Introduction: Decolonization by Internationalization

Abstract

The country of Belize, officially called British Honduras from 1862 until 1973, was at the time of its quest for independence a ministate faced with the militant territorial claim of a more powerful neighbor, Guatemala. Belize’s independence movement started in 1950, when the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (hereafter referred to as UK or Britain) still wanted to hold on to parts of its empire. By the early 1960s, however, Britain was committed to Belize’s independence and the only obstacle then was the Guatemalan claim.