Transitions: Britain’s decolonization of India and Pakistan

In this chapter, Johnson analyses the processes and calculations that led to the British withdrawal from India and Pakistan in 1947–48. This was not simply a case of the British being driven out, but rather a combination of unrest in India and new priorities for the British at home, set against an exceptionally short timeline for transition. The deteriorating security situation illustrated the limitations of force, but also the inadequacy of the new administrations to agree on a political settlement. These left Britain with responsibilities it no longer had the power to discharge. Maintaining a good relationship with the successor governments was prioritized over former efforts to transfer power gradually. The war had transformed India dramatically, but transition, including the break-up of the security forces, took place amid shocking communal violence