Misplaced Pages

#586413

204-528: The Devlin Report is the only example of a British judge examining whether the actions of a colonial administration in suppressing dissent were appropriate. It can be viewed not only as an incident in British decolonization , but as an expression of the values of judicial independence and commitment to the rule of law even in emergency conditions, when they are under threat. Devlin's conclusions that excessive force

408-585: A Conservative supporter and the other commissioners were Conservatives Party members, the Commission went about its work in a way that concerned the Nyasaland government, which had hoped that its actions and the subsequent actions of the police and troops would be vindicated. Very soon after its arrival in Nyasaland, it became apparent that the Commissioners intended to investigate the declaration of

612-568: A New International Economic Order (NIEO). The NIEO was opposed to the 1944 Bretton Woods system , which had benefited the leading states which had created it, and remained in force until 1971 after the United States' suspension of convertibility from dollars to gold. The main principles of the NIEO are: The UNCTAD however was not very effective in implementing the NIEO, and social and economic inequalities between industrialized countries and

816-649: A Democrat in office from 1913 to 1921, ignored the Philippines, and focused his attention on Mexico and Caribbean nations. By the 1920s, the peaceful efforts by the Filipino leadership to pursue independence proved convincing. When the Democrats returned to power in 1933, they worked with the Filipinos to plan a smooth transition to independence. It was scheduled for 1946 by Tydings–McDuffie Act of 1934. In 1935,

1020-567: A French-protected monarchy. Spain took the step to occupy the Dominican Republic and restore colonial rule . The Union victory in the Civil War in 1865 forced both France and Spain to accede to American demands to evacuate those two countries. America's only African colony, Liberia , was formed privately and achieved independence early; Washington unofficially protected it. By 1900, the U.S. advocated an Open Door Policy and opposed

1224-504: A State of Emergency over the whole of the protectorate and arrested Dr. Banda, the president of the Nyasaland African Congress, other members of its executive committee and over a hundred local party officials: Congress was banned the next day. Those arrested were detained without trial, and the total number detained for Congress membership finally rose to over 1,300. Over 2,000 more were imprisoned for offences against

1428-579: A beacon of hope to pro-independence activists. However, with the anti-colonial wars of the 1900s (decade) barely over, new modernizing forms of Africa nationalism began to gain strength in the early 20th century with the emergence of Pan-Africanism, as advocated by the Jamaican journalist Marcus Garvey (1887–1940) whose widely distributed newspapers demanded swift abolition of European imperialism, as well as republicanism in Egypt. Kwame Nkrumah (1909–1972) who

1632-475: A campaign of violence had been discussed, and a further report of another agent, made only on 11 February, claimed that Congress had made a plan for systematic killings on "R-day", if Banda were arrested. The later report was the basis for the claim made by the Commissioner of Police that the meeting had planned the indiscriminate killing of Europeans and Asians, and also of those Africans opposed to Congress,

1836-402: A credible constitution for the protectorate. Devlin's conclusion that there was no murder plot and that Banda, unlike other Congress leaders, was not involved in promoting violence opened the way for the British government to deal with him. Had Devlin found there was a murder plot or that Banda had directly encouraged violence, this would have been very difficult. Despite Lennox-Boyd's rejection of

2040-640: A despatch, often known as the Armitage Report , to counter the Devlin Report. Devlin accepted that both the Colonial Office and Armitage should see the draft report before it was signed, although this was not normal practice, and he and the other Commissioners agreed to a number of changes that softened its criticisms. However, all the Commissioners later condemned the use made by the Colonial Office of their concession in allowing it to see

2244-724: A diffusion process wherein earlier revolutionary movements inspired later ones. Other explanations emphasize how the lower profitability of colonization and the costs associated with empire prompted decolonization. Some explanations emphasize how colonial powers struggled militarily against insurgents in the colonies due to a shift from 19th century conditions of "strong political will, a permissive international environment, access to local collaborators, and flexibility to pick their battles" to 20th century conditions of "apathetic publics, hostile superpowers, vanishing collaborators, and constrained options". In other words, colonial powers had more support from their own region in pursuing colonies in

SECTION 10

#1732790230587

2448-448: A few extremists had discussed killing the governor and leading civil servants, but this proposal had not been put to everyone at the meeting or generally approved, which is why the majority of attendees examined could report no such suggestion was made. Such a limited plan by a few extremists was not what Armitage had reported or British ministers had stated in parliament. Devlin's perspective on an Emergency that, overnight, made members of

2652-412: A first-rate economic expert to manage the economy during the cocoa boom. He said the country "is rapidly moving out of the extremely restricted economy of the years before the war and so the holder should be someone who has experience of financial and economic matters, at least in other parts of Africa and possibly experience from other parts of the world". In his budget speech in 1953, Armitage explained

2856-729: A judge-led inquiry, instructing Armitage to arrange it. The ensuing Southworth Commission cleared the Nyasaland police of brutality and criticised British correspondents for distorting events. However, the press coverage highlighted to the British public and parliament the strength of African opposition to the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and the degree of coercion needed to preserve it, and further discredited Armitage. Macmillan and Macleod decided not to dismiss Armitage immediately, but to appoint Glyn Smallwood Jones to take over as his successor in April 1961. Following Banda's release and

3060-563: A left-wing revolution inside Portugal overthrew the existing regime and encouraged pro-Soviet elements to attempt to seize control in the colonies. The result was a very long and extremely difficult multi-party Civil War in Angola , and lesser insurrections in Mozambique. Belgium's empire began with the annexation of the Congo in 1908 in response to international pressure to bring an end to

3264-482: A legally-constituted political party liable to detention without trial for an unlimited period, was that the Nyasaland African Congress behaved as if Nyasaland was capable of functioning as a democracy, in the full sense of that word, and that its colonial Government was holding it back. That government, on the other hand, became increasingly intolerant of any opposition organised on western and democratic lines, because it considered it as equivalent to Congress setting up of

3468-512: A military action in the Misuku Hills, but it upheld other complaints, including the burning of houses, beatings and the imposition of arbitrary fine, which it considered illegal. Within two days of the declaration of the State of Emergency, the British cabinet under Harold Macmillan decided to set up a Commission of Inquiry into the disturbances. There was a delay in finalising the form of

3672-575: A mob armed with pangas . As Congress supporters became more violent and Congress leaders made increasingly inflammatory statements, Armitage decided against offering concessions, but prepared for mass arrests. Armitage had discussions with Roy Welensky , the Prime Minister of the Federation, Southern Rhodesia officials, and Sir Arthur Benson , the Governor of Northern Rhodesia . These meetings coordinated plans to for mass arrests of members of

3876-587: A modified Federation. The British government broadly accepted the Monckton report, signalling a withdrawal of support for the Federation and the acceptance of early majority rule for Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia. Accordingly, and despite opposition from Armitage, from the governments of the Federation and Southern Rhodesia, and from some colleagues in the cabinet, Macleod released Banda from detention on 1 April 1960 and immediately began to negotiate with him on Nyasaland's constitutional future. The State of Emergency

4080-495: A more aggressive campaign of disobedience to colonial laws, which was designed to cause chaos. The proposed action included the intimidation of, and assaults on, police and government workers. Banda was more cautious, as a proposal had been made on 4 February for a British minister to visit Nyasaland in March to lower the political temperature, but he did not oppose escalating the campaign of civil disobedience . Armitage's advice that

4284-530: A more moderate path, with nominated representatives to work with the government. He summarised the views of Matinga's party as: "In other words they wanted a lot of friendly Africans and Europeans to collaborate with friendly officials. But, of course, politics cannot be this easily organized". Several of the younger members of the Nyasaland African Congress had little faith in the ability of T D T Banda, who they also accused of dishonesty, and wished to replace him with Dr Hastings Banda (no relation), then living in

SECTION 20

#1732790230587

4488-758: A nation in the Western Hemisphere became vulnerable to European control. In practice, this meant that the United States was led to act as a collections agent for European creditors by administering customs duties in the Dominican Republic (1905–1941), Haiti (1915–1934), and elsewhere. The intrusiveness and bad relations this engendered were somewhat checked by the Clark Memorandum and renounced by President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's " Good Neighbor Policy ". The Fourteen Points were preconditions addressed by President Woodrow Wilson to

4692-447: A new army, under general Douglas MacArthur , who took leave from his U.S. Army position to take command of the new army reporting to Quezon. The Japanese occupation 1942 to 1945 disrupted but did not delay the transition. It took place on schedule in 1946 as Manuel Roxas took office as president. As a result of its pioneering discoveries , Portugal had a large and particularly long-lasting colonial empire which had begun in 1415 with

4896-494: A parliamentary enquiry that would have had to include opposition parliamentarians. The last of these could possibly have rejected calls for a Commission of Inquiry, but hoped that one led by four members of the British Establishment would exonerate all three governments. The Colonial Office was largely successful in concealing from the Commission evidence that it, Armitage and Welensky wished to eliminate Banda and

