Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Islands – great britain'

The aim of the thesis is to analyze Britain's Mediterranean strategy and his relationship to the acquisition of the Dodecanese islands to Greece. Chapter I of this study includes a historical background of the islands prior to the Second World War. Chapter II examines British policy toward Greece and the Dodecanese between 1923-43. Chapter III provides an analysis of the role of the Dodecanese within British policy and military operations in the eastern Mediterranean. The last section deals with the actual restoration of the Dodecanese islands to Greece.

This analysis proposes the thesis that in the formulation of post-war British defence policy, wider strategic developments taking place in the international environment are as important as, if not more than, domestic economic considerations, and examines the motivations that lay behind the British government's decision to recapture the Falkland Islands after their seizure by Argentine forces in April 1982. It is a first and comprehensive attempt to explore these two themes. It presents a challenge to the dominant view that British defence policy has, over the past two decades, been influenced by purely economic factors. Throughout the post-war era, defence analysts have come to accept the orthodox paradigm of British defence policy which attributes the reduction in the size of Britain's defence dispositions entirely to financial and economic pressures. While not negating the role of economic factors, this work rejects the gravamen of the orthodox paradigm and attempts to bring balance to the intellectual debate confronting British defence policy. Using the Falklands War as a case-study, this analysis demonstrates the salience of strategic imperatives and underscores the view that economic constraints can be pushed aside for what decision-makers perceive to be higher national and politico-strategic interests. It argues that while several factors may appear to have influenced the British decision to retake the Islands, only two interlocking sets are truly credible. These relate to national honour considerations and the fight for principles. Moreover, it argues that the credibility of the latter flows from the primacy of pride and prestige, thus making national honour considerations the dominant motif or explanation. The analysis begins with a review of the literature and shows the gaps which this work attempts to fill. Chapter Two examines the strategic and economic trends and developments in British defence policy prior to the Falklands War. Chapter Three presents a comprehensive picture and explanation of the Falkland Islands as an issue of long-standing dispute between Argentina and Britain. In Chapter Four, the factors that prompted the Junta to launch its attack are examined and the British response discussed. Chapters Five and Six utilize the Falklands War as a formidable case to support the major theme of this work. Chapter Seven provides a summary, and concludes with a short examination of four basic issues relating to the analysis.

This thesis examines the politics of local, governance in the Scottish Highlands, taking the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) network - made up of a central core and 10 Local Enterprise Companies (LECs) - as its institutional focus. It synthesises regulationist approaches and neo-Marxist state theory to explain LECs as part of a broader process of re-regulation under consecutive Conservative governments. LECs are unelected, business-led agencies operating at the local level. The political discourse through which LECs were established and promoted created expectations of local autonomy among business representatives that clashed with the centralising tendencies of Thatcherism. The thesis examines how the resultant tension between local initiative and central control has been worked out within the HIE network. It relies on data collected from seventy semi-structured interviews with representatives of HIE, LECs, local authorities, businesses and community groups. The initial chapters introduce the research and consider key methodological issues, set out the theoretical framework, and review the practices of the Highlands and Islands Development Board (HIDB, HIE's successor). The thesis then explores the key tension between local initiative and central control, explaining how it has been mediated and resolved through routine institutional practices. It also examines HIE-LECs relations with other key agencies, notably local authorities, through selected examples of multi-agency partnerships and assesses LECs' local accountability and representativeness. Finally, a concluding chapter sets out the main findings and considers their implications. While key managerial 'technologies' such as targeting, audit and financial controls allow central government to monitor and steer the HIE network, the thesis argues that the authoritative resources of the HIE core - grounded in the combination of local knowledge and technical expertise inherited from the HIDB - enables it to adapt key aspects of the operating regime to its own purposes. Local autonomy is limited by the relative centralisation of the Network, and LECs operate in a system of structured flexibility in which their scope to adapt policy to local conditions is constrained by state rules and procedures. In emphasising that local autonomy is limited by hierarchical mechanisms of control, the thesis argues that local governance in the Scottish Highlands continues to be underpinned by government. It also points to the limits of the regulation approach and neo-Marxist state theory as theoretical perspectives, suggesting that neo-Foucauldian writings on govemmentality are useful in providing stronger analytical purchase on the specific mechanisms and procedures through which state regulation is practised.

