Professor Stephen Constantine

Professor Stephen Constantine, a graduate of Oxford University, taught at Lancaster University until his retirement as Emeritus Professor of Modern British History in 2010. His research has included studies of social and economic conditions in Britain and of British Empire and Commonwealth history, particularly of colonial development policy and of migration. His publications include his co-authored study Migration and Empire (Oxford University Press, 2010) and Community and Empire: the Making of Modern Gibraltar since 1704 (Manchester University Press, 2009). The latter and journal articles on Gibraltar and the monarchy (2006) and on the pirate Benito de Soto, frontier controls and policing (2008) were the products of a Lancaster University research project, which also led to publications on Gibraltar by his co-director Professor Martin Blinkhorn, two research students, Dr Chris Grocott, now at Leicester University, and Dr Gareth Stockey, now at Nottingham University, and the project’s research associate Dr Jennifer Ballantine Perera, now at the Garrison Library, Gibraltar. Professor Constantine has recently been researching the history of another British Overseas Territory, St Helena in the South Atlantic, and also the experiences of a governor’s wife in the late Colonial Empire.

Putting Gibraltar in Context: Ending the British Empire After 1945.

While during and after the war the ending of the Raj and conceding self-government and independence to large colonies in Africa and elsewhere were being negotiated, the question arose in Whitehall as to whether any of the smaller territories could or should become independent states and if so what their status should be within the Commonwealth. Arguments about constitutional changes in Gibraltar triggered off these empire-wide concerns. This talk traces the pressures to decolonise small colonies, and examines the shifting criteria which determined whether their independence was unavoidable, was acceptable, was to be resisted, or latterly was required. There were lots of debates among policy-makers, though events on the ground largely determined what happened. Today a dozen or so British ‘colonies’ remain, now known as British Overseas Territories, Gibraltar, of course, being one of them; and the talk will conclude with some consideration of the merits of being – and of not being – an independent sovereign state.

Dr. Jennifer Ballantine Perera

Dr. Jennifer Ballantine Perera is the Director of the Gibraltar Garrison Library and was recently appointed Director of the Institute for Gibraltar and Mediterranean Studies of the University of Gibraltar. Together with Professor Andrew Canessa, University of Essex, she is the recipient of a major award from the UK Economic and Social Research Council for their project; Bordering on Britishness:  An Oral History of Gibraltar in the 20th Century, which started recently in September 2013. She was previously based at Lancaster University where she formed part of a major research project, headed by Professor Martin Blinkhorn and Professor Stephen Constantine on Gibraltar. She has published articles on the permit system in place in Gibraltar during the 19^th century, on the Royal Calpe Hunt and on the development of a civilian population on the Rock.

Expressions of Self – Determination in Post- War Gibraltar

This paper sets out to contextualise notions of self-determination in a post-war Gibraltar at a time when the Colonial Government and the Foreign Office are working towards reinstating Gibraltar’s City Council, which was suspended in 1941 because of the war and subsequent mobilisation of the Rock as a garrison.  The reinstatement of the democratic process was in any case expected towards the end of the war, but having a local government in place became imperative given the repatriation of much of the civilian population in 1944 at a time when Gibraltar was still geared towards defending the Rock during wartime. Municipal and welfare policies to support the returning civilians were being provided by the Colonial Government and committees’ operating under special wartime powers, but the reality was that the government was not entirely prepared for all these civilian repatriates. 

Questions of welfare and education, rations and clothing became major drives from 1944 onwards; reinstating the City Council and engaging with constitutional reform were therefore seen as necessary, not only because of the need for reform within the colony and the aspirations of the politically driven Gibraltarians, but also because of the urgent need to have infrastructure in place to fund and manage the welfare needs of returning Gibraltarians. To this end, a number of policies were announced in 1944. The responses to these, in which we see Gibraltar start moving towards increased self government, also draw attention to the tensions that existed between local aspirations and those of the Colonial Government and how these at times conflicting views served to forward reform.  These questions shall form a key aspect to this paper, which will look at how these drives were played out on the pages of the Gibraltar Chronicle, through articles, editorials and letters which serve to plot a timeline and public responses to what were fast moving times. 

Alfonso Escuadra Sánchez

Escritor especializado en temas de la II Guerra Mundial, nacido en La Línea de la Concepción el 5 de octubre de 1961, miembro del Instituto de Estudios Campogibraltareños, Sección Primera, trabaja actualmente para la Consejería de Educación de la Junta de Andalucía.

