11 - The crisis of colonial society, 1929–45

Summary

These years were the pivot of Tanganyika's modern history. They saw the transition from the creation of colonial society to the beginning of its dissolution. The transition coincided with the crisis of western capitalism during the international depression and the Second World War, when Britain exploited her empire in a manner which some realised must make its eventual loss inevitable. A new colonial initiative after the war briefly concealed the crisis but ultimately deepened it.

The crisis contained five elements. First, the restructuring of economy and society into a colonial mould slowed down. Although the structures of colonial society subsequently became more elaborate, they did not fundamentally change. Tanganyika's economic structure in 1961 was essentially the same as in 1939. Second, and related to this, colonial society and economy produced diminishing returns. Each investment of effort brought a smaller reward. Economic growth and social advancement only intensified the problems they sought to solve. The third element of crisis was that both colonisers and colonised lost faith in the colonisers' vision of the future. Europeans doubted whether their aims were attainable; Africans doubted whether they were desirable. Consequently – and this is the fourth point – the colonial regime became increasingly conservative and repressive as it defended earlier achievements. The final element of crisis followed: responsibility for the future passed into the minds and hands of the colonised. Liberation became the dynamic of change.