Winding up the British Empire in the Pacific Islands (Oxford History of the British Empire Companion Series)

Little has been written about when, how and why the British Government changed its mind about giving independance to the Pacific Islands. Using recently opened archives, Winding Up the British Empire in the Pacific Islands gives the first detailed account of this event. As Britain began to dissolve the Empire in Asia in the aftermath of the Second World War, it announced that there were some countries that were so small, remote, and lacking in resources that they could never become independent states. However, between 1970 and 1980 there was a rapid about-turn. Accelerated decolonization suddenly became the order of the day. Here was the death warrant of the Empire, and hastily-arranged independence ceremonies were performed for six new states - Tonga, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati, and Vanuatu. The rise of anti-imperialist pressures in the United Nations had a major role in this change in policy, as did the pioneering examples marked by the release of Western Samoa by New Zealand in 1962 and Nauru by Australia in 1968. The tenacity of Pacific Islanders in maintaining their cultures was in contrast to more strident Afro-Asia nationalisms. The closing of the Colonial Office, by merger with the Commonwealth Relations Office in 1966, followed by the joining of the Commonwealth and Foreign Offices in 1968, became a major turning point in Britain's relations with the Islands. In place of long-nurtured traditions of trusteeship for indigenous populations that had evolved in the Colonial Office, the new Foreign & Commonwealth Office concentrated on fostering British interests, which came to mean reducing distant commitments and focussing on the Atlantic world and Europe.

History

McIntyre, W. David

Asia

Oxford University Press

Australia & Oceania

<p>Why did the British build the great naval dockyard at Singapore? Whey did it take them twenty years to complete it? What real plans were made to send the fleet to Singapore, and where was it to go after it got there? What role did Australia, New Zealand, India, Hong Kong, Malaya and Singapore play it the project? Why didn't the fleet arrive on time, and why didn't the American Fleet use the base: These are some of the controversial questions answered by Professor McIntyre after research in Canberra, London, Singapore and Wellington.</p>

The Rise and Fall of the Singapore Naval Base, 1919-1942 (Cambridge Commonwealth Series)

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Shoe String Pr Inc

Shows the role of historians in making 'Dominion' status, which combined autonomy with unity and provided the peaceful route by which Canada, Australia and New Zealand gained their independence within the British Commmonwealth of Nations, while South Africa, the Irish Free State and India, also Dominions, chose to become republics.

The Britannic Vision: Historians and the Making of the British Commonwealth of Nations, 1907-48

Europe

PALGRAVE~MACMILLAN

Analyzes the demise of the British Empire in the years following WWII. Narrates the sequence of decolonization, summarizes historical controversies surrounding its causes, and looks at the great speed with which numerous colonies were relinquished. Considers the Commonwealth since decolonization, revealing an association displaying surprising vigor in its post-Britannic years. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

British Decolonization, 1946-1997: When, Why and How Did the British Empire Fall? (British History in Perspective)

The rise and fall of the Singapore Naval Base, 1919-1942 (Cambridge Commonwealth series)

Macmillan

Colonies into Commonwealth SECOND EDITION, REVISED

Colonies into Commonwealth

Sterling

The Commonwealth of nations: Origins and impact, 1869-1971 (Europe and the world in the Age of Expansion)

University of Minnesota Press

The author, a professor of history at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, presents a comprehensive survey of Commonwealth history from the time of soul-searching about the future of the British Empire, which marked the middle years of Queen Victoria’s reign, to the year when Britain decided to enter the European Community. The account is divided in three periods - 1869 to 1917, 1917 to 1941, and 1942 to 1971. Within each period a four-fold thematic divisions is followed: Dominions, Indian Empire, crown colonies, and protectorates.

The Commonwealth of Nations: Origins and Impact, 1869-1971

World

Univ. of Minnesota Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by McIntyre, W. David. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by McIntyre, W. David