- há 13 minutos
Dives into the catalyst that ignited the decolonisation of the British Empire after 1995. Some of the most prominent events of the era are probed and explored to see it all from a new perspective and uncover the real facts.
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00:00History is not an exact science. It is never set in stone.
00:16As time passes, knowledge of the past is refined and evolves.
00:21But by definition, existing ideas have thick skins and are hard to shift.
00:34To understand the realities of the world, you sometimes have to shake them up and decipher
00:54the facts by looking at them another way.
00:57Posterity asserts that the British led their colonies to independence free from violence.
01:22And yet...
01:27March 24, 1947. Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, takes office in New Delhi with great fanfare.
01:47It is a timeless ceremony, which exalts the prestige of an unparalleled colonial power.
01:56But the world's largest empire is a weakened giant.
02:01The Indian people must achieve independence within 15 months.
02:08And it is the Viceroy's duty to wind up the jewel in the crown.
02:12But without damaging Great Britain's influence.
02:16A highly strategic mission lies ahead.
02:20The dice are cast.
02:23The dice are cast.
02:27And that is the Viceroy's duty to invade the crown.
02:28And that is the Viceroy's duty to invade the crown.
02:29And that is the Viceroy's duty to invade the crown.
02:30The Viceroy of India, is the second Viceroy of India.
02:34And that is the Viceroy of India.
02:35After three centuries of British domination, 410 million Indians are about to be freed from the colonial yoke.
02:39The country's future remains uncertain.
02:42Depois de três décadas de domínio britânico, 410 milhões de indígenas estão se libertando da colônia.
02:52O futuro do país permanece incertado e as tensões entre comunidades estão aumentando.
02:59Os hindus e os sikhs querem preservar a unidade indígena.
03:03Mas os muslims estão chamando para a criação de um estado separado.
03:12Onde está o governo, os sítios se tornam para um rio.
03:20Os sítios já têm cair de várias milhares.
03:24É a hora de fazer o seu vice-pós-vícê para encontrar o necessário político solução.
03:29O seu sítio de sítio warns-se,
03:32que é uma terra de fogo em meio-oce, com a armadilha em sua hold.
03:42Lord Mountbatten has been paying a visit to the northwest frontier and Punjab.
03:47He visited many of the places where the worst clashes had occurred
03:50and saw for himself the serious extent of the rioting
03:53and the vast amount of damage done.
03:58On his way to Kahuta,
04:00where hundreds of people had savagely slaughtered each other,
04:04Mountbatten opted to partition the country.
04:07As he saw it, only the creation of a Muslim state
04:10would bring the violence to an end.
04:15Cynically, he wrote to London,
04:18The most we can hope to do, as I have said before,
04:21is to put the responsibility for any of these mad decisions
04:24fairly and squarely on the Indian shoulders in the eyes of the world.
04:28For the day will come when they will regret the choice they are about to make.
04:36The subcontinent's fate would be played out in sham negotiations.
04:40Mountbatten must make the Indians endorse the decision to divide their country.
04:48Heading the Hindu majority, Pandit Nehru is fiercely opposed to partition.
04:53Muhammad Ali Jinnah supports the claims of the Muslims.
05:02Behind the smiling facades, the negotiations begin.
05:06Mountbatten uses all the charm he can muster,
05:09and after a few weeks of exhausting discussions,
05:12Nehru finally gives in.
05:13He resigns himself to accepting the birth of Pakistan.
05:19Later, he confides,
05:21We were tired men.
05:23The plan for partition offered a way out, and we took it.
05:26The Muslims, the Sikhs, and the Hindus
05:36were at least agreed on the sincerity of Britain,
05:39and they accepted the plan now put to them by Lord Mountbatten, the Viceroy,
05:42for whose work no one had anything but praise.
05:46But then the Viceroy played his trump card.
05:49To withdraw the crown from the hornet's nest before the general conflagration,
05:55the date of the British withdrawal is moved forward by 10 months.
06:03Now time is running out.
06:06A border must be drawn through the northern provinces
06:09with their predominantly Muslim populations,
06:12but which have also been home for centuries
06:14to significant Hindu and Sikh minorities.
06:21A well-known London lawyer,
06:23Sir Cyril Radcliffe,
06:25is called in to carry out this delicate task.
06:30Chosen for his impartiality,
06:32the man is also notable for another aspect,
06:35his utter lack of awareness of Indian affairs.
06:38Without even glancing at the lay of the land,
06:41Radcliffe locks himself away,
06:43over the course of a few weeks,
06:45a line is drawn on the map.
06:47Local complexities fall by the wayside.