5100-615: A political crisis in Cyprus, so was determined not to fail again in Nyasaland, and that, by October 1959, the contempt he expressed for African political aspirations, even in official correspondence, amounted to racial paranoia. McCracken also suggests that Baker's underlying aim was to "set the record straight" by restoring the reputation of Nyasaland's colonial officials of the 1950s and 1960s, while attacking African nationalists and their sympathisers. Like Macmillan, he notes Baker's reliance on official sources, including Special Branch reports, and

5304-583: A possible mutiny. In deciding to make widespread arrests, covering most of the Congress organisation, Armitage said he was influenced by reports of a secret meeting of Congress leaders, held in Banda's absence near Limbe on 25 January 1959. It is not disputed that the meeting approved a policy of strikes, retaliation against police violence, sabotage and defiance of the government. However, one agent code-named Baker, who claimed to have been present, confirmed that

5508-518: A powerful personality, it is clear that Devlin's colleagues were a formidable team. Williams, then an academic historian, had been a brigadier and Montgomery's wartime chief intelligence officer, Wyn-Harris had much African experience in Kenya and as Governor of the Gambia, although Primrose, a Scottish Lord Provost , was less significant figure. Despite Devlin being vouched for by a Minister, Lord Perth, he

5712-476: A relatively small targeted group and one to initiate an indiscriminate massacre as both were murder. However Amery himself and Lennox-Boyd had both used the word "massacre" in the Commons debate of 3 March 1959. Manningham-Buller used Amery's equation of any plan, however ill-defined or poorly thought-out, with those specific allegations made by the Commissioner of Police, and those put to the Commission, to reject

5916-587: A result, the UN General Assembly removed Puerto Rico from the U.N. list of non-self-governing territories . Four referendums showed little support for independence, but much interest in statehood such as Hawaii and Alaska received in 1959. The Monroe Doctrine was expanded by the Roosevelt Corollary in 1904, providing that the United States had a right and obligation to intervene "in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence" that

6120-505: A rival authority. Baker, who served for eight years in the colonial civil service in Nyasaland, made four main criticisms of the Devlin Commission and Report. The most cogent, that Devlin was excessively legalistic in his outlook and disregarded administrative necessity, is considered in detail below. The other three issues were, firstly, that the Commission concentrated on what happened immediately before, during, and soon after,

6324-706: A serious concern for the indigenous population. He also resisted moves to make the Federation independent. He said that moving too quickly towards the status of a Dominion could "stimulate early and violent African opposition, which would at best discredit Federation and at the worst break it". In September 1957 he met a delegation from the Nyasaland African Congress headed by its president TDT Banda , who asked for legislative reforms including an elected legislative assembly with most members elected by Africans. He also met representatives of Charles Matinga 's Progressive Party, who were seeking to follow

Devlin Commission - Misplaced Pages Continue

6528-542: A significant voice and increasing membership to over 13,000 in 1957. However, several younger Congress members had little faith in the leader elected in January 1957, T D T Banda , because of his weak performance when discussing constitutional changes with the Nyasaland government, and wished to replace him with Dr Hastings Banda, then living in the Gold Coast , later Ghana . Dr Banda agreed to return after being promised

6732-442: A violation of human rights. In states that have won independence, Indigenous people living under settler colonialism continue to make demands for decolonization and self-determination. Although discussions of hegemony and power, central to the concept of decolonization, can be found as early as the writings of Thucydides , there have been several particularly active periods of decolonization in modern times. These include

6936-609: A violent campaign for self-determination. Armitage asked for permission to declare a state of emergency in July 1955, in response to the EOKA insurrection, but this was not granted. He was nervous of loss of control, wanted to "nip trouble in the bud" by detaining leading members of EOKA and he was allowed to try to detain its more militant members under the Detention of Persons Law of 15 July 1955. For several months Armitage tried to find

7140-708: A way to deport Archbishop Makarios and the Bishop of Kyrenia, both of whom publicly supported union with Greece. Existing laws did not cover the situation of the Archbishop, who advocated a peaceful approach. A state of emergency was eventually declared, which allowed for deportation without cause. By then, Armitage had been replaced as governor by Field Marshal Lord Harding of Petherton , leaving office in September 1955. Armitage arrived in Nyasaland on 9 April 1956 to take over from Geoffrey Colby as Governor . One of

7344-582: Is now clear that Whitehead had been planning to suppress the Southern Rhodesia African National Congress (SRANC) since December 1958, despite little or no evidence that it was acting unlawfully, and that he had Welensky's approval to do so. Armitage was only made aware of this plan at a meeting of Prime Ministers and governors in Salisbury on 20 February, at which the governor of Northern Rhodesia, Sir Arthur Benson

7548-577: The 1959 general election in the United Kingdom , although the Conservatives retained power. Under pressure from the press, the government decided to release Banda in March 1960. Before Band's release, Armitage was involved in a further controversy. During the visit of Harold Macmillan to Blantyre in January 1960 as part of his African tour, a demonstration led by Malawi Congress Party activists against continued emergency restrictions and

7752-858: The 1965 occupation of the Dominican Republic ), Africa, and the Middle East to oppose Communist movements and insurgencies. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the United States has been far less active in the Americas, but invaded Afghanistan and Iraq following the September 11 attacks in 2001, establishing army and air bases in Central Asia . Before World War I, Japan had gained several substantial colonial possessions in East Asia such as Taiwan (1895) and Korea (1910). Japan joined

7956-575: The American Revolutionary War in 1783, 165 colonies have gained independence from Western imperial powers. Several analyses point to different reasons for the spread of anti-colonial political movements. Institutional arguments suggest that increasing levels of education in the colonies led to calls for popular sovereignty; Marxist analyses view decolonization as a result of economic shifts toward wage labor and an enlarged bourgeois class ; yet another argument sees decolonization as

8160-854: The Bandung Conference along with Sukarno , the leader of Indonesia, and Zhou Enlai , Premier of the People's Republic of China. In 1960, the UN General Assembly voted on the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples . The next year, the first Non-Aligned Movement conference was held in Belgrade (1961), and was followed in 1964 by the creation of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) which tried to promote

8364-519: The British Raj , culminating in the Government of India Act 1935 . These reforms included creating elected legislative councils in some of the provinces of British India . Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , India's independence movement leader, led a peaceful resistance to British rule. By becoming a symbol of both peace and opposition to British imperialism, many Indians began to view the British as

Devlin Commission - Misplaced Pages Continue

8568-636: The Dutch East Indies , corresponding to what is now Indonesia. Its massive oil reserves provided about 14 percent of the Dutch national product and supported a large population of ethnic Dutch government officials and businessmen in Batavia (now Jakarta) and other major cities. The Netherlands was overrun and almost starved to death by the Nazis during the war, and Japan sank the Dutch fleet in seizing

8772-490: The Gold Coast . Dr Banda announced he would only return if given the presidency of Congress: after this was agreed he returned to Nyasaland in July 1958 and T D T Banda was ousted. Banda and Congress Party leaders started a campaign of direct action against federation, for immediate constitutional change and eventual independence. As this included resistance to Federal directives on farming practices; protests were widespread and sometimes violent. In January 1959, Banda presented

8976-750: The Great Mosque of Paris was constructed as recognition of these efforts, the French state had no intention to allow self-rule , let alone grant independence to the colonized people. Thus, nationalism in the colonies became stronger in between the two wars, leading to Abd el-Krim 's Rif War (1921–1925) in Morocco and to the creation of Messali Hadj 's Star of North Africa in Algeria in 1925. However, these movements would gain full potential only after World War II. After World War I, France administered

9180-724: The Irish Free State , New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa; Ireland had been brought into a union with Great Britain in 1801 creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until the formation of the Irish Free State in 1922. However, some of the Dominions were already independent de facto, and even de jure and recognized as such by the international community. Thus, Canada was a founding member of

9384-688: The Kingdom of Sikkim merged with India by popular vote in 1975. Significant violence was involved in several prominent cases of decolonization of the British Empire; partition was a frequent solution. In 1783, the North American colonies were divided between the independent United States, and British North America , which later became Canada. The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India against British East India Company . It

9588-701: The Northern Mariana Islands elected to become a commonwealth of the United States. Newly independent states organised themselves in order to oppose continued economic colonialism by former imperial powers. The Non-Aligned Movement constituted itself around the main figures of Jawaharlal Nehru , the first Prime Minister of India, Sukarno , the Indonesian president, Josip Broz Tito the Communist leader of Yugoslavia , and Gamal Abdel Nasser , head of Egypt. In 1955 these leaders gathered at

9792-683: The Spanish Empire and Mexico. The Native Americans were sent to reservations , often unwillingly. With support from Britain, its Monroe Doctrine reserved the Americas as its sphere of interest, prohibiting other states (particularly Spain) from recolonizing the newly independent polities of Latin America . However, France, taking advantage of the American government's distraction during the Civil War, intervened militarily in Mexico and set up

9996-779: The Territory of the Philippine Islands was eventually granted independence. In 1917, the U.S. purchased the Danish West Indies (later renamed the US Virgin Islands ) from Denmark and Puerto Ricans became full U.S. citizens that same year. The US government declared Puerto Rico the territory was no longer a colony and stopped transmitting information about it to the United Nations Decolonization Committee. As