The aim of the thesis is to study the circumstances which influenced the policy of the British Government towards the decolonization of the Falklands from 1945 to 1989. A comprehensive approach to the subject enabled an examination of the inter-relationship between the various forces which defined the nature of the dilemma. The themes included economic development, the form of landownership in the Colony, Falkland politics, the strategic value of the Islands, Anglo- Argentine trade and the Antarctic dimension. The thesis presents an original interpretation of how volatile and unpredictable pressures defined the dispute. A pattern emerges which shows that Government policy consisted of responses to different situations. The structure is based on a chronological approach which concentrates on the seven major turning-points in the dispute and how they were perceived in Britain and the Falklands. It also includes three original case studies. First, there is a socio- economic study of the peculiar approach to the colonization of the Falklands in the nineteenth century which provides a background to later developments. Secondly, the 1982 Conflict shows how the problems of the last British colonial territories can be in inverse proportion to their size. Thirdly, the examination of the Falkland Lobby gives a detailed account of how a successful British pressure group is organized. The primary sources used were Foreign and Colonial Office files at the Public Records Office (Kew) for the period up to the 1950s, and the archives of the Falkland Islands Association for the period from the mid-1960s. These were supplemented by private papers, the records of the Falkland Islands Company in London, interviews with prominent people, contemporary newspapers, official documents and secondary sources.

This thesis addresses the textual bias inherent in the historiography by exploring the value of visual images as a source of evidence for cultural perceptions of the Gàidhealtachd. Visual images stood at the sharp end of the means by which stereotypes were forged and sustained. In part, this was a direct result of the special role afforded to the image in the cultural and intellectual climate of Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment Europe. This thesis looks at the evolution of visual interest in the Highlands and Islands on two fronts, documentary and aesthetic, and pays particular attention to the way in which the two main functions of the image in society came to be intertwined. This thesis argues that the concept of antiquity was the single most powerful influence driving the visual representation of the Highlands and Islands during a long period from c. 1700 to around 1880, and indeed into the twentieth century. If something could be regarded as ancient, aboriginal, dead, or even dying, it acquired both documentary and aesthetic value. This applied to actual antiquities, to customs and manners perceived as indigenous and ‘traditional’ to the region, and, ultimately, even to the physical landscape. Successive chapters explore what might now be classified as the archaeological, ethnological and geological motives for visualising the Highlands and Islands, and the bias in favour of antiquity which resulted from the spread of intellectual influences into the fine arts. The shadow of time which hallmarked visual representations of the region resulted in a preservationist mentality which has had powerful repercussions down to the present day. The body of evidence considered – which embraces maps, plans, paintings, drawings, sketches and printed images by both professionals and amateurs – must be viewed as a rich and valuable companion to the written word.

This thesis examines the construction of frames of Second World War memory in the post-occupation Channel Islands, and considers the impact of gender on both this memory-making process and the resulting popular representations of their shared past. It first explores the gendered tensions and fractures of the occupation years, and their role in the construction of this usable past. The occupation will be shown to have directly challenged the traditional gendered expectations of British wartime conduct (a key tenet of Islander identity), particularly regarding martial masculinity and feminine virtue. These tensions and fractures were particularly acute in the Channel Islands, as they were the only British territory to be occupied by German forces during the Second World War, having been demilitarised prior to the invasion of 1940. The war memories that were popularly adopted by the Islander communities after the war were, therefore, rooted in these early tensions and fractures, as they sought out retribution, closure, and unity, along with a connection to the desirable British war memory and the image of the victorious soldier hero. This thesis examines how this traumatic period has been built into a necessary and powerful founding myth in the Channel Islands, through the gendered sharing of war stories and rituals, as well as the reclaiming of contested spaces and objects to the present day. This analysis of the war memory of these small Islander communities will inform wider understanding of how gendered wartime anxieties might have similarly impacted the construction of war memory within other previously occupied nations across Europe. It also offers an important insight into the role of gender in the subsequent dissemination, disruption and stabilisation of war stories through generations, particularly within small communities recovering from the trauma of war.