06:51Pakistan, as it is thus created,
06:53is made up of two parts,
06:55separated by 1,600 kilometers of Indian territory.
07:02Conscious of having botched his job,
07:04the lawyer hurries back to London.
07:08There, he writes,
07:09there will be 80 million people with a grievance
07:12who will begin looking for me.
07:14I do not want them to find me.
07:18The cunning viceroy is careful not to reveal
07:21the arbitrary borderline.
07:23He leaves the announcement to the future authorities.
07:26It is up to them to deal with all of the consequences.
07:29On August 14th, 1947,
07:36British India ceases to exist.
07:42In Karachi,
07:43Jina solemnly celebrates the birth of Pakistan.
07:47In New Delhi,
07:49the same evening,
07:50Nehru proclaims the independence of India.
07:52At the stroke of the midnight hour,
07:56when the world sleeps,
07:58India will awake to life and freedom.
08:03The next day,
08:04the population gives in to jubilation.
08:07An explosion of joy
08:08that propaganda transforms
08:09into a triumph for the British crown.
08:11For Lord and Lady Mountbatten,
08:15this was indeed a people's ovation,
08:17a national tribute to their long months
08:19of hard and unceasing work.
08:20But the celebrations will not last.
08:34As soon as the border is revealed,
08:37the northern provinces erupt.
08:39Anger stirs up hatred,
08:41and acts of violence follow
08:42in a never-ending spiral of horror.
08:45Some are murdered by their neighbors.
08:47Others are lynched by fanatical mobs.
08:56An unprecedented population
08:59displacement then begins.
09:04Between 12 and 16 million people
09:07will cross paths
09:08on their way into exile.
09:11Muslims leave India
09:12to join Pakistan.
09:15Meanwhile,
09:16Sikhs and Hindus flee
09:17in the opposite direction.
09:19Countless victims die on the way.
09:22A fatigue,
09:24hunger,
09:25or disease.
09:29India's hasty
09:30and arbitrary partition
09:31triggers a tragedy
09:32that results in more
09:34than a million deaths.
09:37Real politics
09:38is often stranger than justice.
09:40Back in London,
09:47Mountbatten is welcomed as a hero.
09:50His triumph is celebrated
09:52in the news.
09:54Certainly,
09:55the British crown
09:55has lost its jewel,
09:57but appearances
09:57have been kept up.
10:00The future looks bright.
10:02The end of a memorable mission
10:09and one that has earned
10:10the lasting thanks
10:11and goodwill
10:11of the new India.
10:15The myth
10:16of an enlightened imperial power
10:18is born.
10:18Their majesties,
10:30accompanied by members
10:30of their family,
10:31were host and hostess
10:32to the Commonwealth premiers
10:33at a luncheon party
10:34at Buckingham Palace.
10:36In April 1949,
10:39the Commonwealth Conference
10:40further strengthens the legend.
10:44Originally formed by Canada,
10:46South Africa,
10:47Australia and New Zealand
10:48during the interwar period,
10:50this very exclusive club
10:52of former colonies
10:53now welcomes
10:54the recently emancipated
10:55new states of India,
10:57Pakistan and Ceylon.
11:03Presented as a great family,
11:05the Commonwealth
11:06will become the ideal instrument
11:07for preserving
11:08Great Britain's influence.
11:16However,
11:18London does not expect
11:20any new entrance.
11:23Shattered by the Second World War,
11:25the country is struggling
11:26to shape its future
11:27and even to feed
11:28its own population.
11:32It needs its colonies
11:34more than ever.
11:43In Malaysia,
11:44the exploitation
11:45of natural resources
11:46is a highly lucrative business
11:48for Great Britain.
11:51Tin and rubber in particular
11:53provide a real export windfall
11:55from which the local population
11:57does not benefit.
12:04Galvanized by the emancipation
12:06of India and Pakistan,
12:08a communist movement
12:09sets out to end
12:10this exploitation.
12:14communist partisans
12:18sabotage railway lines,
12:20blow up roads
12:21and torch plantations.
12:27On October 7th, 1951,
12:30the insurgents strike
12:31at the very heart
12:32of colonial power.
12:34Sir Henry Gurney,
12:36its chief representative,
12:37is killed in an ambush.
12:38London's response
12:43is not long in coming.
12:48General Sir Gerald Templer
12:50arrived in Malaya.
12:51A guard of honor
12:52awaited the new
12:53high commissioner,
12:54for he is the man
12:54on whom so much depends
12:56in the war on terrorism.
13:00Templer is a soldier,
13:02a strong man.
