ABSTRACT

The rapid collapse of European empires in Africa transformed the politics of the white settler dominated states at the south of the continent. In what briefly remained ‘British Central Africa’, the rise of sovereign states created a new sphere of political competition between white officials and their anti-colonial nationalist opponents. White authorities, while perturbed by imperial retreat and committed to racial discrimination at home, nonetheless attempted to cultivate the emerging African nations. After some initial diplomatic success in west Africa, increasingly assertive African leaders became more overtly aligned with the cause of African nationalism in Southern Rhodesia, the pre-eminent British settler colony in the region. The presence of white settler officials at African independence celebrations generally became unacceptable. Conversely, the colony’s anti-colonial nationalists, initially excluded from independence ceremonies, quickly became the preferred diplomatic interlocutor at these events. This transformation forestalled settler attempts to establish diplomatic footholds in majority-ruled African states, but also spurred intra-nationalist factionalism. This analysis adds new insights on the rise of white unilateralism, the process by which the ‘wind of change’ reached southern Africa, and underscores the swift radicalisation of pan-African diplomacy.

摘要

欧洲帝国在非洲的迅速崩溃改变了非洲大陆南部白人定居者主导国家的政治。在短暂保留为“英属中非”的地区，主权国家的崛起在白人官员和他们的反殖民民族主义对手之间创造了一个新的政治竞争领域。白人当局虽然对帝国的撤退感到不安，并致力于国内的种族歧视，但仍试图培养新兴的非洲国家。在西非取得一些初步的外交成功后，越来越自信的非洲领导人更加公开地与南罗得西亚的非洲民族主义事业保持一致，南罗得西亚是该地区最杰出的英国定居者殖民地。白人定居者官员出席非洲独立庆祝活动通常变得不可接受。相反，该殖民地的反殖民民族主义者最初被排除在独立仪式之外，但很快就成为这些事件中首选的外交对话者。这种转变阻止了定居者在多数人统治的非洲国家建立外交立足点的尝试，但也刺激了民族主义内部的派系主义。这一分析增加了对白人单边主义兴起的新见解，即“变革之风”吹至南部非洲的过程，并强调了泛非外交的迅速激进化。但也刺激了民族主义内部的派系主义。这一分析增加了对白人单边主义兴起的新见解，即“变革之风”吹至南部非洲的过程，并强调了泛非外交的迅速激进化。但也刺激了民族主义内部的派系主义。这一分析增加了对白人单边主义兴起的新见解，即“变革之风”吹至南部非洲的过程，并强调了泛非外交的迅速激进化。