HONOURS MODERN
HISTORY
The End of Empire
*In
1897, for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, Rudyard Kipling wrote
two poems about the British Empire and its place in the world.
One, “The White Man's Burden” told of the power and promise of
Empire. It was not published until 1899, however, and
“Recessional” was chosen to celebrate the Queen's sixtieth year on the
throne. It was even more appropriate for the British Empire fifty
years later.
*During WWII, there was significant fear that India might take the
opportunity to rebel against Britain and join Japan. Partly in
return for supporting Britain during the War and partly because Britain
was too weak to hold the Indians down if they had chosen to rebel,
India was promised independence afterwards, and in 1947 it was granted,
beginning the period of decolonisation. Portugal and France did
not give up their small portions of India so easily, but eventually
India invaded them and took them over.
*India under the Raj was a multi-cultural colony, with both Moslem and
Hindu peoples. However, there was concern that once the British
left, they might not work together, so the last Viceroy divided the old
colony into India and Pakistan (both East and West—East Pakistan later
became Bangladesh). Gandhi was assassinated a year later by a
Hindu nationalist who felt that Gandhi had betrayed India by allowing
it to be partitioned. India's first Prime Minister was Gandhi's
friend Jawaharlal Nehru (his daughter and his grandson also held that
office later, and both of them were assassinated).
*Some parts were difficult to apportion, especially Kashmir. Its
ruler was Hindu, but many of the people were Moslem. The prince
asked to be part of India, and was allowed to remain so, but as soon as
independence was granted, India and Pakistan went to war over
Kashmir. This began the First Kashmir War of 1947-49. It
ended with a truce arranged by the United Nations, but in 1965 the
Second Kashmir War was fought, also ending indecisively. A third
war was fought (called the Indo-Pakistani War) in 1971. In 1972
the ‘line of control’ was drawn, but even it has not satisfied
everyone, and Indian and Pakistani troops shoot at each other across
the border from time to time. In the 1980s, a local Moslem
independence movement developed in Kashmir, and began killing local
Hindus. India responded with force. In 1998, India and
Pakistan both tested nuclear weapons, raising fears that the world’s
first nuclear war might be fought over Kashmir.
*At the same time Pakistan was fighting India in 1971, it was also
fighting itself. In that year, East Pakistan, which was less
religious, less prosperous, linguistically different, and
geographically distant from West Pakistan, declared its
independence. With India’s help, the new nation, which called
itself Bangladesh, won the war.
*In 1946 the United States granted the Philippines their independence
politically, but they remained tied to the US economically. In
the 1950s and 1960s, the Philippines began to develop economically, but
began to stagnate after 1972 when President Ferdinand Marcos declared
martial law and ruled as a dictator until 1986, when he was forced out
of power and the Philippines became a democratic nation again.
*The Dutch came to Indonesia starting in 1602, and, through the Dutch
East India Company captured the city of Jakarta, burnt it to the
ground, and rebuilt it as Batavia, the capital of the Dutch East
Indies. Eventually the Dutch East India Company went bankrupt,
and the Dutch government took over in 1816. This was one of the
wealthiest parts of the Dutch trading empire.
*During WWII the Netherlands were conquered by Nazi Germany and the
Dutch East Indies were taken by the Japanese, partly with the
assistance of local nationalist groups. In 1945, Indonesian
nationalist groups declared an independent state of Indonesia.
Although the Dutch fought to take it back, they eventually had to
recognise most of Indonesia as a separate state in 1949. Western
New Guinea would be ceded in 1963 (although many local people would
rather have had their own state).
*Under Sukarno, the first president of Indonesia, the country had a
fairly weak democratic system, which was replaced by an authoritarian
regime Sukarno characterised as ‘Guided Democracy.’
*In 1965 Indonesia fell into civil war, and in 1968 Major General
Mohamed Suharto would be chosen as president. He would also prove
very authoritarian (but also anti-Communist, so that he enjoyed
American support), and would insure his own re-election until 1998,
when he finally declined to run again under intense public
pressure. Since then Indonesia has experimented with more
democracy, with mixed success.
*Under Suharto, Indonesia conquered Portugal’s last colony in the
region, East Timor, in 1975. Portugal was distracted by its wars
in Angola and Mozambique, and by the recent overthrow of the fascist
regime in the 1974 Carnation Revolution. The new government had
allowed local elections in East Timor, and when they did not go
smoothly, Indonesia claimed it was a civil war, and invaded to restore
order.
