Tanganiyika became independent in 1961, with Julius K. Nyerere as first its Prime Minister and then its President. In 1964 it merged with Zanzibar to form the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, soon renamed the United Republic of Tanzania. Nyerere dominated Tanzanian politics until stepping down in 1985, turning the country first into a two-party state (led by his Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) and the Afro-Shirazi Party of Zanzibar) and in 1977 into a one-party one through the combination of these two to form Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM).
The British Virgin Islands were granted a limited form of self-government in 1967, and following the extension of these rights with the introduction of a new constitution in 1977 the British-appointed governor is now responsible for little more than security and the administration of the courts. Its political history has generally been short of controversy, with the two main parties (the United Party and the Virgin Islands Party) alternating in power with the support of a variety of independent candidates until the emergence of the National Democratic Party which eventually took power in 2003. The material here mainly dates from the 1986 election and reflects the significant role of the independent candidates and the genteel electioneering atmosphere.
The 1950s and 1960s saw an expansion in union power and membership as the high demand for labour in a growing economy strengthened its representatives' bargaining power. At the same time the merger of the Canadian Congress of Labour and the Trades and Labor Congress, which formed the Canadian Labor Congress, both allowed labour to present a more united front and facilitated the setting up in 1961 of the New Democratic Party, a political party intended at least in part to represent union interests. Yet by the 1970s and 1980s the movement found itself on the back foot, as the Trudeau wage controls and later demands for a more flexible workforce and the loss of manufacturing jobs contributed to the erosion of hard-won rights. The materials here, mainly from union confederations, deal with their internal and external responses to the changing conditions described above.
Part of the British Windward Islands Federation until 1958, Grenada then joined the West Indies (Federation) and when that dissolved in 1962 was made part of a further federation comprising Great Britain's remaining East Caribbean dependencies. After achieving "associated statehood" in 1967 it finally became independent in 1974, with Eric Gairy of the Grenada United Labour Party (GULP) becoming the country's first Prime Minister. The emergence in the 1970s of the New Jewel Movement (NJM) posed a challenge to Gairy that was met by an increasingly authoritarian approach. The NJM took power in a 1979 coup and established a people's revolutionary government (PRG) with Maurice Bishop at its head, but differences between Bishop and the more radical wing of the government led by Bernard Coard led to the death of the revolutionary leader in an armed fracas and the subsequent invasion of the island by the United States. Elections following the invasion saw the return of the New National Party (NNP), and this party or offshoots of it have governed the country ever since. The materials held here all date from the period prior to independence and include constitutions produced in the 1950s during a period of expansion for the Grenadian trade union movement as well as later bulletins produced by both blue and white collar unions. Interestingly these latter publications concentrate on the industrial rather than the political sphere, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that by this time Eric Gairy's union-based GULP party was in office.
All the materials held here were produced by the Ghana Trades Union Congress, and are concerned both with internal administrative matters and with the union reaction first to one-party rule and then to government by the military.
The majority of the materials currently held in this collection originate from the Singapore National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), a union federation loyal to the state and geared more towards guaranteeing productivity than fighting for worker's rights. A large part of their output here comprises reports on tripartite meetings with government and employers, as well as pamphlets designed to inform their membership of relevant legislation or of changes in economic policy.
Christmas Island came under British rule in 1888 following the discovery of phosphate, and was administered as part of the Colony of Singapore until 1958, when it was first made a seperate colony and then transferred to Australian sovereignty. Throughout this period and thereafter phosphate mining dominated the island, and the Union Of Christmas Island Workers was created in 1975 to protect the interests of those working in the industry. The materials here document the birth of the union as well as its grievances with the Australian government, most notably with regard to wage policies which the UCIW saw as discriminating against non-European workers.
The pressure and interest group materials assembled here date predominantly from the 1970s and 1980s and their content has almost certainly been influenced by the research interests of those collecting them as well as by the prevailing issues of the time. Thus whilst the lobbying efforts of the business community are not represented in this collection a variety of women's groups and pro-labour organisations are, along with several movements concerned with human rights in general. In addition there is a wide selection of materials from different Québécois groups, dealing both with the province's constitutional status around the time of the 1980 referendum and with other domestic issues.
The period of military rule in the 1970s is the primary focus of the small amount of material held here, with groups attempting to pressurize the government into accepting the need for a return to civilian rule.