10200-400: The UN Partition Plan and the ensuing war . The British eventually pulled out, and the former Mandate territory was divided between Israel , Jordan and Egypt . After World War I, the colonized people were frustrated at France's failure to recognize the effort provided by the French colonies (resources, but more importantly colonial troops – the famous tirailleurs ). Although in Paris

10404-476: The Union of South Africa , and Western Samoa by New Zealand . Egypt became independent in 1922, although the UK retained security prerogatives, control of the Suez Canal , and effective control of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan . The Balfour Declaration of 1926 declared the British Empire dominions as equals, and the 1931 Statute of Westminster established full legislative independence for them. The equal dominions were six– Canada , Newfoundland , Australia,

SECTION 50

#1732790230587

10608-435: The Volta River was starting to seem feasible, and funds would be needed for that purpose. The Gold Coast gained independence in 1957 as Ghana . Armitage was Governor of Cyprus from February 1954 until 25 September 1955. At the time of his appointment there was growing agitation by the Greek Cypriots for enosis , or union with Greece, although this was opposed by the Turkish Cypriots . The Greek government supported

10812-509: The colonies and the collapse of global colonial empires . As a movement to establish independence for colonized territories from their respective metropoles , decolonization began in 1775 in North America . Major waves of decolonization occurred in the aftermath of the First World War and most prominently after the Second World War. Critical scholars extend the meaning beyond independence or equal rights for colonized peoples to include broader economic, cultural and psychological aspects of

11016-439: The conquest of Ceuta and ended only in 1999 with the handover of Portuguese Macau to China. In 1822, Portugal lost control of Brazil , its largest colony. From 1933 to 1974, Portugal was an authoritarian state (ruled by António de Oliveira Salazar ). The regime was fiercely determined to maintain the country's colonial possessions at all costs and to aggressively suppress any insurgencies. In 1961, India annexed Goa and by

11220-408: The decolonization of Africa , the breakup of the Spanish Empire in the 19th century; of the German , Austro-Hungarian , Ottoman , and Russian Empires following World War I ; of the British , French , Dutch , Portuguese , Belgian , Italian , and Japanese Empires following World War II ; and of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War . Early studies of decolonisation appeared in

11424-418: The terrible atrocities that had taken place under King Leopold 's privately run Congo Free State . It added Rwanda and Burundi as League of Nations mandates from the former German Empire in 1919. The colonies remained independent during the war, while Belgium was occupied by the Germans. There was no serious planning for independence, and exceedingly little training or education provided. The Belgian Congo

11628-421: The 1930s and 1940s, despite almost unanimous African opposition. This made demands for African political rights more urgent, and in 1944 James Frederick Sangala promoted the formation of Nyasaland African Congress , which had around 5,000 members in 1953 Post-war British governments of both parties agreed to a federal solution for Central Africa, not full amalgamation, and the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland

11832-407: The 1954 Geneva Accords ended France's occupation of Indochina, leaving South Vietnam independent and North Vietnam independence recognized. In 1956, Morocco and Tunisia gained their independence from France. In 1960, eight independent countries emerged from French West Africa , and five from French Equatorial Africa . The Algerian War of Independence raged from 1954 to 1962. To this day,

12036-453: The 1960s and 1970s. An important book from this period was The Wretched of the Earth (1961) by Martiniquan author Frantz Fanon , which established many aspects of decolonisation that would be considered in later works. Subsequent studies of decolonisation addressed economic disparities as a legacy of colonialism as well as the annihilation of people's cultures. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o explored the cultural and linguistic legacies of colonialism in

12240-462: The 1960s, due to economic needs for post-war reconstruction and rapid economic growth, French employers actively sought to recruit manpower from the colonies, explaining today's multiethnic population . A union of former colonies itself, the United States approached imperialism differently from the other Powers. Much of its energy and rapidly expanding population was directed westward across the North American continent against English and French claims,

12444-480: The 19th century than they did in the 20th century, where holding on to such colonies was often understood to be a burden. A great deal of scholarship attributes the ideological origins of national independence movements to the Age of Enlightenment . Enlightenment social and political theories such as individualism and liberalism were central to the debates about national constitutions for newly independent countries. Contemporary decolonial scholarship has critiqued

SECTION 60

#1732790230587

12648-453: The Algerian war – officially called a "public order operation" until the 1990s – remains a trauma for both France and Algeria. Philosopher Paul Ricœur has spoken of the necessity of a "decolonisation of memory", starting with the recognition of the 1961 Paris massacre during the Algerian war, and the decisive role of African and especially North African immigrant manpower in the Trente Glorieuses post–World War II economic growth period. In

12852-412: The Armitage Report seized on. He also refers to the unresolved differences between Devlin and Wyn-Harris on the final paragraphs of the draft report, which led to this section being omitted from the final version. In his view, these matters increased the risk that the government would reject the report However, although some minor changes were made to the report at the suggestion of Lord Perth, one softening

13056-421: The Attorney-General's claim that the government did not have to accept the conclusions of this Commission, on the basis that it had been tasked with, and aimed at, setting out the relevant facts objectively and that it made no recommendations. Lennox-Boyd, the Secretary of State for the Colonies closed the debate, claiming the government had the right and a duty to accept what little in the Commission's report that

13260-405: The Banda's imprisonment was witnessed by British and other journalists, some of whom reported that the police provoked a riot, which they suppressed with excessive and indiscriminate violence against demonstrators and spectators in which European officers were directly involved. Several British newspapers called for an impartial inquiry into the so-called "Blantyre riot", which Armitage resisted that

13464-408: The British made deals with the local politicians. Across the empire, the general protocol was to convene a constitutional conference in London to discuss the transition to greater self-government and then independence, submit a report of the constitutional conference to parliament, if approved submit a bill to Parliament at Westminster to terminate the responsibility of the United Kingdom (with a copy of

13668-423: The Chinese province of Rehe , and incorporated it into its Manchurian possessions. The Second Sino-Japanese War started in 1937, and Japan occupied much of eastern China, including the Republic's capital at Nanjing . An estimated 20 million Chinese died during the 1931–1945 war with Japan. In December 1941, the empire of Japan joined World War II by invading the European and U.S. colonies in Southeast Asia and

13872-403: The Colonial Office on the action to be followed when a governor dissented from the findings of a Commission of Inquiry, and was told that he could dissent if he felt it was justified. At the end of May, Armitage thought the Commission were satisfied that the State of Emergency was necessary, but did not accept that there was a massacre plan. The Commissioners had also, he considered, concentrated on

14076-564: The Colonial Office should cancel the proposed ministerial visit because of the increasing violence of Congress supporters and its leading activists' inflammatory statements made his declaration of a State of Emergency inevitable He asked for police reinforcements from Northern Rhodesia and Tanganyika , then troops from Northern and Southern Rhodesia, who arrived by 28 February Many of the white Southern Rhodesian troops were barely trained conscripts, but Armitage considered them more reliable than experienced African soldiers already in Nyasaland, fearing

14280-483: The Colonial Office suggested that Banda and Congress would have to be "neutralised" to maintain the Federation, although what "neutralised" meant was not specified in the document. In the first days of January 1959, Congress proposed substantial African representation on Nyasaland's governing bodies to Armitage: as this would lead to a demand to leave the Federation, it was rejected by the Governor. This apparent stalemate led Henry Chipembere and Kanyama Chiume to demand

14484-418: The Colonial Secretary, stated that it was clear from information received that Congress had planned the widespread murder of Europeans, Asians and moderate Africans, “…in fact, a massacre was being planned" and, later in the same debate, the Minister of State at the Colonial Office, Julian Amery , reinforced what Lennox-Boyd had said with talk of a “…conspiracy of murder" and "a massacre… on a Kenyan scale". It

14688-457: The Commission and its membership, caused by disputes within the government and in parliament. The Secretary of State for the Colonies expressed doubts about an inquiry related to Nyasaland alone, and governor Armitage was opposed to any form of Commission, particularly one containing any member of parliament. Strong parliamentary pressure for its members' involvement arose because the government

14892-413: The Commission forced the Commissioners to rely on questioning Congress members and the informants to the murder plot, who could not say how their often second-hand records of supposed conversations had been transformed into a detailed plot. Baker has suggested that, as Chipembere later admitted he had misled the Commission on the question of the level of violence intended, it was possible that he, Chisiza and

15096-439: The Commission left Nyasaland, Armitage and his senior officials met the Commissioners to discuss its draft findings and give their views on those findings. Following this meeting, the Colonial Office and Armitage became anxious to obtain a draft of the Commission's report as soon as possible. The Commission's Report was largely drafted by Devlin but incorporated some material by Williams on the policing and military arrangements and

15300-579: The Commission was not a judicial inquiry under the Tribunal of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921 which could make recommendations. However, Lennox-Boyd, the Colonial Secretary, said it should be semi-judicial in character, but that it should not make any recommendations, and its members included a judge as chairman and two others with judicial experience, one as a governor, the other as a magistrate. Macmillan did not choose its chairman, Devlin, as he