Dans un rentier des terres arables des îles Shetland, écrit au début des années 1770, l’expression suivante apparut : « Les habitants des villages d’un même scattald sont appelés frères de scatt ». Ces quelques mots déclenchèrent une série de questions : qu’est-ce qu’un scattald ? Qu’est-ce que le scatt ? Qui sont ces frères de scatt ? Des recherches aux Archives Nationales d’Écosse et aux archives des îles Shetland ainsi que la lecture de travaux universitaires sur les questions des communautés, des communs, des coutumes, des systèmes de justice locale et sur la vie rurale à l’époque moderne conduisirent à l’écriture de cette thèse sur les communautés des îles Shetland au XVIIIe siècle. Ces communautés vivaient dans un contexte géographique particulier. Sans sous estimer le rôle de l’environnement local dans la vie des Shetlandais, cette thèse montre que celui-ci était plus un espace de possibilités que de restrictions ; il apportait des contraintes, mais tout autre environnement dans l’Europe moderne avait aussi ses limites. La vie dans les îles Shetland était, comme n’importe où en Écosse à la même époque, fondée sur les ressources locales et le développement de l’économie de marché apporta ses avantages et ses inconvénients aux habitants. Dans les îles Shetland, l’économie de marché entraîna le développement des tenures à poissons avec leurs contrats particuliers de métayage.Pour comprendre ces communautés, la thèse s’ouvre sur la manière dont elles étaient régulées. Les lois, les cours et le personnel judiciaire avaient tous un rôle à jouer dans le contrôle social des membres des communautés. Cette thèse explore aussi les activités des membres des communautés dans leur environnement. Les îles Shetland comme de nombreuses régions du nord-ouest de l’Europe à la même époque, étaient un espace de pluriactivité. À travers la pluriactivité et l’accès aux communs, les communautés shetlandaises des scattalds gardèrent un certain niveau d’indépendance même à une époque où existait la servitude pour dettes. Cette relation particulière fut rendue possible par un accès presque illimité aux communs pendant tout le XVIIIe siècle, époque pendant laquelle les déplacements sur les communs étaient possibles et où la transmission de la mémoire de ses frontières restait vivante. Des changements eurent cependant lieu sur les îles Shetland à cette époque. Les tenures à poissons ne furent qu’un élément de ces changements : les femmes commencèrent à être plus nombreuses que les hommes, la taille des terres arables cultivées par foyer diminua, les communs protégés furent lentement grignotés, et la cour de justice régionale offrit plus de possibilités de justice aux plus hauts rangs qu’aux tenanciers… Finalement, cette thèse soutient qu’au XVIIIe siècle, les communautés locales shetlandaises offraient une protection aux femmes et aux hommes qui à travers elles avaient un système de soutien organisé
In a rental of the arable land of Shetland, written in the early 1770s, the following expression appeared: “The inhabitants of the Towns within the same Scattald are called scatt brethren.” These few words triggered a series of questions. What is a scattald? What is the scatt? Who are these ‘scatt brothers’? Research at the National Records of Scotland and at the Shetland Archives as well as the reading of academic literature on the questions of communities, commons, custom, local judicial systems and rural life in the early modern period led to the writing of a thesis on communities in the 18th century. These communities lived in a peculiar geographical context: the Shetland Islands. Without underestimating the role of the local environment in the life of the Shetlanders, this thesis shows that the surroundings of the Shetlanders were more a place of possibilities than a place of restrictions; it brought constraints, but any other surroundings in early modern Europe had its limitations. The life on the islands of Shetland was as anywhere else on mainland Scotland at the same period a life based on local resources and which saw the development of a market economy with its advantages and disadvantages for the inhabitants. In Shetland the market economy took the form of the fishing tenures with their specific share-cropping contracts.In order to understand these communities the thesis starts with how they were regulated. The regulations, the courts and their personnel all had a role to play in the social control of the members of the communities. This thesis also explores the activities of the communities’ members in their environment. Shetland as well as several regions in Northwest Europe at the same time was a place of pluriactivité, multi-tasking. Through multi-tasking and access to the commons, the scattald communities of Shetland kept a certain level of independence even in time of debt-bondage. This paradoxical relationship was rendered possible by an almost unlimited access to the commons throughout the 18th century, a time during which the movement on the commons were possible and the transmission of the memory of their boundaries stayed alive. Changes, however, happened on the islands during these times. The fishing tenures were only one element of these changes: women started to outnumber men, the size of the arable land cultivated by one household diminished, the protected commons were slowly nibbled, and a regional court offered more possibilities for justice to the higher ranks than to the tenants... Eventually, this thesis argues that local communities in 18th-century Shetland offered protection to women and men who through them had an organised support system

Small island dwellings in Scotland and Ireland, typically (and often problematically) referred to as crannogs, have experienced growing archaeological activity in the past three decades through survey, underwater investigation and excavation. This renewed activity has prompted a number of recent research projects, both field and desk based in nature. While the end result has certainly created a clearer picture of life on small islets from the Neolithic to the Post-Medieval period, particularly in Scotland there are several fundamental aspects that are long overdue for attention. First, rather than focussing upon niche periods such as the Iron Age, I have chosen to examine continuity and change over the entirety of the island dwelling tradition in Scotland. Secondly, this thesis also marks a departure from traditional approaches by integrating mainland crannog studies with those found in the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides. Despite having the highest density and longest chronology for occupied islets in Scotland, very little fieldwork has been carried out in the Western Isles. Ironically, examples in the Western Isles, generally referred to as 'island duns', have typically been viewed in isolation from their mainland counterpart the 'crannog', despite Hebridean activity appearing to embrace the concept more fully. Ultimately, it is the recognition in this thesis that both areas share the same core concept- living on small islets, and how the integration of Hebridean sites into existing discourses on mainland occupied islets can be mutually beneficial. This thesis wishes to reddress this imbalance while also examining how archaeological terminology can divide the common conceptual denominator of living on small islets. Another aspect includes an examination of the phenomena of prolific reuse amongst island dwellings, as almost every islet excavation in Scotland has provided evidence of reuse, often several centuries or more after initial occupation. Therefore, another aim of this thesis is to analyse use patterns over the long-term, and examine why people repeatedly went to the effort of living on small islets. This thesis also indicates how the motivations for islet use range from pragmatic to more symbolic concerns. These underlying motivations for islet use in Scotland are found to vary greatly, and extend beyond the typical defence hypothesis.

