A Study On The Decolonization Of Vanuatu(1906-1980)

In 1906,Britain and France signed the "Convention between the United Kingdom and France Concerning the New Hebrides " and started the condominium of two countries in the New Hebrides.During the condominium period,New Hebrides was divided in politics,economy,justice,education and medical care,which was caused by the coexistence of Britain and France and local forces.Because of the duality of new Hebrides’ s ruling mechanism during the colonial period,the whole social operation has certain defects.Local islanders have been excluded from government work for a long time;The land is constantly occupied by the church or condominium government;Citizenship is not recognized;The judicial system treats British and French residents and indigenous people differently.After the Second World War,the national consciousness of the people of New Hebrides kept awakening and began to pursue the return of national identity and traditional customs.In 1960s,the early national independence movement was mainly accompanied by John Frum Movement and Nagriamel,both of which emphasized the importance of customs and opposed the existence of colonial government,but both of them were confined to specific island areas.After 1970s,the newly educated English-speaking generation considered the independence of the whole country,not the independence of specific islands.Modern nationalism began to develop with the establishment of political parties,mainly reflected in the confrontation and competition between the English-speaking party Vanuaaku Pati and the French-speaking party Federalist.On July 30,1980,the Vanuaaku Pati came to power,and the new Hebrides was officially renamed Vanuatu and became an independent country.Of course,behind independence,there are separatist rebellions and international support.In the face of the demand for the independence of the New Hebrides,Britain,like other southwest Pacific islands,adopted a more tolerant or compromised position on the road to island independence.France,on the other hand,regards any form of autonomy of the New Hebrides as the first card in the domino of the disintegration of its overseas colonies,thus opposing and preventing the transfer of power.The different decolonization policies of Britain and France also led to confrontation and conflict between the two sides.The decolonization of Vanuatu is incomplete,and there are many problems such as the exclusion of French-speaking residents,linguistic dualism and dependence on aid for development.Vanuatu’s future development needs to consider more about its own national development issues than colonial issues.