A significant number of the materials held here are British in origin, and include both the publications of human rights pressure groups campaigning for the release of political prisoners during the presidency of Daniel Arap Moi, and the Voice of Kenya newsletter which presented the viewpoint of the European population of Kenya at the time of the Mau Mau freedom movement in the 1950s. Organisations concerned with the pre-independence constitutional debates and with the demand for increased democracy in the 1980s are also represented, and there is also a constitution originating from the main Kenyan trade union federation.
The vast majority of the materials held in this collection date from the period between UDI in 1965 and Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, and include items issued by organisations both supporting and opposing majority rule. Many of the former were based abroad, and they also include in their number several Christian groups. Materials published by the pioneering multi-racial project the Cold Comfort Farm Society are also held here.
Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, became independent in 1971. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Mujib) and his pro-independence Awami League party held power until 1975, when he was assassinated following his declaration of a one-party state. Coup and counter-coup followed with the League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party of General Ziaur Rahman (assassinated 1981) alternating in government through the 1980s and 1990s. The materials here, all originating from this turbulent period, are either the product of the ruling party of the time or of the brief moments in which multi-party democracy was tolerated.
Previously known as British Honduras, Belize finally became independent in 1981, the process having been delayed more by the unresolved sovereignty dispute with Guatemala (which did not recognise the new state until 1992) than by instransigence on the behalf of London. The colony had enjoyed universal suffrage from 1954 and was granted full internal self-government from 1964, with George Price's People's United Party (PUP) and its anti-colonial stance initially dominating the domestic political scene. From the formation of the economically more liberal United Democratic Party (UDP) in 1973 a genuine two-party system emerged, with ethnic difference threatening more recently to replace political ideology as the main distinction between the two. The views of the PUP and UDP, as well as those of more minor parties, on the developments described above are represented in the materials held here.
The materials held here extend from the period of the emergence of nationalist political parties in Botswana (then the British administered Bechuanaland Protectorate) in the late 1950s, through the domination of the Botswana Democratic Party following the achievement of self-government and then republic status (in 1965 and 1966 respectively) to the most recent elections. Although the role of Botswana in the struggle for majority rule in the rest of Southern Africa is covered the majority of the materials relate to electoral struggles in one of Africa's more successful and prosperous democracies.
The political history of the country that achieved independence in 1948 as the Dominion of Ceylon, became the Republic of Sri Lanka in 1972 and then the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka in 1978 has to a certain degree been that of the oscillation of power between two parties. The Ekshat Jathika Pakshaya (United National Party, UNP) ruled the country in 1948-1956, 1959-1960, 1965-1970, 1977-1994 and from 2001-2004, while its rival, the Sri Lanka Nidahas Pakshaya (Sri Lanka Freedom Party SLFP), has been in government for the remainder of the period. Traditionally, the SLFP has been the more left-wing of the two, as indicated by the United Front it formed in 1970 with the Communist Party of Sri Lanka and the trotskyite Lanka Sama Samaja Party, but its strong pro-Sinhalese rhetoric and legislation (most particularly the 1972 constitution favouring Buddhism and relegating the Tamil language to a secondary status) served to antagonise the country's large Tamil minority as well as driving the UNP to take up a similar position. The Tamil community increasingly turned to their own political organisations, represented here by the likes of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, and following the communalist riots of 1981 and 1983 there began the conflict between the Sri Lankan authorities and the rebel Tamil Tigers which has dogged the island ever since.
Canada emerged from World War Two with the power and jurisdiction of its federal government greatly enhanced by the necessity of wartime controls and centralization, and the post-war period has borne witness to a complex debate between the provinces and Ottawa as to the extent to which this power should be limited or even relinquished. Complicating the issue has been the presence within the confederation of predominantly francophone Quebec, where the desire for special status or even independence has in turn impacted upon the demands made by the other provinces and territories. This has also had an effect on the political party system, with perhaps only the Liberals (and until recently the Progressive Conservatives) consistently being able to lay claim to being a truly national party whilst other essentially regionalist parties (Social Credit, Bloc Quebecois, the Reform Party and arguably the New Democratic Party) sent representatives to the national parliament. External relations have also been a focus for debate, with concern centring on the United States and its economic and cultural influence, as well as the consequences for Canadian foreign policy of following the lead of its powerful neighbour. These issues and others are raised, referred to and discussed within the materials held here.