15504-435: The Commission, as the Nyasaland government legal officers were concerned they might incriminate themselves, and argued that any officer summoned to appear should be accompanied by their superior. The Special Branch informants that gave information about the claimed murder plot were questioned by the Commission, reportedly in a hostile manner. The British and Nyasaland governments were also concerned that Devlin in would question

15708-442: The Commissioners realised that this phrase was offensive to the Nyasaland government and, by extension, to the British one, they were determined to include it. In part, this was because the Nyasaland police had taken the names of witnesses giving evidence to the Commission, which was supposed to be in private and confidential. Both Devlin and Williams later regretted that they had not explained what they had meant more fully. Devlin said

15912-547: The Congress proposals for constitutional reform to Armitage. These were for an African majority in the Legislative Council and at least parity with non-Africans in the Executive Council. Armitage rejected these proposals, and this led to demands within Congress for an escalation of anti-government protests and more violent action. On 18 February 1959 there was an attack on the airstrip at Fort Hill by

16116-525: The Devlin Commission's report and passed a copy to Armitage, which he used to prepare a document attacking its findings. Armitage then joined a high level working party in London which drafted a despatch to counter the Devlin Report. The Nyasaland African Congress, which had been banned in 1958, was re-formed as the Malawi Congress Party in 1959. Banda's detention became a political issue in

16320-486: The Devlin Report was initially discredited, in the longer term it helped to convince the British Government that the Federation was not acceptable to its African majority. Dr Banda was released from detention 1960 and the Federation was dissolved in 1963. The twin themes of John Chilembwe 's uprising in 1915, that educated Africans were denied an effective political voice and ordinary Africans did not share in

16524-884: The Devlin Report, once Iain Macleod replaced him at the Colonial Office late in 1959, Devlin was approached for advice. Armitage, on the other hand, was discredited and he was seen by Macleod as an obstacle to progress. Although Macleod gave Armitage instructions to arrange for rapid constitutional advancement in May 1960, which set the country on the road to one-party rule., he advised Armitage to go on leave pending retirement in August 1960. Glyn Smallwood Jones became acting Governor until Armitage retired in April 1961. Armitage retired without returning to Nyasaland in April 1961. Armitage died in Amesbury , Wiltshire , England, on 7 June 1990 at

16728-409: The Devlin Report, once Iain Macleod had replaced him at the Colonial Office, Devlin was approached by Macleod for advice. Macleod's subsequent minute to Macmillan decried the slow pace of the release of detainees, whose number was still increasing through new detentions, and he saw no reason to prolong the State of Emergency. Armitage had no plans to resolve the political crisis in Nyasaland, other than

16932-462: The Devlin Report, which had taken several months to prepare, but engineered the production of the rival Armitage Report , which was prepared very quickly so it could be released on the same day as the Devlin Report. The chairman of the Commission of Inquiry was Patrick Devlin, born in 1905 and made a High Court judge at an early age in 1948. He was promoted to the Court of Appeal in 1960, and in 1961

17136-550: The Dutch cause. In the aftermath, the Netherlands prospered greatly in the 1950s and 1960s but nevertheless public opinion was bitterly hostile to the United States for betrayal. The Dutch government eventually gave up on claims to Indonesian sovereignty in 1949, after American pressure. The Netherlands also had one other major colony, Dutch Guiana in South America , which became independent as Suriname in 1975. When

17340-522: The East Indies. In 1945 the Netherlands could not regain these islands on its own; it did so by depending on British military help and American financial grants . By the time Dutch soldiers returned, an independent government under Sukarno was in power, originally set up by the Empire of Japan . The Dutch both abroad and at home generally agreed that Dutch power depended on an expensive war to regain

17544-563: The Emergency Regulations, including rioting and criminal damage. The stated aim of these measures was to allow the Nyasaland government to restore law and order after the increasing lawlessness following Dr Banda's return. Rather than calming the situation immediately, in the emergency that followed fifty-one Africans were killed and many more were wounded. In the debate in the House of Commons on 3 March 1959, Alan Lennox-Boyd ,

17748-457: The Emergency was declared and why it was declared, rather than its longer-term causes. This was a consequence of the Commission's terms of reference which required it to enquire into the recent disturbances in Nyasaland and events leading up to it. However, as Lennox-Boyd's explained to the Commissioners, those terms purposely avoided an enquiry into the underlying causes of the Emergency. Second

17952-406: The Emergency, including rioting and criminal damage. The stated aim of these measures was to allow the Nyasaland government to restore law and order after the increasing lawlessness following Dr Banda's return. Rather than calming the situation immediately, 51 Africans were recorded as being killed between 20 February 1959 and 19 March 1959, and 79 people were known to have been wounded by bullets, but

18156-738: The European powers at the Paris Peace Conference following World War I . In allowing allies France and Britain the former colonial possessions of the German and Ottoman Empires, the US demanded of them submission to the League of Nations mandate , in calling for V. A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty

18360-444: The Federation in the two northern territories. It considered that the Federation could not survive without at least a major devolution of powers to Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia, giving more voting rights to Africans and lessening racial discrimination. Most importantly, it also recommended that Britain should retain the right to allow the secession of either northern territory, recognising that African nationalists would not accept even

18564-404: The Federation, and served to discredited Armitage. Armitage had imprisoned Banda, not realising that he was the only African politician who could negotiate a credible constitution for the protectorate. Devlin's conclusion that there was no murder plot and that Banda was not involved in promoting violence opened the way for the British government to deal with him. Despite Lennox-Boyd's rejection of

18768-426: The Governor since April 1956, favoured limited and slow constitutional development. His constitutional proposals of October 1958 ignored Banda's demands for an adequate electoral franchise for Nyasaland's Africans and proposed one that massively over-represented a tiny minority of Europeans and Asians. However, Alan Lennox-Boyd , the Colonial Secretary rejected even these limited proposals for reform making it clear that

18972-519: The League of Nations in 1919 and served on the council from 1927 to 1930. That country also negotiated on its own and signed bilateral and multilateral treaties and conventions from the early 1900s onward. Newfoundland ceded self-rule back to London in 1934. Iraq , a League of Nations mandate, became independent in 1932. In response to a growing Indian independence movement , the UK made successive reforms to

19176-693: The NAC to preserve the Federation. Later research has established the degree of interference by the Federal and Southern Rhodesian governments in the declaration of the Nyasaland Emergency. Although it was claimed at the time that the Southern Rhodesian Premier, Whitehead, had proclaimed a State of Emergency there to free up troops to send to Nyasaland, ostensibly in response to the concerns Armitage had expressed in mid-February, it

19380-567: The Nyasaland and British governments in trying to justify the Emergency, and declared that Banda had no knowledge of the inflammatory talk of some Congress activists about attacking Europeans. Finally, it noted the almost universal rejection of Federation by Nyasaland's African people and suggested the British government should negotiate with African leaders on the country's constitutional future. The Commission regarded Thomas Karua as an unreliable witness when it examined him in Nyasaland, and his testimony reflected badly on Special Branch methods. Karua

19584-441: The Nyasaland government agreed to purchase unused or under-used land, which was then allocated to African smallholders. By 1957, the government had purchased around 40% of the land formerly on private estates. At independence in 1964, private estate land had been reduced to less than 2% per cent of total land. The government of Southern Rhodesia had proposed the amalgamation of Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland in

19788-401: The Nyasaland government with violence, claiming Banda was involved in making this plan. To forestall opposition members' involvement in a parliamentary enquiry, the cabinet decided on 17 March 1959 that the investigation would be carried out by a Commission of Inquiry composed of a presiding judge and three other members, and on 19 March, the cabinet decided on a "limited factual enquiry", which

19992-634: The Ottoman Empire, was culturally divided between the majority Greek element (which demanded " enosis " or union with Greece) and the minority Turks. London for decades assumed it needed the island to defend the Suez Canal; but after the Suez crisis of 1956, that became a minor factor, and Greek violence became a more serious issue. Cyprus became an independent country in 1960, but ethnic violence escalated until 1974 when Turkey invaded and partitioned

20196-507: The Pacific, including French Indochina , Hong Kong , the Philippines, Burma, Malaya , Indonesia , Portuguese Timor , and others. Following its surrender to the Allies in 1945, Japan was deprived of all its colonies with a number of them being returned to the original colonizing Western powers. The Soviet Union declared war on Japan in August 1945 , and shortly after occupied and annexed

20400-471: The Philippines transitioned out of territorial status, controlled by an appointed governor, to the semi-independent status of the Commonwealth of the Philippines . Its constitutional convention wrote a new constitution, which was approved by Washington and went into effect, with an elected governor Manuel L. Quezon and legislature. Foreign Affairs remained under American control. The Philippines built up

20604-555: The State of Emergency and the murder plot in detail rather than accept the Nyasaland government's statements unchallenged, and the Colonial Office prepared for a critical report, which the government might reject, wholly or in part. The Commission took evidence from 455 individual witnesses and 1,300 witnesses in groups: the Nyasaland government also presented many documents to the Commission and its members later gave it oral evidence, but there were some problems with their cooperation. Very few Nyasaland Special Branch officers appeared before