Sus trabajos se han difundido a través de un buen número de artículos, ponencias, comunicaciones y una decena de libros algunos de ellos traducidos a otros idiomas. Además ha documentado monográficos y escrito guiones para varias productoras de televisión tanto nacionales como extranjeras.

Entre sus trabajos destacan: “La élite olvidada” (1991), “A la sombra de la Roca. La II Guerra Mundial desde el Campo de Gibraltar” (1997). ”Bajo las Banderas de la Kriegsmarine. Marinos españoles en la Armada alemana” (1998),”Rafael Martín Perea. Testimonio de los Campogibraltareños en los campos nazis” (1999)”Españoles en la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Frente del Este” (2000), “Panzergrenadierdivision Feldherrnhalle. Unidades de la Guardia de las SA” (2009), “Españoles en la Kriegsmarine. Misiones en el Báltico (1942-1943)” (2011), “Los zorros del desierto. El Generalato del Afrika Korps” (2012), “Operation Felix, Hitler´s Key of Victory” (2013) y Operation Tracer: A British Trojan Horse in the occupied Gibraltar” (2014).

Unternehmen Felix, La Operación Militar y Sus Consecuencias Diplomáticas.

En el otoño de 1940, bajo el nombre clave de Felix, el Alto Mando alemán planificó la toma de Gibraltar. Su finalidad no era tomar un simple objetivo sino alcanzar la victoria final en Europa occidental, tomando la Roca y con ello cortando las rutas de suministro que unían Gran Bretaña con su imperio.

Pero esta operación necesitaba la colaboración de España y ello llevó a Berlín a abrir negociaciones con Madrid con el objetivo de hacerla posible. El resultado de todo ello fueron unos movimientos diplomáticos totalmente condicionados por unos preparativos militares y una operación militar cuyo estudio y ejecución dependía de una maniobra diplomática.

En la ponencia nos centraremos en explicar este entramado absolutamente clave para entender el juego diplomático hispano-alemán de aquellos años, y en describir el origen, objetivos, concepto, instancias y personas que estuvieron detrás de esta operación para finalmente abordar las razones últimas que llevaron a su cancelación.

Todo ello a partir de la consulta de miles de documentos originales tanto de índole diplomática como militar, en gran parte inéditos, material fotográfico y fílmico igualmente inédito, y entrevistas algunos de los protagonistas directos de los hechos.

Marc Weller

Marc Weller is Professor of International Law and International Constitutional Studies in the University of Cambridge and Director of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law. Professor Weller served as Director of the Cambridge Carnegie project on the settlement of self-determination conflicts for a decade and is now heading the Legal Tools of Peace-making project conducted in cooperation with the UN Secretariat. He has been involved as senior legal advisor in broad range of international peace negotiations and served as Senior United Nations Mediation Experts. He has authored, edited or co-edited some 25 books in the area of international law.

Self-Determination in the Post-Colonial Era

This presentation reviews the classical legal standards applicable to self-determination conflict. It then considers more recent instances in which the traditional certainties in this field have been somewhat undermined. This includes cases of state-dissolution, successful instances of secession, including cases brought about in the context of peace settlements, the new doctrine of constitutional self-determination, and the more recent debate about remedial secession. On the basis of this investigation, the presentation then asks whether a new, broader entitlement to self-determination outside of the classical context is emerging.

Dr. Kevin Lane, HMGoG Archaeological Officer

Having completed his PhD in Archaeology at the University of Cambridge (Trinity Hall) in 2006, Kevin Lane was a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Manchester (2007-2009), a Sainsbury Visiting Research Fellow at the University of East Anglia (2010), and a Research Fellow of the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Free University, Berlin, 2011-2012), before co-directing a large Leverhulme Research Project (University of Cambridge, 2012-2015).

Dr. Lane specialises in historical archaeology and heritage management. Since October 2014 he has been the archaeological officer for the Department of Heritage of HM Government of Gibraltar. In his spare time he has co-founded the Fortress of Gibraltar Group [Gibraltar Heritage Trust], dedicated to recording and protecting Gibraltar’s military heritage.

