The British Council’s West African Policy: Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and the Gold Coast, 1945-1965
Ideology has played an increasingly crucial role in international relations as an excuse and justification for action. By the end of the 1930s the Allies went to war in defence of western civilization and afterwards divided into ideologically separate blocs. Between the two world wars every major European power embarked on a programme of national advertisement. France, Germany and Italy simply multiplied the activities of bodies established in the 19th century. In 1925 the Soviet Union founded the ‘All Union Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries’ (VOKS) and in 1934 Britain established the British Committee which became the British Council.
The British Council’s appearance signalled the absolute and relative decline of Britain as a world leader. The establishment of similar bodies by other powers did not necessarily suggest the same fact as this also coincided with the beginning of an era of mass communications and increased Government intervention in, and control over, international communications. Like in other fields, ‘laissez-faire’ in the cultural sphere was no longer regarded as good enough. The birth of the British Council indicated Britain’s recognition of the changing nature of international politics and the importance of prestige and influence where traditional political and economic power bases are threatened. Foreign policies that can no longer be enforced by other means have to rely heavily on influence. Such pattern is illustrated in the present thesis which focuses on the British Council and British Cultural diplomacy in West Africa, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and the Gold Coast (Ghana), during both the colonial and post-colonial eras (1945-1965).