20808-430: The State of Emergency, the murder plot and African opposition to Federation. It found that the declaration of a State of Emergency was necessary to restore order and prevent a descent into anarchy. However, it criticised instances of the illegal use of force by the police and troops, including hut burning houses, destroying property, beatings and the degrading treatment of detainees, but rejected claims of rape and torture by

21012-717: The Third World grew throughout the 1960s until the 21st century. The 1973 oil crisis which followed the Yom Kippur War (October 1973) was triggered by the OPEC which decided an embargo against the US and Western countries, causing a fourfold increase in the price of oil, which lasted five months, starting on 17 October 1973, and ending on 18 March 1974. OPEC nations then agreed, on 7 January 1975, to raise crude oil prices by 10%. At that time, OPEC nations – including many who had recently nationalized their oil industries – joined

21216-466: The UK. In 1947, British India was partitioned into the independent dominions of India and Pakistan . Hundreds of princely states , states ruled by monarchs in a treaty of subsidiary alliance with Britain, were integrated into India and Pakistan. India and Pakistan fought several wars over the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir . French India was integrated into India between 1950 and 1954, and India annexed Portuguese India in 1961, and

21420-604: The United Nations was formed in 1945, it established trust territories. These territories included the League of Nations mandate territories which had not achieved independence by 1945, along with the former Italian Somaliland . The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was transferred from Japanese to US administration. By 1990 all but one of the trust territories had achieved independence, either as independent states or by merger with another independent state;

21624-736: The allies in World War I, and after the war acquired the South Seas Mandate , the former German colony in Micronesia, as a League of Nations Mandate . Pursuing a colonial policy comparable to those of European powers, Japan settled significant populations of ethnic Japanese in its colonies while simultaneously suppressing Indigenous ethnic populations by enforcing the learning and use of the Japanese language in schools. Other methods such as public interaction, and attempts to eradicate

21828-421: The argument that there was nothing in the murder plot, another removing a sentence critical of police indifference to the rule of law, and one removing statements that there was no official expression of regret about burning huts, the British government preferred to attack the Commission's Report rather than amend it. On Devlin's legalistic approach, Armitage's principal defence for declaring the State of Emergency

22032-474: The assertion in its Report that there was no "murder plot". Additionally, Manningham-Buller doubted the Commission's contention that unnecessary and illegal force, such as handcuffing and gagging prisoners, burning houses and other violent acts was used in arresting detainees in Operation Sunrise or after (while saying if this had been the case, it was a regrettable operational necessity), and rejected

22236-449: The benefits of the colonial economy still applied in 1959. In the 1940s and early 1950s, the most pressing problem was African access to land, much of which had been converted into European owned estates on which African residents were required to undertake agricultural work for the owner under the system of thangata or engage in a form of sharecropping . Neither the Nyasaland nor British governments had dealt with land grievances, including

22440-486: The bodies reviewing Nyasaland's membership. In the nine months before the declaration of an Emergency, Banda combined opposition to Federation with more popular issues to mobilise Congress supporters into strikes and largely non-violent protests that would disrupt the everyday operation of the colonial government. Until October 1958, Congress leaders were in constitutional discussions with the Governor and did not endorse violent action by its own members. Sir Robert Armitage ,

22644-543: The call for a New International Economic Order to be initiated by coalitions of primary producers. Concluding the First OPEC Summit in Algiers they called for stable and just commodity prices, an international food and agriculture program, technology transfer from North to South, and the democratization of the economic system. But industrialized countries quickly began to look for substitutes to OPEC petroleum, with

22848-494: The cause of India's problems leading to a newfound sense of nationalism among its population. With this new wave of Indian nationalism, Gandhi was eventually able to garner the support needed to push back the British and create an independent India in 1947. Africa was only fully drawn into the colonial system at the end of the 19th century. In the north-east the continued independence of the Ethiopian Empire remained

23052-435: The colonial experience. Extending the meaning of decolonization beyond political independence has been disputed and received criticism. The United Nations (UN) states that the fundamental right to self-determination is the core requirement for decolonization, and that this right can be exercised with or without political independence. A UN General Assembly Resolution in 1960 characterised colonial foreign rule as

23256-417: The conclusion that Banda was ignorant of the secret meeting of 25 January 1959, claiming that Banda was party to the planned violence. He did not mention Welensky, but James Callaghan , for the opposition noted that the Report showed that Welensky had intervened to advise Armitage to declare a State of Emergency, and that the later had made no mention of the murder plot until 7 March. Callahan also that rejected

23460-414: The continuation of the Emergency, and a number of British journalists present made allegations of police brutality against what they described as a boisterous but largely peaceful demonstrators. Several British newspapers called for an impartial inquiry into the police handling of the demonstration, which Armitage opposed. However, Macleod bowed to press and parliamentary pressure and, on 2 February, agreed to

23664-413: The creation of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland led to a rapid increase in the police numbers from 860 to 1,100 in 1953, including a Police Mobile Force of armed riot squads. By 1959, Nyasaland had over 2,000 police. It was not the size or expansion of the police force which made Devlin claim that Nyasaland was a police state. He used the expression because in Nyasaland under the State of Emergency it

23868-473: The declaration of a State of Emergency and whether there was a murder plot. Devlin acted like a trial judge directing a jury, emphasising that the conclusions to be drawn were for Lennox-Boyd to decide, but in summarising the facts, he added the inferences to be made from them and questions to be considered, which directed the Secretary of State towards a conclusion. The Commission concentrated on three areas:

24072-619: The direct division of China. After 1898 direct intervention expanded in Latin America. The United States purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire in 1867 and annexed Hawaii in 1898. Following the Spanish–American War in 1898, the US added most of Spain's remaining colonies: Puerto Rico , Philippines , and Guam . Deciding not to annex Cuba outright, the U.S. established it as a client state with obligations including

24276-514: The draft to prepare the hostile Armitage Report, although Wyn-Harris, more used to Colonial Office ways, was less surprised by this action than Devlin was. In opening the Commons debate on the report on 28 July 1959 for the government, the Attorney-General Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller noted that the Commission had found the declaration of a State of Emergency justified, but he attacked its use of

24480-575: The elimination of Banda and Congress and, from March 1959 he repeatedly sought Colonial Office approval either to ban Banda from returning to Nyasaland after his detention or to extend his detention (in Rhodesia or Nyasaland) indefinitely, and he was also unwilling to release most of the detainees. The Malawi Congress Party was formed as the successor to the banned Nyasaland African Congress by Orton Chirwa after his release from detention in August 1959 as interim President, although he acknowledged Banda as

24684-555: The emancipatory potential of Enlightenment thought, highlighting its erasure of Indigenous epistemologies and failure to provide subaltern and Indigenous people with liberty, equality, and dignity. Great Britain's Thirteen North American colonies were the first to declare independence , forming the United States of America in 1776, and defeating Britain in the Revolutionary War . The Haitian Revolution

24888-403: The ending of the State of Emergency on 16 June 1960, Armitage, who did not trust Banda, was seen by Macleod as discredited and as an obstacle to constitutional progress. In August 1960, Macleod advised Armitage to go on leave pending his retirement, and he retired in April 1961 without returning to Nyasaland. The work of the Devlin Commission and its Report have both been re-examined in detail, in

25092-535: The existence of the international economic system. Robert Perceval Armitage Sir Robert Perceval Armitage KCMG (21 December 1906 – 7 June 1990) was a British colonial administrator who held senior positions in Kenya and the Gold Coast , and was Governor of Cyprus and then of Nyasaland during the period of decolonisation . Armitage was born on 21 December 1906 in Nungambakkam , Madras ,

25296-478: The expression "police state" and its rejection of talk about killings and beatings of Europeans as no more than rhetoric. Manningham-Buller also claimed that the government did not have to accept all or any the conclusions or recommendations of any Commission that it had set up. A section of the Armitage Report drafted by Amery accused the Commission of making a false distinction between a plan to assassinate

25500-910: The first child of Frank and Muriel Armitage. His father was commissioner of police in Madras city . At the age of ten he was sent to Highfield School at Liphook , Hampshire , where he was captain of the cricket team in his final year. From 1920 to 1925 he attended Winchester College . He became a district and secretariat officer in Kenya. Armitage married Gwladys Lyona Meyler (b. 2 May 1906, Natal ) on 18 February 1930 in Highlands Cathedral, Nairobi , Kenya . Their children were Robert Jeremy, born on 16 June 1932 in Poole , Dorset , England and Richard Hugh Lyon, born on 30 May 1937 in Canford Cliffs , Dorset , England. In July 1948, Armitage

25704-472: The former Ottoman territories of Syria and Lebanon , and the former German colonies of Togoland and Cameroon , as League of Nations mandates. Lebanon declared its independence in 1943, and Syria in 1945. In some instances, decolonization efforts ran counter to other concerns, such as the rapid increase of antisemitism in Algeria in the course of the nation's resistance to French rule. Although France

25908-674: The future of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (the Monckton Commission ) toured the Federation in February 1960. It had been given limited terms of reference and was boycotted by the opposition Labour Party and the African nationalists in Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia. As the Commission's composition seemed weighted towards a continuation of the Federation, its report disappointed the British government. The Monckton Commission reported widespread and sincere opposition to

