Many Islands, One Nation: The West Indies Federation

DirtyCommie

DirtyCommie

Excerpt from "Strength in Unity: A History of the West Indies Federation" by Richard Drayton(1)


The West Indies Federation in 1958, not including the later-joining Bahams, British Guiana, and British Honduras

The West Indies Federation is, today, one of the most prosperous nations in the Americas, a competitor with even the mighty United States. However, when it was first founded in 1958, even the greatest of the politicians among the islands believed that it was destined to fail. On January 4, 1958, the British parliament finally passed the West Indies Bill, with a few last-minute changes within, after days of arguing(2). Only a few months later, the esteemed socialist Norman Manley of Jamaica became the first Prime Minister of the WIF, beginning a long period of rule by the Manley family and relations, interrupted only by Eric William's rule in the '60s.(3)

First Council of State of the West Indies Federation:
Prime Minister: Norman Manley (West Indies Federal Labor Party-Jamaica)
Deputy Prime Minister: William Henry Bramble (WIFLP-Montserrat)
Minister of Trade and Industry: Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw (WIFLP-St. Kitts)
Minister of Labour and Social Affairs: Grantley Adams (WIFLP-Barbados)
Minister of Communications and Works: Ashford Sinanan(Democratic Labor Party-Trinidad)
Minister of Finance: Dr. Eric Williams (WIFLP-Tobago)
Minister of Natural Resources and Agriculture: Bhadase Maraj (DLP-Trinidad)
Ministers without portfolio: Donald Sangster (DLP-Jamaica), Morris Cargill (DLP-Jamaica), Eric Matthew Gairy (WIFLP-Grenada), and Ebenezer Joshua (DLP-St. Vincent)

NOTES

(1) Richard Drayton is a historian in OTL too. He's gonna be my "voice" throughout this, though I will occasionally switch to other sources.
(2) Our first PoD. The new bill, a day later than OTL, strengthens the prime minister's office and includes the whole Federation in one customs union, as it was not in OTL.
(3) Our second PoD. Manley, after reading the new bill, decides this whole "federation" thing might actually be worth something, and runs for prime minister, adding credibility to the federation.

OOC:

So, this is my new TL. I had this idea a while ago, for a surviving West Indies Federation. Sorry if it's a bit sketchy and weird in the beginning: I've been awake for nigh-on 26 hours now.
 

Roisterer

octaviuz said:
I'll be waiting with baited breath (hopefully the smell of bait on my breath will draw out a good story.
Click to expand...

That's almost worth a sig :)

I don't know too much about West Indies history. I'll be interested to see if bigger means better, or whether there will be larger scale problems.

This federation is based on ex-British colonies. Will it grow to take in any non-British areas?

Regards

R
 
DirtyCommie

DirtyCommie

Well, the Caribbean states can go nowhere but upwards from where they would be IOTL: tens of small, barely viable microstates struggling to survive under the giant to the north. As for non-British areas, well, that all depends on who wins the next elections. (Read: you'll see. :D)
 
Thande

Thande

Donor
I'd like to see the Federation survive, but I'm not sure if it could assimilate British Honduras and British Guyana...wouldn't they have enough people to considerably outweigh the original Federation?
 

octaviuz

Oh, and good call including Belize, Guyana and the Bahamas, it never made much sense to me that they were left out in the first place.
Any chance Sir Arthur Lewis could become the governor of the Bank of the West Indies?
 

octaviuz

Thande said:
I'd like to see the Federation survive, but I'm not sure if it could assimilate British Honduras and British Guyana...wouldn't they have enough people to considerably outweigh the original Federation?
Click to expand...

Belize and the Bahamas currently have around 330K each, Barbados has about 280K. Guyana is 750K while Jamaica is 2.8M and Trinidad & Tobago 1.3M.
Those figures are current but assuming the relative growth rates have not been radically different, the three new additions would be among the larger states in the federation but not so large as to swamp it.
 

archaeogeek

Banned
Thande said:
I'd like to see the Federation survive, but I'm not sure if it could assimilate British Honduras and British Guyana...wouldn't they have enough people to considerably outweigh the original Federation?
Click to expand...

Both have less population than Trinidad (in fact, Belize has IIRC less population than Barbados)
 

glenn67

Looking forward to this TL. Consider me subscribed.