Following the events of 1974 the de facto administration of Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus unilaterally declared itself first the "Turkish Federated State of Cyprus" in 1975 and then in 1983 the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus", although only Turkey officially recognised the new state. Throughout this period (in which negotiations with the Greek Cypriots continued intermittently) it was led by Rauf Denktas of the resolutely seperatist and anti-communist National Unity Party, from which the majority of the materials held here originate.
After a ten year political campaign by the Convention Peoples' Party (CPP) the Gold Coast became independent Ghana on the 6th March 1957, the first of Britain's African colonies to make this transition. Its first Prime Minister and dominant political figure Dr. Kwame Nkrumah led it through independence to become a republic and a one-party state, and was also a prime mover in the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAS). His removal in a 1966 coup ushered in a period of characterised by military interventions in government, which may have ended with the election of John Kufuor in 2000. He was the first elected president to succed another elected president. The material here dates from the independence movement onwards, and is of particular interest with regard to Nkrumah's socialism, his pan-Africanist orientation and the arguments over his legacy following his death in 1972.
Guadeloupe changed hands been France and Britain many times before settling as a French colony in 1815. Since 1946 it has been an overseas département of France.
Between 1953 and 1963 Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland formed a nominally self-governing Federation, which was eventually terminated prior to the independence of the latter two territories as Zambia and Malawi. Given the restrictions on African electoral participation the government of the Federation was effectively dominated by white parties, with the United Federal Party under first Godfrey Huggins and later Roy Welensky in power throughout this period.
As the Union of South Africa (1910-1961) and subsequently as a republic the country's history between independence from British rule and the 1994 elections has been dominated by the issue of relations between its different racial groups. Following the ascension to power of the Boer-dominated National Party in 1948 racial discrimination became increasingly entrenched in law as part of the 'apartheid' policy. Resistance and repression increased together, with groups representing the demands of the non-white population (notably the PAC and the ANC) being banned and subsequently conducting an armed struggle from various bases in sympathetic neighbouring countries. Legislation such as the pass laws and the ruling requiring all pupils to learn Afrikaans led to protests and subsequent massacres, in the former case at Sharpeville in 1960 and in the latter in Soweto in 1976. Domestic events were played out against a backdrop of increasing foreign condemnation of the apartheid regime and its consciousness of the vulnerability of its position as an important factor in Cold War strategy. These issues, as well as the disputes between different factions in the liberation and apartheid movements, are raised, referred to and discussed within the materials held here. In addition, newer materials deal with the political scene after the transition to majority rule and the problems such as endemic poverty and AIDS which have tempered the initial optimism of the post-apartheid era.
The political history of the Seychelles since achieving independence from Britain in 1976 has been dominated by two men: the country's first President, Charles Mancham of the Seychelles Democratic Party (SDP) and France Albert René of the Seychelles People's United Party (SPUP), later the Seychelles People's Progressive Front (SPPF). The latter overthrew Mancham in a 1977 coup, and between 1979 and 1991 ruled a one-party state. Despite the return of Mancham and the Democratic Party and the institution of multi-party elections in 1991 the SPPF and their leader are still in power today. Materials from these parties in their different incarnations are held, and there is also a small quantity of trade union material.
Swaziland held its first legislative council elections in 1964 and became independent in 1968.
Namibia (South West Africa) was administered by South Africa under a League of Nations mandate from 1920 to 1946, but as the apartheid regime consolidated itself so the idea of the mandate as something to be eventually relinquished faded, with South Africa refusing to convert the mandate into a UN trusteeship arrangement. The history of Namibia until 1990 was therefore characterised by increasing international disapproval of South African occupation (as shown by the withdrawal of the mandate in 1966 and the International Court of Justice ruling in 1971 that the South African presence was illegal), attempts by the Pretoria regime to give this occupation some legitimacy and the growth of organisations opposed to it. The largest of these were the South West Africa National Union (SWANU) and the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO). The recognition of the latter by the UN in 1976 as the sole representative of the will of the Namibian people demonstrated how international events affected organisations resisting the occupation as well as those enforcing it. After the 1978 elections the South-African backed Democratic Turnhalle Alliance formed the territory's government in defiance of UN Resolution 435 and was boycotted by SWAPO among others. Bound as ever to political developments in its more powerful neighbour, Namibia achieved its independence in 1990 following a transitional period overseen by the UN, and has been governed by SWAPO ever since.
