterinsurgency in India:
Quit India: 1,000 killed, 3,000 wounded, 60,000 imprisoned
cripps offer
Bengal famine: 3 million dead, redirected resources to frontlines and home.
churchill response “why hasnt Gandhi died yet?”
what did the Cripps offer propose? 1942
needed indian cooperation in war effort
post-war dominion status - India would be granted full self-government after the war (within British commonwealth)
indian create own constitution
right to secede
british control during the war in the short term
results of cripps offer
rejected by national congress, muslim league, and british conservatives.
launch of Quit India movements - gandhi and congress called for British withdrawal, leading to mass protests and arrests.
increased radicalisation, subaltern, student, and underground networks became more active.
pushed the subcontinent closer to partition
when was the fall of Singapore
1942
Fall of Singapore overview
100,000 UK and empire troops surrender to Japanese force fo 30,000.
60,000 Uk and commonwealth troops taken prisoner where a quarter die in captivity
end of imperial defence
prestige of white man over. undermined their image
Sylvia Leith Ross on fall of Singapore
‘you could not help feeling that this discovery was perhaps the final insidious blow which shattered the crumbling edifice of white superioty’
working in Nigeria
examples of British propaganda to fix up their image post war
mr english at home 1940
english village 1941
africa’s men fighting 1943
what was the Atlantic Charter
agreement between US and UK in 1941
what were the common principles of the atlantic charter
self-determination, free trade, establish & maintain peace, right of all to choose the form of government under which they will live
churchill amended to not include British empire
failed to get US support until Pearl Harbour in 1942
UK in scrambles after ww2 stats
war industries made up 55% of GDP
owed India 1.25 billion
owed US 1.19 billion (repaid in dec 2006)
what did imperial liberalism mean
to be independence imperial state needs to take on more power and more direction to guide the creation of these infrastructures.
progress along ther road to self-governance within the frame work of british empire
greater state intervention
example of imperial liberalism
Asquith Commission 1945 - training new class of public servants
what was the Asquith Commission 1945
investigate the state of higher education in British colonies particularly sub-Saharan Africa
report shaped establishment of colonial universities and educational reform in post-war period
goals of Asquith 1945
- create high education institutions
- promote western-style liberal education to train local elites
- prevent radicalisation by controlling curriculum and university governance
- balance modernisation with imperial loyalty, development without decolonisation
University’s inspired by the report 1945:
Makerere College Uganda
centres of African intellecutal and political life, producing future independence leaders, journalists, and writers, loyal to empire.
using education to maintain influence
Frederick cooper on the Asquith commission 1945
argues that the commission reflected Britain’s desire to retain soft power by shaping future leaders through controlled education
