Crises of Empire: Decolonization and Europe's Imperial States

467 Pages·2015·4.031 MB·English

by  Martin Thomas, Bob Moore, L. J. Butler

CRISES OF EMPIRE

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CRISES OF EMPIRE
DECOLONIZATION AND EUROPE’S IMPERIAL STATES

Second Edition
Martin Th omas , Bob Moore , and L . J. Butler
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
LONDON • NEW DELHI • NEW YORK • SYDNEY
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Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of B loomsbury Publishing Plc
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BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published 2015
© Martin Thomas, Bob Moore and L. J. Butler, 2 015
Martin Thomas, Bob Moore and L. J. Butler have asserted their right under the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identifi ed as Authors of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing
from the publishers.
No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining
from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted
by Bloomsbury or the authors.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: HB: 978-1-4725-2642-7
PB : 978-1-4725-3025-7
ePDF : 978-1-4725-3018-9
ePub : 978-1-4725-3121-6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Typeset by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
Printed and bound in Great Britain
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Contents
preface vii
list of maps viii
list of abbreviations ix
introduction: Constructions of Decolonization 1
Part I British Decolonization Larry Butler 13
introduction to part i: The British empire 15
1 The British empire, 1918–45: interwar Change and Wartime pressures 19
2 The first Wave of British Decolonization: Commonwealth territories,
the indian subcontinent, and the Gold Coast, 1945–51 43
3 British Decolonization, insurgency, and strategic reverse: The middle
east, africa, and malaya, 1951–7 64
4 Winds of Change: The final Waves of Decolonization in africa
and asia after 1957 84
Part II French Decolonization Martin Thomas 111
introduction to part ii: The french empire 113
5 The roots of french Decolonization: ideas, economics,
and reform, 1900–46 117
6 Decolonizing the french african federations after 1945 136
7 people’s War and the Collapse of french indochina, 1945–54 158
8 from french north africa to maghreb independence: Decolonization
in morocco, tunisia, and algeria, 1945–56 178
9 algeria’s Violent struggle for independence 193
10 territories apart: madagascar, the togo trusteeship, and french
island territories 210
Part III Dutch Decolonization Bob Moore 223
introduction to part iii: The Dutch empire 225
11 an ‘ethical imperialism’? The Dutch Colonial empire before 1945 229
12 indonesia: The politics of Delusion, 1940–7 244
13 indonesia: Conflict and Diplomacy 262
14 unfinished Business: new Guinea as a last outpost of empire 279
15 Decolonization by Default: Dutch Disengagement in suriname 293
Contents
Part IV Contrasting Patterns of Decolonization Martin Thomas 305
introduction to part iV: The Belgian and portuguese empires 307
16 Contrasting patterns of Decolonization: Belgian and portuguese africa 309
Conclusion: Changing attitudes to the end of empire 333
notes 347
select Bibliography 429
index 443
vi
PREFACE
Th e second edition of this book, like the fi rst, stems from a desire to match the voluminous
literature on the decolonization of the British Empire with a comparative volume, which
synthesizes the parallel experiences of the continental European imperial states. Alongside the
British experience, we have focused primarily on the two largest European empires; namely
those of France and the Netherlands. To that end, we have endeavoured to provide detailed
case studies of British, French, and Dutch decolonization. We also investigate the collapse
of Portuguese and Belgian colonial rule in Africa, drawing out the parallels between their
paths to decolonization and those of their European neighbours. While the book ’ s case studies
are intended to guide the reader through the major events leading to colonial withdrawal,
they are also designed to elucidate deeper, conceptual issues surrounding the end of European
empires.