26112-488: The government archives and on the papers of, and interviews with, former British and colonial officials, such that it amounts to a partisan defence Sir Robert Armitage and his officials. Armitage, in Macmillan's opinion, failed in Cyprus and failed again in Nyasaland through a lack of political judgement, including a failure to understand nationalism in either dependency. McCracken also considers Armitage had failed to control

26316-504: The government to have published reasons for its belief in the murder plot before sanctioning a State of Emergency, as there was disbelief about an alleged plot that was publicly mentioned only after that event. Armitage did not believe there was a coldly calculated plan worked out in detail. He did believe that there might have been some plan for the assassination of him and senior European officials, so that he had to take action to deal with any eventuality that might have been made possible by

26520-467: The government's reaction: Wyn-Harris was less surprised at the government's response, but anticipated that the Report would, in a few years, have its real honesty recognised. In the event, vindication came within a year, after Iain Macleod replaced Lennox-Boyd in October 1959. The Nyasaland government had imprisoned Banda, not realising that he was the only African politician they could negotiate with on

26724-623: The idea of a Reserve Bank, but did not succeed. By 1950, Armitage was Minister of Finance of the Gold Coast. At the end of 1950 the colonial government proposed to increase export duties on cocoa. The world price for the crop was rising, and the government felt that the planters would waste increased profits on luxuries, while the government would use it for development plans. Armitage was prepared to face opposition from cocoa producers, but prayed for five years of rising world prices to solve all economic problems. Armitage recommended appointment of

26928-696: The independence wars of Latin America began with a revolt in La Paz, Bolivia . In 1807 and 1808, the Viceroyalty of the River Plate was invaded by the British. After their 2nd defeat, a Frenchman called Santiague de Liniers was proclaimed a new Viceroy by the local population and later accepted by Spain. In May 1810 in Buenos Aires , a Junta was created, but in Montevideo it was not recognized by

27132-526: The influential book Decolonising the Mind (1986). "Decolonization" has also been used to refer to the intellectual decolonization from the colonizers' ideas that made the colonized feel inferior. Issues of decolonization persist and are raised contemporarily. In the Americas and South Africa , such issues are increasingly discussed under the term decoloniality . In the two hundred years following

27336-610: The interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable government whose title is to be determined. See also point XII. After World War II , the U.S. poured tens of billions of dollars into the Marshall Plan , and other grants and loans to Europe and Asia to rebuild the world economy. At the same time American military bases were established around the world and direct and indirect interventions continued in Korea , Indochina , Latin America ( inter alia ,

27540-638: The invasion of Spain by Napoleon in 1806, the American colonies declared autonomy and loyalty to King Ferdinand VII. The contract was broken and each of the regions of the Spanish Empire had to decide whether to show allegiance to the Junta of Cadiz (the only territory in Spain free from Napoleon) or have a junta (assembly) of its own. The economic monopoly of the metropolis was the main reason why many countries decided to become independent from Spain. In 1809,

27744-471: The island. Each side rewrote its own history, blaming the other. Palestine became a British mandate from the League of Nations after World War I, initially including Transjordan . During that war, the British gained support from Arabs and Jews by making promises to both (see McMahon–Hussein Correspondence and Balfour Declaration ). Decades of ethno—religious violence reached a climax with

27948-694: The islands. Compromises were negotiated, but were trusted by neither side. When the Indonesian Republic successfully suppressed a large-scale communist revolt, the United States realized that it needed the nationalist government as an ally in the Cold War. Dutch possession was an obstacle to American Cold War goals, so Washington forced the Dutch to grant full independence. A few years later, Sukarno nationalized all Dutch East Indies properties and expelled all ethnic Dutch —over 300,000—as well as several hundred thousand ethnic Indonesians who supported

28152-559: The journalists had exaggerated, if not invented, claims of police brutality. However, the Colonial Secretary, Ian Macleod agreed under parliamentary pressure to a judge-led inquiry and instructed Armitage to arrange it. The ensuing Southworth Commission by Justice Frederic Southworth of the Nyasaland High Court was appointed by Armitage to inquire into the disturbances and, in particular into allegations of police brutality, including by two named senior European policeman. It

28356-470: The landowners' ability to legally evict surplus residents periodically. Attempts to enforce large-scale evictions in the Blantyre District in 1943 and 1950 were resisted, and in 1953 in the overcrowded Cholo district, the attempt to evict about 1,250 tenants on its tea estates and increase the rents of the rest led to serious riots and eleven deaths, with seventy-two people injured. As a result,

28560-514: The latter were released. Armitage was informed by Macmillan on 4 January 1960 of the proposal to release Banda in February (which was later deferred to 1 April) in an acrimonious meeting in which he accused Macmillan of being prepared to risk lives in Nyasaland for reasons of political expediency in Britain. This was during Macmillan's visit to Blantyre , part of the Prime Minister's six-nation African tour, during which demonstrations were held against

28764-468: The light of archives now available in Britain and Malawi and interviews or correspondence with individuals involved, by a historian of late-colonial Malawi, Colin Baker, whose work has been reviewed by Hugh Macmillan and John McCracken, and by the legal historian, Brian Simpson. It is clear that neither the Nyasaland nor Federal governments wanted any inquiry at all, and the British government rejected calls for

28968-586: The local government who followed the authority of the Junta of Cadiz. The rivalry between the two cities was the main reason for the distrust between them. During the next 15 years, the Spanish and Royalist on one side, and the rebels on the other fought in South America and Mexico. Numerous countries declared their independence. In 1824, the Spanish forces were defeated in the Battle of Ayacucho . The mainland

29172-487: The main issues he had to face was the unpopularity of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland , which had come into being in 1953. He resisted proposals to "federalize" administration of European farming by the creation of a Federal ministry, while leaving African agriculture a responsibility of each of the three territories. He considered that this would result in the diversion of resources away from African agriculture,

29376-410: The methods used in crowd dispersal. Wyn-Harris also produced some drafts on Federation and African opposition to it. The Commissioners met in London to consider and finalise the report, which was completed on 16 July 1959. Lennox-Boyd had explained to the Commissioners that the terms of reference purposely avoided enquiring into the underlying causes of the emergency, but did not rule out it enquiring into

29580-583: The more remote areas, particularly in the Northern Province, the destruction of bridges and government buildings and rural resistance continued for several months organised by Flax Katoba Musopole . This continued resistance was countered by what the governor described as a campaign of harassment by troops and police, and allegations of brutality made against them were later considered by the Devlin Commission. It rejected some claims, including those of rape and torture made against Federation troops during

29784-501: The movement, but the British did not want to give up an important base in the eastern Mediterranean . Few of the Greek Cypriots were willing to compromise. In September 1954, Armitage said that the self-styled moderates had "no organisation, no party, no funds, no agents and they will win nothing". An attempt was made on Armitage's life on 1 April 1955. Bombs exploded all over the island on that day as EOKA insurgents opened

29988-542: The nationalist parties of each of the three territories, declaring a State of Emergency in any of them where this was considered necessary, and to send European troops from Southern Rhodesia to Nyasaland. On 21 February, European troops of the Rhodesia Regiment were flown into Nyasaland and, in the days immediately following, police or troops opened fire on rioters in several places, leading to four deaths. In deciding to make widespread arrests covering almost

30192-456: The new constitution annexed), and finally, if approved, issuance of an Order of Council fixing the exact date of independence. After World War I , several former German and Ottoman territories in the Middle East, Africa, and the Pacific were governed by the UK as League of Nations mandates . Some were administered directly by the UK, and others by British dominions – Nauru and the Territory of New Guinea by Australia , South West Africa by

30396-444: The offer, and was detained for six months longer. The Commission also found that the Nyasaland government's suppression of criticism and of support for Congress justified calling it, in a widely quoted phrase, "no doubt only temporarily, a police state". Less than fifteen years after the defeat of Hitler, its parallel with fascism had particular force. No colonial government had been so heavily criticised by an official enquiry. Although

30600-440: The oil companies investing the majority of their research capital in the US and European countries or others, politically sure countries. The OPEC lost more and more influence on the world prices of oil. The second oil crisis occurred in the wake of the 1979 Iranian Revolution . Then, the 1982 Latin American debt crisis exploded in Mexico first, then Argentina and Brazil, which proved unable to pay back their debts, jeopardizing

30804-409: The party's true leader, a position Banda assumed on his own release and return to Nyasaland. Those other African politicians that had put themselves forward as moderate alternatives to Banda were, Armitage himself admitted, not credible and without influence. Armitage's hopes of negotiating with Orton Chirwa instead of Banda were dashed when Chirwa said that only Banda had the authority to do so. Armitage

31008-540: The perpetual lease of Guantánamo Bay to the U.S. Navy. The attempt of the first governor to void the island's constitution and remain in power past the end of his term provoked a rebellion that provoked a reoccupation between 1906 and 1909, but this was again followed by devolution. Similarly, the McKinley administration , despite prosecuting the Philippine–American War against a native republic , set out that

31212-402: The phrase "a police state" caused deep offence, particularly as it was placed on the first page of his report. The governor of Nyasaland, Sir Robert Armitage, was incensed by the allegation, and the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Alan Lennox-Boyd, thought the claim was grossly unfair. Nyasaland did not have a particularly large police force for its population, but strong African resistance to

