ABSTRACT
The period between the wars was characterized by almost universal support for the idea that it was necessary for Britain to stay in Africa, either indefinitely or until particular reforms had been achieved. The survival of beliefs in racial superiority made British control over African territories seem both inevitable and desirable. But during the 1920s and 1930s in England such polarization existed only in embryo. The Marxist-Leninists had failed to envisage Britain’s readiness to relinquish political control which, in most colonies, passed fairly peacefully into African hands. The preparations for independence meant allowing Africans to participate in the area of national politics from which they had been excluded in the inter-war years. The paternalist claim to be able to promote desirable political, economic and social development seems to be denied by the evidence in Africa.
