Defying Decolonization in the : The Case of Philippe Delacroix as a Reflection of ’s Aims in the Archipelago of Eighty Islands

Zorian Stech, Université de Montréal

The history of the New Hebrides condominium (present-day ) is an account of clashing cultures, views, and policies involving perhaps the two greatest colonial powers of the modern era: Great Britain and France. Officially known as the Anglo-French condominium, lasting from 1906 to 1980, the New Hebrides were a colony of neither France or Great Britain, but a sphere of joint influence.1 Although the two powers attempted to get along after the Second World War, they ended up displaying vastly different outlooks regarding the political future of the New Hebrides. In the years leading up to independence in 1980, France in particular played a “double game” in the archipelago.2 Although in theory both countries promised independence for the New Hebrides, in practice, the French were apprehensive, frightened that statehood would boost secessionist and anti- colonialist movements in nearby and French Polynesia.3 In this “double game,” French adventurist, colonist, and businessman Philippe Delacroix was a strong voice for France who felt increasingly pressured by the British to decolonize. An analysis of his life story, especially the New Hebridean chapter, sheds light on how France attempted to maintain its influence in the archipelago and circumvent or at the very least delay independence. As seen in Delacroix, if France was not going to be successful in prolonging the condominium system

1 Robert Aldrich, France and the South Pacific since 1940 (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1993), 196. 2 The words “double game” are the author’s phrasing for describing France’s rather deceitful policies vis-à-vis the New Hebrides. On the one hand, France wanted to be on friendly terms with Great Britain, who was clearly pushing for independence. On the other, France favored a continuation of the condominium system. See Grace Molisa, Howard Van Trease, and Nikenike Vurobaravu, “Vanuatu Overcoming Pandemonium,” in Politics in Melanesia, ed. Ahmed Ali and R.G Crocombe (Suva: Institute of Pacific Studies of the University of the South Pacific, 1982), 101- 102. 3 France was a believer of the “domino theory”: in the South Pacific, independence for the New Hebrides could risk “setting in motion a chain reaction.” See Aldrich, France and the South Pacific, 225. In the wake of Algerian independence in 1962, France shifted its nuclear testing program from Algeria to Moruroa in French Polynesia, where nuclear weapon tests were conducted between 1966 and 1996. The nuclear testing program in Moruroa also explains the importance of the Pacific region for France. See Stephen Henningham, France and the South Pacific: A Contemporary History (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1992), 56. Defying Decolonization in the New Hebrides 145

through radical measures and violence, it would at least attempt to maintain control over certain islands.4 In the continuously ongoing rivalry between the French and the British for influence and dominance in the New Hebrides, Philippe Delacroix was an important advocate for France.5 Despite the preponderance of French settlers in the early twentieth century, the French administration was reputed to be softer and more lethargic compared to the slightly more energetic British administration.6 Consequently, French stakes in the archipelago lacked stability.7 To correct this deficiency, in the first two decades following the Second World War, France focused on reaffirming its authority and governance in the colony vis-à-vis the British administration and the New Hebridean population.8 In the 1960s, France felt a sudden urge to invest in the education of New Hebrideans. “As of 1960,

4 A number of scholars have examined the decolonization of the New Hebrides. Oftentimes, this has been done by situating the New Hebrides within the context of the French-controlled South Pacific. See Henningham, France and the South Pacific, and Aldrich, France and the South Pacific. Other sources cited in this article have been written by civil servants and government workers who lived and worked in the New Hebrides, and who witnessed firsthand the events of the 1970s. See Keith Woodward, A Political Memoir of the Anglo-French Condominium of the New Hebrides (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2014); John Beasant, The Santo Rebellion: An Imperial Reckoning (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1984); and Kalkot Matas Kele-Kele, “The Emergence of Political Parties,” in New Hebrides The Road To Independence, ed. Chris Plant (Suva: Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, 1977). While drawing on primary and secondary sources, this article’s uniqueness lies in its micro-level analysis of the final years of the condominium. Through Philippe Delacroix, one gains a deeper understanding of the late condominium era from a street-level perspective, adding to the developments discussed in the article a more personalized tone. As seen through Delacroix, the article elucidates France’s true aims in the New Hebrides. 5 The rivalry between the British and the French manifested itself in many ways. For example, a dual administration meant that there were separate education systems, health facilities, police forces, etc. “There was also a third administration, that of the condominium sector per se, for those activities necessitating cooperation: public works, postal services, and a common tribunal.” See Molisa et. al., “Vanuatu Overcoming Pandemonium,” 85, and William F. S. Miles, “Francophonie in Post-Colonial Vanuatu,” Journal of Pacific History 29, no. 1 (1994), 50. 6 Aldrich, France and the South Pacific, 204. 7 Aldrich, France and the South Pacific, 204. 8 The term "New Hebridean" refers to the indigenous people of the New Hebrides during the Anglo- French condominium. Following independence in 1980, this term was replaced by the term "Ni- Vanuatu" to refer to the citizens of the newly independent country of Vanuatu. Both the term New Hebridean and Ni-Vanuatu should not be confused with the term “Melanesian.” The latter term was coined by French explorer Jules Dumont d’Urville in the early nineteenth century in an attempt to refer to the very diverse inhabitants of Melanesia (a vast geographical region in Oceania) in a collective way and to distinguish them from the inhabitants of Micronesia (“Micronesians”) and Polynesia (“Polynesians.”) To complicate matters further, some New Hebrideans are of “Polynesian” rather than “Melanesian” ethnicity. Although the author of this article consistently refers to the indigenous people of the New Hebrides as New Hebrideans, the term “Melanesian” appears when quoting other authors and sources who, because of the neutrality of the term at the time of their writings, refer to the indigenous people of the New Hebrides as “Melanesian.” Adrian Muckle, email message to author, 8 June 2019. On France’s comparative weakness vis-à-vis the British, see Aldrich, France and the South Pacific, 204, and Miles, “Francophonie in Post-Colonial Vanuatu,” 52.

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Anglophone Protestant denominations greatly outnumbered Francophone Catholic missions, resulting in an Anglophone advantage within this Church- sponsored educational ‘system.’”9 By the mid-1950s, when the British Education Service began unifying, standardizing, and administering the various denominational schools where English was the medium of instruction, British education officers in the condominium like their superiors in London placed a special emphasis on withdrawing from South Pacific territories under British jurisdiction, including the New Hebrides.10 For the British, the emergence of a local New Hebrides political scene in the early 1970s was a step in the right direction. On the contrary, France wished to remain in the New Hebrides and depended on like Delacroix to reinforce its influence versus the British administration and the New Hebridean population.11 By studying Delacroix, the undeniable confrontations and tensions that existed between the French and the British in the New Hebrides as well as amongst New Hebrideans themselves become apparent. As this article demonstrates, Delacroix wanted to save France’s reputation as a colonial power and preserve French rule in the islands. He used French language and French culture as linchpins in this undertaking, and served as the quintessential embodiment of French motivations and designs in the New Hebrides. Moreover, Delacroix’s goals were commensurate with what France was trying to accomplish in the final years of the condominium’s existence. In addition to being heavily impacted by the upsurge in political activity during the 1970s, Delacroix was also directly involved in the New Hebrides’ tumultuous path to independence. In order to understand what was at stake for both France and Great Britain in the New Hebrides during the 1970s, one must first backtrack. Until the 1960s, French interests in the area were predominantly agricultural, and revolved around the production of cocoa, coffee, and copra – dried oil-yielding coconut kernels which were in high demand in metropolitan France for the production of soap.12 For the British, the situation was noticeably different. Thanks in part to Anglo- Australian missionaries, Anglican and Presbyterian for the most part, the British were first and foremost interested in education and evangelizing.13 With more New Hebridean teachers working in English-speaking schools than in French-speaking ones, New Hebrideans were more interested in the British education system. Additionally, in the British education system, New Hebrideans often played a crucial role in planning and managing education in the colony. For example, the

