ABSTRACT
In addition to the two world wars, the rapid decolonisation since 1947 has been the most important phenomenon of the 20th century. The two wars in fact led to the decline of the European colonial empires and speeded up decolonisation. The formative influence of the process of decolonisation on the respective constitutions was more or less the same in all ex-colonies. With the exception of the Japanese who lost their colonies—Korea and Taiwan—at the end of the Second World War, all colonial rulers bequeathed constitutions to their departing colonies. The Cartesian mind of the French politicians and administrators projected a uniform pattern of imperial governance. Even when the machine had to be put into reverse gear, i.e., process of decolonisation, it was operated with the same mindset that had prevailed so far. At the highest level they concerned the linkages of metropolitan power with its colonies which were supposed to survive decolonisation by transforming imperialism into some kind of partnership.