Finding Felix: Understanding Gibraltar’s World War II Defences

Gibraltar at the end of June 1940 faced an uncertain future. France had fallen and the German army was poised along the Spanish-French border. With pro-Axis Spain vacillating between belligerent neutrality and outright war the unimaginable was once again grim reality a land attack on Gibraltar. With most guns pointing out to sea Gibraltar was suddenly on the frontline and in a very precarious position.

Operation Felix was just such a plan, part of a wider strategic concept to close the Mediterranean to Britain thereby choking her access to her eastern colonies and rendering holding onto Egypt possibly untenable. Gibraltar’s reaction to the supposedly impending attack was twofold, army reinforcements coupled with belated, frenzied construction of military infrastructure; and the forced evacuation of its civilian population.

Although Felix never became operational, Gibraltar’s role in the Second World War was secured, first as the lifeline to Malta and thereby the Eastern Mediterranean and in 1942 as the forward base for the Allied attack of North Africa: Operation Torch. Here we cover the period from the latter part of Appeasement in 1937 through to 1944 when the success of the Allied assaults on mainland Italy and France finally pushed Gibraltar off the limelight. In particular we chart changes in military Gibraltar as a consequence of perceived threats and opportunities.

Tommy Finlayson

Tommy Finlayson was born in Gibraltar on the 1st. May 1938.   He was two years old when he was evacuated with his family to Morocco, and after returning to Gibraltar, he and his family were sent to Britain on the Athlone Castle in July 1940. They lived in the Evacuee Centre at the Empire Pool Wembley, until they were moved to a camp in County Antrim, Northern Ireland in 1944, returning to Gibraltar in 1945. Tommy was educated at the Gibraltar Grammar School and Edinburgh University, where he obtained an Honours MA in history. He obtained a Diploma in Education at the Moray House College of Education in Edinburgh before embarking on a teaching career. After teaching for 25 years in the United Kingdom and Gibraltar, he was appointed Gibraltar Government Archivist in 1984. In the years that followed he did numerous programmes on Gibraltar television and radio, popularising the history of Gibraltar. In 1990 he published The Fortress Came First, the story of the civilian population of Gibraltar during the Second World War, a work which has become the standard work on the subject. In 1993 he was awarded the MBE in the Queen’s Birthday honours for services to Gibraltar and its Community.

The Evacuation – A Life Changing Event

The talk will open with a look at the Evacuation of the civilian population of Gibraltar against the background of the history of British Gibraltar during the previous 200 years.   It will then describe the world events which led up to the Evacuation itself and the subsequent fiasco in French Morocco.

The return to the Rock and subsequent evacuations to the United Kingdom, Madeira and Jamaica will then be looked at and the often asked question dealt with as to why many of the evacuees were sent to London at a time when English children were being taken out of the capital into the countryside.

A brief look will then be taken at the beginnings of repatriation as well as the move to Northern Ireland for some.

The presentation will conclude by examining the long term effects which this traumatic event had on the Gibraltarians and the resulting changes in the immediate post-war years.

Dr Jamie Trinidad

Dr Jamie Trinidad is a Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge, an Associate of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at the University of Cambridge, and a practising barrister.

Territorial Integrity and the Limits of Self – Determination

Territorial expansionism caused mayhem and misery during the first half of the twentieth century. After the Second World War, the stability of territorial boundaries was a key international concern, and the principle of territorial integrity became one of the cornerstone principles of the UN era. My talk will focus on the role of the territorial integrity principle in the decolonization process, and its relationship with another cornerstone principle – self-determination.

I will evaluate competing interpretations of the territorial integrity principle in light of the debates that took place in the UN General Assembly immediately prior to its adoption of the 1960 Colonial Declaration (General Assembly Resolution 1514(XV)). These debates – in particular the discussions that persuaded Guatemala to withdraw a proposed amendment to the draft text – help to shed light on what the drafters of paragraph 6 of the Colonial Declaration intended by the admonition: ‘Any attempt aimed at the partial or total disruption of the national unity and the territorial integrity of a country is incompatible with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.’

Dr. Jesús Verdú Baeza

Dr. Jesús Verdú Baeza, Director de la Sede de Algeciras de la Facultad de Derecho de la UCA. Profesor Contratado Doctor del Área de Derecho Internacional Público y Relaciones Internacionales de la Universidad de Cádiz.