31416-409: The phrase indicated that the police were given and used extremely wide powers against individuals who were denied the ordinary protection of the courts. Williams thought it would have been better to clarify that the Commission meant, which was that, when an Emergency is declared, a country inevitably becomes a police state. A few days after Devlin arrived in Nyasaland, Armitage received advice from

31620-468: The police assaults on the Salt March of 1930. Large-scale communal violence broke out between Hindus and Muslims and between Muslims and Sikhs after the British left in 1947 in the newly independent dominions of India and Pakistan. Much later, in 1970, further communal violence broke out within Pakistan in the detached eastern part of East Bengal, which became independent as Bangladesh in 1971. Cyprus , which came under full British control in 1914 from

31824-420: The policy he had followed: "(Sterling) balances have accrued ... largely because the raw materials produced in the Gold Coast, mainly cocoa, have brought in large earnings and the Government ... increased taxation partly in an endeavor to lessen the amount of money which would exert an inflationary pressure ... and partly to build reserves." Armitage did not mention that the project to build the Akosombo Dam over

32028-416: The political objective of eliminating Banda and the NAC in order to preserve the Federation as well as, or even rather than, preserving law and order in Nyasaland. It also managed to minimise discussion of Welensky's role, so that the Report said his intervention did not directly affect the decision to declare an Emergency, whereas documents not available to Devlin but released much later showed his intervention

32232-412: The presidency of Congress and sweeping powers over the party, and he arrived Nyasaland in July 1958. He was implacably opposed to Federation, but otherwise far less radical that many younger Congress members Although the Nyasaland African Congress was at first based in Blantyre , many branches were established in the Northern Province after 1955. Outside the Northern Province, rural support for Congress

32436-427: The press and minimise its adverse impact by having the report published as a Nyasaland Government document, not a British Government one, and by only making a short written parliamentary statement, avoiding any parliamentary debate. The press coverage highlighted to the British public and parliament the strength of African opposition to the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and the degree of coercion needed to preserve

32640-523: The protectorate would not be allowed to secede from the Federation. This led to increasingly aggressive Congress demonstrations from late October. By the start of 1959, the British and Nyasaland governments and Congress were all convinced, for different reasons, that time was running out for them. At the end of 1958, Banda and other Congress leaders had attended an All-African People's Conference in Accra , Ghana, and had returned to Nyasaland determined to secure constitutional change. Meanwhile, by January 1959,

32844-419: The recollections of expatriates, and the reduction of African leaders to stereotypes. Decolonization Decolonization is the undoing of colonialism , the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. The meanings and applications of the term are disputed. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on independence movements in

33048-445: The reports some plausibility. Lennox-Boyd and Julian Amery , the Under-Secretary of State at the Colonial Office both claimed during the House of Commons debate of 3 March 1958 that they had seen information making it clear that Congress planned a "massacre" or "bloodbath". However the opposition claimed that the allegations of a murder plot were "cooked up", and the Devlin Commission later asked whether it would have been better for

33252-403: The roles of the Federal and Southern Rhodesian governments, and of Welensky's advice in particular, in influencing Armitage's decision to declare a State of Emergency, as it had denied opposition allegations made in the House of Commons of any such collusion. Both governments were generally successful in steering the Commission away from evidence that Armitage, Welensky and the Colonial Office had

33456-411: The same year nationalist forces had begun organizing in Portugal. Revolts (preceding the Portuguese Colonial War ) spread to Angola , Guinea Bissau and Mozambique . Lisbon escalated its effort in the war: for instance, it increased the number of natives in the colonial army and built strategic hamlets. Portugal sent another 300,000 European settlers into Angola and Mozambique before 1974. That year,

33660-425: The security forces. Its strongest criticism was over the "murder plot". What had been put to the Commission, according to Devlin, was a plot to assassinate the Governor and leading officials first, then to massacre all European adults, with children to be mutilated. It is this that the Commission said did not exist as a formed plot, except in the imagination of Special Branch. It also condemned the use made of it by both

33864-412: The so-called "murder plot". There is no evidence that such a detailed and far-reaching murder plot ever existed, and also some uncertainty about what the Nyasaland and British governments considered was the true extent of the action proposed. However, the refusal of Banda and his colleagues to condemn the violent actions of some Congress members, directed mainly toward Africans who failed to support it, gave

34068-418: The southern Kuril Islands , which Japan still claims . In the United States, the two major parties were divided on the acquisition of the Philippines, which became a major campaign issue in 1900. The Republicans, who favored permanent acquisition, won the election, but after a decade or so, Republicans turned their attention to the Caribbean, focusing on building the Panama Canal . President Woodrow Wilson ,

34272-452: The such plans by declaring a State of Emergency. On 3 March 1959 Armitage declared a State of Emergency over the whole of Nyasaland and arrested Dr. Hastings Banda, other members of the Congress executive committee and many local party officials. The Nyasaland African Congress was banned the next day. Those arrested were detained without trial, and their total number finally exceeded 1,300. Over 2,000 more were imprisoned for offences related to

34476-409: The total number of injuries was probably under-reported. During the punitive operations undertaken during the Emergency large numbers of people were beaten or 'roughed up'. The initial reaction of many Congress supporters was rioting, damage to government and European property and strikes but within a few days, following action by the police and troops, the Southern Province became calm but tense. In

34680-403: The use of Korean , Hokkien , and Hakka among the Indigenous peoples, were seen to be used. Japan also set up the Imperial Universities in Korea ( Keijō Imperial University ) and Taiwan ( Taihoku Imperial University ) to compel education. In 1931, Japan seized Manchuria from the Republic of China, setting up a puppet state under Puyi , the last Manchu emperor of China. In 1933 Japan seized

34884-504: The use of firearms and the burning of houses by government forces, ignoring events leading up to such incidents. He suspected that the Commission's report would be highly critical. The Colonial Office obtained an early draft of the Commission's report and passed a copy to Armitage, which he used to prepare a document attacking its findings. Armitage then flew to London, where he joined a high level working party of ministers, Armitage and senior British and Nyasaland civil servants, which drafted

35088-613: The whole Congress organisation, Armitage was influenced by a report received by the police from an informer of a meeting of Congress leaders at which, it was claimed by the Head of Special Branch that the indiscriminate killing of Europeans and Asians, and of those Africans opposed to Congress was planned, the so-called "murder plot". There is no evidence that such a plan existed, and the Nyasaland government took no immediate action against Banda or other Congress leaders but continued to negotiate with them until late February. On 3 March 1959 Sir Robert Armitage, as governor of Nyasaland, declared

35292-454: Was Devlin's lack of experience of rural Africa and military matters, which was true, although Wyn-Harris and Williams respectively had backgrounds in these fields. Thirdly, Baker argued that the process of preparing the Report was unduly rushed by Devlin, who did most of the drafting. He accepts that there was indirect pressure on Devlin to complete the Commission's Report quickly, but this led to some inconsistencies or errors that those drafting

35496-540: Was a Constitutionalist Revolution in Portugal, which led to the return of the Portuguese court to Lisbon. This led to distrust between the Portuguese and the Brazilian colonists, and finally, in 1822, to the colony becoming independent as the Empire of Brazil , which later became a republic. The emergence of Indigenous political parties was especially characteristic of the British Empire , which seemed less ruthless than, for example, Belgium, in controlling political dissent. Driven by pragmatic demands of budgets and manpower

35700-420: Was a revolt in 1789 and subsequent slave uprising in 1791 in the French colony of Saint-Domingue , on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola . In 1804, Haiti secured independence from France as the Empire of Haiti , which later became a republic. The chaos of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe cut the direct links between Spain and its American colonies, allowing for the process of decolonization to begin. With

35904-423: Was also put under pressure to act against African anti-Federal parties and declare a State of Emergency in Northern Rhodesia. He resisted this pressure, but did place restrictions on 47 Zambian African National Congress activists. Whitehead also wished to take control of security in southern Nyasaland as the price for loaning 900 police from Southern Rhodesia following Armitage's request for police reinforcements. It

36108-430: Was an offer Armitage felt obliged to decline. However, the Nyasaland government's actions on the murder plot were counter-productive. Devlin later said that he went into detail about the murder plot to establish whether the facts supported what was said in Armitage's despatch of 18 March on the reasons for declaring a State of Emergency. The failure to allow more than a few Nyasaland Special Branch officers to appear before

36312-435: Was announced by Lord Perth in a House of Lords debate on 24 March, when its composition was also announced. The commission was to inquire into and report on the recent disturbances in Nyasaland and the events leading up to them. In addition, a wider Royal Commission on the future of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was to be held in 1960 (this became the Monckton Commission ). The British government had made it clear that

36516-482: Was approached by an Nyasaland Special Branch Inspector and asked to sign a prepared statement on the murder plot in exchange for a promise of release and repatriation to Tanganyika. The official version was that Karua and another internee approached prison officers offering to make voluntary statements. After giving evidence to the Commission in Nyasaland in the presence of the protectorate's Solicitor-General and returning to Tanganyika, Karua repudiated his statement and