9 As of 1960, “British outnumbered French enrollments four to one.” See Miles, “Francophonie in Post-Colonial Vanuatu,” 51. 10 Miles, “Francophonie in Post-Colonial Vanuatu,” 51. 11 On the differences of opinion between the British and the French regarding the political future of the New Hebrides, see Aldrich, France and the South Pacific, 204, 213-214. 12 Author unknown, New Hebrides Anglo-French Condominium: Report for the Years 1957 & 1958 (London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1960), 25. See also Aldrich, France and the South Pacific, 199. 13 Aldrich, France and the South Pacific, 199.

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British government in the colony, called the British Residency, worked in parallel with the Education Officer and Assistant Education Officer, both of whom were New Hebridean and who visited schools in the archipelago to ensure that they were up to speed with modern pedagogy.14 In educating New Hebrideans, the British objective was to prepare them for independence. This was a well-known fact to the French government in the colony, known as the French Residency, which in a 1976 report stated that the “youth who graduate from British schools are already politically oriented and are willing to campaign for the emancipation of the New Hebrides.”15 Whereas higher education outside the New Hebrides was hardly feasible to graduates of French schools, the British education system was also advantageous in that it encouraged New Hebridean students to enroll in post-secondary institutions in Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and New Zealand.16 This too had political implications. After having completed their degrees abroad, these New Hebridean students would often return home to become political activists advocating for an increased awareness of New Hebridean rights, thus opening the way to the foundation of the first anti-imperial political parties in the colony throughout the 1970s, and a certain Anglophone New Hebridean elite.17 The emergence of these first anti-imperial political parties prompted individuals like Delacroix to set up the first pro-imperial political parties in spite of the absence of a Francophone New Hebridean elite. During the Second World War, the deployment of several hundred thousand American soldiers to the New Hebrides left a lasting legacy on the islands. New Hebrideans, imbued with a newfound sense of confidence, began to fight for political rights and, ultimately, independence, since under the condominium system they were stateless.18 For Great Britain, the years following the Second World War centered on decolonization and on reducing London’s interests east of the Suez to a minimum.19 As the British empire was declining in

14 Peter Taurakoto, “Sixième conférence de Waigani, les priorités dans le développement de la Mélanésie, l’histoire de l’enseignement aux Nouvelles-Hébrides,” date unknown, box 19940165/0025, Archives Nationales de France (ANF), Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, France. 15 Sarah Mohamed-Gaillard, L’Archipel de la puissance? La Politique de la France dans le Pacifique Sud de 1946 à 1998 (Brussels: PIE Peter Lang, 2010), 50. 16 Jean Chesneaux and Nic Maclellan, La France dans le Pacifique : de Bougainville à Mururoa (Paris: La Découverte, 1992), 83. See also W. David McIntyre, Winding up the British Empire in the Pacific Islands (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 241-242. 17 Thanks in part to the Anglophone Kawenu Teacher Training College, by 1976, there were nearly five times as many local teachers in English as opposed to French medium schools. This too contributed to the rise of an Anglophone New Hebridean elite. Miles, “Francophonie in Post- Colonial Vanuatu,” 53. More generally on the Kawenu Teacher Training College, see box CO/1036/746, The National Archives (NA), Richmond, . 18 William F. S. Miles, Bridging Mental Boundaries in a Postcolonial Microcosm: Identity and Development in Vanuatu (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1998), 34. During the course of the war, approximately ten thousand New Hebrideans worked for the Americans as stevedores, laborers, or domestic servants. See Aldrich, France and the South Pacific, 200. 19 Molisa et. al., “Vanuatu Overcoming Pandemonium,” 85.

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size and strength, the British Commonwealth was taking on a new meaning, modernized by the London Declaration of 1949 which established the member states as “free and equal.”20 Although decolonization arrived in the Pacific later than in other parts of the British empire, by the 1970s London was speedily granting independence to most of its remaining island territories in the region. Fiji became independent in 1970, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu in 1978, and Kiribati in 1979.21 For the French, the overall picture was a lot more complex. After showing signs of considerable openness following the introduction of the New Hebrides Advisory Council in 1957, France went against the world trend to decolonize.22 This was in part due to Kanak rebellions in New Caledonia.23 After arriving to power in 1959, General Charles de Gaulle also vowed to keep France in the Pacific “forever.”24 As a symbol of his determination to remain in the New Hebrides, de Gaulle visited the archipelago in 1966.25 It was clear that withdrawing from the Pacific was suddenly out of the question for France, which then required a restructuring of French policies in this part of the world. Above all else, France needed to mend its relations with the New Hebridean population and seek ways of integrating New Hebrideans into the political and cultural life of the colony. After focusing largely on agriculture and settlement in the years prior to the Second World War, France’s reputation vis-à-vis the New Hebridean population was tarnished, since agriculture and settlement both required large tracts of land which were often appropriated unjustly at the expense of New Hebrideans. By accentuating education through the creation of Francophone schools, the French, like the British before them, hoped to establish their own Francophone New Hebridean elite which would also be Francophile. Besides education, in their attempts to solidify their presence in the archipelago, the French focused on other domains as well, with French subjects expected to lead the way. Nowhere was this statement more true than in the areas of business and commerce.26 The career of Philippe Delacroix was a case in point. Olivier Philippe Delacroix was born on 18 January 1926 in Paris. Until 1944, Delacroix lived with his parents, Charles and Simone Denois, on Boulevard Raspail

20 The Commonwealth, “Beginning of the modern Commonwealth,” accessed 10 June 2019, http://thecommonwealth.org/history-of-the-commonwealth/beginning-modern-commonwealth. 21 For independence dates of countries, refer to country profiles in The World Factbook. The World Factbook, accessed 23 August 2019, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world- factbook/docs/profileguide.html. 22 Composed of four British, four French, and four New Hebridean unofficial private members, together with two official members and both Resident Commissioners, the Advisory Council had no legislative power, its function being to advise the Resident Commissioners on matters such as the condominium budget. See Woodward, A Political Memoir, 18. 23 Molisa et. al., “Vanuatu Overcoming Pandemonium,” 85. 24 Molisa et. al., “Vanuatu Overcoming Pandemonium,” 85. 25 Author unknown, “L’escale du général de Gaulle aux Nouvelles-Hébrides,” La Croix, 7 September 1966. 26 Mohamed-Gaillard, L’Archipel de la puissance, 60.