El Fin De La Segunda Guerra Mundial y España: El Régimen Franquista y El Proceso Descolonizador De Los Territorios Españoles en África

Si bien, desde el punto de vista occidental, el fin de la Segunda Guerra Mundial supuso la victoria de las democracias occidentales sobre los regímenes fascistas y totalitarios del eje, sus efectos en España son contradictorios. Es cierto que las primeras resoluciones tanto de la Asamblea General como del Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas condenan el régimen totalitario de Franco, pero muy pronto, el marco de la guerra fría va a proporcionar al régimen fascista un sólido anclaje como aliado de los Estados Unidos. El régimen de Franco siempre estuvo fuertemente vinculado a los territorios africanos. Fue en África donde surgió el golpe de estado en 1936 y en la cúpula militar siempre fueron muy estrechos los vínculos con la presencia española en África. Posteriormente los intereses económicos derivados de los recursos del Sáhara se van a superponer a los vínculos de tipo nacionalistas. La estabilidad del régimen franquista proporcionada por el apoyo americano va a permitir consolidar su presencia en el Sáhara. La evolución del principio de autodeterminación en el marco de las Naciones Unidas, que servirá a Franco para reivindicar Gibraltar y la utilización de esta reivindicación para agrupar los sentimientos nacionalistas de la población, facilitará la independencia y cesión de diversos territorios a Marruecos en diversas fases, así como la independencia de Guinea Ecuatorial, pero no así, la del Sáhara Occidental. La obstinación del régimen franquista en negar el derecho del pueblo saharaui a la autodeterminación (junto al control de los recursos derivados del fosfato) va a facilitar que, en flagrante violación de los principios básicos del Derecho Internacional, Marruecos invadiera y ocupara el territorio del Sáhara Occidental coincidiendo con la agonía y muerte del dictador en noviembre de 1975.

The End of World War II and Spain: Franco’s Dictatorship and the Decolonization Process of Spanish Territories in Africa

Whilst, and from a Eurocentric perspective, the end of WWII marked the victory of the democratic countries over the fascist and totalitarian axis regimes, this was not entirely the case in Spain, where policies remained contradictory. It is true that the first UN General Assembly and Security Council Resolutions condemned the fascist Franco regime, but, very soon after, the Cold War framework served to strengthen Spain’s anchorage as a key ally of the US. The Franco regime was always strongly linked to African territories. In fact, the 1936 coup d’état had its roots in Africa and the military establishment has always had strong interests in keeping a Spanish presence in Africa. Furthermore, the huge economic profits from Sahara resources converged with nationalist and patriotic fervors. Franco’s policy was therefore to consolidate Spanish presence in the Western Sahara, something he felt able to do given the increased stability of his regime, a consequence of the support he was receiving from America.

The creation and evolution of the self-determination principle in the framework of the United Nations was very useful to Franco to claim Gibraltar and to manipulate this demand in order to whip up nationalist sentiments and cement the regime. Under this principle, Morocco was recognized as an independent state, and later, other territories (Tarfaya, Sidi Ifni) were handed over to Morocco. Equatorial Guinea was also declared independent. Nevertheless, independence was denied to the people of Western Sahara. The Franco regime’s unrelenting denial of the right to self-determination to the Saharaoui people (together with the control of the Sahara phosphate) eventually led to Morocco’s invasion and occupation of the Western Sahara, in flagrant violation of basic principles of international law – an act that coincided with the agony and death of the dictator in November, 1975.

Sir Graham Watson

Born in Rothesay, Scotland in 1956, Sir Graham is President of the European Liberal Democrat Party and a co-founder and Honorary Chairman of the Climate Parliament, a global network of legislators working to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy. From 1994 to 2014 he represented South West England in the European Parliament, during which time he was elected Chairman of the Justice and Home Affairs Committee (1999-2002), Leader of the Liberal Democrat group (2002-09) and Chairman of the EP’s delegation for relations with India (2009-14). He now works as a freelance consultant and represents Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar towards the EU. The father of two children and the author of ten books on political issues, he speaks four EU languages fluently and is learning mandarin Chinese.

Declaration of Human Rights and its Impact on Current Policies

World War II brought atrocities to Europe and the whole world. The development after the War built a solid framework for fundamental human rights with an outstanding inspiration in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations. The presentation seeks to elaborate the impacts of the World War II and the Declaration on the post-war and current policies and the views on human rights since the conflict. Although a huge progress has been made towards meeting the dignity, non-discrimination, and freedom, not all fundamental rights are being respected – right to self-determination being one of them.