*Indonesia quickly conquered the colony, and treated its people very
badly, raping thousands and killing hundreds of thousands, and drawing
increasing criticism upon Suharto and the western governments that
befriended him. After the fall of the USSR meant the West no
longer had to support friendly dictators, Suharto’s cruelty in East
Timor led to a decline in foreign support for his country, and after he
left office in 1998, East Timor was permitted to go its own way,
becoming independent in 1999, although it required UN troops to protect
it.
*France had conquered Algeria in 1830, and had ruled it with little
regard for the local Arabs (although it often—though not always—gave
preferential treatment to the local Jewish population). However,
Algeria provided many troops for the French army during World War I,
and plans existed to make it an integral part of France.
*The local people, though, feared further loss of their rights, and
between 1954 and 1962 successfully fought for their independence (in
which the French grew tired of fighting even after the military had
finally won a major victory).
*The French government's failures early in the war led to the collapse
of the French Fourth Republic in a coup d'etat in which the army
overthrew local government in Algeria and Corsica and threatened to
march on Paris unless the Parliament chose as France's new leader
Charles De Gaulle.
*De Gaulle created the Fifth Republic, and tried to position France as
a third major world power to mediate between the US and USSR (or at
least avoid being drawn into a conflict between them). France
required all non-French NATO troops to leave France, and, although
still officially a member of NATO, essentially withdrew from its
military structure. In 1960 France tested its first atomic
bomb. Today France spends more on its military than any other
country except the United States (which spends about 11½ times
what France does).
*While De Gaulle initially opposed independence movements in France's
colonies (and even continued restrictions on the rights of Bretons and
other minority groups in France), France ended up granting independence
to most of its colonies in 1960. Furthermore, De Gaulle did
encourage Quebec's separatists in Canada.
*Eventually De Gaulle's forceful personality and politics led to
protests, and in 1968 he fled France for Germany. Although he
soon returned, he resigned the presidency of France in April 1969, and
died the next year. The Fifth Republic still stands, and the
position of President is very strong in France.
*In Egypt, there was increasing resentment of the British garrison that
protected the Suez Canal. This led to the overthrow of King
Farouk in 1952 and the eventual election of Gamal Nasser as president
of Egypt in 1956 (and later president of the United Arab Republic), a
role he held until his death in 1970.
*The Republic of Egypt began buying weapons from Warsaw Pact countries
and in 1956 recognised the People's Republic of China.
Furthermore, Egypt nationalised the Suez Canal, beginning the Suez
Crisis.
*To protect the Canal (and avoid appeasing a dangerous rising power),
Britain formed a secret agreement with France and Israel. Israel
invaded Egypt, and then France and Britain planed to intervene in order
to prevent war.
*The US, though, feared a wider war with the Warsaw Pact (particularly
as the Hungarian Revolution was going on at the same time), and also
wanted to assert its own power. The US demanded that the British
and French withdraw. The US also supported a threats to expel
Britain and France from NATO, did not help with a Saudi oil embargo
against the British and French, and agreed with plans to send a UN task
force to the region to keep the peace. The US even threatened to
sell off all reserves of the Pound Sterling, destroying the value of
the Pound worldwide. The British and French quickly withdrew from
Egypt, and they ceased to be the world powers they had been, while the
USA clearly became one of only two superpowers.
*The Suez Crisis (along with Indian Independence) marked the beginning
of British decolonisation (and played a significant role in French
decolonisation as well). Britain would begin allowing most of its
African, Asian, and Caribbean colonies independence if they wanted
it. The main problems came in those Africa countries where the
British had strongly encouraged European settlement: Kenya,
Rhodesia, and South Africa.
*In Kenya, some African tribal peoples following traditional African
religions, who had lost most of their land and power, began what came
to be known as the Mau Mau uprising (1953-1960), which targeted white
farmers and Africans thought to be sympathetic to them, especially
Christian Africans, killing men, women, and children, often attacking
isolated farms and then fleeing. Eventually the Mau Mau uprising
was put down by the British army and by local militia and police, but
ultimately it was decided that Kenya was more trouble than it was
worth, and it was made independent in 1963. Jomo Kenyatta was
elected the first president of Kenya, and he tried to reconcile the
white and black citizens of his country, but in the end, many white
people left.