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in the very heart of the city, attending the prestigious College Stanislas de Paris, a private Catholic school. After taking part in the Liberation of Paris, he participated in the Indochina campaign as a parachutist from 1945 to 1949, earning the rank of sergeant. Although one cannot say for certain what attracted him to the New Hebrides, as a bachelor, Delacroix was perhaps looking for a new adventure in an “exotic” part of the world, far away from the conservatism of 1950s metropolitan France. In his decision to settle in the New Hebrides, the colony’s tropical climate and the relative ease with which one could find employment could have also acted as possible pull factors.27 On 11 April 1956, Delacroix arrived in the New Hebrides by way of Sydney, Australia, and quickly found employment with the Compagnie française des phosphates de l’Océanie (French Oceania Phosphate Company, known by its French acronym as the CFPO).28 From 1960 to 1967, Delacroix became a plantation manager with the Société Française des Nouvelles-Hébrides (French Society for the New Hebrides, more commonly known as the SFNH), the largest landholding company in the New Hebrides. Since its inception, the company had lobbied for French takeover of the islands. In 1968, he became head printer of the Hebrides Printing Company and, as a pilot, also took over Hebrides Airlines until the airline declared bankruptcy in 1970.29 (Delacroix thought of himself as a good pilot. However, shortly before the airline declared bankruptcy, Delacroix crashed his small plane into the Pacific Ocean. As this was the airline’s only aircraft, it was logical that all operations ceased thereafter).30 By the early 1970s, the New Hebrides’ political scene was taking shape and the land question was at the forefront. In June 1971, two New Hebrideans working as Assistant Education Officers for the British Residency, and Peter Taurakoto, wrote a constitution for the newly founded Cultural Association of the New Hebrides. The Association’s mission was to “promote, preserve, revive, and encourage the culture of the New Hebrides in addition to fighting for the political, social, economic, and educational advancement of the New Hebrides.”31 Both Kalpokas and Taurakoto were in close contact with Father Walter Lini, a native of and an Anglican priest who had experience working as an editor for a political newspaper called Wantok while studying theology at St.

27 Author unknown, “Notice de renseignements concernant Philippe Delacroix,” 15 May 1974, box 19940165/0024, ANF, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, France. 28 The CFPO was a French company which during the 1950s was heavily involved in developing mining on the eastern end of Efate Island near Forari, particularly manganese but also iron, copper, and titanium. Author unknown, “Note sur les mines,” date unknown, box 126APOM/7, Archives Nationales d’outre-mer (ANOM), Aix-en-Provence, France. 29 Author unknown, “Notice de renseignements concernant Philippe Delacroix,” 15 May 1974, box 19940165/0024, ANF, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, France. 30 Kirk Huffman (anthropologist, former curator of the museum section of the Vanuatu Cultural Center in Port Vila, 1977-1989), in discussion with the author, July 2018. 31 Author unknown, “The New Hebrides National Party,” 11 February 1974, box FCO32/1095, NA, Richmond, United Kingdom.

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John College in Auckland, New Zealand.32 In August 1971, with Father Lini as the chief editor, the Cultural Association launched its own newspaper called New Hebridean Viewpoints. Although there were only twenty-five copies of the first issue, the newspaper served as the Cultural Association’s official mouthpiece, and quickly sparked reactions from around the New Hebrides, with Father Lini being asked to travel to other centers throughout the archipelago to provide further information about the activities and mission of the Cultural Association.33 On 19 August 1971, the Cultural Association organized a public march in Port Vila condemning foreign speculation on land. It was during this peaceful public march that the Cultural Association changed its name to the New Hebrides National Party (NHNP).34 In retrospect, the march marked the first time that an entirely native group publicly challenged the interests of foreigners.35 According to Howard Van Trease, the march and founding of the NHNP “were a declaration to the colonial powers that some Melanesians were no longer willing to accept their almost total exclusion from the decision-making process which governed Vanuatu.”36 Although it was not adored by all New Hebrideans, especially those who were not Anglophone or Protestant, by 1972 the NHNP had a following of approximately 4,000 people and was quickly growing, especially in the outlying islands.37 As a predominantly Anglophone and Protestant party, the NHNP was an anti-imperial party which called for the return of foreign-controlled land to New Hebridean landowners, an end to the Anglo-French condominium, a return to the more traditional New Hebridean way of life and culture, and preparations for independence which it envisioned would take place no later than 1977.38 The NHNP proved to be the dominant Anglophone party of the New Hebrides, with close ties to the British Residency.39 In the meantime, pro-imperial Francophone political parties were also coming to the surface, often emerging as a means of countering the policies of the NHNP. In August 1971, as a member of the New Hebrides Advisory Council, Delacroix took part in the formation of the eight-member Committee of Citizens

32 In Bislama, the word “wantok” means “man place” but can also mean “unity of one people.” In summary, “the newspaper brought to the fore ideas of political oppression, and applied it to the Pacific nations that were still under colonial powers.” See Paiaporou Antfalo, “Donald Kalpokas,” in Yumi Stamap: Leaders and Leadership in a New Nation, ed. Brian Macdonald-Milne and Pamela Thomas (Suva: Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, 1991), 21. 33 Walter Lini, Beyond Pandemonium: From the New Hebrides to Vanuatu (Suva: Asia Pacific Books, 1980), 25. 34 Pascal Bernard, “Le : Tradition et Nationalisme à Vanuatu” (PhD diss., Université Paris X Nanterre, 1983), 40-41. 35 Kele-Kele, “The Emergence of Political Parties,” 25. 36 Howard Van Trease, The Politics of Land in Vanuatu: From Colony to Independence (Suva: Institute of Pacific Studies of the University of the South Pacific, 1987), 208. 37 Kele-Kele, “The Emergence of Political Parties,” 25. 38 Mohamed-Gaillard, L’Archipel de la puissance, 82. 39 On the close ties between the NHNP and the British Residency, see Kele-Kele, “The Emergence of Political Parties,” 25, and Woodward, A Political Memoir, 29.

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of the New Hebrides, consisting mostly of European settlers and businessmen.40 The Committee sought amendment of and possible legal redress against two newly introduced land subdivision regulations intended to curb foreign speculation on land.41 Whereas the Cultural Association of the New Hebrides and later the NHNP favored joint regulations 15 and 16 which came into effect on 2 August 1971, the Committee did not. To explain this further, regulation 15 made every land subdivision project subject to the approval of the two Residencies, while regulation 16 placed a value added tax of 50% on all registered subdivisions on undeveloped land. In December 1971, Delacroix established the Union de la Population des Nouvelles-Hébrides (Union of the Population of the New Hebrides, known as the UPNH) to reach out towards a more New Hebridean clientele as opposed to a European one. To achieve this, he associated himself with a certain Wahea Guyette, a native of New Caledonia, who headed the Association des Mélanésiens, Calédoniens et Loyaltiens français (the Association of Melanesians, Caledonians, and French Loyalty Islanders, AMCFLI).42 AMCFLI members originally hailed from the Loyalty Islands and settled as militiamen in the village of Erakor near Port Vila in the early twentieth century. Guyette was also on good terms with Frenchman Maurice Lenormand, who after the Second World War migrated to New Caledonia to work as a pharmacist, but also had business interests in coffee plantations and nickel mines in New Caledonia as well as investments in the New Hebrides.43 Married to a Kanak woman from New Caledonia, Lenormand served as head of the Union Calédonienne (Caledonian Union, henceforth UC), a party which since its inception in 1953, called for the advancement of Kanak interests, the end of racial discrimination, and an improvement in the economic infrastructure of New Caledonia.44 Directly influenced by the UC and Lenormand, the AMCFLI, known for its acceptance of interracial marriages and common-law unions between French subjects and New Hebrideans, stood as an interesting opportunity to Delacroix, a bridge between the two cultures and a means of gaining popularity within the New Hebridean community in an attempt to counter the NHNP.45 For Delacroix, there was an additional appeal in the association in that