Minister for Economic Development, Telecommunications & the GSB – The Hon J J Bossano MP

• Born 10 June 1939.
• Evacuation 1940, 1948, Morocco, London and Northern Ireland.
• National service, 20th intake Gibraltar Regiment 1958.
• UK, factory worker and road sweeper West Ham 1958/59.
• Merchant seamen UK 1960/63. Activist role in national union of seamen reform movement led by Jim Slater.
• Returned to Gibraltar and entered politics 1963/64.
• Campaigned for self-determination following the appearance of Sir Joshua Hassan and Peter Isola before the UN C 24 and as a result of the committee’s first consensus decision on UK talks with Spain.
• Formed PIM, pro integration movement.
• Return to UK, student 1966 to 1972. Formed UK PIM branch and lobbied Parliament and meetings. Obtained BSC (Econ) and BA (Italian).
• Returned to Gibraltar 1972, stood for election house of assembly and was elected MP.
• Re-elected 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2007, 2011.
• TGWU full-time officer 1974 to 1988.
• Led TGWU claim for parity of wages, salaries and pensions for MoD and other public sector workers 1974 to 1978.
• Leader of the opposition 1976, 1984 to 1988.
• Chief Minister 1988 to 1992 and 1992 to 1996.
• Introduced mandatory university scholarships based on local authority UK practice for the first time in Gibraltar.
• Achieved 132% GDP growth from 87/88 to 96/97, £152m to £352m.
• Minister for economic development since 2011.
• Attended United Nations C 24 and fourth committee sessions to defend Gibraltarian’s right to self-determination 1992 to 2011.
• Attended UN regional seminar’s to defend Gibraltarian’s self-determination and Gibraltar’s decolonisation, 1993 to date.

Gibraltarian Self-Determination in Post World War Europe

• The concept of self-determination pre and post the Second World War.
• Post world war concepts, self-determination at the United Nations, the evolution in international law.
• Post-war Europe, the concept for the liberation from colonial rule of European colonies.
• The concept in the context of internal self-determination of an existing nation state, respecting post-war frontiers and the exceptions.
• The parallels with European post-colonial creation of artificial nation states.
• The question of Gibraltar, the only European colony in Europe.
• Territorial integrity in the decolonisation process.
• Self-determination in theory and the reality of political horse trading.
• Spain’s unique version of the conflict between territorial integrity and self-determination.
• Conclusion the Gibraltar case.

James Irving

James Irving initially studied Science and Law (a combined programme) in Melbourne, Australia. After qualifying and practicing as a lawyer James wrote a doctorate on international law and self-determination at McGill University in Montreal. Since 2007 James has taught on international law courses at the London School of Economics, and in 2009 he founded the LLM course, “The International Law of Self-Determination”. He has also presented at conferences and seminars, as well as teaching on the LSE Summer School Programme. James has a particular interest in the application of self-determination to smaller post-colonial territories (often referred to in the literature as “colonial enclaves”). His article “Self-Determination and Colonial Enclaves: The Success of Singapore and the Failure of Theory” (2008 Singapore Yearbook of International Law) addresses related questions. In his spare time James enjoys learning foreign languages (Chinese currently), hiking and wilderness canoeing.

The Theory of Colonial Enclaves in International Law

From the 1950s onward an international legal doctrine requiring decolonisation developed under the rubric of self-determination. This doctrine mandated that each colonial territory should be given the opportunity to choose its future status: to emerge as an independent sovereign state, to exist in “free association” with another state, or to integrate into a state. Most colonial territories were handled according to this new legal requirement. A notable class of exceptions did, however, exist.

The exceptions were generally smaller territories, often on a coast. Some were “handed over” to neighbouring states, while others were taken by force (there was no act of self-determination on the part of the inhabitants and no general international call for such an act). Examples have included Goa, Ifni and, most recently, Hong Kong. To account for these apparent anomalies a special doctrine relating to “colonial enclaves” has been proposed. Self-determination is not, according to this theory, applicable (or at least applicable in the same way) to such territories. Those adhering to this idea usually include Gibraltar in the purported class. In this presentation I will explain, and critique, the theory of colonial enclaves in international law.