An Empire Gem”
British Wartime Planning for Post-War Burma, 1943–44
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9083513 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nicholas Tarling (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1982 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 310-348 |
| Publication date | 1982-09-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Southeast Asian Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-4634 • E-ISSN: 1474-0680 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0022463400008729 |
| OpenAlex | W2164677014 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 3 |
British planning for post-war Burma had been set back by the Cabinet's decision in April 1943 not to adopt the proposals put forward by Leopold Amery, the Secretary of State. Designed also to meet the need for wartime propaganda, the proposals had envisaged a programme of reconstruction aided by the British, carried forward during a period of direct rule, to be followed by advance towards self-government. There were doubts about the amount of aid Britain could promise. There were also doubts as to the wisdom of the concept of direct rule, though in fact the Cabinet accepted the principle without setting a limit to the period. Above all, the Prime Minister opposed further policy declarations on Burma. The war, Churchill believed, was not the time for them. Amery and Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith, the Governor, thought that he really believed that no time would be right for them. They were not without hope that he would “come round”. Meanwhile, it was decided that the Burma Government, in exile in Simla, would remain in existence. “I can not help thinking that it would be a bad thing politically actually to do away with the office of Governor of Burma, if only because it would [be] a welcome propaganda point for the Japanese who would doubtless use it to demonstrate either that we have given up all hopes of retaking Burma or that we visualise setting up a Military Government in Burma....”
Archaeology · Cabinet (room) · Government (linguistics) · Governor · Political science · Politics · Prime minister · World War II · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Engineering · Global Political and Social Dynamics · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · History · Law · Philosophy
| Highly cited | No |
|---|