Trinidad and Tobago gained independence following the dissolution of the British West Indies federation in 1962 with Eric Williams of the People's National Movement (PNM) becoming Prime Minister. He retained this position until his death in 1981, and it was only in 1986 that the PNM were finally removed from power. The first-past-the-post electoral system combined with a polarisation of political support along racial grounds (the majority of PNM support came from those of African descent, whilst Indians tended to support first the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) and from 1976 the United Labour Front (ULF)) is cited in these materials as explaining the PNM's longevity in power. Williams survived the austerity of the 1960s and the surge in support for Black Power ideas around the time of the declaration of a state of emergency in 1970 (represented in print here by the Tapia House Movement), but his government subsequently benefitted from the revenues accrued from the post-1974 rise in oil prices. The overwhelming defeat suffered by the PNM in the 1986 elections followed the formation of an umbrella opposition group. the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), which garnered votes from both main racial constituencies. The NAR was made up of the Organisation of National Reconstruction (ONR), the Democratic Action Congress (DAC), United Labour Force (ULF), and Tapia (the political party which evolved from the Tapia House Movement), subsequently splitting into the United National Congress (UNC) and a rump party which retained the NAR name. Materials from all of the groups referred to here are held in the collection.
Uganda achieved its independence in 1962 with Milton Obote of the Uganda People's Congress (UPC) as chief minister. The UPC had formed an alliance with Kabaka Yekka, the monarchist party of the Buganda region, in order to defeat the mainly Catholic Democratic Party. Materials from all these groups are held here, many originating from the 1962 elections which were the last to be held in Uganda until 1980. During this period the influence of the military in the country steadily increased, following an army mutiny in 1964 and the Kabaka's deposition in 1966, and culminating in the 1971 coup d'etat that brought Ida Amin to power. The war with Tanzania in 1978-1979 was the catalyst for the removal of Amin's dictatorial regime, but though Obote and the UPC were returned to power in the 1980 election, further human rights abuses eventually led to the installation of a so-called no-party democracy under Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Army (NRA) in 1986. The events of these traumatic years are documented here and in the Ugandan Pressure Groups Materials.
Zanzibar was a British protectorate from the end of World War One to 1963, when it briefly became independent. The revolution of 1964 was followed by a merger with Tanganyika later that year to form first the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar and later Tanzania. The Zanzibar-based Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP) was the junior partner in government with Julius Nyerere's Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) until 1977, when the two parties merged to form Chama Cha Mapinduzi (Revolutionary Party, CCM). As well as ASP materials there are also holdings for other parties dating back to the period of British control over Zanzibar.
Modern trade unionism can be said to have begun in Dominica in 1945 with the formation of the Dominica Trade Union. The Dominica Amalgamated Workers' Union (DAWU), whose history is to be found here, grew out of this original organisation. In contrast, the Civil Service Association (CSA) was formed independently of the general unions like DAWU and, in the advertisement preserved here is seen to be concerning itself with the political issues facing the country, particularly the question of sovereignty.
The trade union movement in India inevitably became bound up with the independence movement, with the foundation of the All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC)in 1920 reflecting the increase in political and national consciousness following the First World War. An indication of the degree to which the economic struggle was subsumed in favour of the fight for independence can be found in the split which followed independence, with the Indian National Congress forming the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) in response to communist domination of the AITUC. The struggles of these umbrella organisations to work inside and outside the system throughout a period marked by increasing socio-economic and political crisis (encompassing the curtailing of trade union freedoms during the emergency and the wave of strikes under the Janata Party administration) are reflected in the materials here, as are the more generalised protests against the erosion of civil rights in this period by the likes of the People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR).
The collection held here stretches back to the 1940s and includes accounts of industrial disputes from that period from the likes of the New Zealand Waterside Workers' Union and the N.Z. Carpenters' and Related Trades' Union. Many of the later items originate from the Public Service Association, a white-collar union, and the umbrella organisation the New Zealand Federation of Labour, often consisting of critiques of government economic policy that reflect the increasing difficult circumstances the unions found themselves in in the late 1970s and early 1980s. As well as these materials and those of other unions representing specific industries there are also productions issued by the Labour Women's Council concentrating on the issues facing female union members.
The Institute of Classical Studies was founded in 1953 by the Senate of the University of London as a partnership between the University and the Hellenic and Roman Societies. The Portrait Collection has been built up over many years, and is constantly updated.
The United Kingdom Alliance was founded in 1853 in Manchester to work for prohibition of alcohol in the UK. This occurred in a context of support for the type of law passed by General Neal Dow in Maine, USA, in 1846, prohibiting the sale of intoxicants.
