Nationalism, Decolonization, and Exile Diplomacy: A Study of Mutesa II of Uganda and Mohammed V of Morocco, 1940s–1963

Abstract:The disputes that led to the exiling of Kabaka Mutesa II of British Uganda and Sultan Mohammed V of French Morocco in 1953 highlight the shifting and involved agency of the Indigenous rulers in the postwar decolonization struggle. The time was painful for the colonial powers as nationalists brought profound pressure on the Allied Powers to comply with their promises of "self-determination" for colonized peoples. In Uganda, Britain's move to sideline the kabaka from the transition process triggered a quarrel between Governor Cohen and the Buganda monarch. In Morocco, the French officials' intent to undercut the sultan's authority turned Mohammed into a radical nationalist. The African rulers' rebellious stance, their consequent punishment with deportation, their homecoming, and reinstatement mirror the new nationalist Zeitgeist's incompatibility with colonial punishment. The result reveals that exile, which effectively forced compliance in the prewar period, proved counterproductive in the postwar era. With young and radical nationalists on their sides, many African rulers exiled in the 1950s used their banishment to negotiate, hasten and even modify the decolonization program to their advantage.