13:04Personally appointed
13:04by the prime minister,
13:05he shares with
13:07Winston Churchill
13:07a fierce hatred
13:08of communism.
13:11In the midst
13:12of the Cold War,
13:14his mission
13:14takes on the feel
13:15of a crusade.
13:17He has carte blanche.
13:20The end
13:20justifies the means.
13:24His strategy?
13:25To isolate
13:26the communist insurgents
13:28from the remainder
13:28of the Malay population
13:30to crush the rebellion.
13:31A vast propaganda
13:34operation demonizes
13:36the rebels.
13:39Accused of every
13:40evildoing,
13:41they are labeled
13:41the enemy
13:42to be destroyed.
13:45A price is put
13:47on the head
13:47of their leader,
13:48Qin Peng.
13:57A counterinsurgency war
13:59begins.
14:01Peasants living
14:02on the edges
14:03of jungle areas
14:04suspected of supporting
14:05the guerrillas
14:06are systematically
14:07rounded up.
14:12Their crops
14:14are destroyed.
14:15Their homes
14:16burn to the ground.
14:25650,000 people
14:27are forcibly
14:28displaced
14:28to new villages.
14:31In reality,
14:32these are camps
14:33surrounded by barbed wire
14:35where there are shortages
14:36of everything,
14:37including drinking water.
14:39Freedom of movement
14:40and food rations
14:42are strictly controlled.
14:45Punishment is meted out
14:47at the slightest suspicion
14:48of collusion
14:48with the rebels.
14:50All it takes
14:51is a single suspect
14:52for an entire village
14:54to be deprived
14:54of food in retaliation.
14:56but of course,
14:59the propaganda
15:00embellishes the picture.
15:01A squatter's friend
15:14from now on
15:15is to be a bigger
15:16and better pig.
15:18In the new settler's home,
15:20there is food
15:21and plenty.
15:22This is a plan
15:23that deserves
15:24its success
15:25and to go on succeeding
15:27long after
15:28communist terrorism
15:29is a forgotten nightmare.
15:36On the battlefield,
15:38Templer does not skimp
15:39on his resources.
15:42At the height
15:43of the conflict,
15:44almost 40,000 soldiers
15:45are deployed
15:46against 7,000 insurgents.
15:48He mobilizes
15:52British special forces,
15:53known for their motto
15:55Who Dares Wins.
15:59Mercenaries
16:00experienced
16:01in jungle combat
16:02complete the ground forces.
16:08And to ensure
16:09that the guerrillas
16:10have nowhere to run,
16:11the Royal Air Force
16:12also carpet bombs
16:14entire areas.
16:15With an arsenal
16:18this size,
16:19the British
16:20gain the upper hand.
16:23Templars' methods
16:24quickly become
16:25the model to follow.
16:27They will be applied
16:28in other British colonies
16:30and elsewhere.
16:35And yet,
16:37they are incredibly brutal.
16:40Prisoners are interrogated
16:41and tortured.
16:43Many are executed.
16:45their mutilated corpses
16:48are displayed
16:49as an example.
16:52Terror
16:53doesn't discriminate.
16:56And Templer
16:57responds accordingly.
16:59As he writes,
17:01As I see it,
17:02we have no reason
17:03to be ashamed,
17:05but we have nothing
17:06to gain
17:06from drawing attention
17:08to a topic
17:09so difficult
17:10and controversial.
17:11his boss,
17:15Secretary of State
17:16for the Colonies,
17:17Sir Oliver Lyttelton,
17:19admits as much.
17:20There is no doubt
17:21that under international law
17:22a similar case
17:23in wartime
17:24would be a war crime.
17:29This continues
17:30until the scandal erupts.
17:31in the springtime
17:36In the springtime
17:37of 1952,
17:39a series of photographs
17:40published in the Daily Worker
17:42sparks outrage.
17:43The government claims
17:52that these are
17:52isolated incidents.
18:00When asked,
18:02Winston Churchill
18:02refuses to disown
18:04his armed forces.
18:05The affair is quickly
18:07hushed up.
18:08In these post-war years,
18:12the revelations
18:12of a small
18:13communist daily newspaper
18:14mean little
18:15to the nation's savior.
18:21Five years later,
18:23once it has consolidated
18:24its economic interests,
18:26London will grant
18:26independence to Malaysia,
18:29which then docilely
18:30joins the Commonwealth.
18:38Today,
18:44Great Britain
18:44is shining as brightly
18:45as it ever has.
18:47On June 2, 1953,
18:50Queen Elizabeth
18:51succeeds her late father
18:52to the throne.
18:54Her coronation
18:54is a worldwide celebration,
18:56carefully orchestrated
18:57to serve national strategy.
