Why did colonial powers wish to hand over power to local leaders? Especially after WWII?

Question

what was the advantage for them to do this? Can you name some examples?

Answer 1

After WWII, the League of Nations or present day United Nations was formed to prevent another war like WW2, that involves many countries from ever occuring.

Colonial powers knew that it would be in their best interests to grant colonies political independence in an effort to prevent/avoid uprisings in their colonies. At that time it was also the cool thing or fad of the moment.

Also, colonies were beginning to lose their resources that were no longer viable for the colonialists to maintain. Therefore, the colonialists no longer needed the colonies and thus granted them political independence.

Example the British, French, Belgians gave a lot of their African colonies political independence after WW2. However, some of these countries/former colonial powers still control/own a majority of their former colonies resources, which is why those countries can never get profits/benefits from their own countries resources. So, obviously poverty will be hard to eliminate.

Answer 2

Well, the main reason why the collonial fathers handed over powers to local chiefs was:

1. They know the people more than they, themselves know them.

1. They cannot comfortably reach the people to achieve their aim without the help of the local chiefs.

3. The chiefs are respected so much by the people and anything they are told to do by the chiefs that they will do.

other reasons are embedded into these.

The advantage in these is that:
1. It allows for better leadership in the sence that proper leadership is based on the knowledge of the subject.

2. The land is vast and the people are plenty and scartered all over the place, rules and regulations set for the people could not be properly implemented if the local enforcers and not employed, and the local chiefs have to be contacted before this is done.

3. Proper implementation is done when the rules come from the local chiefs.

Answer 3

The Countries didn't really have any choice.
Because of the amount of expenditure involved, apart from America and Russia. America being an exception due to the fact that it's mainland hadn't been effected by the War and it's Loan, Lease agreement with the British. The exception of Russia being that it was run by a Tyrant who used didn't care about his peoples welfare. The expenditure was to rebuld their countries after either being overun by the Nazis or in the amount spent in the war effort in protecting and retaking the countries overun. The British empire suffered the most as we could no longer sustain a large enough army to keep all the countries under our control because we had to rebuild the devastation caused by the Nazis. Russia was able to expand because Stalin left those people in his country devastated by the war to rebuild without help. Concentrating on taking control of East European countries.
The middle East was retaken by their own people. Whilst countries like Australia and African countries controlled by British were left in control of local British leaders who claimed independence. Those countries owned by the Germans were left to run themselves, but countries under French rule. Vietnam, for example, until the Viet-Cong threw them out remained and still remain under French rule despite their wish to be independent. If they are not then the French help subsidise the fractions within those countries which wish to overthrow the governments so they can have some control. Take the Ivory Coast for example. They decided to become independent. But the French are subsidising terrorists to undermine the country so they can have a "Peace keeping force" there, so they can keep control of the gold and diamond mines there.

Answer 4

Most of the colonial powers were next to bankrupt after the war.
A lot of these colony's saw an opportunity to go for independence knowing the colonial powers would not send there war weary troops into another conflict, also money & manpower was needed to rebuild there own economy

Answer 5

dunno