40 Keith Woodward states that Delacroix became a member of the Advisory Council sometime between 1964 and 1969. Although the Advisory Council had no legislative power, it did give Delacroix a foretaste for politics and political life in the colony. See Woodward, A Political Memoir, 31. 41 Kele-Kele, “The Emergence of Political Parties,” 26. 42 Résidence de France aux Nouvelles-Hébrides, “Synthèse du mois d’octobre 1971,” série Nouvelles- Hébrides, box RNH 211, ANOM, Aix-en-Provence, France. 43 Aldrich, France and the South Pacific, 181. 44 Aldrich, France and the South Pacific, 182. 45 From 1951 to 1964, Lenormand served as deputy for New Caledonia in the French parliament, a position he held until the beginning of 1964. See Aldrich, France and the South Pacific, 182. On the history of interracial marriages, Robert Aldrich points out that it was not uncommon to see French subjects marry Ni-Vanuatu or Kanaks. The first French subjects to settle in the archipelago in the late nineteenth century came from New Caledonia and were joined by others who migrated directly

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most of its members, whether French subjects or New Hebrideans, were Francophone. 46 By December 1971, aside from being president of the UPNH, Delacroix was also editor-in-chief of the French-language political monthly Nakamal. In an article entitled “Vers une action Politique” (“Towards Political Action”) published in December 1971, Delacroix put forward a broad outline of his party’s political agenda: increased political participation of New Hebrideans while maintaining the condominium system. Because this manifesto largely went unnoticed by New Hebrideans, Delacroix developed a more concrete party program following a June 1972 meeting of UPNH members. Aside from contesting the NHNP and its anti- condominium stance, the UPNH was in favor of retaining the condominium system, installing a secretary general who would oversee the efficacy of condominium services, and creating an executive council with the Resident Commissioners having a certain prerogative of control over decisions concerning the condominium’s administration and such matters as the budget and regulations. It also sought the improvement in the training of local public service workers by such means as introducing an entrance exam in the final year of French and British education institutions, enhancing opportunities for land ownership, and eliminating property litigation, all of this while branding itself as a multiracial party.47 However, from its founding in December 1971, clear divisions arose within the UPNH’s membership and ruling elite. There were three distinguishable factions. Firstly, there was an upper group consisting of well-established businessmen, long-time plantation owners, civil servants, and other prominent individuals, who were in many ways the guardians of the condominium status quo.48 Ernest Reid served as spokesperson for the upper group. An Australian citizen born in the New Hebrides, Reid was French-educated and was fluent in English, French, and Bislama.49 Well-known amongst New Hebridean workers from France or moved from elsewhere in the French empire. They usually found spouses among their compatriots living in the condominium or in New Caledonia; a few married Kanaks. Although interracial marriages were not completely unheard of by the time Delacroix arrived in the New Hebrides, by the 1970s, they acquired a “political” importance and served as an excellent opportunity for friendship and partnership between the two cultures. See Aldrich, France and the South Pacific, 198. 46 Résidence de France aux Nouvelles-Hébrides, “Synthèse du mois d’octobre 1971,” série Nouvelles- Hébrides, box RNH 211, ANOM, Aix-en-Provence, France. 47 Résidence de France aux Nouvelles-Hébrides, “Synthèse du mois de septembre 1972,” série Nouvelles-Hébrides, box RNH 211, ANOM, Aix-en-Provence, France. 48 Kele-Kele, “The Emergence of Political Parties,” 26. 49 In a territory where over one hundred different languages are spoken, Bislama serves as a kind of lingua franca and enables communication between New Hebrideans of different islands. The language developed mostly in the plantations of Queensland in the nineteenth century and expanded greatly throughout the New Hebrides during the twentieth century. Bislama can be seen as a mix of English vocabulary peppered with a few French words and grammatically structured through a Melanesian syntax. See Miles, “Francophonie in Post-Colonial Vanuatu,” 55. Concerning Reid’s background, see Kele-Kele, “The Emergence of Political Parties,” 27.

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from his work as stevedore with the Comptoir Française des Nouvelles-Hébrides (CFNH), Reid was drawn into the UPNH as a landowner who was looking to sell most of his property near Port Vila to overseas buyers when the land subdivision regulations came into effect.50 The second faction consisted of Europeans like Philippe Delacroix, who were considered to be moderate due to their willingness to introduce certain changes to the condominium system, including the participation of some New Hebrideans in the political process, without necessarily supporting independence.51 In August 1971, Robert Langlois, French Resident Commissioner since November 1969, noted that “certain Europeans, like Philippe Delacroix, think that it is time to organize young Melanesians into political groupings which would permit the inevitable evolution of their behavior to be guided.”52 Langlois, however, was cautious, fearing that these Europeans (like Delacroix) “delude themselves with illusions.”53 He went on to state that “these political regroupings will be undertaken by the Melanesians themselves, as soon as a small thinking elite capable of representing the masses will have been formed.”54 Langlois concluded by expressing his hope that this elite be Francophone and “trained in our own way of thinking” to ensure a continued French presence in the New Hebrides.55 Little did Langlois know that by 1971, France was already running out of time to create a Francophone New Hebridean elite. Delacroix had a premonition of this and felt that France needed to move swiftly to ensure the preservation of the French language and culture in the archipelago.56Aware of the fact that the creation of a Francophone New Hebridean elite would be a lengthy affair, and that educating New Hebrideans in the French language would not necessarily guarantee Francophile sentiments within that community, Delacroix was intent on gradually integrating New Hebrideans into the political life of the colony.57 The third faction consisted primarily of taxi drivers, all of whom were New Hebridean. This last group embodies the struggles that the UPNH faced in trying to gather wide support from the New Hebridean population. In the early 1970s, New Hebridean taxi drivers were increasingly dissatisfied by the granting of taxi licenses to non-New Hebrideans. Most of the grievance was directed towards the

50 Kele-Kele, “The Emergence of Political Parties,” 27. 51 Van Trease, The Politics of Land in Vanuatu, 209. 52 Van Trease, The Politics of Land in Vanuatu, 209. 53 Van Trease, The Politics of Land in Vanuatu, 209. 54 Van Trease, The Politics of Land in Vanuatu, 209. 55 Van Trease, The Politics of Land in Vanuatu, 209. 56 Huffman, in discussion with the author, April 2019. 57 For the French as well as Delacroix, the possibility of real full independence for the New Hebrides was not seriously considered. The goal was to arrive at a situation whereby the French could still control the colony by means of a French-speaking government consisting of pro-French New Hebrideans, including a significant percentage of mixed-race Francophones. However, the local French government and Delacroix diverged on the steps that needed to be taken in order to achieve this goal. Whereas the local French government emphasized education, Delacroix stressed political involvement. Huffman, email message to author, 8 September 2019.

