Decolonization and the Collapse of the
British Empire
Before World War II it
was stated fairly, “The sun never set on the British Empire.” For decades, this
was true: the British colonial Empire touched all corners of the globe. After
the War concluded, however, a worldwide process of decolonization commenced in
which Britain granted independence to all of its major colonies, beginning
notably in India.
The British decision to grant independence to India arose primarily out of necessity;
however, Gandhi’s successful social movements also inspired a fundamental
change in the perceptions of colonial power that eventually led to the collapse
of the British Colonial Empire.
In
India there were numerous uprisings and conflicts that erupted over the course
of the centuries long British occupation, but it wasn’t until Mohandas
“Mahatma” Gandhi’s social efforts, beginning in India from 1915-1920 and
onward, that a popular vision for India began to spread among ordinary Indians.1 At
the time, Gandhi had only recently returned from South Africa where
he had stayed for more than twenty years, as the “voice and conscience of
thousands” of racially subjugated Indians.2 Upon his return to
India, Gandhi advocated for Indians to boycott British institutions and
products in a non-violent way; this movement was ultimately known as
“Swadeshi.” Because of these efforts Gandhi became wildly popular; when
Jawaharlal Nehru—the first Prime Minister of independent India—gave his famous
Independence speech in 1947, he called Gandhi “The Father of our Nation
who… held aloft the torch of freedom and lighted up the darkness that
surrounded us.”3 Gandhi’s momentum reached a peak during World
War II and consequently caused great strain on Britain, forcing them to
recognize the significance of the Swadeshi movement. Additionally, pressures from
within India were complemented by two major external factors: Britain’s
economic and human resources were exasperated by the War effort; 4 and
the Japanese, who had invaded the British colony of Burma in 1943, were
aggressively expanding in Southeast Asia.5 Each of these
factors was important in pushing Britain to the realization that it was no
longer realistic for them to prolong their control of India. In March 1946,
shortly after the close of the War, Clement Attlee, the Prime Minister of Great
Britain, expressed these sentiments in a speech to the House of Commons:
“India
is today in a state of great tension and this is indeed a critical moment… It
is a time emphatically for very definite and clear action… Let us all realise
that whatever the difficulties, whatever the divisions may be, there is this
underlying demand among all the Indian peoples… Is it any wonder that today she
claims – as a nation of 400,000,000 people that has twice sent her sons to die
for freedom – that she should herself have freedom to decide her own destiny?
My colleagues are going to India with the intention of using their utmost
endeavours to help her to attain that freedom as speedily and fully as
possible.”6
Attlee’s
description of India as being in a “state of great tension” was a verbal
affirmation of the ultimate conclusion: the British had little choice but to
help India “attain [her] freedom.”
After
India was finally granted freedom in 1947, as the separate states of India and
Pakistan, it was apparent that a change in the perceptions of colonial power
was occurring. As early as 1931, Time Magazine featured Gandhi as the “Man of
the Year,” forgoing other noted possibilities that included, ironically, the
Prime Minister of Great Britain.7 In the article, Gandhi is
described as being exalted by the people while the British colonizers are
condemned:
"Cold
English brains devised the system whereby bands of native police, especially in
the rural districts, set upon individual Indian men & women and beat them…
Individual beatings are applied, in the main, to extort from the victim his
land tax.”8
Violence within
the colonies was viewed as a reflection of the colonizers. From 1935 to 1951,
Time Magazine prepared monthly newsreels of world events that in 1942 depicted
video footage of British soldiers brutally attacking Indian protestors, while a
commentator read, “The Indian people have never ceased to defy British authority,
whether enforced by Soldier’s bayonets or Policemen’s batons.”9 Later,
in June 1947, Gandhi graced the cover of Time magazine again, shortly after
India had been declared independent.10 The media therefore
played a significant role in showing the brutal reality of colonialism to the
masses; in the end, increased media coverage was a catalyst in shifting public
perceptions of colonial power.
It
was nevertheless not only the perceptions of Europeans and Americans that were
affected by India’s independence movement. In Africa, nationalist leaders such
as Kwame Nkrumah in the British colony of the Gold Coast were inspired by
Gandhi’s success. Nkrumah was a native of the Gold Coast territory but
nonetheless was highly educated in the United States. During his studies, he
drew from the “Back to Africa” vision devised by Marcus Garvey in the 1920’s
and consequently later went on to become the most influential proponent of
Pan-Africanism in Africa.11 After returning home, Nkrumah
became the leader of the Convention Peoples’ Party (CPP) in 1950, which
advocated the need for self-government, and began a campaign of “positive
action involving nonviolent protests, strikes, and noncooperation with the
British colonial authorities.”12 Nkrumah’s campaign was
strikingly similar to the one Gandhi had led in India, and likewise, he was
imprisoned for his efforts. The atmosphere regarding colonialism, however, had
undergone significant changes since India’s independence; after the British
granted a new constitution to its colony in 1951, Nkrumah’s party, the CPP, won
a majority of votes and Nkrumah was released as the new Premier.13 Several
years later, a major turning point occurred that was reflective of the times:
on May 9th, 1956, the population of British citizens living in the
British administered U.N. Trust Territory of British Togoland voted in a 58%
majority to integrate with an independent Gold Coast.14 Less
than a year later, on March 6th, 1957, the independent state of
Ghana was created out of the merging of the former British territories of the
Gold Coast and British Togoland; Nkrumah became the first Prime Minister.15
Ghana
thus began the wave of British decolonization in Africa that resulted in nearly
every British territory being granted independence in the following decade. In
1960 the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Harold Macmillan, delivered a famous
speech known as the “Wind of Change:”
“One
of the constant facts of political life in Europe has been the emergence of
independent nations… Especially since the end of war, the processes which gave
birth to the nation-states of Europe have been repeated all over the
world… Fifteen years ago this movement spread through Asia. Many
countries there, of different races and civilization, pressed their claim to an
independent national life. To-day the same thing is happening in Africa… In
different places it may take different forms, but it is happening everywhere.
The wind of change is blowing through the continent… Whether we like it or not,
this growth of national consciousness is a political fact. We must all accept
it as a fact.”16
In
the speech, Macmillan clearly indicates the British realization that
decolonization was inevitable, calling it a “political fact.” Macmillan also
gives reference to the significance of the prior movement in Asia, which was of
course led by India.
In
a sense, it was at this time that the sun finally did set on the British
Empire. What Gandhi had begun in India as early as 1915 had political
implications for the entire colonial framework. His devotion to non-violence
stood in marked contrast to the rifle bearing British occupiers, and he was
immensely effective in making the world notice. Gandhi’s ideologies and India’s
independence inspired the repressed around the world and led ultimately to the
unraveling of an Empire.
REFERENCE
1.)
James Heitzman, and Robert L. Worden, eds. "India: Country Studies -
Federal Research Division, Library of Congress," Sept. 1995, The Library
of Congress, 20 Oct. 2008 .
2.)
James Heitzman, and Robert L. Worden, eds. “India: Country Studies”
3.)
Jawaharlal Nehru, "Speech On the Granting of Indian Independence," 14
Aug. 1947.
4.)
Tony Judt, Postwar : A History of Europe Since 1945, New York: Penguin Books,
Limited, 2005
5.)
Lecture, 7 Oct. 2008
6.)
Clement Attlee, "Address given by Clement Attlee to the House of
Commons," London, 15 Mar. 1946.
7.)
"Man of the Year," Time Magazine 5 Jan. 1931 .
8.)
“Man of the Year,” Time Magazine
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