19:02The word empire
19:04is banned
19:04from the texts
19:05of the ceremonies.
19:07Only the word
19:07Commonwealth
19:08is mentioned.
19:09It is more consensual.
19:12Men from all corners
19:13of the Commonwealth
19:14marching in honor
19:15of their queen.
19:16The empire
19:17begins to transform.
19:19Colonial troops
19:20and soldiers
19:21from newly sovereign nations
19:22find themselves
19:23marching in step.
19:25The crowd
19:25could not care less
19:26about the difference.
19:28They are celebrating
19:29a heritage
19:29and even the rain
19:31cannot dull
19:32the glorious day.
19:34To give substance
19:35to the new era
19:36that is dawning,
19:37the royal spectacle
19:38goes into overdrive.
19:49Elizabeth then embarks
19:50on a world tour.
19:52Of the 13 countries
19:54that she visits,
19:55some are colonies,
19:57others are independent states,
19:59but all of them
20:00are now united
20:01under the banner
20:02of the Commonwealth.
20:02The empire
20:04may have shed its name,
20:06but its rituals
20:07remain very much alive.
20:09Taking advantage
20:09of her traditional
20:10Christmas message,
20:11the young queen
20:12asserts the new credo.
20:13The commonwealth
20:17bears no resemblance
20:18to the empires
20:20of the past.
20:21It is an entirely
20:22new conception
20:23built on the highest
20:25qualities
20:26of the spirit of man.
20:28To that new conception
20:29of an equal partnership
20:31of nations
20:32and races,
20:33I shall give myself
20:35heart and soul
20:36every day of my life.
20:38But there is a gaping chasm
20:41between these words
20:42and actual deeds.
20:45The sovereign's
20:46idealistic speech
20:47sounds very much
20:47like wishful thinking.
20:49In many countries
20:51which remain
20:51under British guardianship,
20:53the old order persists,
20:54and nowhere more so
20:56than in Kenya.
21:00Its highlands are home
21:02to some of the most
21:03fertile land in Africa.
21:04the colonialists
21:06have set up
21:07their English-style
21:08farms there,
21:09evicting the Kikuyu people
21:11from their ancestral
21:12homelands.
21:15In the face
21:16of this injustice,
21:18a number of people
21:19form an independence
21:20movement,
21:21nicknamed
21:22the Mau Mau.
21:26Bound by a ritual oath,
21:28its militants proceeded
21:29to drive out the British,
21:31including through
21:32the force of arms.
21:34From the Cathedral
21:41of the Highlands
21:41in Nairobi
21:42are born the bodies
21:43of Mr. and Mrs. Roger Ruck
21:44and their six-year-old son,
21:46Michael,
21:46a British family
21:47brutally murdered
21:48by the Mau Mau.
21:50The settlers weep
21:52for their dead.
21:53But soon,
21:54anger breaks out.
21:56Retaliatory measures
21:57are required.
22:00Taken to task,
22:01the governor of Kenya
22:02reassures them.
22:04The struggle
22:05against Mau Mau
22:05has been long.
22:07I'm afraid
22:08it will still go on
22:10for a long time.
22:11But,
22:12let me add,
22:13we are not stationary,
22:15we are making progress,
22:17and we are all
22:18completely confident
22:19that we will
22:20eventually succeed
22:21and destroy Mau Mau.
22:23Sir Evelyn Baring
22:27is an old-style
22:28administrator
22:28steeped in prejudice.
22:34For him,
22:35the Mau Mau revolt
22:36can be boiled down
22:37to the barbarism
22:38of a primitive people
22:39that must be eradicated.
22:41The Mau Mau
22:54oath ceremony
22:55has many degrees
22:56and variations,
22:58each of them cruel
22:59and bestial,
23:01almost beyond belief.
23:03Revolting orgies,
23:05the drinking of blood,
23:06and even the eating
23:07of human flesh
23:08form part
23:09of the more involved rituals.
23:15A wave
23:16of ruthless repression
23:18is initiated
23:18in the name
23:19of civilization.
23:26The operations
23:28target both
23:29simple sympathizers
23:30as well as
23:31as the most committed
23:32combatants.
23:40The colonists
23:42are permitted
23:42to participate
23:43in the bloodbath.
23:45Racial hatred
23:45is unleashed.
23:54As in Malaysia,
23:56thousands of families
23:57are segregated
23:57in reservations.
24:01The huts
24:06that they used
24:06to live in
24:07are raised
24:08to the ground.