Do you plan to cover the cultural scene in the WIF including Bob Marley and the growth of reggae music?

Keep it coming.
 
Last edited:
Thande

Thande

Donor
octaviuz said:
Belize and the Bahamas currently have around 330K each, Barbados has about 280K. Guyana is 750K while Jamaica is 2.8M and Trinidad & Tobago 1.3M.
Those figures are current but assuming the relative growth rates have not been radically different, the three new additions would be among the larger states in the federation but not so large as to swamp it.
Click to expand...

archaeogeek said:
Both have less population than Trinidad (in fact, Belize has IIRC less population than Barbados)
Click to expand...

That few? Well I'm wrong then. This could work out very nicely.

Also, in a fit of obligatory space-related mono-obsessiveness, I should point out that British Guyana (or whatever it would be called after joining the WIF) could potentially be a space launch site as French Guiana is OTL...perhaps if the WIF collaborates with the Canadian Space Agency?
 
DirtyCommie

DirtyCommie

Whanztastic said:
I wonder what their economy will be based on. Probably tax evasion.
Click to expand...

There will be a lot of that, but not all of it. With a rather influential socialist party and conservative party both focused on industrialization and self-sufficiency, they'll gain a significant manufacturing sector (much like today's Jamaica). Sort of a "factory floor of the Americas". As well, tourism will remain a significant part of the economy.

Thande said:
I'd like to see the Federation survive, but I'm not sure if it could assimilate British Honduras and British Guyana...wouldn't they have enough people to considerably outweigh the original Federation?
Click to expand...

As other people have said, well, not really. They will be among the larger states in the Federation though.

octaviuz said:
Oh, and good call including Belize, Guyana and the Bahamas, it never made much sense to me that they were left out in the first place.
Any chance Sir Arthur Lewis could become the governor of the Bank of the West Indies?
Click to expand...

I don't see any reason why not!

glenn67 said:
Looking forward to this TL. Consider me subscribed.

Do you plan to cover the cultural scene in the WIF including Bob Marley and the growth of reggae music?

Keep it coming.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I plan to do so. Some pretty interesting (well, I hope interesting) stuff'll come out of there.

Thande said:
That few? Well I'm wrong then. This could work out very nicely.

Also, in a fit of obligatory space-related mono-obsessiveness, I should point out that British Guyana (or whatever it would be called after joining the WIF) could potentially be a space launch site as French Guiana is OTL...perhaps if the WIF collaborates with the Canadian Space Agency?
Click to expand...

After they sort out their economy and political standing in the Commonwealth and the rest of the world, I don't see why not. They might even push for the establishment of some sort of Commonwealth-wide space agency.

Anyhow, I should have an update up later today!
 
DirtyCommie

DirtyCommie

Excerpt from "Strength In Unity: A History of the West Indies Federation" By Richard Drayton

The WIFLP's excitement at having won a plurality of the votes soon faded as the magnitude of the large issues facing Manley's new government began to sink in. The Federation was still a fragile entity, with no pan-West Indies identity to solidify it. The islands were some of the most undeveloped in the world, while what little industry there was was almost entirely owned by foreign (especially American) interests. And, possibly worst of all for the Federation, the land upon which Chaguaramas, the capital, was to built was owned by the American military.

chaguaramas.jpg

The prospective site of the new capital, on the island of Trinidad.

During World War II, the British government had leased the Chaguaramas peninsula to the American government as part of the "Destroyers for Bases" agreement. Since then, a rather extensive American air force base had been built, a base that was regarded as one of the linchpins of American cold war defenses in the Caribbean.(1) This presented a rather large problem to the WIF's new government: though the American lease ended in four years, it was expected that the Americans would ask for a renewal of the the loan. A renewal that the WIF could not afford to grant if they wanted to get some real credibility in the eyes of their citizens. On the other hand, however, the Americans were the largest power in the region, and could effectively reduce the entire Federation to poverty with a simple wave of their hand.(2) And so, after a few months of discussion and planning, on September 13, 1958, an offer was presented to the Americans by the WIndies Council of State...

