1918-1945






North Borneo 1945-1963



In 1946 British North Borneo became a CROWN COLONY. The capital was moved from Sandakan to JESSELTON (present Kota Kinabalu).
Colonies all over Asia were released into independence or saw military conflict over the issue of independence. Of great concern to the British administration was Indonesia's President SUKARNO, who denounced the British as imperialists and, in his policy of KONFRONTASI (confrontation) attempted to destabilize British rule in North Borneo, Sarawak and Malaya, all areas he wanted to annex into Indonesia.
North Borneo, with its low population density, if released into independence, was not regarded a viable political entity, all the more as the Philippines also claimed the territory. So the British Government supported North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak to enter the MALAYAN FEDERATION, which gained full independence in 1963.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		History of Sabah, from Info Sabah; from Sabah Tourism
History of Sandakan, from Info Sabah, timeline
The War against Sukarno. Borneo, Brunei and Sarawak 1962-1966, from Britain's Small Wars 1945-2001
DOCUMENTS World Statesmen : Malay States by Ben Cahoon, scroll down for Sabah
The Manila Accord, July 31, 1963, from Modern History Sourcebook
REFERENCE Article : Borneo, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1947 pp.135-136 [G]
Article : North Borneo, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1948 p.534, 1949 p.472 [G]
Article : British Borneo, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1950 p.126, 1951 p.123, 1952 p.131, 1953 pp.121-122, 1954 pp.119-120, 1955 p.180, 1956 p.119, 1957 pp.178-179, 1958 p.119, 1959 p.120, 1960 pp.120-121, 1961 pp.119-120, 1962 pp.107-108 [G]
Article : Borneo - North Borneo, in : Americana Annual 1947 pp.88-89, 1957 pp.93-94, 1961 p.85, 1962 pp.82-83, 1963 p.95 [G]
Article : British North Borneo, in : Funk & Wagnall's New Standard Encyclopedia Year Book 1946 p.83, 1952 p.78, 1961 p.51 [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on May 8th 2002, last revised on May 4th 2007

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