ABSTRACT

The multiethnic peoples of Sarawak and North Borneo were traumatized by the wartime experiences, and all quarters overall welcomed the new status and administration. By the Instrument of Cession on 1 July 1946, the Rajah Charles’s sovereignty over Sarawak was handed over to the British Crown. When the Colonial Office assumed the administration of Sarawak and North Borneo, its agenda of governance was influenced by several considerations from within as well as threats and pressure from without. Prime Minister Anthony Eden’s misadventure in the Middle East, intending to turn the clock back to its imperial setting, backfired with implications across the British Empire. Prime Minister Eden’s misadventure in the Middle East, intending to turn the clock back to its imperial setting, backfired with implications across the British Empire. The post-war temper of the times was for imperialist powers such as Britain, France, and others to disengage and dismantle their respective colonial empires and possessions.