No book of this nature could be written without the help of numerous individuals and
institutions. In this connection, we would like to thank Robert Aldrich, Alice Conklin, Daho
Djerbal, Ruth Ginio, Chris Goscha, Bill Hoisington, Talbot Imlay, Peter Jackson, Simon
Kitson, Sebastien Laurent, Mark Lawrence, Jim Le Sueur, Fred Logevall, Patricia Lorcin,
Bart Luttikhuis, Martin Shipway, Sylvie Th é nault, the late Dick van Galen Last, Mathilde von
B ü low, Nicholas White, colleagues at the Universities of Exeter, Sheffi eld, and East Anglia,
the Leverhulme Trust, the British Academy, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the
Nuffi eld Foundation, the National Archives, Kew, the School of Oriental and African Studies,
University of London, the Centre des Archives d ’ Outre-Mer, Aix-en-Provence, the Service
Historique des Arm é es at Vincennes, the Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie,
Amsterdam, the University of Sydney, and the National Europe Centre, ANU, Canberra. We
are very grateful to Claire Lipscomb, Emma Goode and Anita Singh at Bloomsbury for their
help in producing the second edition.
Our fi nal word of thanks goes to our friend and colleague, Kent Fedorowich, whose ideas
and critiques were central to the writing of this book.
Martin Th omas, Exeter
Bob Moore, Sheffi eld
Larry Butler, Norwich
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list of maps
Map 1 indian partition, 1947 48
Map 2 Britain’s interests in africa and the middle east 105
Map 3 french West africa after the first World War 139
Map 4 french equatorial africa and madagascar after the first World War 141
Map 5 french indochina federation 162
Map 6 The indochina War, 1946–54 172
Map 7 french north african territories 184
Map 8 The colony of algeria with department boundaries 202
Map 9 Dutch indonesia 260
Map 10 netherlands West indies 302
Map 11 The Belgian Congo, 1960 315
Map 12 portuguese africa 326
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Territories, parties, and organizations
ABAKO Assocation des Bakongo : Bakongo [Cultural] Association.
AEF Afrique Equatoriale Fran ça ise : the federation of French Equatorial Africa,
comprised of French Congo, Oubangui-Chari, Gabon and Chad. Th e former
mandate of French Cameroon, declared a UN trust territory in 1945, retained
close economic links with AEF.
AFPFL Anti-Fascist People ’ s Freedom League (Burma).
ALN Arm é e de Lib é ration Nationale : armed wing of the Algerian FLN.
ANZUS Australia-New Zealand-US defence treaty, 1951.
AOF Afrique Occidentale Fran ça ise : the federation of French West Africa,
comprised of Senegal, Mauritania, French Soudan, Niger, Ivory Coast (C ô te
d ’ Ivoire), Guinea, Dahomey and, from 1948, Upper Volta (Haute-Volta).
Federal authorities in Dakar also retained links with Togo, another former
mandate made a UN trust territory in 1945.
ARP Anti-Revolutionaire Partij : Anti-Revolutionary Party, Netherlands.
CEFA Comit é s d ’ É tudes Franco-Africaines : Franco-African study groups.
CFOA Compagnie Fran ç aise d ’ Afrique Occidentale : major West African trading
company, founded in 1906.
CFTC Conf é d é ration Fran ç aise des Travailleurs Chr é tiens : French Catholic trade
union confederation.
CGO Committee of Good Offi ces, Indonesia.
CGT Conf é d é ration G é n é rale du Travail : French trade union confederation.
CGTT Conf é d é ration G é n é rale du Travailleurs Tunisiens : Tunisian trade union
confederation
CHU Christelijk-Historische Unie : Christian Historical Union, Netherlands.
CMAG Chinese Military Advisory Group (in Vietnam aft er 1950).
COMININDO Interministerial committee on Indochina.
CPP Convention People ’ s Party: founded in the Gold Coast, 1949.
DOMs D é partements d ’ outre-mer : French overseas departments, post-1946.
DRV Democratic Republic of Vietnam: established in Hanoi in 1945.
ECA European Cooperation Administration.
EFO É tablissements Fran ça is d’ Oc é anie : French Oceania
EFTA European Free Trade Area.
ENA Etoile Nord-Africaine : Th e North African Star: fi rst Algerian nationalist party
led by Messali Hadj, founded in 1926.
EOKA Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston : National Organization of Cypriot
Fighters.
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