*Northern and Southern Rhodesia, now Zambia and Zimbabwe, had white
populations as well, but Britain would only give them their
independence if they created new government with the participation of
all people in the country. Zambia became independent under a
black-controlled government in 1964, but for the most part its small
white population was treated well.
*Southern Rhodesia, however, declared independence from Great Britain
in 1965 in order to preserve its white-minority government, and engaged
in a series of wars with African guerrilla forces and eventually to its
return, in 1979, to status as a British colony. In 1980, it was
granted independence with a black-majority government under Robert
Mugabe, but in the 1990s, he began a process of seizing property
belonging to white citizens, especially farmers, causing many to flee
to South Africa, Britain, or Zambia, and plunging the country into
famine and poverty.
*While most of Europe was granting its colonies independence and
European colonists in Africa were returning to Europe, Portugal after
WWII encouraged settlement in its African colonies, and Angola and
Mozambique greatly increased their European populations. However,
both experienced guerrilla warfare in the 1960s and 1970s, which became
increasingly expensive for Portugal. Portugal also had a
semi-fascist government in the 1960s and ‘70s that would not recognise
the changing world situation. In 1974, however, Portugal
experienced the Carnation Revolution, a (mostly) bloodless revolution
in which the military (sometimes with carnations in their gun barrels)
overthrew the government, but then created a democracy. In 1975,
Portugal granted independence to its colonies in Africa. Most of
the Portuguese colonists left shortly afterwards, as both Angola and
Mozambique collapsed into civil war. East Timor was conquered by
Indonesian in the same year.
*By the 1980s, only South Africa (and its mandatory colony of Namibia)
remained under white dominance. The United Nations had already
declared Apartheid illegal, and many nations had placed embargoes
against South Africa (although Japan got along with them:
Japanese in South Africa were legally regarded as ‘honourary
Europeans).’ Still, South Africa maintained and tried to
strengthen the Apartheid regime through military force and police
violence.
*Even the most ancient institution in Western Civilisation underwent
tremendous change. In October 1962 Pope John XXIII convened a
council of all church leaders known as Vatican II. Its primary
meetings were conducted in Latin, but its goal was to open the windows
of the church and let in some fresh air.
*Vatican II met every autumn until September 1965 when Pope Paul VI
closed it. It changed the face of the Church: vernacular
languages could now be used in the Mass, accepted that Protestants
might not be automatically condemned to Hell and even proposed working
with them, put greater emphasis on scripture, and generally tried to
renew and invigorate the Church. On the other hand, it was also
seen by some as eroding the Church's traditions and the Pope's
authority and as too great a concession to the modern world: the
Pope was no longer the most important man on Earth, but a man like
other men who had to work with the world.
*By the 1980s, the great empires were gone, although most still held a
few island possessions around the globe. For Britain, though,
even these were threatened.
*To save money the British government had drastically reduced the Royal
Navy in the late 1970s and early 1980s (one aircraft carrier had even
been sold—but not delivered—to Australia), and Argentina thought to
take advantage of this. On 19 March, 1982, Argentine marines
posing as scientists planted their flag on South Georgia Island, and on
1 April Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands (which they called Islas
Malvinas, and had claimed for decades but never occupied). On 2
April Government House in Port Stanley surrendered.
*Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sent a naval task force to the
Falkland Islands. HMS Invincible was not sent to Australia, and
43 merchant vessels (including SS Canberra, a cruise ship) were
commandeered to transport the Army and Royal Marines to the
Falklands. Even Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, was involved in
the war as a helicopter pilot.
*The British beat Argentina and liberated the Falklands on 14 June
1982. This helped keep Thatcher in power throughout the 1980s as
a strong ally of the US and enemy of Communism. It also led to
the collapse of the military junta ruling Argentina.
*Otherwise, the British Empire continued to decline. In 1980, and
again in 1995, Quebec held referenda on leaving Canada (both of which
failed) and in 1982 Canada officially severed ties with the British
Parliament, which could no longer pass laws for Canada. In 1986
Australia and New Zealand did the same, and Australia even has a
significant republican movement. In 1997 Britain returned Hong
Kong to China 155 years after the end of the First Opium War. The
sun had set on the British Empire.