36720-427: Was characterized by massacres of civilians on both sides. It was not a movement for independence, however, and only a small part of India was involved. In the aftermath, the British pulled back from modernizing reforms of Indian society, and the level of organised violence under the British Raj was relatively small. Most of that was initiated by repressive British administrators, as in the Amritsar massacre of 1919 , or

36924-482: Was created in 1953 over strong African opposition. The Nyasaland African Congress started a campaign of non-violent resistance, but the Nyasaland government threatened to imprison Congress leaders: this forced them to end their protest, which lost Congress much of its popular support. In 1956, the African representation on Nyasaland's Legislative Council was increased, and two young radicals, Henry Chipembere and Kanyama Chiume , secured nomination for Congress, giving it

37128-411: Was especially rich, and many Belgian businessmen lobbied hard to maintain control. Local revolts grew in power and finally, the Belgian king suddenly announced in 1959 that independence was on the agenda – and it was hurriedly arranged in 1960, for country bitterly and deeply divided on social and economic grounds. The Netherlands had spent centuries building up its empire. By 1940 it consisted mostly of

37332-410: Was extremely limited. On the night of 29 March 1947, a Madagascar nationalist uprising led the French government headed by Paul Ramadier ( Socialist ) to violent repression: one year of bitter fighting, 11,000–40,000 Malagasy died. In 1946, the states of French Indochina withdrew from the French Union, leading to the Indochina War (1946–54). Cambodia and Laos became independent in 1953, and

37536-421: Was favourable, and reject all that was unfavourable in it, instead of rejecting the whole report. Criticism of the government's failure to address the role of Welensky in the Commons debate was addressed the next day in the House of Lords , where Lord Perth noted that the Commission had stated Sir Roy's intervention was not directly on the question of whether or not an emergency should be declared. Devlin's use of

37740-403: Was financial secretary of the Gold Coast . After the governor had said he was willing to consider the creation of an agricultural bank, Armitage said his government was "deeply committed in principle" to taking action and "would find it difficult to retreat". In 1949, Armitage was chairman of a committee to consider establishing a national bank. He tried to dampen nationalist demands by ruling out

37944-416: Was free, and in 1898, Spain lost Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Spanish–American War . Puerto Rico became an unincorporated territory of the US, but Cuba became independent in 1902. The Napoleonic Wars also led to the severing of the direct links between Portugal and its only American colony, Brazil . Days before Napoleon invaded Portugal, in 1807 the Portuguese royal court fled to Brazil . In 1820 there

38148-430: Was from Tanganyika: he had lived in Nyasaland for only a year before his arrest, and was employed by Congress as a motor mechanic and operated its cine-camera at Congress meetings. According to his own statement, he had an imperfect knowledge of the ChiNyanja vernacular in which meetings, including that of 24 and 25 January 1959, were mostly conducted. He was arrested and interned in Bulawayo : according to his account, he

38352-422: Was hardly an establishment figure; Wyn-Harris a former governor was described as the personification of decency and fair play and the two other Commissioners were both experienced and independently-minded. The Commissioners arrived in the protectorate on 11 April and spent five weeks there, followed by a week in Southern Rhodesia and later spent four days discussing their findings in London. Although Devlin had been

38556-569: Was inspired by the works of Garvey led Ghana to independence from colonial rule. Independence for the colonies in Africa began with the independence of Sudan in 1956, and Ghana in 1957. All of the British colonies on mainland Africa became independent by 1966, although Rhodesia 's unilateral declaration of independence in 1965 was not recognized by the UK or internationally. Some of the British colonies in Asia were directly administered by British officials, while others were ruled by local monarchs as protectorates or in subsidiary alliance with

38760-430: Was later brought to London and appeared before the Commission again. His story of being given a prepared statement to sign is supported by the experience of Edward Mwasi, detained in Nyasaland, who was offered the chance of release to take up the offer of a university place in the USA after seven months' detention if he signed a prepared statement that confirmed Congress had planned a general massacre of Europeans He rejected

38964-434: Was lifted on 16 June 1960. Following an overwhelming Malawi Congress Party victory in August 1961 elections, preparations were made for independence, which was achieved on 6 July 1964. Even before Macleod's appointment, Lord Perth and Colonial Office officials expressed doubts in October 1959 about Armitage's belief that sufficient moderates could be found to supplant Congress or in his ability to negotiate with Banda, assuming

39168-551: Was made a Law Lord . He retired in 1964, when aged 58 although, under the Judicial Pensions Act 1959 , he could have served until the age of 75. However, he later denied this was because he was disappointed at not being offered the more senior posts of Lord Chief Justice or Master of the Rolls . The other three Commissioners were Edgar Williams , later Sir Edgar, the Warden of the Oxford College Rhodes House , Sir Percy Wyn-Harris and Sir John Primrose. Although Inquiries can be dominated by their chairmen, and Devlin certainly possessed

39372-450: Was more critical to its declaration. Devlin considered that Armitage did not appreciate the role of the Commission and seemed unprepared for it, and the Colonial Office thought Armitage had been rather passive in his interactions with Devlin. On the other hand, a number of senior Nyasaland officials felt that Delvin, if not the other Commissioners, was determined to discredit the protectorate government and especially Armitage. Two days before

39576-434: Was not mandated to inquire into press coverage. Southworth cleared the Nyasaland police of brutality and heavily criticised British correspondents for distorting events. Southworth's stinging attacks, less on the integrity of the journalists involved than about their personalities and apparent preconceptions about the use of force damaged his claim to be impartial. The British Government was concerned by Southworth's attacks on

39780-546: Was out of the country. Devlin was proposed by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Kilmuir as someone of a known conservative disposition. The choice approved by R. A. Butler, then acting as Prime Minister, and Devlin's friend, Lord Perth, who was then a Minister of State in the Colonial Office, also played a part in his selection. Macmillan later criticised Devlin's appointment on the basis of his Irish ancestry and Catholic upbringing, and also his supposed disappointment at not being made Lord Chief Justice . Macmillan not only broadly rejected

39984-402: Was patchy, but in Blantyre and other towns, it attracted young, marginalised men ready to participate in demonstrations. On his return, Banda sought Nyasaland's withdrawal from the Federation and self-government rather than immediate independence. When the Federation was set up in 1953, its constitution and its member territories were to be reviewed in 1960, and Banda wanted African majorities on

40188-423: Was resistant to releasing detainees to reduce their numbers, and his insistence on a detailed review of each case and his statement in July 1959 that he could not envisage releasing a hard core of 49 detainees caused tension with Macleod. In January 1960, Armitage also asked for extra troops from Southern Rhodesia when Banda was due to be released, a request that Macleod declined to authorise. The Royal Commission on

40392-494: Was subsequently difficult for ministers to repudiate these statements. Harold Macmillan decided to set up a Commission of Inquiry headed by Lord Devlin , which exposed the failings of the Nyasaland administration, and concluded it had lost the support of those it governed. The Devlin Commission 's report is the only example of a British judge examining whether the actions of a colonial administration in suppressing dissent were appropriate. Devlin's conclusions that excessive force

40596-422: Was suspected by the opposition of being influenced by Sir Roy Welensky , the Federal Prime Minister to suppress African opposition to Federation. The government published its justification for the Emergency in a despatch of 18 March from Armitage, explaining why he had decided to declare an Emergency. The despatch emphasised the supposed "murder plot" and the general plan of Congress, adopted on 25 January, to resist

40800-439: Was that immediate action would prevent future bloodshed but Devlin (Baker claims) took no account of administrative necessity, only legality, and was less concerned by the Nkhata Bay killings, where the District Commissioner acted lawfully than cases were individuals were beaten or had their homes destroyed illegally. Baker's account of the 1959 State of Emergency was criticised by Macmillan as based largely on official documents in

41004-411: Was ultimately a victor of World War II, Nazi Germany's occupation of France and its North African colonies during the war had disrupted colonial rule. On 27 October 1946, France adopted a new constitution creating the Fourth Republic , and substituted the French Union for the colonial empire. However power over the colonies remained concentrated in France, and the power of local assemblies outside France

41208-405: Was unsafe to express approval of Congress and unwise to make significant criticisms of its government. The Commissioners realised the problems in using the expression "police state", and it is likely that Colonial Office ministers could have persuaded Devlin to remove this expression, but they felt it would be unwise to press the Commission on this. Devlin, Williams and Primrose all felt let down by

41412-410: Was used and that Nyasaland was a "police state" caused political uproar at the time. Devlin was not the first person to use the expression "police state" about a British colony; Richard Crossman had described Cyprus as an "amiable police state" in 1955, but it was unusual for this to be said in an official report. His report was largely rejected and the State of Emergency lasted until June 1960. Although

41616-458: Was used and that Nyasaland was a "police state" caused political uproar. His report was largely rejected and the state of emergency lasted until June 1960. Macmillan not only broadly rejected the Devlin Report, which had taken several months to prepare, but engineered the production of the rival Armitage Report , which was prepared very quickly so it could be released on the same day as the Devlin Report. The Colonial Office obtained an early draft of

#586413