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The wind that failed to blow: British policy and the end of empire in the Gulf

Smith, Simon C.

Authors



Contributors

L.J. Butler
Editor

Sarah Stockwell
Editor

Abstract

While directed primarily at Britain’s African colonies, the ethos of the ‘wind of change’ speech found echoes beyond Africa. Shortly after Harold Macmillan’s demarche, Colonial Secretary Iain Macleod asserted that ‘H.M.G.’s policy for all the dependent territories is that they should be advanced to independence or to responsible self-government, preferably within the Commonwealth. There are no exceptions to this rule.’1 While this might have been the case for ‘dependent territories’, the British protected states of the Persian Gulf remained stubbornly outside the remit of the wind of change. Indeed, whatever impact Macmillan’s famous invocation had on Africa and beyond, its resonance on the Gulf was negligible. A little over a year after Macmillan’s speech, Britain’s Political Resident in the Gulf, Sir William Luce, declared: it is no exaggeration to say that Britain at this moment stands more deeply committed in the Persian Gulf, both politically andmilitarily, than at any time since the last war, a situation which stands in marked contrast with the great contraction of our political andmilitary commitments elsewhere in the world over the past fifteen years.2

Citation

Smith, S. C. (2013). The wind that failed to blow: British policy and the end of empire in the Gulf. In L. Butler, & S. Stockwell (Eds.), The Wind of Change : Harold Macmillan and British Decolonization (235-251). London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137318008_12

Publication Date 2013
Deposit Date Dec 19, 2014
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal The wind of change: Harold Macmillan and British decolonization
Publisher Palgrave Macmillan
Peer Reviewed Not Peer Reviewed
Pages 235-251
Series Title Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series
Book Title The Wind of Change : Harold Macmillan and British Decolonization
ISBN 9780230361034
DOI https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137318008_12
Keywords REF 2014 submission
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/370849