It was initiated by Nathaniel Card (1805-1856), an Irish cotton manufacturer and member of the Society of Friends. He had also been a member of the Manchester and Salford Temperance Society since 1852, and was interested in what was coming to be known as the Maine Law. At a private meeting at Card's house on 20 July 1852, the National League for the Total and Legal Suppression of Intemperance was formed. Other members included Alderman William Hervey of Salford and Joseph Brotherton MP (Salford). At the third meeting of the League a Provisional Committee was formed, based in Manchester.
Their objectives were openly political, to form and enlighten public opinion nationally, believing that the self-denying and benevolent efforts of temperance societies would never be able to end the liquor trade while legalised temptation to drink and get drunk was permitted. They aimed for total and immediate legislative suppression of traffic in intoxicating beverages.
The name of the League was changed on 14 Feb 1853, to the UK Alliance for the Suppression of the Traffic in all Intoxicating Liquors, and Sir Walter C Trevelyan, became the first president in June the same year, with a General Council holding its first meeting on October.
A weekly newspaper Alliance News was begun in 1854, a journal of moral and social reform, and sold for one penny. Since 1980 it has been published as a bi-monthly magazine.
They were not a total abstinence society, and membership was open to teetotallers and drinkers alike, by 1858 membership had risen to 4500, and £3000 was raised by subscription for their work. Their chief public spokesman was Sir Wilfrid Lawson, MP (1829-1906).
In 1862, the London Union of Alliance members changed to the London Auxiliary of the Alliance, and appointed it's the first London agent, Rev John Hanson. The Alliance had occupied premised in Victoria St, London, until the decision was made to build a new headquarters. A site in Caxton St was purchased in 1937, the new building - Alliance House - being opened in 1938, at a cost of £75,000.
In 1942, the Alliance became a limited company, the UK Temperance Alliance Ltd. By the 1970s the main role of the Alliance was educational work and its interest had broadened to other areas of addiction besides alcohol (much of which is undertaken by the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS), a trading arm of the Alliance. In 2003, the UK Temperance Alliance was renamed the Alliance House Foundation.
National Temperance Federation (NTF) was reconstituted at its annual meeting in 1936, and declared its policy as the representation of every section of the temperance movement of approximately three million members of temperance organisations throughout the country.
National Commercial Temperance League (NCTL) was formed in the 1890s to appeal to the business and professional community in the economic and ethical field of thought. In 1953, it approached the UKA with a view to amalgamation.
National United Temperance Council (NUTC) was founded in July 1896 at a National Conference of County United Temperance Councils. The aim of both County and National UTCS was to consolidate support amongst various temperance organisations for temperance legislation and to promote the temperance movement in general.
Parliamentary Temperance Committee, consisting of members of parliament supporting temperance legislation was formed around 1906.
The Band of Hope was founded in 1847, with the aim of instructing boys and girls as to the properties of alcohol and the consequences of its consumption. Generally involving midweek meetings with music, slides, competitions and addresses on the importance of total abstinence. By 1855, there were so many local bands that a London Union was formed and in 1864, this was expanded to become the UK Band of Hope Union. By 1901 there were more than 28,000 societies with a total membership of more than 3.5 million children.
International Order of Good Templars (IOGT) was formed around 1852 in the United States of America, it spread to England around 1869, to Scotland and Ireland about 1970, and Wales 1871. Its object was to secure personal abstinence from the use of all intoxicating drinks as a beverage and the prohibition of the manufacture, importation and sale of intoxicating drink. Membership was achieved by signing a lifelong pledge of abstinence.
Working records of the Library were produced in the conduct of business. Gate signing-in books were created at a rate of about 1 per month from 1975 to 1998.
The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Secretary and Librarian undertook the administration of the Institute under the direction of the Committee of Management and was also responsible for building up the library. The position was held by K Howard Drake from 1947 until his death in 1967. He was succeeded by W A F P Steiner. In 1971 the functions were separated, with Steiner continuing as IALS Librarian while administrative duties passed to a new Secretary, J A Boxhall.
The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies premises at 25 Russell Square were opened on 11 June 1948. The Institute later expanded into 26 Russell Square, and in 1956 took over additional premises at 1 Woburn Square. A new filing system (see A.IALS 5) was instituted for building, works and maintenance files covering the new building at Charles Clore House, 17 Russell Square, from December 1975.
