Politics in the French Pacific, 1945–1980

Abstract

Politics in the Pacific territories since the Second World War has been formed by a mixture of, and often clash between, policies emanating from the central administration in Paris and the actions of various groups in the islands themselves. The often conflictual relationship between the metropolitan government and its representatives in the territories, on the one hand, and local interest groups, individuals and parties, on the other, persisted past the formal end of the colonial era in 1946. Several new features overlay this traditional antagonism, however, notably the formation of political parties and the enfranchisement and politicisation of indigenous islanders. The result was a heightened demand for greater autonomy in New Caledonia and French Polynesia and, ultimately, calls for outright independence. The reformist, conciliatory politics of the 1940s changed into a campaign against the French state in Tahiti in the 1950s, and in the 1980s New Caledonia witnessed a violent struggle for independence; however, cycles of confrontation always alternated with ones of compromise. During these decades, proposals for départementalisation (and thus greater integration of the territories into the French Republic), autonomy, ‘independence-in-association’ and a more radical ethnically-based independence were all broached, political leaders were exiled, imprisoned and assassinated, and charges of treason, collaboration with colonial oppressors and interference by outside powers were proffered.