This dissertation explores how colonial administrators on each side of the Atlantic used the British Survey of North America to serve their governments’ as well as their personal objectives. Specifically, it connects the execution and oversight of the General Survey in the northern and southern theatres, along with the intelligence it provided, with the actions of key decision-makers and influencers, including the Presidents of the Board of Trade (latterly, the Secretaries of the American Department) and key provincial governors. Having abandoned their posture of ‘Salutary Neglect’ towards colonial affairs in favour of one that proactively and more centrally sought ways to develop and exploit their North American assets following the Severn Years’ War, the British needed better geographic information to guide their decision making. Thus, the General Survey of British North America, under the umbrella of the Board of Trade, was conceived. Officially sponsored from 1764-1775, the programme aimed to survey and analyse the attributes and economic potential of Britain’s newly acquired regions in North America, leading to an accurate general map of their North American empire when joined to other regional mapping programmes. The onset of the American Revolution brought an inevitable end to the General Survey before a connected map could be completed. Under the excellent leadership of Samuel Holland, the surveyor general of the Northern District, however, the British administration received surveys and reports that were of great relevance to high-level administration. In the Southern District, Holland’s counterpart, the mercurial William Gerard De Brahm, while producing reports of high quality, was less able to juggle the often conflicting priorities of provincial and London-based stakeholders. Consequently, results were less successful. De Brahm was recalled in 1771, leaving others to complete the work.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2007.
Stephen H. Rapp, committee chair; Donald M. Reid, committee member. Electronic text (210 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, facsim.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Dec. 20, 2007; title from file title page. Includes bibliographical references (p. 192-210).

This thesis is a cross-disciplinary study of legal history and customary law. Respect for, and accommodation of local customary law has been a constant and integral feature of law in Britain since Anglo-Saxon times. It guided the emergence of the common law, and continues as a rule of law to the present day. Such respect and accommodation was an essential principle that permitted the peaceful consolidation of the British realms from its constituent parts. Continuity of law is a legal presumption whether territories have been added by conquest, cession or annexation. The principle respect for local legal custom was one of two schools of thought carried to Britain's overseas colonies; the other was a theory that local customary law could be extinguished by non-recognition on the part of the British sovereign or his/her delegates. Nevertheless, customary laws and institutions were explicitly and implicitly recognized in the colonial period. The doctrine has modern application with respect to the customary law ways of indigenous peoples wherever the common law has been extended overseas. Rights under customary law are distinguished from Aboriginal rights, though there is some overlap between the two. Customary law can only be extinguished by an express statute, or by clearly unavoidable implication. Legal customs are not invalid merely for being contrary to the common law. Common law defers to valid customary law as a matter of constitutional common law. But the common law provides tests by which courts can identify valid legal custom. Where a valid, unextinguished legal custom is found, courts are bound by the common law to apply it. Where customary law can be identified, it binds the servants and agents of the Crown, except when it is inconsistent with Crown sovereignty itself.

The American Civil War resulted in lasting consequences for the British Empire’s remote Pacific colonies of British Columbia and Vancouver Island. Britons in the colonies mobilized to address the issue of defending against a potential American attack. Despite concerns surrounding the possibility of an American invasion, the conflict increased solidarity towards the United States, as public opinion in British Columbia and Vancouver Island became more pro-Union through the course of the American Civil War, with local residents regularly celebrating holidays like the Fourth of July. Local newspapers welcomed efforts by the American government to finally abolish slave labour, yet Victoria’s African American community continued to face racial discrimination, which was often blamed on resident Southerners. The conflict ultimately helped in improving public perceptions of the United States, but not without raising significant fears of American military might on the continent.
Graduate

The concern of the diploma thesis is the geostrategic role of the base on the island Diego Garcia. It deals chronologically with the evolvement of this role since the base was established until the present time. Apart from the analysis of the extent, motivation and reasons of the evolvement, the explanation of all these is provided as well. The research is based on the theories formulated by admiral Alfred T. Mahan who was primarily concerned with the agenda of a naval superpower. The issue of bases is directly linked to that subject. The analysis pays attention to physical development of the facilities on the island which to a certain extent reflects the strategic role of the base. It also further examines the regional and global context which is deemed to be crucial for the better understanding of the function the base had for the United States. Practical usage of the base is analysed for a better explanation of the role the base played as some of the contemporary documents are still classified and unavailable. According to the research, the role the base played changed several times but it is very difficult to point out the main factor that caused the change. Most probably, it was caused by a combination of several factors.