Excerpt from "1958 United States-West Indies Federation Land-Lease Deal", Final Draft

...1. With no further demands or requests, the West Indies Federation will lease the Montego Bay promontory and town on the island of Jamaica for use as a military base to the government of the United States of America, in exchange for the military of the United States' abandonment of their base on the Chaguaramas peninsula on the island of Trinidad.

montego_bay_map.jpg

Note the small promontory in the southwest: this is the new US base.

Excerpt from "Strength in Unity: A History of the West Indies Federation"

After some hemming and hawing from George F. Kennan, the recently-appointed U.S. Ambassador to the WIndies, the Americans accepted the deal. By October, the base was abandoned, and construction on a new one had started in Montego Bay. With that sorted out, the government began searching for an architect to construct the new capital. Multiple leading lights of American and British architecture were rejected, until Eric Williams, Minister of Finance, happened upon an unusual idea. In a meeting on October 9 with the Council of State, he recommended that Oscar Niemeyer(3), the Brazilian architect who designed the nation's new capital, be hired to build Chaguaramas. After a few hours of debate and thought, the Council voted on Niemeyer's hiring: the vote was 7-4, with Bhadase Maraj switching his vote to the WIFLP's side at the last moment. Otherwise, the issue was a prime example of the way the rest of Manley's first term would go, with the Council split almost perfectly down partisan lines, rather than working towards bipartisianship as the great socialist had wished(4). Nonetheless, Manley supported Niemeyer's hiring, as it would leave an indelible stamp of socialist(5) influence on the new federation. Niemeyer was hired and, on May 21, 1959, construction began on Chaguaramas.

50402846.jpg

Bhadase Maraj, the highly popular and influential Minister of Natural Resources and Agriculture, on his home island of Trinidad.

With the capital city finally sorted out, Manley's government began looking into the economic problems of the Federation. While Jamaica, the biggest island in the WIndies, was relatively well-developed, the rest of the islands were chronically undeveloped and poor. Therefore, with the cooperation and input of the House of Representatives and the Senate, Manley's Council of State crafted what was to be one of the most famed aspects of his first term: the Five-Year Plan. With WIFLP party members running the Trade and Industry and Labour ministries, the WIFLP was virtually guaranteed a free hand in the crafting of WIndies economic policy. However, a major blockade to this was Bhadase Maraj, the Minister of Natural Resources and Agriculture, who argued for a more agriculturally-focused policy. Nonetheless, by December, the WIFLP had created a plan focused on developing the Federation's heavy industry, while keeping the economy worker-oriented(6). After the plan narrowly passed through Parliament, it went into effect on January 1, 1959. Immediately, the WIF government began encouraging local business through the creation of a new bureaucratic entity based off of the American model, the West Indies Small Business Administration. The new WISBA began subsidizing local businesses who passed a set of requirements, including worker safety and well-treatment. At the same time, the WIndies Parliament cut corporate taxes drastically, bringing them almost to zero. However, the government also purchased many of the foreign-owned business in the Federation, especially the bauxite mines and alumina plants in Jamaica. On June 3, 1959, all of the newly-purchased businesses were grouped into one great state-run corporation, the Public Corporation for Heavy Industry. The new PCHI began the construction of several alumina plants throughout the smaller islands of the east, to strengthen their own economy and integrate the eastern WIF with Jamaica and the south and west. The PCHI also began building several hydroelectric plants throughout the islands, to exploit the natural energy of the Caribbean. As a nod to the DLP's agriculture-based platform, an agricultural service known as the Bureau for Farmer's Assistance (BFA) was created, to provide subsidies to farmers and regulate the shipping of agricultural goods from Jamaica.

400336604_f2d1690f2a.jpg

A bauxite ship leaving Jamaica, bound for the St. Kitts Aluminum Smelter

Notes
(1) Indeed, the Chaguaramas base was at one time regarded as the most important U.S. base in the Caribbean, essential for watching Cuba. Nonetheless, the U.S. didn't renew the lease in '63.
(2) As was done to Jamaica in the 1980's in OTL, or Chile in the 1970's.
(3) For those who don't know their South American history, he built Brazilia.
(4) Norman Manley is one of my political idols, as is his son, Michael Manley. I'm a socialist by nature, what can I say?
(5) In case you didn't get that little reference, Niemayer was a hardcore socialist.
(6) Essentially, creating a more mixed economy, rather than the OTL WIndies mostly private-run, foreign-owned economy.
 
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