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Vila Taxi Association, a syndicate of mainly European, Asian, and mixed-raced small businessmen who amalgamated their interests in the taxi business. The Vila Taxi Association employed most of the taxi drivers who by the early 1970s were increasingly of European or Asian descent.58 By 1972, many New Hebridean taxi drivers disapproved of this syndicate and expressed a desire for the taxi business to be open only to New Hebrideans.59 But instead of taking into consideration their grievances and their attempts to have their voices heard, by 1972 it was obvious that the party had other goals in mind than the welfare of New Hebridean workers. At its height, the UPNH was only able to gather 150 New Hebridean party members.60 As New Hebrideans became less and less interested in the UPNH, French-educated Kalpeau Kalsakau, representative of the New Hebridean faction and secretary of the party, left the UPNH by the end of 1972. Divisions between the first two factions further weakened the party.61 By March 1973, it was also clear that the UPNH was unable to establish itself on the northern island of Santo, where it believed it would find supporters among French settlers and planters as well as French-speaking New Hebrideans.62 Thus, the UPNH, unlike the NHNP, remained largely restricted to Port Vila and Efate Island. To make matters worse, in August 1973 Wahea Guyette received a three-year prison sentence for an undisclosed offense. When not deprived of his assistants and associates, Delacroix appeared to have been removed from positions of authority, making him more and more isolated on the political scene.63 As an example, in September 1972, Delacroix was relieved of his duties as editor-in-chief of Nakamal by the journal’s executive board. Reputed to be hot-tempered and at times not shy of using immoderate language, by 1973, Delacroix also lost his position as secretary of the Center I football (soccer) league.64 By 1974, the UPNH had ceased to exist, its members increasingly attracted to a growing number of new pro-imperial Francophone political parties like the Union des communautés des Nouvelles-Hébrides (UCNH, Union of New Hebrides Communities) and the Mouvement autonomiste des Nouvelles-Hébrides (MANH, Autonomous Movement of the New Hebrides).65

58 Kele-Kele, “The Emergence of Political Parties,” 27. 59 Kele-Kele, “The Emergence of Political Parties,” 27. 60 Kele-Kele, “The Emergence of Political Parties,” 27. 61 Kele-Kele, “The Emergence of Political Parties,” 27. 62 Having spent most of his time in Port Vila on Efate Island, Delacroix was largely unknown on Santo. This explains in large part the UPNH’s inability to establish itself on Santo. Huffman, email message to author, 8 September 2019. 63 Delacroix’s increasing alienation from the New Hebrides political scene is mentioned in the French Residency’s monthly report for September 1972. See Résidence de France aux Nouvelles- Hébrides, “Synthèse du mois de septembre 1972,” série Nouvelles-Hébrides, box RNH 211, ANOM, Aix-en-Provence, France. 64 Author unknown, “Notice de renseignements concernant Philippe Delacroix,” 15 May 1974, box 19940165/0024, ANF, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, France. 65 Author unknown, “Notice de renseignements concernant Philippe Delacroix,” 15 May 1974, box 19940165/0024, ANF, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, France.

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Both the UCNH and MANH represented French interests during condominium rule but in markedly different ways. Founded in December 1973 on the island of Santo, the MANH was a conservative settler party linked to right-wing groupings in New Caledonia, representing by and large the Francophone settler and planter population on Santo who felt a strong attachment to the island and France. The pro-imperial MANH was known for its antipathy of the NHNP, opposition to the NHNP’s idea of early independence (it suggested that independence should come no sooner than 1984 or 1985), and for favoring an evolution towards regional units such as municipal councils. It was also known for its close collaboration with Nagriamel, a political movement from Santo headed by the messianic leader Jimmy Stevens who called for a return to the traditional New Hebridean way of life and an end to the foreign speculation of land.66 Established in February 1974, the pro-imperial UCNH was essentially the party of Francophones living in Port Vila and the southern islands of the New Hebrides. Howard Van Trease states that the UCNH was born out of the more conservative elements of the UPNH.67 Opposed to early independence, the UCNH’s Francophone New Hebridean members believed that a government led by the NHNP would endanger French education and the employment of Francophones in the public sector.68 Although the MANH and the UCNH were both Francophone parties, the MANH could not get along with the UCNH as the former believed that French settlers from Santo were not given their due recognition for developing Port Vila, a notion that was incompatible with the UCNH.69 The inability to get along also had roots in the shared connection with New Caledonia. Many members of the MANH and UCNH were born in New Caledonia and had French passports. Rather than strengthening France’s position in the archipelago, many French members of the MANH and UCNH did not understand that the political situation in the New Hebrides was very different than in New Caledonia where in the

66 Résidence de France aux Nouvelles-Hébrides, “Bulletin de renseignements portant sur les activités du MANH,” série Nouvelles-Hébrides, box RNH 265, ANOM, Aix-en-Provence, France. 67 Van Trease, The Politics of Land in Vanuatu, 214. 68 Because there were two public sectors, there existed a clear division between Francophone and Anglophone employees. However, the division between Francophone and Anglophone employees was less prevalent in the condominium sector. See Cabinet militaire, “Document portant sur les partis politiques aux Nouvelles-Hébrides,” February 1975, section d’études et de renseignements, box 19940388/38, ANF, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, France, and Huffman, email message to author, 8 September 2019. 69 In the words of John Beasant, “Luganville, Santo’s main town, possessed the raffish charm of a last-frontier town, but was run down, with many of its 5,000 inhabitants living in Second World War Quonset huts left by Americans with almost no new roads built since the war.” Furthermore, “the settlers on Santo felt that Port Vila had been developed at their expense, despite the fact that the island produced much of the condominium’s revenue and that the administrators there, both French and British, were ‘intellectuals’ who did not understand life on the islands.” See Beasant, The Santo Rebellion, 29, and Van Trease, The Politics of Land in Vanuatu, 215.

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absence of the British, there was much less urgency to form a strong, united, pro- French and pro-imperial front.70 Events leading up to the creation of the NHNP as well as the MANH and the UCNH allowed for New Hebrideans to acquire for the first time a taste for political life within the colonizers’ parameters. Although traditional politics were an integral part of New Hebridean culture, concepts such as political parties and voting were entirely foreign to New Hebrideans. Even the term politics required further clarification.71 To expound upon these concepts and terms, by the early 1970s Father Lini and other members of the NHNP like Kalkot Matas Kele-Kele traveled around the islands to hold talks on politics.72 By traveling around the islands and explaining to fellow New Hebrideans the concept of politics from their unique perspective, Father Lini and Kele-Kele also contributed to a kind of popularization of the NHNP throughout the New Hebrides. The creation of the NHNP, MANH, and UCNH also meant that New Hebrideans had become polarized along linguistic and religious lines. The NHNP was overwhelmingly Anglophone and Protestant while the MANH and UCNH were by and large Francophone and Catholic. Although there had been Anglophone and Francophone New Hebrideans before the 1970s, with the creation of political parties this divide suddenly took on a political meaning and would influence not only party allegiances, but also political campaigns and voting patterns in forthcoming elections. By the mid-1970s, the NHNP was a force to be reckoned with. In the very first elections to the Representative Assembly held in November 1975, the NHNP, under the leadership of Father Walter Lini, cruised to victory, winning 59.5% of the popular vote.73 Two years later in 1977, the NHNP became the Vanuaaku Pati (VAP for short, the full term meaning “our land”) and with the continued support of the British administration, adopted new and radical policies to speed up independence.74 The party continued to be anti-imperial in its policies and outlooks, dominated by members who were largely Anglophone and Protestant. To counter the VAP memorandum calling for active non-cooperation with condominium authorities, the boycott of French schools, the creation of a ministerial system, and the systematic extension of land claims, Delacroix created the Federation of Independents in February 1977.75 This parliamentary alliance consisted of members of the MANH, Nagriamel, and the Chamber of Commerce which also came under direct attack of the VAP for its six-man representation in the Representative Assembly. The six members to be chosen by the Chamber of

70 Huffman, April 2019. 71 Huffman, April 2019. 72 A native of Port Vila, in the early 1970s, Kele-Kele was a law student at the University of Papua New Guinea. Throughout the 1970s, he regularly returned home to work for the NHNP and later the VAP. See Plant, New Hebrides, 124. 73 Henningham, France and the South Pacific, 36. 74 Beasant, The Santo Rebellion, 39. 75 Beasant, The Santo Rebellion, 39.

