Debnath, Angela L.; (2012) Britain at the birth of Bangladesh. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).

Preview

Text Debnath_Angela_PhD Thesis - Angela Debnath-1_redacted.pdf Download (13MB) | Preview

Abstract

How did Britain perceive the extreme violence that led to the creation of Bangladesh, how did it respond and what factors shaped those perceptions and responses? This thesis seeks to answer these questions using British intelligence reports from 1971 and personal interviews with British diplomats, parliamentarians and government officials of the era. Reflecting both self-interest and genuine concern, British responses to the East Pakistan crisis that ultimately led to the birth of Bangladesh, provide insights into a markedly under-researched episode of nationalist conflict in a former British colony. The range of responses reflects the challenges that the multi-layered violence posed to external observers, and calls into question a widespread tendency to cast the violence as either civil war or genocide. Finally, they illustrate the ambiguities of this juncture in British history when, apparently ready to accept its secondary power status, Britain still sought with varying degrees of success to retain international stature, resulting in a dualistic foreign policy towards South Asia that combined reserve with cautious initiative. By documenting the ambiguities and challenging the relatively simplistic explanations we have of events to date, the thesis provides a deeper understanding of this under-examined yet controversial period in international history when composite violence was met with composite response.

Download activity - last month

Export as JSONCSVXML

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as JSONXMLCSV

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as XMLCSVJSON

Archive Staff Only

View Item