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This volume provides detail and insights on Britain's Role in the following historical episodes and countriesCuban Missile Crisis|In the Cuban Missile Crisis, Britain was vulnerable from the beginning of the crisis. Even more vulnerable were the people of Cuba. Their leader Castro invited in Soviet missiles for protection. President Kennedy was so keen to keep his anti-Castro forces in Cuba that he waited until nuclear war was about to break out before making concessions (British PM Macmillan was party to the discussions). The deal over removing the US missiles from Turkey and their Thor missiles from Britain was kept secret for a few decades, to save Kennedy's face. HaitiIn early 1790s, there was a historic first victory by slaves against slaveowners and the French army in Haiti. William Pitt the Younger, the Prime Minister, thought to invade and re-instate slavery.
He sought the fat profits that France had got wealthy from. He ignored the anti-slavery lobby. In the course of the 5 year war, 30, 000 poor working class Brits died by sword or yellow fever. The freed slaves defeated the remaining Redcoats. Greed did not pay. Chile and BrazilIn both Chile and Brazil, Britain was involved alongside the USA in military coups to overthrow democracy. Of the two, Chile in the 1970s had more global importance. When in 1970 Salvador Allende was seeking to win the election as a socialist, agents were so eager to prevent his rise to power by a preventive coup that they encouraged more Chileans to support him and he achieved victory. The US and British agents sought to weaken Allende. He sought a trade bloc for the Global South that could better compete with the Global North. Agents created unrest in Chile, funded opposition groups, and ensured a coup would follow.
This ended Allende's Government and provoked his suicide. Thousands of Chileans were killed by the military after the coup. There were no elections in Chile for a further 17 years. In Brazil, the overthrow of a socialist premier, Goulart, followed a similar path to that in Chile. JamaicaIn Jamaica we first see Britain's treatment of the Maroons, who were former slaves freed from the Spanish when they abandoned Jamaica before the British arrived. When more African slaves were brought by Britain to Jamaica, they were worked to death and only lived an average of 8 to 10 years. In this short time, the owners were happy with the huge profit they generated so they simply bought more slaves. Very few children were born to Jamaican slaves. It was not allowed, and there were very few opportunities. Such short lives, genocidal in depriving life, reproduction, community, ancestry etc, were characteristic of sugar plantation slavery. MalaysiaAfter Indian independence, many in Malaysia wanted the same. Britain wished to control Malaysian rubber and tin industry, for its growing industrial sectors. By June 1948, the British had started a war against the Malaysian Communists. We see how the policy of villagisation, strategic hamlets, the odd massacre of civilians, and cutting off supplies that was used in Malaysia, borrowed to some extent from the Boer war and was to influence policies in Kenya and elsewhere. IndonesiaThis was one of many genocides that Britain was directly involved in. After communist leader Sukarno was ousted from power, MI6 (IRD) and the CIA were tasked with whipping to a frenzy in towns and villages to incite people to massacre those deemed to be communists. Around 500, 000 were killed. I show how the IRD and the CIA, played a pivotal role in the massacre,