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Commerce Electorate would be either French or British and not New Hebridean, something which the VAP could not accept. Delacroix, himself a Chamber of Commerce member, saw the Federation of Independents as a catalyst for creating Regional Councils throughout the New Hebrides which “coincided with Nagriamel’s wish to be divorced from any central authority and the French settlers’ wish to maintain some reasonable degree of their previous autonomy.”76 In retrospect, a major drawback of the Federation of Independents was that it was nothing more than a marriage of convenience based on a mutual need for strength in the Representative Assembly, not a coalition that was born out of a shared political platform or vision.77 Whereas the British stood firmly behind the VAP, the French could not do the same for the simple reason that Francophone parties existed in large numbers. A few days after the formation of the Federation of Independents, yet another fragile alliance was born. Led by the UCNH, the Tan Union (term meaning “union of land”) came into being, bringing together for the most part neo-customary parties opposed to the VAP such as Tabwemassana and the Fren Melanesian party while calling for a semi-federal form of government and elections to the new Representative Assembly.78 Although the Federation of Independents and the Tan Union were finally able to form an alliance under the name of the Parti fédéral des Nouvelles-Hébrides, the Federal Party of the New Hebrides (known by its French acronym as the PFNH) in the early months of 1979, not all Francophone parties wished to become a part of this alliance.79 As a result, those opposed to the VAP, globally referred to as the Moderates, remained

76 Beasant, The Santo Rebellion, 39, and author unknown, “Fédération des indépendants – statut des Nouvelles-Hébrides, projet soumis à la conférence interministérielle de Paris,” 19-21 July 1977, série Nouvelles-Hébrides, box RNH 351, ANOM, Aix-en-Provence, France. 77 Beasant, The Santo Rebellion, 39.

78 Customary parties and movements were by no means a recent phenomenon in the New Hebrides. The presence of several hundred thousand American soldiers in the New Hebrides during the Second World War led to infrastructure being built in the islands – airfields, roads, wharves, in addition to the introduction of a telephone system, electricity, and running water. Some ten thousand New Hebrideans worked for the Americans as stevedores, laborers or domestic servants. The Americans left such a lasting mark on the colony that subsequently cargo cults and customary movements appeared throughout the islands. As early as the year 1942 on Tanna Island, the John Frum movement spoke of a savior bringing riches and freedom – a fantasy directly linked to the presence of the American army and its abundant supply of money. The John Frum movement also favored a return to New Hebridean customs and traditions which it felt had been suppressed by the colonial powers. The term “neo-customary parties” refers to those New Hebridean parties which were formed in the 1970s and not in direct response to the presence of the Americans in the early 1940s, but rather as a means of countering the VAP which some believed was slowly losing its New Hebridean character. See Aldrich, France and the South Pacific, 200-201, and author unknown, “Informations politiques – la lettre des indépendants,” 9 August 1977, série Nouvelles-Hébrides, box RNH 351, ANOM, Aix-en-Provence, France. 79 Author unknown, “Principaux partis politiques aux Nouvelles-Hébrides,” date unknown, box 19940231/0026, ANF, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, France.

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divided.80 To make matters worse, the PFNH was hit hard by financial woes and internal discords which greatly undermined its performance at the November 1979 elections to the Representative Assembly, which were won once again by the VAP with 62% of the popular vote.81 At around the same time, Delacroix’s uncompromising pro-French outlook also manifested itself in the Board of Management of the Port Vila Cultural Center, where he served as president.82 Although the presidency of the Board was seen as a rather honorary position, Delacroix showed caution when working with certain Anglophone members and by 1978, was visibly harsher with them, ordering that Anglophone board members find their own salary or resign.83 This was in large part due to the changing mission of the Port Vila Cultural Center. Initially composed of a library and an exhibition room, by the mid-1970s the Port Vila Cultural Center had become influential for its strong advocacy of New Hebridean culture and rights. For Delacroix, who was generally disinterested in New Hebridean languages and culture and felt that it was up to him to preserve the French language and culture in the New Hebrides, the Port Vila Cultural Center’s new focus of attention seemed unappealing.84 As he walked around Port Vila dressed in military attire, by 1978, Delacroix was increasingly unpopular as president of the Board, its members ever more determined to get him to resign.85 After discovering that the Board went past its term, those supporting New Hebridean culture, who were by and large Anglophone reached out to Father Lini who proceeded by dismissing the entire Board, effectively bringing to an end

80 For example, the Natatok Efate party, a regional party from Efate Island formed in 1977 and opposed to the VAP, did not wish to affiliate itself in any way with the PFNH. This cost the Moderates three seats in rural Efate Island during the November 1979 election to the Representative Assembly. Author unknown, “1975, 1979 : les scrutins se suivent … et se rassemblent,” Nabanga, 21 November 1979, 2-3, and Jean-Jacques Robert, “Rapport sur les élections du 14 novembre 1979 à l’Assemblée Représentative des Nouvelles-Hébrides et aux Conseils Régionaux de Santo et de Tanna,” 10 December 1979, box Direction du Contrôle 850, ANOM, Aix- en-Provence, France. In general, one major defect of the Moderates was its heterodox composition. This loose coalition consisted of French-educated and French-speaking New Hebrideans, Catholics, French-speaking settlers, and members of smaller Protestant denominations who were concerned about the growing influence of the VAP. Besides their suspicion of the VAP and their penchant for a loose federal system, the different elements of the Moderates had very little in common. This ultimately weakened their standing vis-à-vis the VAP. See Aldrich, France and the South Pacific, 213. 81 As an example, in March 1979, while the PFNH had a budget of 400,000 New Hebrides Francs, the VAP had a budget of 17 million New Hebrides Francs. See Résidence de France aux Nouvelles- Hébrides, “Synthèse du mois de mars 1979,” box 19940219/2, ANF, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, France. See also Henningham, France and the South Pacific, 39. 82 Woodward, A Political Memoir, 33. 83 Huffman, July 2018. 84 Delacroix did not speak Bislama and went so far as to state that it was not a language. Huffman, April 2019. 85 Huffman, July 2018.