24:13In the capital,
24:14Nairobi,
24:15where three out of four
24:16Kenyans are ethnic
24:17Kikuyu,
24:18more than 50,000 people
24:19are rounded up
24:20and arrested.
24:25But sympathizers
24:26to the cause
24:27have yet to be identified.
24:31The method used
24:40is quite random.
24:43Some are subjected
24:44to blunt interrogation.
24:47Others have their fate
24:48decided for them
24:49by hooded informers.
24:55Those suspected
24:56of having taken
24:57the famous oath
24:58are transferred
24:58to internment camps
25:00set up around
25:01the capital.
25:04Officially,
25:05there are 15 of these,
25:06but there are just
25:07as many unofficial ones.
25:09Daedan Kimathi,
25:18self-styled field marshal
25:20of the Mau Mau organization.
25:22His capture
25:22will have a great
25:23psychological effect,
25:24for the Mau Mau leaders
25:26still at large
25:26are only small fry.
25:28Without Kimathi,
25:30Mau Mau's days
25:31are numbered.
25:35With the capture
25:36of their last major leader,
25:37the Mau Mau revolt
25:38is crushed.
25:42But Governor Bering
25:43is not finished yet.
25:46He wants to destroy
25:47the seeds
25:48of any future rebellion.
25:51In addition,
25:52the tens of thousands
25:53of people detained
25:54without trial
25:55undergo a so-called
25:57rehabilitation process.
25:59The first step
26:00in this reintegration,
26:01the denial
26:02of the Mau Mau oath.
26:03of course,
26:05this rehabilitates
26:06no one.
26:08Classified according
26:09to their assumed
26:09degree of involvement,
26:11detainees are moved
26:12from one camp
26:13to another,
26:14where the only future
26:15they face
26:16is forced labor
26:17and torture.
26:18There are no pictures
26:22of the torture
26:22inflicted.
26:24But countless testimonies
26:26reveal the kind
26:27of suffering
26:27that had to be endured.
26:30In particular,
26:31through letters
26:32addressed to the
26:32colonial authorities,
26:33which have long
26:35remained confidential,
26:36but are now
26:37declassified.
26:38One of the reports.
26:43A white man
26:44forced a detainee
26:45to drink a bucket
26:46of water.
26:47His stomach
26:48was completely bloated.
26:50Water was coming
26:50out of his mouth,
26:52his nose,
26:53his ears.
26:54In the end,
26:54he died.
26:59Another testifies.
27:01A prisoner was made
27:02to put their head
27:03in a bucket of water.
27:05A white officer
27:06lifted one of their legs.
27:08A guard lifted the other.
27:10A third man
27:11forced sand
27:11into his anus
27:12with a stick.
27:16In the British
27:17camps in Kenya,
27:19the cruelty
27:19perpetrated
27:20by the torturers
27:21was quite unimaginable.
27:23In later years,
27:24the system
27:25would be described
27:25as a gulag.
27:28Even the Attorney General
27:30of the time,
27:31Sir Eric Griffith Jones,
27:33admitted that
27:33they were
27:34distressingly reminiscent
27:35of conditions
27:36in Nazi Germany
27:37or Communist
27:38Russia.
27:44But while the
27:45old guard
27:46still clings
27:47to its imperial
27:48daydreams,
27:49a new world order
27:50is taking shape.
27:52London will soon
27:52become aware of this
27:53in the Suez Canal.
27:55On October 31st, 1956,
28:06France and Great Britain
28:07embark on a military
28:08action in Egypt.
28:12Their aim?
28:13To recover the
28:14operation of the canal
28:15after President Nasser
28:17nationalizes the company
28:18which held the concession.
28:20military victory
28:25is quickly assured.
28:26But the two new
28:27masters of the world
28:28are not amused.
28:30Whereas the Soviet Union
28:32threatens nuclear
28:33retaliation,
28:34the U.S. president
28:35is quick to put
28:36the record straight.
28:37The United States
28:40was not consulted
28:41in any way
28:42about any phase
28:43of these actions.
28:44There will be
28:45no United States
28:46involvement
28:47in these present
28:48hostilities.
28:50The United Nations
28:51demands the withdrawal
28:52of the troops
28:53and deploys an emergency
28:54force to supervise
28:56the operation.
28:58Humiliated,
28:59the old European powers
29:01can only pack their bags
29:02and leave.
29:03It is a stunning slap
29:04in the face.
29:06In London,
29:07the Suez crisis
29:07brings down
29:08the government.
29:14Mr. Harold Macmillan
29:15becomes Prime Minister
29:16of Great Britain
29:17after Sir Antony Eden's
29:18surprise resignation.