These estimates were compiled by the Secretary, primarily J A Boxhall.
The files listed below comprise primarily the files of J A Boxhall, Secretary from 1971-1986, when he retired due to ill-health. He was replaced temporarily by H F Patterson. In 1987 a new Administrative Secretary, D E Phillips, was appointed.
The Institute moved into the new building at Charles Clore House, 17 Russell Square, in December 1975; it was officially opened on 1 April 1976.
Directors of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, 1947-1988, have been Sir David Hughes Parry MA, LLD, 1947-1959; Sir Norman D Anderson OBE, MA, LLD, 1960-1976; Professor A L Diamond LLM, 1976-1986; Sir Jack Jacob QC, LLD, Dr Juris, 1986-1988. The Director's functions are as follows: to lay down policy directions for IALS; to give academic leadership; to ensure efficient management; to represent IALS within the University and outside; and to participate on behalf of IALS in the direction and management of the School of Advanced Study.
Miss Muriel Anderson has been Assistant Librarian at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies since 1981.
The collection currently consists of materials dating from the three decades that followed the 1959 revolution. Many of the items are official publications originating from either the Communist Party of Cuba or from various government ministries, though in practice the distinction between party and state became increasing blurred. There are also a large number of pamphlets featuring speeches by Fidel Castro. Given Cuba's situation during this period as it faced the antagonism of the United States, sought to maintain a degree of independence within the Soviet orbit and championed the non-aligned movement it is unsurpising that many of these speeches are concerned with foreign policy and foreign affairs (including the wars in Vietnam and Angola and the problems of debt that increasingly faced the whole of Latin America in the 1970s and 1980s). Other materials deal with the transistion of Cuba to a state-controlled planned economy and the problems of reconciling this with civil and human rights, though it must be noted that the majority of the items held here (whether produced internally or externally) are broadly in sympathy with the Castro regime.
Puerto Rico has been dominated by the United States since its seizure from Spain in 1898. Its ambiguous status, resolved first by making it an unincorporated territory of the United States in 1917 and then by according it Commonwealth status in 1952, persists to this day. Puerto Ricans are citizens of the United States, serve in its armed forces and yet cannot vote in Presidential elections. Unsurprisingly constitutional issues feature prominently in the materials held here, with both pro-independence groups on the island and in the United States represented as well as the United Nations Commission on De-Colonization. However, there is a lack of material from those parties which have successfully won referenda to maintain the island's current status, as well as from those who campaign for Puerto Rico to become the 51st state, and probably a disproportionate quantity from the anti-American left.
From 1963 to 1978 Honduras endured a series of military coups and disputed elections as well as the 1969 war with El Salvador and the devastation caused by Hurricane Fifi which killed an estimated 10,000 in 1974. Though the country moved towards an ostensibly civilian form of government from 1978, culminating three years later in an election win for the Partido Liberal de Honduras (PLH), the growing insurgencies in neighbouring El Salvador and Nicaragua during this period led to an upsurge in regional tensions, and a growing influx of refugees. As Honduras became drawn into the US-backed Contras' struggle against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua the army used the opportunity to crack down on dissent at home, and reports of human rights abuses began to increase. When the Sandinistas lost the 1990 Nicaraguan election the significance of Honduras to the United States largely disappeared, as did the aid that had formerly been liberally provided, leaving the country facing the same economic concerns as in the 1970s. The materials held here date primarily from the late 70s to the end of the main Central American guerrilla struggle, and deal with both the country's economic situation and with the war and its human rights consequences. The material comes from trades unions and political groups, though not from the major parties, as well as from external human rights organisations and NGOs.
Most of the materials held in this collection at present date from period surrounding the 1979 revolution, dealing with the decline and fall of the Somoza dynasty and the progress of the Sandinista government which replaced it. Thus there are reports from NGOs concerned with human rights abuses and economic and social conditions under the old regime alongside publications by and about opposition groups of both gradualist and revolutionary persuasions. Post-revolutionary materials detail the struggle against the US-backed Contra forces, the controversial elections of 1984 and the progress of the Central American Peace Plan. A large proportion of these are authored either by the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN) themselves or by organisations expressing solidarity with them, including some Church groups despite the antipathy of the Catholic heirerchy to the revolution. It must be noted that the overwhelming majority of the items held here are can be judged to be sympathetic towards the Sandinistas, reflecting inevitably the priorities of those who collected and housed the material.