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Delacroix’s term as president.86 Also in the late 1970s, leaflets of the Secret Armed Organization began appearing in Port Vila.87 Although it is unclear whether or not Delacroix had anything to do with the leaflets, this incident showed him in a light that was even more unbending and pro-French. Relieved of his duties as president of the Board, Delacroix left Port Vila and headed to Santo. Given his aversion to Father Lini and the VAP, Santo seemed like a logical place to settle. By 1979, the island was a hotbed of anti-VAP attitudes. For one, Nagriamel refused to acknowledge the VAP’s victory in the 1979 election and worked closely with an American libertarian organization known as the to create an independent libertarian state on Santo known as the Vemarana Federation. After failed attempts to set up libertarian states free from taxes and government control on other islands in the Pacific as well as the Caribbean, the Phoenix Foundation, led by Nevada-based real estate millionaire and Holocaust survivor Moses Olitsky, more commonly known as Michael Oliver, believed it had finally found a willing associate in Jimmy Stevens and the Nagriamel movement.88 For Oliver, Santo seemed promising for several reasons. For one, he already had extensive land holdings on the island. Secondly, being geographically distant from Port Vila and the Lini government, the island was home to a large French settler population, rather unenthused about the recent successes of the VAP. The Nagriamel movement and the charisma of Jimmy Stevens also instilled a sense of mistrust towards the VAP on the part of the New Hebridean population.89 Nagriamel supporters and French settlers regarded the VAP as anti-French, leftist, and bent on a centralized state.90 For the Lini government, the Phoenix Foundation and its intention of installing an independent libertarian state on Santo was a real cause for concern. In early 1980, Lini’s pleas of sending troops to suppress the revolt elicited no response on the part of condominium authorities.91 For Delacroix, conditions on Santo were now ripe for an all-out offensive against condominium authorities

86 By the mid-1970s, the promotion of New Hebridean culture became almost synonymous with the independence movement. Less interested in New Hebridean culture, the French felt that the New Hebrides should more closely follow New Caledonia instead of seeking independence. Huffman, April 2019. 87 More commonly referred to by its French acronym (OAS), the Secret Armed Organization was a French dissident paramilitary organization fighting against Algerian independence during the Algerian War. Huffman, July 2018. 88 Oliver was unsuccessful in establishing libertarian states on the partially submerged Minerva reef in Tonga as well as the island of Abaco off of . See Molisa et. al., “Vanuatu Overcoming Pandemonium,” 96. See also Marc Kurt Tabani, “Histoire politique du Nagriamel à Santo (Vanuatu),” Le Journal de la Société des Océanistes 113 (2001), 158. 89 Stevens’ mistrust of the VAP stemmed in large part from his unwillingness to associate himself with its members, who tended to be well-educated and residing in towns. Stevens, on the other hand, was illiterate and rural-based. Author unknown, “Fiche sur Jimmy Stevens,” date unknown, box 19940165/0037, ANF, Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, France. 90 Aldrich, France and the South Pacific, 220. 91 Aldrich, France and the South Pacific, 221.

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based in Port Vila. Along with a few other French subjects, Delacroix joined Nagriamel rebels who were by now fighting for full-blown secession from the rest of the New Hebrides. In analyzing this episode of the condominium’s history, it is clear that as a rebel fighter, Delacroix had an important role to play in ensuring France’s continued presence, if not in all of the New Hebrides, then at the very least on Santo. Along with other rebel fighters, he engaged in guerrilla warfare against government forces in the Santo rebellion, also known as the Coconut War. Beginning on the morning of 28 May 1980, an attack began on the British paddock in Luganville, Santo’s main town. On that day, homes were ransacked and government and was stolen. Ordinary civilians were left with few options but to flee. Rebel fighters also attacked the town’s police headquarters and imprisoned several police officers.92 While some eventually escaped, nine police officers and governments officials were held hostage for two weeks at Vanafo, headquarters of the Nagriamel movement.93 French involvement in the Santo revolt was inadequate for several reasons. Despite being a bold show of noncompliance with authorities in Port Vila, the revolt was more about lawlessness, vandalism, and causing a general disturbance than coordinated and structured military tactics. Rebel fighters tended to act independently without being members of divisions or units. Although France lacked a clear and concise strategy for its men on the ground and generally went by a “hands off” approach to the Santo revolt on the international stage, covertly, it provided assistance by allowing rebel-controlled vessels to stock up in New Caledonia in not only foodstuffs, but also weapons and ammunition.94 On 29 May 1980, the British Residency reported that an unauthorized private plane had flown directly from Nouméa to Santo on the afternoon of 27 May 1980, the day before Vemarana secessionists captured Santo. Among its passengers were three Moderate party members who were supportive of the Phoenix Foundation and Michael Oliver. Furthermore, the plane was reported to have transported a large amount of arms and ammunition.95 Despite statements from the French Minister for Overseas Territories Paul Dijoud and the French Resident Commissioner Jean-Jacques Robert supporting the Lini government as well as the territorial integrity of the soon-to-be nation of Vanuatu, there is evidence to prove that France encouraged secessionism on Santo in an attempt to discredit the Lini government.96 In July 1980, France and Great Britain finally acquiesced to Lini’s requests to send troops to Santo. On 23 July, only one day before the arrival of a joint force consisting of two hundred French parachutists and one hundred British Marines, French Resident Commissioner Jean-Jacques Robert flew to Santo to speak with

92 Molisa et. al., “Vanuatu Overcoming Pandemonium,” 97, and Jean Massias, “Tanna, Santo: chronique de la rupture,” Nabanga, 31 May 1980, 3. 93 Molisa et. al., “Vanuatu Overcoming Pandemonium,” 97. 94 Van Trease, The Politics of Land in Vanuatu, 256. 95 Molisa et. al., “Vanuatu Overcoming Pandemonium,” 97. 96 Molisa et. al., “Vanuatu Overcoming Pandemonium,” 95-96.

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rebel fighters and Vemarana supporters and bring what he called “bad news.”97 In his speech delivered to some one thousand people, he stated that the condominium would be restored and maintained on Santo until proper arrangements had been worked out and that the interests of Santo would be secured. Until that moment came, Robert asked the rebels and Vemarana supporters to welcome the soldiers and cooperate with them.98 His speech, characterized by some French inhabitants of the New Hebrides as “shabby” and “stupid,” did not calm the situation, but rather underscored Paris’s attempts to forestall independence and promote secession.99 It was not long before the joint Anglo-French force began to show its flaws. A public relations officer accompanying the British Marines quickly stated that the whole operation was a cosmetic one, more intent on showing France and Great Britain in a positive light than bringing actual peace to Santo.100 The French, who had more to prove in the joint operation than the British, were also unable to bring peace to Santo. With twice as many men on the ground than the British, the French Foreign Secretary reported that the troops had gone to Santo mainly to protect French and British nationals, with little being done to apprehend the rebels and thus bring the revolt to a close.101 Less than a month after its arrival to Santo, a military force of three hundred men from Papua New Guinea, commanded by Australian officers and transported in Australian military jets, replaced the Anglo- French force.102 In the days and weeks that followed, troops from Papua New Guinea pulled down Vemarana flags, set up checkpoints across Santo, and proceeded by arresting both French and New Hebridean rebel fighters.103 In what was a short-lived uprising on Santo, perhaps most embarrassing for France was the fact that it was the Vanuatu police, as well as troops flown in from Papua New Guinea, who thwarted France’s efforts to delay independence, which came on 30 July 1980. As for Delacroix, after lengthy negotiations with Prime Minister Walter Lini’s spokesperson John Beasant, he surrendered on 8 September 1980 at the Surrunda plantation near the town of Port-Olry, a stronghold of the rebel movement which had fallen to the Papua New Guinean Defense Force only two days prior.104 As the last white person to give himself up, Delacroix was first taken to Luganville for a few days of questioning and then flown to Port Vila.105 In August and September 1980, the Republic of Vanuatu proceeded by “cleaning up” its territory. As stolen goods were slowly being retrieved and

97 Alain Bigard, Vanuatu – chronique d’une décolonisation (Nouméa: Imprimeries Réunies de Nouméa, 1984), 134. 98 Aldrich, France and the South Pacific, 221. 99 Aldrich, France and the South Pacific, 223. 100 Beasant, The Santo Rebellion, 104. 101 Beasant, The Santo Rebellion, 104. 102 Bernard, “Le Nagriamel: Tradition et Nationalisme à Vanuatu,” 117. 103 Tabani, “Histoire politique du Nagriamel à Santo (Vanuatu),” 161, and Beasant, The Santo Rebellion, 127. 104 Beasant, The Santo Rebellion, 138. There is no connection between the Bislama word “surrunda” and the English word “surrender.” Huffman, email message to author, 8 September 2019. 105 Huffman, July 2018.