29:21Despite his amiable
29:22English gentleman looks,
29:23the new Prime Minister
29:24is a seasoned politician.
29:27To limit the damage
29:28of the debacle,
29:29he tries to reassure
29:30his fellow citizens.
29:33Twice in my lifetime
29:35I have heard
29:35the same old tale
29:36about Britain being
29:38a second-rate power.
29:40And I have lived
29:41to see the answer.
29:43Britain
29:43has been great,
29:46is great
29:47and will stay great
29:49provided
29:50we close our ranks
29:53and get on
29:55with the job.
29:57But it's not that simple,
29:59particularly as the press
30:00is quick to reveal
30:01the abuses
30:02perpetrated in Kenya.
30:03In March 1959,
30:09atrocities covered up
30:10by the authorities
30:11are exposed.
30:17To stifle the scandal,
30:19the government orders
30:20the camps
30:21to be closed down.
30:24Imperial propaganda
30:25remains in fine fettle,
30:26however,
30:27and the news programs
30:28broadcast improbable images
30:30of prisoners greeting
30:31their former torturers
30:32as friends.
30:41As part of these measures,
30:43General Baring
30:44is quietly wheeled
30:45into retirement,
30:46and in response
30:47to the emergency,
30:48independence
30:49is under consideration
30:50for Kenya.
30:51But Macmillan
30:58has an altogether
30:59more daring plan
31:00in mind.
31:01To restore the image
31:02of empire,
31:03he will accelerate
31:04decolonization.
31:07In early 1960,
31:09he arrives in Africa.
31:15Officially,
31:15his tour aims
31:16to highlight
31:17the economic progress
31:18made by the member states
31:19of the Commonwealth.
31:23But in fact,
31:24he wants to transform
31:25the image
31:26of the United Kingdom
31:27by proffering
31:28the face
31:29of a caring Great Britain,
31:31keen to encourage
31:32the self-governance
31:33of its colonies.
31:36On arrival
31:37in South Africa,
31:38the final stopover
31:39on his journey,
31:40he delivers a speech
31:41for the ages.
31:45The wind of change
31:47is blowing
31:48through this continent.
31:49And whether we like
31:51it or not,
31:52this growth
31:53of national consciousness
31:54is a political fact,
31:57and our national policies
31:59must take account of it.
32:03Definitely a smart
32:04about turn.
32:05The colonial empire
32:07is now calling itself
32:08an enthusiastic
32:09decolonizer.
32:12And to burnish
32:13this new direction,
32:14Macmillan plays
32:15his wild card.
32:16The Queen
32:18once again
32:18sets out on travels
32:20across the Commonwealth.
32:24Welcome
32:25by cheering crowds,
32:27she embodies
32:27the good relations
32:28that Great Britain
32:29has with its former colonies.
32:34It's all nicely played.
32:38Between 1960
32:40and 1965,
32:41of the 16 British colonies
32:44which achieve independence,
32:4613 join the Commonwealth.
32:48These include
32:49Nigeria,
32:51Uganda,
32:51eventually Kenya,
32:53and many others.
32:59The 1965 Commonwealth Conference
33:02underlines the expansion
33:04of this great British family
33:05and the unfailing good relations
33:07that reign there.
33:10The 21 member states
33:11now constitute
33:12a truly international organization
33:14in which collaboration
33:17and exchange
33:18have replaced force
33:19and exploitation.
33:25The tenant
33:26in Downing Street
33:27may have changed,
33:29but Harold Wilson,
33:30the new Labour Prime Minister,
33:32values the Commonwealth
33:33as much
33:34as his conservative predecessors.
33:38In the final declaration,
33:40the delegates reaffirmed
33:42the values
33:43of the institution,
33:45dialogue,
33:46tolerance,
33:47and respect.
33:54But these commitments
33:55are far from being fulfilled
33:57in quite a few territories
33:58still under imperial domination.
34:01This is the case
34:02in the Middle East.
34:03The crown colony of Aden
34:06consists of 75 square miles
34:08of black volcanic rock
34:09and one of the world's
34:10busiest harbors.
34:15Because of its strategic location,
34:18the small city-state
34:19of South Yemen
34:20has become even more valuable
34:21since the loss of Suez
34:23because it controls access
34:24to the Red Sea.
34:25The British hope to keep control
34:30of the territory,
34:31but they know
34:32that their days are numbered.
34:40Two rival independence movements
34:42make their presence felt violently.
34:44each fights its own war
34:52of liberation.
34:56The city of Aden
34:57becomes a permanent battlefield
34:58where the state of emergency
35:00justifies emergency measures.
35:03There are countless breaches
35:05of the law.
