The Politics and Economics of Decolonization in Africa : The Failed Experiment of the Central African Federation

The slow collapse of the European colonial empires after 1945 provides one of the great turning points of twentieth century history. With the loss of India however, the British under Harold Macmillan attempted to enforce a 'second' colonial occupation - supporting the efforts of Sir Andrew Cohen of the Colonial Office to create a Central African Federation. Drawing on newly released archival material, The Politics and Economics of Decolonization offers a fresh examination of Britain's central African territories in the late colonial period and provides a detailed assessment of how events in Britain, Africa and the UN shaped the process of decolonization. The author situates the Central African Federation - which consisted of modern day Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi - in its wider international context, shedding light on the Federation's complex relationships with South Africa, with US Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy and with the expanding United Nations. The result is an important history of the last days of the British Empire and the beginnings of a more independent African continent. Cover Title Copyright Contents Acknowledgements Map of Central African Federation, 1959 Introduction Historiographical Approaches to Federation: Foundation and its Early Years Historiographical Issues and the End of Federation 1. Conception and the Early Years of Federation Acquiring the Charter Company Days Responsible Government Towards Federation Early Years, 1953–6 African Advancement 2. The Pipe Dream of Partnership, 1957–9 Welensky and Macmillan Take Office Partnership in Practice Southern Rhodesia: The Removal of Todd and Arrival of Whitehead Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland: Dr Banda Returns The 1959 Emergencies Repercussions of the Emergencies Devlin Commission Preparing for the Federal Constitutional Review and the British General Election 3. ‘The Wind of Change’, 1960–1 Macmillan Visits the Federation Recasting the Federation’s Public Image in Britain Preparing for the Monckton Commission The Monckton Commission in the Federation Territorial Reviews Southern Rhodesian Constitutional Conference and the Northern Rhodesian Constitutional Review The Mining Companies and the ‘Wind of Change’ The United States and the Federation The Federation in the United Nations 4. A Failed Experiment, 1962–3 Maudling and the Northern Rhodesia Proposals Butler and the Central Africa Office Preparing for the Northern and Southern Rhodesian Elections The Federation, the United States and the United Nations Northern and Southern Rhodesian Elections South Africa and the Federation Dissolution Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index "The slow collapse of the European colonial empires after 1945 provides one of the great turning points of twentieth century history. With the loss of India however, the British under Harold Macmillan attempted to enforce a 'second' colonial occupation - supporting the efforts of Sir Andrew Cohen of the Colonial Office to create a Central African Federation. Drawing on newly released archival material, The Politics and Economics of Decolonization offers a fresh examination of Britain's central African territories in the late colonial period and provides a detailed assessment of how events in Britain, Africa and the UN shaped the process of decolonization. The author situates the Central African Federation - which consisted of modern day Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi - in its wider international context, shedding light on the Federation's complex relationships with South Africa, with US Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy and with the expanding United Nations. The result is an important history of the last days of the British Empire and the beginnings of a more independent African continent."--Bloomsbury Publishing