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deposited in Luganville for identification, the “cleaning up” process meant first and foremost apprehending and subsequently deporting more than one thousand unwanted subjects, French for the most part, to Nouméa.106 More than one hundred French nationals voluntarily opted to leave Vanuatu rather than run the risk of prosecution.107 Although it is not entirely certain whether Delacroix voluntarily left the territory, or was among the more than one thousand unwanted subjects who were deported by the Vanuatu government, he ended up in Nouméa immediately after the conclusion of the Coconut War. From Nouméa, Delacroix wrote a letter of grievance to Paul Dijoud, criticizing Dijoud for not doing enough to assist the rebels during the Santo rebellion, thus affirming the involvement of French government officials in the rebellion. The letter was published in La Presse Caledonienne on 10 November 1980.

“Do you remember 27 May 1980? Where were you? At Noumea, wasn’t it? Where, two months before independence, incensed at the fact that Father Lini, Chief Minister of the New Hebrides, had refused to come to meet you, you practically gave the green light to what was wrongly termed the Santo Rebellion. With the agreement of the French Authorities, the Provisional Government of Vemarana and the confederation of the Northern Islands was proclaimed on 28 May.”108

Delacroix’s letter to Paul Dijoud crystallizes the legacy that France left behind in the New Hebrides. In the end, the Santo rebellion was an impromptu affair, lacking clear instructions and a concise strategy from the French administration who did not provide Delacroix with the right tools and knowledge to ensure a continued French presence in the territory. Disappointed by what they felt was not a wholehearted endorsement of the rebel cause, following independence, many former rebels, including Delacroix, believed that France owed them tokens of appreciation for their attempts to preserve France’s hold in this part of the world.109 For France, the presence of former rebel fighters in New Caledonia was a cause for great concern at a time of political unrest in that territory.110 Put

106 Huffman, July 2018. 107 Beasant, The Santo Rebellion, 143, and Tabani, “Histoire politique du Nagriamel à Santo (Vanuatu),” 161. 108 Molisa et. al., “Vanuatu Overcoming Pandemonium,” 100-101. 109 In November 1980, “Remy Riera (Under-Secretary in the Social Services Section of the French Ministry for Overseas Territories) and Paul Pegeyre (from the French Department of Repatriation) flew out from Paris in order to begin to solve the problem of what to do with the deportees. The two French officials were later to state at a press conference that they had gained the distinct impression that not only were most of the deportees unwilling to leave New Caledonia, but that most of them also appeared unprepared to work, apparently being of the opinion that ‘France owed them a living.’” See Beasant, The Santo Rebellion, 143. 110 Beasant, The Santo Rebellion, 143.

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simply, after independence, France came to see Delacroix as well as many of the former rebel fighters as a liability or burden.111 Philippe Delacroix deserves the historian’s attention for several reasons. His story offers an interesting perspective into the nascent but complex political scene of the New Hebrides in the 1970s. This political scene saw the formation of political parties and political ideologies, the holding of elections, and the nation-building process which elicited different reactions from France, Great Britain, and the New Hebrideans. Long after the decolonization of Algeria and sub-Saharan Africa in the early 1960s, the final years of the Anglo-French condominium are a reflection of France’s aims to remain not only in the New Hebrides, but the Pacific region in general. Using Delacroix as a lens through which to understand the decolonizing moment in the New Hebrides, this article emphasizes a certain shift in how Paris came to view the New Hebrides by the early 1960s. No longer as interested in agriculture and settlement, the French focused on education, the formation of a Francophone New Hebridean elite coupled with the gradual integration of New Hebrideans into the political life of the colony in the hope of avoiding or postponing independence. However, these goals did not mean support for individuals like Delacroix who were expected to be the main catalysts of France’s restructuring in the New Hebrides. Delacroix is significant considering that in its attempt to avert independence in the New Hebrides, France relied much less on diplomats and politicians than on ordinary French citizens like Delacroix who understood France’s desperation to preserve the condominium system and remain in the Pacific. Nevertheless, Delacroix also personifies a certain disconnect that existed between the French administration and French subjects in the New Hebrides. This was in large part as a result of a general misunderstanding of the condominium’s political situation on the part of French officials. For example, as late as 1971, Robert Langlois believed that France was still capable of producing a Francophone New Hebridean elite who under the influence of the French administration, would act as a protector of French interests in the condominium. As France learned the hard way, the increased number of French-language schools in the New Hebrides throughout the 1960s and 1970s did not translate to an increase in Francophile sentiments on the part of New Hebrideans. Moreover, the existence of pro-imperial Francophone parties such as the UCNH and the MANH, and their incapacity to form long-lasting and stable coalitions, did not simplify matters for France or Delacroix. More clearly leaning towards the UCNH in the early to mid-1970s, by the summer of 1980, Delacroix

111 John Beasant states that by the end of August 1980, “there were 387 ex-Santo residents housed by the government in the St. Quentin towers on the outskirts of Nouméa. The deportees and those who opted to leave Vanuatu rather than run the risk of prosecution posed a considerable problem for the French. Most of them lacked professional qualifications and were finding it extremely difficult to find employment. They wanted to remain in New Caledonia but the French authorities were concerned that they might cause further trouble.” See Beasant, The Santo Rebellion, 143.

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was more interested in assisting MANH and Nagriamel supporters on Santo. The inability to mount a strong counterforce to the NHNP hindered Delacroix, who often saw himself as being on a mission to protect the French language and culture in the New Hebrides, convinced that he was doing the right thing for his country at the right time and that his efforts would pay dividends for France in the end. As it was becoming clear that France had failed in its attempts to create a Francophone New Hebridean elite, France suddenly adopted a more radical and militant tone. With very little time left until independence, by the summer of 1980, France wanted to hold on to at least some territory. To do this, it would need committed French citizens who would not be afraid of extreme measures like taking up arms and engaging in guerrilla warfare. Delacroix fit this description perfectly. Considered to be patriotic for his love of the French language and culture and his participation in the Liberation of Paris, through Delacroix, France’s “double game” in the New Hebrides becomes noticeable. Although at an official level France tried to turn a blind eye to the Santo situation to preserve deniability, Paris was also sympathetic to what the rebels were trying to accomplish.112 Ultimately, France’s assistance to the rebel cause proved to be too little, too late, and a humiliation when the entire uprising was foiled in a matter of weeks by two newly independent Pacific countries – Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. France’s enthusiasm for Delacroix and the rebel movement on Santo quickly faded. The task of securing Santo for France was never really attainable given the global push for decolonization at the time, and the limited resources that individuals like Philippe Delacroix could mobilize as part of France’s policy to prevent, or at the very least delay, the independence of the New Hebrides.

112 Huffman, email message to author, 8 September 2019.

2018