35:05of the government.
35:07Stand in peace,
35:08and let them go.
35:14Come on.
35:16Come on.
35:16Come on.
35:17Come on.
35:18Come on.
35:19Come on.
35:19Come on.
35:20Come on.
35:21Give up.
35:21Get.
35:22Come on.
35:23Say I'm lucky or amin.
35:24Amen.
35:25Amen.
35:25Amen.
35:25Amen.
35:26Amen.
35:26Amen.
35:27Amen.
35:27God!
35:27Faced with the escalating violence, the government sets an independence date for the following year.
35:36But the calendar is going to be shaken up by events.
35:45On June 20, 1967, 22 soldiers are killed in an ambush.
35:51In the process, independence fighters take control of the old district of Crater, which becomes a no-go area for the British.
36:03London orders its troops not to intervene.
36:11But Colonel Colin Mitchell, known as Mad Mitch, is intent on revenge.
36:17Like any good old-school soldier, he refuses to let the affront go unpunished.
36:23Disobeying orders, he retakes the district with his Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders without any qualms.
36:29I have no compunction in saying that if some chap now starts throwing grenades or using pistols, we shall kill him.
36:46Mitchell sets the media to work for him. Television reporters are invited to cover his hunt for the terrorists.
37:05We're going in now to investigate a report that a house possibly has a cache of terrorist guns and ammunition in it.
37:21And we shall be there now in a few seconds.
37:25For the first time, the British are witnessing a colonial conflict in real time.
37:29It's a soap opera that fascinates the public.
37:33Glued to their TV sets, between 10 and 15 million viewers follow the exploits of the rebellious regiment.
37:39If you'd been a soldier at the turn of the century, your objectives would have been much clearer, wouldn't they, than they are now?
37:46You mean I'd have been a nigger-bashing imperialist?
37:50Perhaps, sir.
37:51I probably, yes.
37:53No, I believe that this is the national malaise, isn't it?
37:56I mean, nobody really knows what they're on at home.
37:58And we watch ourselves going from being a, you know, first, second, third and half-hour down rate power.
38:03After the setbacks of recent years, the Highlanders in subordination relights the beacon of the Empire.
38:10To the great consternation of the authorities, Mad Mitch becomes an icon beyond approach.
38:26But the news coverage glosses over the less salubrious aspects of his recapture.
38:31As in Malaysia and Kenya, Mitchell's men use questionable means.
38:36One soldier, tasked with delivering victims to the basement of a bank converted into an interrogation chamber, recounts...
38:47I could hear sticks cracking skulls.
38:51Rifle butts shattering jaws.
38:53I could hear the questions that were asked.
38:56The Arabs begging.
38:58More hits to the head.
38:59Another question.
39:01And finally, an answer.
39:06Aidan suffers a four-month reign of terror.
39:22Four months before the government demands that the Highlanders be recalled.
39:29One night in October, Mad Mitch's men are moved out.
39:33The defence minister, Dennis Healy, later admits...
39:38We were wrong to continue killing people in Aidan when we were going to leave anyway.
39:46The British Army's reputation is beyond redemption.
39:50A general withdrawal of troops is expected.
39:53There will be neither an independence ceremony nor a political solution.
39:58Aidan is left to the tender mercies of two rival nationalist movements, which will have to control the territory's future between them.
40:11By the 1970s, most of Britain's colonies have emancipated themselves.
40:22Some bloodily.
40:24Some more peacefully.
40:26And sometimes, as in South Rhodesia, rather unusually.
40:29Because here, it is the white minority which secedes from the crown.
40:42It is an independence intended to prevent any accession to power by the black majority.
40:47I don't believe in black majority rule ever in Rhodesia. Not in a thousand years.
41:00By 1976, Ian Smith has led a segregationist government for a decade which Great Britain considers illegal and which is ostracized internationally.
41:09Ten long years during which London fails to take up its responsibilities as a supervisory power and vetoes any form of armed intervention.
41:22Certainly, economic sanctions are imposed.
41:26But in vain.
41:28The colonialists continue to impose their own law.
41:30Faced with the inertia of the crown, two national liberation movements, one supported by the Chinese, the other by the Soviets, unite their forces to fight against the holders of white power.
41:47The patriotic front thus created expands its activities exponentially.
41:53A war in all but name erupts.
41:55Despite the weaponry deployed by the Rhodesian army, the patriotic front fighters put up fierce resistance.
42:20The rural population is caught in the crossfire.
42:22Those who collaborate with the whites are massacred by the guerrillas.
42:29Meanwhile, those suspected of supporting the rebels are punished by the opposing side.