Colombia has a long tradition of both democracy and political violence, and this remains true for the period covered by the bulk of this collection. Prior to 1974 the country had been ruled for sixteen years by a National Front which allowed for the alternation in power of the two main parties, the Partido Conservador Colombiano (Colombian Conservative Party, PCC) and the Partido Liberal Colombiano (Colombian Liberal Party, PLC). This period also saw the emergence of a variety of leftist guerrilla groups, most prominently the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia--FARC), the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional--ELN), the Popular Liberation Army (Ejército Popular de Liberación--EPL) and the 19th of April Movement (Movimiento 19 de Abril--M-19). The transition to open competition between the Liberals and Conservatives in 1974 failed to end the insurgency, which was further complicated by the increasing involvement in the fighting of drugs cartels and right-wing paramilitary organisations, the latter with suspected links to both the cartels and the government. The 1970s and 1980s bore witness to a cycle of repression, violence, human rights abuses and failed peace talks. Of the parties actually involved in this conflict only the M-19 are represented here, along with other small radical socialist groups. However the causes and the consequences of the civil war, especially Colombia's gross economic inequalities and the catalogue of disappearances and human rights abuses, dominate the agendas of the NGOs, pressure groups, trade unions, Church bodies and international organisations whose publications are held here. As the country remains volatile it is likely that these issues will continue to predominate in any new material that is collected..
The civil wars, guerilla movements, human rights abuses and economic problems afflicting Central America in the 1970s and 1980s are the chief topics discussed in these documents, primarily authored by non-governmental organisations.
The majority of the materials held here date from the years of Duvalier rule over Haiti, with first François (Papa Doc', 1957-1971) and then his son Jean-Claude (Baby Doc', 1971-1986) controlling the country through a mixture of fraudulent elections, populist gestures and the backing of the military. The elder Duvalier in particular took steps early in his regime to purge the army of officers considered potentially disloyal and to augment it with a loyal rural militia known as the tonton makouts. Under this dictatorship Haitians suffered both human rights abuses and increasing hardship as government corruption ensured that little foreign aid reached the population in general. The issues of aid, health, refugees fleeing the regime and human rights consequently predominate in this collection, which originates in the main from overseas NGOs and Christian charities as well as United States government bodies.
Most of the materials held here date from the late 1970s and early 1980s, a period in which the tensions that had plagued El Salvador since the 1930s finally erupted into civil war. The war with Honduras in 1969 had exacerbated economic problems and the demand for land reform, whilst the rigging of the 1972 election against the Christian Democratic Party (PDC)'s Jos Napoeon Duarte diminished people's belief in the likelihood of effecting peaceful change. Authoritarian rule and human rights abuses on top of the above led to the formation of a plethora of leftist political and guerrilla groups and an alliance was formed between the Frente Democratico Revolucionario (FDR) and the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN). Despite elections and new constitutional guarantees the continued operation of paramilitary death squads with the support of the army meant the FDR-FMLN fought on until the signing of the Chapultepec Peace Accords in 1992. The roles of the United States (which continued to supply aid to the country throughout the 1980s) and the Catholic Church (including that of Archbishop Oscar Romero, murdered in 1980) in the civil war are covered by the materials here, as are the problems of refugees and the terrible human rights abuses and state violence that occurred. The materials originate from NGOs, Church groups, revolutionary organisations, trade unions and political parties, as well as from the United States government.
Costa Rica's political stability during the period covered here stands in marked contrast to the situation in other countries in the region. Since 1949 it has been a relatively successful presidential democracy. The materials here tend not to originate from the major political parties but instead mainly come from organisations concerned with social and economic conditions in Costa Rica, particularly the problems of land reform and the countryside. Internal and external, academic and practical and Christian and secular bodies are all represented.
The majority of the materials in the collection at present date from the 1970s and 1980s, during which time Panama, despite a democratic façade, was effectively ruled by the military. During the 1970s increasing Panamanian discontent with the 1903 Hay-Bunau-Varilla Canal Treaty led eventually to its renegotiation with the United States in 1977, and it is the canal, these treaties and their consequences for the economy, society and independence of Panama which dominate the content of these items. Bodies from which the items originate include the military junta, the US government, NGOs and homegrown oppositional movements. The increasing repressiveness of the Panamanian regime under Noriega coupled with the post-1982 economic problems of the country are also alluded to in the materials held here, with the plight of the indigenous population in particular being highlighted.