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Summary English Language and Culture II
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ELCIIPreliminaries
1. Empire and literature
- In literature, empire is often present. Sometimes in the margins but mostly it is
prominent.
- Jingoism: attitude of aggressive, excessive nationalism or a blind adherence to one’s
own nation simply because it is one’s own. It is often violent and leads to wars.
Xenophobia: dislike/fear of foreigners and their religion or culture.
- Those who travelled for the empire and wrote about their journeys → the most
prominent one was Dr David Livingstone. His goal was to spread the 3Cs which are
civilisation, Christianity and commerce. Livingstone’s image was promoted by
Henry Morton Stanley.
2. Questioning empire
19th century: empire expands, but questions and doubts arise.
→ 1890: texts offer warnings about the consequences of Britain’s actions overseas. In
those texts, are feelings of instability and worry about the future (=apprehension: worry
about the future, or a fear that something unpleasant is going to happen). The use of
multiple narrators shows the sense of identity fragmentation and uncertainty. Authors
move away from realism.
Even though the British Empire declined and old colonies are now member of the
Commonwealth, its legacy is still alive.
3. Le Morne Brabant
A peninsula in Southwest Mauritius. Named after the VOC-ship Brabant that got stuck there
in 1783. Slavery and indenture (= perform labour in order to stay in a country) are two labour
systems that shaped Mauritius.
Portuguese Mauritius, Dutch Mauritius (1638-1710), French Mauritius (1715-1810), British
Mauritius (1810-1968)
→ In 1968, Mauritius gains its independence.
Colonising means installing a way of life elsewhere and giving the people living there before
the arrival of colonisers the 3Cs. In ‘return’, colonisers take assets back to their homeland.
4. Mauritius
1. Napoleonic wars: Mauritius was a base from where the French organised raids on British
ships until 1810. On 3/12/1810, the French surrendered themselves to the Brits.
2. The first British governor in Mauritius was Sir Robert Farquhar. With him, social and
economic changes came quickly. This success almost got spoilt by the Ratsitatane episode.
Ratsitatane is the nephew of king Radama of Madagascar. He was brought to Mauritius as a
political prisoner but escaped and plotted a rebellion to free the island’s slaves. He got
betrayed and caught later on by the British forces. He was sentenced to death and beheaded
in 1822 at Plaine Verte. His head was displayed against future rebellions to show what the
consequences are.
1832: the first Mauritian newspaper is launched by Adrien D’Épinay. It is the first one not to
be controlled by the British government which they thought was a sign of ‘mercy’ toward the
Mauritian people.
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,3. In the same year (1832), the procureur-general makes a move to abolish slavery without
compensation to the slave owners. The government ordered all the inhabitants to surrender
their arms to prevent a possible rebellion. In 1835, slavery got abolished but slave owners
received 2M pounds sterling in compensation. Slaves had been imported from Africa and
Madagascar during the French occupation (1715-1810). The planters then brought 0,5 million
indentured labourers from India (colony from 1857-1947) to work in sugar cane fields. Beside
that, 8740 Indian soldiers were brought as well.
4. Immigrants were not always treated fairly. Adolph Von Plevitz was a German man who
was the unofficial protector of Indian immigrants. In 1871, he helps these immigrants write a
petition and in 1872, two lawyers are appointed by the British Crown to make an inquiry. This
was the Royal Commission and it recommended several measures to solve the issue.
(Link with Germany → Queen Victoria was also partly German).
The British government gave also little power to coloured people. Rémy Ollier, man of mixed
origins, signed a petition to ask for more coloured people in government or positions of power.
This was possible a few years later.
In 1901, Mahatma Gandhi stays in Mauritius for two weeks and urges the Indo-Mauritians to
play a more active role in politics and educate themselves. He later sends a young lawyer
from India to Mauritius to help those people.
5. WWI (1914-1918): Mauritians volunteered to fight against the Germans in Europe and in
Mesopotamia against the Turks. But the war didn’t really affect Mauritius much. It was actually
a great period for them due to the boom in sugar prices. But the post-war period was less
great. Many sugar factories closed and this meant a loss of both economical and political
power of businessmen.
Social unrest and demands:
Raoul Rivet: newspaper editor wanted a revision of the Constitution that would give middle
class people a greater role in the running of the country.
Arya Samaj: an Indian religious sect from which principles begin to infiltrate the Hindu
community and demand more social justice.
1930: first labour party launched by Maurice cure.
1937: Uba riots that led to reforms that improved labour conditions and the un-banning of
labour unions.
6. WWII (1940-1945): Mauritians volunteered to fight in Africa and near East against the
Germans and Italians. Conditions were hard in Mauritius: whereas the prices doubled, salaries
only increased by 10-20%. Civil unrest led to trade union activities but were crushed by
colonial government.
1948: the first general elections were held and won by the labour party. In 1953, they demand
universal suffrage.
1955-57: constitutional conferences in London introduce ministerial system.
1959: voting for the first time on the basis of universal adult suffrage. Elections won by LP
which was led by Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam.
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,1960: PM Harold Macmillan (a one-nation Tory) makes his famous speech, Wind of Change,
in which he acknowledges that it’s best to give independence to the British colonies.
