While fighting communist rebels, Britain decided that handing power to an elected non-communist government would help beat them.
The Emergency began in 1948. The Malayan Communist Party (MCP) led an armed revolt. It wanted to end British rule and set up a communist state. British and Commonwealth troops and police fought back. They used arrests, curfews and information about the rebels' movements.
Many people were moved into guarded New Villages. The aim was to cut the rebels off from food and help. Some villages gained schools or clinics. But residents lost freedom of movement.
This was during the Cold War, the rivalry between communist and Western powers. Britain feared a communist government. But British rule also helped the rebels, who said they were fighting foreign rulers. An elected local government that stayed friendly to Britain would take that argument away. The Emergency went on after independence and ended in 1960.
- 1948 to 1960
- The Emergency against the MCP's armed revolt.
- New Villages
- Guarded settlements to cut rebels off from food and help.
- British aim
- Hand power to a friendly, non-communist elected government.
Worked example: Why hand over power during a war?
An elected local government offers to keep working with Britain on security.
- The rebels claim they are fighting foreign rule.
- If Malayans govern themselves, that claim loses force.
- Britain keeps defence ties with the new government, so independence helps its security aims.
Watch out for this
Britain gave independence only after all the fighting ended.
Malaya became independent in 1957, while the Emergency was still going. It ended in 1960.
Check your understanding
How could independence help Britain fight the communist rebels?
- It meant British troops left Malaya at once.
- It came only after the rebels had surrendered.
- It weakened the rebels' claim that they were fighting foreign rule.