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"Men of Africa is a proud answer to those who decry the work of Great Britain
as trustee for the Colonial Empire" - Documentary News Letter, June 1940.
By the end of the 19th century, the British Empire comprised nearly a quarter
of the Earth's land surface and included more than a quarter of the world's
population, reaching its widest extent in the period between the two world wars.
After World War II Britain's difficult economic position and the increasing
denunciation of imperialism at home and in the colonies marked the beginning of
the dismantling of the Empire. By the end of the 1960s, the Colonial Office was
left with only a few territories to administer.
The British colonies of Hong Kong, Fiji, Malaya, British Honduras and British
Guiana receive a cursory mention in the first part of this film, but the main
focus is on Africa, patronisingly referred to as "home of more primitive people"
by the commentator. The contemporary shift in public attitude regarding
imperialism is reflected in the film's wavering between old imperialistic hubris
(most apparent in the opening sequence, in which Britain's vast colonial empire
is graphically hailed in the form of a global map), and a new commitment to
bettering the livelihoods of the people of its colonies. The Colonial Office's
programmes on health, education and agriculture are described in detail, with
the intended outcome being delegation of responsibility to the tribal councils
of East African villages. Britain's willingness to encourage the colonies to
manage their own affairs was very much in line with the contemporary disavowal
of its historically mercantile philosophy.
Paving the way for independence might be the implicit message here but the
rhetoric of patronage and subordination is ever present in the commentary: "the
control of all these colonies lies with the Colonial Office in London... British
rule has bought peace but there is still a long battle to be fought with
poverty, ignorance and disease."
The mid-century process of decolonisation saw colonies in South-East Asia,
Africa and the West Indies gain independent statehood. With this the role of the
Colonial Office diminished, and in 1966 it merged with the Commonwealth
Relations Office to form the Comonwealth Office. Two years later they were both
integrated into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, more commonly known today
as the Foreign Office.
Katy McGahan
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1. Defeating malaria (2:21)
Monthly Film Bulletin review
