Whitehall and the Black Republic

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxv

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2. An Outline of the Past

   • Jyotirmoy Pal Chaudhuri

   Pages 1-32

3. The British Foreign Office and Liberian Neutrality During World War I

   • Jyotirmoy Pal Chaudhuri

   Pages 33-72

4. The Sequel to the Declaration of War

   • Jyotirmoy Pal Chaudhuri

   Pages 73-101

5. British Reaction to the Firestone Investment in Liberia

   • Jyotirmoy Pal Chaudhuri

   Pages 103-128

6. The Fernando Po Labour Crisis of 1929–1930

   • Jyotirmoy Pal Chaudhuri

   Pages 129-169

7. The League of Nations Plan of Assistance

   • Jyotirmoy Pal Chaudhuri

   Pages 171-198

8. The British and the Unrest on the Kru Coast

   • Jyotirmoy Pal Chaudhuri

   Pages 199-231

9. An Improving Image Abroad 1934–1939

   • Jyotirmoy Pal Chaudhuri

   Pages 233-251

10. Correction to: Whitehall and the Black Republic

    • Jyotirmoy Pal Chaudhuri

    Pages C1-C1

11. Back Matter

    Pages 253-279

    PDF

This book examines the history of the relationship between Liberia and Britain—the world’s first black republic, founded by former slaves, and the world’s strongest colonial power. Jyotirmoy Pal Chaudhuri excavates a wealth of archival sources to reconstruct a turbulent narrative spanning key points in twentieth-century Liberian history. Pal Chaudhuri argues that the Black Republic was never a serious item on the British agenda for constructive action in West Africa, as seen in the repeated failure of their concessionaires, their interference with the Firestone rubber project, and their efforts to have Liberia expelled from the League of Nations. Untangling the conflicts and contradictions between Britain’s colonial interests and humanitarian ideals, Whitehall and the Black Republic is a long overdue contribution to the history of Liberia and the British Empire.

• Liberian history
• British policy in Liberia
• British colonial imperialism
• Anglophone Africa
• West African history
• Anglo-German Rivalry in West Africa
• First World War
• Firestone Company
• the rubber industry in Liberia
• Liberian Government
• Anglo-Liberian relations
• the League of Nations
• C.D.B. King
• E.J. Barclay

“Few scholars have published such meticulous research on Liberian history in book form. Jyotirmoy Pal Chaudhuri has crafted a serious account of a turbulent period when internal demands for incorporation were enmeshed in the politics and diplomacy of colonial imperialism, bringing to the fore a critical mass of modern-educated indigenous Liberians who were conscious of their marginalization and prepared to assert their rights within the ambit of the fledgling Liberian state. A singular contribution to the history of Liberia.” (Elwood Dunn, Alfred Walter Negley Professor Emeritus of Political Science, The University of the South, USA)

• Kolkata, India

  Jyotirmoy Pal Chaudhuri

Jyotirmoy Pal Chaudhuri is the author of numerous articles on African history and Liberian history. He is a former professor and history department chair at the University of Liberia and Cuttington University, Liberia, as well as the John Cadbury Fellow at the Centre of West African Studies, University of Birmingham, England. 

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