British Imperial Decolonization 1947 - 1967

Political

• Attempted to maintain strong ties with their former colonies, as they established ‘nation-states’

• Oversaw the introduction of new structures of government; parliaments, ministries, British style legal systems, etc.

• The expansion of the Commonwealth, emphasizing a shared political tradition - to maintain political ties - with Commonwealth conferences took place regularly (every 2 years), and were attended by Prime Ministers & took place in London to reinforce the idea that Britain dominated the Commonwealth as much as it had Empire

  • The Commonwealth was intended to bolster Britain's position within the post-colonial world, by providing a strong diplomatic network and ensure Britain membership in key international bodies (e.g. UN Security Council - reflecting Britain's status from Empire and their maintenance of world-wide influence)

  • Continued maintainanace of military with ‘global reach', recruiting citizens across Commonwealth nations (with all recruited citizens needing to remain eligible to serve as part of the British Forces) + they retained the Gurkhas from the old Indian Army

• The queen remained a symbolic figurehead of the commonwealth; making regular visits to the countries

  • 1965, establishment of the Commonwealth Secretary General + secretariat, allowed for the co-ordination of Commonwealth activities while also allowing regular meetings to be held with the Queen, between Heads of Governments.

  • Commonwealth citizens remained eligible for British honours and able to access the monarch’s annual Christmas Day broadcast

Economic

• Post-Empire Britain remained a globalised economy; with The City of London remaining one of the financial centres of the world, HQ for banking, insurance & investment companies

• Due to conventions of international trade and law being established under a time of imperial rule, Britain's imperial connections gave rise to multi-national companies with international offices → allowing Britain to maintain a vast investment portfolio and major trading links, which were majorly important (especially due to Britain being excluded from the EEC ‘til 1973)

• This meant that the British Govt. tried to keep ex-colonies within the Sterling Area, by replacing ‘fomal' empire with ‘informal' empire based primarily off trade links and economic ties

Migration

The was a surge in post-war migration from Britain, due to the continuation of rationing until the late 1950s and the increasing demand for labour in Commonwealth countries like; Australia, Canada and New Zealand

• Between 1946 and 1957 approx. 1 million people left Britain for the Dominions, representing an acceleration of pre-war levels; increasing the range and depth of personal contact between British people and those in the White Dominions

  • A mass observation in 1948 showed that abt. 25% of the population weere in contact with relatives living in the Dominions - raising people’s awareness of Empire and the Commonwealth in Britain

emigration

• Most Britions emigrated to Australia and Canada within the Commonwealth, in 1967 → but many also moved to NZ, South Africa, Rhodesia and USA; Kenya, Malaya and Suez Canal for military support.

• Many chose to leave to be able to experience Empire first-hand; usually upper-class members of society and had been throught the ‘public’ school system - aside from this those from lower classes were only likely to experience Empire if they were required to do national service in later colonial wars or in Kenya, Malaya and the Suez

  • between 1948 - 1957; 1 million emigrated, (1 million to just Australia, between 1947 - 81)

• By the late 1950s, emigration to the Dominions was curbed by improvements in living standards and full employment in Britain & an increase in the need for skilled labour from around the world.

  • further decrease in emigration came from the abolition of National Service in 1960

immigration

Although there had been immigration Pre-1947, the number of colonial immigrants that settled in Britain was fairly small or temporary; this meant that there was very little or limited exposure to Empire for most people in Britain

• The majority of immigrants who came to Britain in the early 1950s were Europeans, usually fleeing persecution, and those thereafter were largely from the colonies

• Many people of colour came to Britain from; the Carribean in the 1950s, India and Pakistan in the 1960s and Kenya and Uganda in the late 60s and early 70s due the forced migration and exodus of Asian Kenyans and Ugandans - many of whom held British passports.

Changes in Britain Post-decolonisation

• Migration, increase in immigration

• End of Racial Britain, rise of tensions in Britain

• Changes of Imperial Identity; decolonization seen as an embassment

British Nationality Act 1948 - allowed all citizens of the Commonwealth to have full citizenship in the UK/ rights of entry, to work and to live

The London declarations of 1949 - emphasised Commonwealth member states' independence from Britain and recognised the Monarch’s role as only the head of the Commonwealth (no longer ruler of all the countries)

Arrival of the Empire Windrush -

British Union of Facists -

1958, Notting Hill Riots -

Teddy Boy gangs -

1959, Notting Hill Carnival - protest against the violence

1963, Bristol Bus Boycott -

Race relations act 1965 -

Race relations act 1967 -

Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood' speech in 1968 -