7. 1961: more constitutional advance after a constitutional review conference (London).
1963: LP wins elections again. The Colonial Office notes that ethnicity and caste play a great
role in voting behaviour.
1960s (close to ’63): A report states that problems arise because of overpopulation in the
island and the monoculture of sugarcane. This leads to an intense campaign to halt the
population explosion and the decade registered a decline in population growth.
1965: Britain confesses that it wants to get relieved of the colony of Mauritius during the
Lancaster conference. This because it sees that there are problems that arise because of
overpopulation and monoculture.
5. Wind of Change
Speech given by UK’s PM Harold Macmillan in 1960 in Cape Town (South Africa). After
staying and visiting colonies of that time, he made clear that the Conservative led UK
government had no intention to block the way to independence of these countries.
Harold Macmillan was a conservative (one-nation Tory) and PM from 1957 to 1963. He
succeeded PM Anthony Eden in 1957 after he resigned following the Suez crisis. Macmillan
believed in the necessity of a mixed economy. He also wanted to restore the ‘special’
relationship between UK and US and facilitated decolonisation. He also wanted for the UK to
play a greater role in the EU but the fact that the UK didn’t tell US’ nuclear secrets to France
got UK’s demand to join the EU rejected. Once in 1961 and in 1963. In ’67 they were finally
allowed to join the EU. Macmillan was the last PM to be born during the Victorian Era and
served in WWI. Also, the last one to obtain hereditary peerage.
Suez crisis and Macmillan: Macmillan met with Eisenhower (president US) in 1956 (not PM
at that time) to talk about Suez but misread his intentions to keep it peacefully and reported to
Anthony Eden that the US wanted a war. Consequences were that the relationship between
US and UK deteriorated. These problems between UK and US still didn’t lead to the UK telling
France US’ nuclear secrets which the French didn’t appreciate and rejected their demand to
join the EU twice.
6. One Nation Tory
Benjamin Disraeli: founding father of One Nation Toryism which is a paternalistic form of
British political conservatism.
Conservatism takes two forms:
- Thatcherism (The New Right): Margaret Thatcher’s belief in the need of a market
free from government interference (Laissez-faire). Also, a belief that individual effort is
more important than wealthy people passing on their benefits.
- One Nation Conservatism: got more attention after 1950 thanks to Iain Macleod,
Edward Heath and Enoch Powell. ➔ Preservation of established institutions and
principles, and economic and social programmes for the ordinary person. This means
that those who are privileged and wealthy had to pass on their benefits.
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, The New Right supported by M. Thatcher came later. David Cameron was neither of the two.
Theresa May was a One Nation Tory as well as Boris Johnson.
7. Enoch Powell
= A One Nation Tory, MP for the Conservative Party from 1950-74, Minister of Health under
Macmillan from 1960-1963 and MP for the Ulster Party from 1974-87.
Rivers of Blood speech (1968): criticised then-current rates of immigration into the UK and
opposed the then-proposed anti-discrimination bill. He was considered a racist.
8. Land of Hope and Glory – Aug/Sep 2020
Fiery debate about ‘intrinsically racist songs’ that could disappear from BBC Proms: Rule
Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory are in the list. Happened after BLM movement and is
now a debate on social media and TV.
9. Why Macron?
Lebanon’s economy was collapsing and its government was hardly functioning. The explosion
was the last straw and even destroyed the capital’s vital port.
→ Macron is the first leader (not even Lebanon’s leader showed up) to show up in the city
and visit the hard-hit areas.
→ He says that he’ll deliver a new political pact for Lebanon and if its government can’t do it,
he will take his political responsibility. (quite a statement from a leader of a former colonial
power).
→ This shows Macron’s willingness to be a global leader as well as Lebanon’s lack of faith in
its government.
US: threatens to veto a resolution to extend the UN’s long-standing peacekeeping in Southern
Lebanon if its government doesn’t change. The US is the main funder of UN interim force in
Lebanon (UNIFIL) (250m$/year). The threat is a tactical move to put pressure on Iran and its
proxy (=representative) in Lebanon, Hezbollah (= Shia Islamist political party and militant
group in Lebanon; considered a terrorist organisation by many).
9.1 Why Macron? History
1920: Mutessarifate and its surroundings became part of the state of Greater Lebanon under
the French mandate of Syria and Lebanon.
→ In the first half of 1920 the Arab Kingdom of Syria claimed Lebanese territory but
the Franco-Syrian war ended in Arab defeat.
September 1920: Moutasarrifiya rule gives regions to Syria and so Greater Lebanon
is re-established.
1926: France forms the Lebanese Republic
WWII: Lebanon gained some kind of independence while France was occupied by Germany.
→ The Vichy government allowed Nazis to transport aircraft and supplies through Syria (FR)
to Iraq (BR) for it to be used against the British. The UK feared that Germany would gain full
control of Syria and Lebanon, and sent its army there.
1941: It was announced that Lebanon would be independent under the authority of the Free
French government.
1943: elections were held and the new Lebanese government abolished the mandate without
asking France. I.e. they made constitutional changes that would erase all trace of French
influence. The French reacted by imprisoning the whole Lebanese government but released
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