Political Power and Colonial Development in British Central Africa 1938-1960s

Political Power and Colonial Development in British Central Africa 1938-1960s PDF Author: Alan H. Cousins
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000828719
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 265

Book Description
This book focuses on the late colonial history of Zambia and Malawi, which between 1953 and 1963 were part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Although there were many links in their history and between their populations, the two territories (British protectorates under Colonial Office control) contrasted greatly in power structures, in their economies, and in their development. Europeans living in Northern Rhodesia, with a power base in the mining economy, were able to establish a dominant position in the territory after the Second World War. By the 1950s it looked as though they would have, with Southern Rhodesian Europeans, a long hegemony, gaining independence from Britain as a new Dominion, which would mean control over both Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland through the Federation. Thus, white ethnicity and ideology are essential factors in this book relating to the struggle for power from just before the Second World War up to the 1960s. However, crises in 1959 and 1960 led to the collapse of the Federation. A second focus is on issues of social and economic development. For Africans in Nyasaland, and in rural parts of Northern Rhodesia, there was a relatively weak economy in this period, a pattern of limited cash crop production, while many people became caught up in labour migration, subordinate to powerful European-dominated economic forces within southern Africa. This meant that colonial policies aimed at rural development were fundamentally flawed. The book also looks at the actual nature of rural economic change (as opposed to colonial policies) and discusses alternative visions of the future which were put forward. The argument is put that historians have often concentrated on the activities of the main nationalist movements in Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia, seeing them as bringing progress away from colonialism and towards independence. Here there is an attempt to draw out the complexities of life, and a variety of responses in the colonial situation, progress coming in a number of forms, but not always being achieved.

Fiscal Capacity and the Colonial State in Asia and Africa, c. 1850-1960

Fiscal Capacity and the Colonial State in Asia and Africa, c. 1850-1960 PDF Author: Ewout Frankema
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108494269
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Book Description
How colonial governments in Asia and Africa financed their activities and why fiscal systems varied across colonies reveals the nature and long-term effects of colonial rule.

British Policy and Political Developments in Central Africa, 1885-1960

British Policy and Political Developments in Central Africa, 1885-1960 PDF Author: Jerry L. Weaver
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Africa, Central
Languages : en
Pages : 250

Book Description


The Turning Point in Africa

The Turning Point in Africa PDF Author: Robert D. Pearce
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135780455
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 198

Book Description
This is a study of British colonial policy towards tropical Africa during a critical decade, from the complacent trusteeship of the inter-wqr eyars to the strategy of decolonization inaugurated after World War II.

Negotiating the End of the British Empire in Africa, 1959-1964

Negotiating the End of the British Empire in Africa, 1959-1964 PDF Author: Peter Docking
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783030880934
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
"Peter Docking's book successfully presents a crucial stage in the decolonisation of Africa by covering the vital conference and commission factor. These are often mentioned, but seldom investigated in depth in the existing literature, despite their significance. This invaluable book provides this missing analysis and much more." -H. Kumarasingham, University of Edinburgh, UK This book examines conferences and commissions held for British colonial territories in east and central Africa in the early 1960s. Until 1960, the British and colonial governments regularly employed hard methods of colonial management in east and central Africa, such as instituting states of emergency and imprisoning political leaders. A series of events at the end of the 1950s made hard measures no longer feasible, including criticism from the United Nations. As a result, softer measures became more prevalent, and the use of constitutional conferences and commissions became an increasingly important tool for the British government in seeking to manage colonial affairs. During the period 1960-64, a staggering 16 conferences and 10 constitutional commissions were held for British colonies in east and central Africa. This book is the first of its kind to provide a detailed overview of how the British sought to make use of these events to control and manage the pace of change. The author also demonstrates how commissions and conferences helped shape politics and African popular opinion in the early 1960s. Whilst giving the British government temporary respite, conferences and commissions ultimately accelerated the decolonisation process by transferring more power to African political parties and engendering softer perceptions on both sides. Presenting both British and African perspectives, this book offers an innovative exploration into the way that these episodes played an important part in the decolonisation of Africa. It shows that far from being dry and technical events, conferences and commissions were occasions of drama that tell us much about how the British government and those in Africa engaged with the last days of empire. Peter Docking is a visitor in the history department at King's College, London, where he gained his PhD. He is a former solicitor. Peter has research interests in decolonisation and the role of international conferences. .

A New Deal in Central Africa

A New Deal in Central Africa PDF Author: Colin Leys
Publisher: London, Heinemann
ISBN:
Category : Great Britain
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Book Description


The Development of British Colonial Policy in Central Africa

The Development of British Colonial Policy in Central Africa PDF Author: Bartle Bull
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description


Turning Point in Africa

Turning Point in Africa PDF Author: R D Pearce
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9781032444956
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The Turning Point in Africa (1982) is a significant study of British colonial policy towards tropical Africa during a critical decade, from the complacent trusteeship of the inter-war years to the strategy of decolonization inaugurated after the Second World War. Charting a course through a wide variety of official sources and private papers, the work assesses the importance for colonial policy of the Colonial Office, the Colonial Service, the Labour Party, African nationalists, and of ideological and moral preconceptions. The revolution in African policy is investigated with a wide and yet detailed approach. Special attention is devoted to the effects of the Second World War on Britain and its empire and to the importance of American anti-imperialist pressure on the British Government. The importance of three men - the adviser Lord Hailey, politician Arthur Creech Jones and civil servant Andrew Cohen - receives attention and an assessment is made of their contribution to a policy which, from 1948 onwards, led to a rapid decolonization in large parts of Africa. The significance of this policy is analysed in detail. The British aimed at 'nation-building' indirect rule was to be replaced by the forms of English-style local government while rapid constitutional progress at the centre was to be conceded, in accordance with a preconceived model, once powerful nationalist movements had arisen. However, as the book shows, progress at the centre was introduced prematurely and outstripped reform in local government so that progress was not the balanced development the British had wished to see. Decolonization had been given an irreversible momentum by British planning.

Britain, France and the Decolonization of Africa

Britain, France and the Decolonization of Africa PDF Author: Andrew W.M. Smith
Publisher: UCL Press
ISBN: 1911307746
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Book Description
Looking at decolonization in the conditional tense, this volume teases out the complex and uncertain ends of British and French empire in Africa during the period of ‘late colonial shift’ after 1945. Rather than view decolonization as an inevitable process, the contributors together explore the crucial historical moments in which change was negotiated, compromises were made, and debates were staged. Three core themes guide the analysis: development, contingency and entanglement. The chapters consider the ways in which decolonization was governed and moderated by concerns about development and profit. A complementary focus on contingency allows deeper consideration of how colonial powers planned for ‘colonial futures’, and how divergent voices greeted the end of empire. Thinking about entanglements likewise stresses both the connections that existed between the British and French empires in Africa, and those that endured beyond the formal transfer of power.

African History: A Very Short Introduction

African History: A Very Short Introduction PDF Author: John Parker
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0192802488
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 185

Book Description
Intended for those interested in the African continent and the diversity of human history, this work looks at Africa's past and reflects on the changing ways it has been imagined and represented. It illustrates key themes in modern thinking about Africa's history with a range of historical examples.