42:39Hundreds of thousands of people are herded into reservations.
42:42Deprived of resources, many experience hunger and survive under miserable conditions.
43:01To escape the roundups, more than a million people abandon their villages.
43:05Crowded into the slums which flourish around the capital, they are reduced to subsistence living.
43:20Others take refuge in camps in neighboring countries.
43:23In total, almost 20% of the country's black population flees abroad to escape persecution.
43:35But their respite is short-lived.
43:39Their refuges in Zambia and in Mozambique also double as training grounds for patriotic front fighters.
43:52They make perfect targets for the Rhodesian armed forces.
43:56The camps are bombarded indiscriminately.
43:58Having fled there in the hope of escaping death, hundreds of civilians are killed in the bombardment of a camp at Shimoyo.
44:10The exact number of victims will never be known.
44:31However, despite the escalating violence, the Rhodesian army struggles to make any headway.
44:36Soon, the war effort depletes the country's economic resources.
44:43Forced into a corner, Ian Smith must make some concessions.
44:48In 1978, a first multiracial government is established.
44:53But power remains in white hands.
44:58Excluded from the negotiations, the patriotic front refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the new government.
45:06The international community follows suit.
45:09And the hostilities continue.
45:16One year later, the biannual Commonwealth Conference takes place in Lusaka in Zambia.
45:23On the agenda is the thorny question of Rhodesia.
45:26As a way to break the impasse, the member states hope to bring all of their weight to bear on the belligerents.
45:36Great Britain's immobility has always blocked such an initiative.
45:39The queen graces the summit with her presence at great risk, a reminder that within the great family, the wider interest must prevail.
45:52But one great unknown remains.
45:53The brand-new prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, has yet to pronounce on the matter.
46:02She may recognize the legitimacy of Rhodesia's latest government, or join her partners in a common initiative.
46:09The ball is in her court.
46:13The aim is to bring Rhodesia to legal independence.
46:18The British government is wholly committed to genuine black majority rule in Rhodesia.
46:31It's about time.
46:33After 13 years of civil war and almost 30,000 dead, Mrs. Thatcher's declaration paves the way for talks, which will lead to free elections.
46:46Great Britain, once again, pulls a rabbit from the hat, and looks good in the process.
46:51On April 18, 1980, the last remaining part of the British Empire on the African continent is no more.
47:04At midnight, the Union Jack is lowered, and is replaced with the flag of the new state, to be known as Zimbabwe.
47:12Yet another page has turned. The United Kingdom is turning in on itself.
47:32Impoverished and bereft of their familiar landmarks, the British no longer know which way to turn.
47:37Margaret Thatcher, lagging in the opinion polls, runs a country which has not only lost its empire, but also its identity.
47:47Suddenly, on April 2, 1982, the Crown sovereignty is under threat.
47:54On the other side of the world, the Falklands, a handful of islands that remain under British rule, are invaded by Argentina.
48:00Her Majesty's armed forces are dispatched without delay to the South Atlantic to defend the integrity of British territory,
48:10and bring succor to the island's 3,000 inhabitants.
48:13After 10 years of combat, and more than 900 dead, Britain's final colonial conflict ends in victory.
48:31The combatants' return home provokes an outpouring of incredible jubilation.
48:44This recapture of its imperial breadcrumbs has allowed the country to recover its honor and pride.
48:52Forget the humiliations, the downgrading, the snubs. The British regain their former glory.
49:01Now once again, Britain is not prepared to be pushed around. We have ceased to be a nation in retreat.
49:18In the summer of 2013, after lengthy court proceedings, a group of Mau Mau is awarded compensation for the atrocities perpetrated in Kenya.
49:3420 million British pounds are paid to the survivors of this dark page in their history.
49:39A golden opportunity for British society to question the myth of the peaceful decolonization of its empire.
49:48Unfortunately, it is an opportunity which will not be taken.
49:55Five years later, the ritual Commonwealth Conference is still presided over by the immutable Elizabeth II.
50:02Year after year, her attachment to the great family remains unchanged.
50:07My whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and to the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.
50:24Despite the crimes, torture and dubious practices which have marked the march towards independence of her former colonies,
50:30the image of a sovereign surrounded by her former subjects perpetuates the legend of peaceful emancipation.
50:42As long as Queen Elizabeth is there, no other version of British decolonization can be entertained.
50:48Once she is gone, history remains to be written.
50:52Once she is gone, history remains to be written.
50:54Once she is gone, history remains to be written.
50:55A CIDADE NO BRASIL
51:25A CIDADE NO BRASIL
51:55A CIDADE NO BRASIL
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