Editing History of the Bahamas (section)

==Colonial 20th century==
In 1911, there was a short-lived movement to make the Bahamas part of [[Canada]]. Although the movement enjoyed the support of many in [[Nassau, Bahamas|Nassau]] and from the head of [[Sun Life Financial|Sun Life]], a Canadian insurance company, the movement failed. The failure of the movement was, in part, due to the British government's opposition to uniting a predominantly black colony with a predominantly white country.<ref>Smith, Andrew. 2009. "Thomas Bassett Macaulay and the Bahamas: Racism, Business and Canadian Sub-imperialism". The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. 37, no. 1: 29-50.</ref>

In [[World War I]] organisations such as the Imperial Order of the Daughters of Empire and the Bahamas Red Cross Guild began collecting money, food and clothing for soldiers and civilians in Europe. "The Gallant Thirty" Bahamians set out to join the [[British West Indies Regiment]] as early as 1915 and as many as 1,800 served in the armed forces of Canada, Britain and the United States.

===World War II===
[[File:The Duke of Windsor (1945).jpg|thumb|upright|left|The Duke of Windsor in August 1945, several months after he stepped down as the governor of the Bahamas]]
Oakes Field, the Bahamas first airport, was opened in Nassau in January 1940. It was named after [[Harry Oakes]], a millionaire who made a large contribution. Prior to that, aviation in the Bahamas was largely carried out by seaplanes.<ref name="bahamapundit">{{Cite web |title=The Origins of Bahamian Aviation - Bahama Pundit |url=http://www.bahamapundit.com/2005/11/the_origins_of_.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060323071142/http://www.bahamapundit.com/2005/11/the_origins_of_.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=March 23, 2006 |access-date=7 December 2014 |publisher=bahamapundit.com}}</ref><ref name="google">{{Cite book |last=Owen, J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PrA0BNGP_wsC |title=A Serpent in Eden: 'The greatest murder mystery of all time' |date=2008 |publisher=Little, Brown Book Group |isbn=9780748109739 |access-date=7 December 2014}}</ref>

The [[Edward VIII|Duke of Windsor]] was installed as [[List of governors of the Bahamas|governor of the Bahamas]], arriving at that post in August 1940 with his new [[Wallis Simpson|wife]]. They were appalled at the condition of Government House, but they "tried to make the best of a bad situation."<ref name="Windsor installed">{{Cite book |last=Higham |first=Charles |title=The Dutchess of Windsor: The Secret Life |date=1988 |publisher=McGraw Hill |pages=300–302}}</ref>  He did not enjoy the position, and referred to the islands as "a third-class British colony".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bloch |first=Michael |title=The Duke of Windsor's War |date=1982 |publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |isbn=0-297-77947-8 |location=London |page=364}}</ref> He opened the small local parliament on October 29, 1940, and they visited the 'Out Islands' that November, which caused some controversy because of on whose yacht they were cruising.<ref name="Windsor opened">Higham, pp. 307–309.</ref>  The British Foreign Office strenuously objected when the Duke and Duchess planned to tour aboard a yacht belonging to a Swedish magnate, [[Axel Wenner-Gren]], whom American intelligence wrongly believed to be a close friend of [[Luftwaffe]] commander [[Hermann Göring]].<ref name="Windsor opened" /><ref>Bloch, pp. 154–159, 230–233.</ref> The Duke was praised, however, for his efforts to combat poverty on the islands, although he was as contemptuous of the Bahamians as he was of most non-white peoples of the Empire.<ref name="ziegler">[[Philip Ziegler|Ziegler, Philip]] (1991). ''King Edward VIII: The official biography''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. {{ISBN|0-394-57730-2}}.</ref>  He was also praised for his resolution of civil unrest over low wages in [[Nassau, Bahamas|Nassau]] in June 1942, when there was a "full-scale riot,"<ref name="Windsor unrest">Higham, pp. 331–332.</ref> even though he blamed the trouble on "mischief makers – communists" and "men of Central European Jewish descent, who had secured jobs as a pretext for obtaining a deferment of draft".<ref>Ziegler, pp. 471–472.</ref> The Duke resigned the post on 16 March 1945.<ref name="matthew">[[Colin Matthew|Matthew, H. C. G.]] (September 2004; online edition January 2008) [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/31061 "Edward VIII, later Prince Edward, duke of Windsor (1894–1972)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, {{doi|10.1093/ref:odnb/31061}}, retrieved 1 May 2010 (Subscription required)</ref>{{Efn|Higham places the date of his resignation as 15 March, and that he left on 5 April.<ref name="Windsor resigned">Higham, p. 359.</ref>}}

==== Canadian garrison ====
In April 1942 the United Kingdom asked Canada to provide military support in Nassau, in part to provide protection services to H.R.H. the Duke of Windsor. The No. 33 company of the [[History of the Canadian Army#Second World War|Veterans Guard of Canada]] was raised and arrived in June. No. 33 company were relieved in 1943 by a company of [[The Pictou Highlanders]]. The Canadian garrison left Nassau in 1946. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Stacey |first=C. P. |date=1955 |title=Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War- Volume I -Six Years of War |url=http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/docs/Sixyrs_e.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/docs/Sixyrs_e.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |access-date=July 31, 2016 |website=National Defence and the Canadian Forces |publisher=Government of Canada |page=181}}</ref>

===Post-World War II===
The wartime airfield became Nassau's international airport in 1957 and helped spur the growth of mass tourism, which accelerated after [[Havana]] was closed to American tourists in 1961. [[Freeport, Bahamas|Freeport]], on the island of [[Grand Bahama]], was established as a [[Free-trade zone|free trade zone]] in the 1950s. [[Bank secrecy]] combined with the lack of corporate and income taxes led to a rapid growth in the [[Offshore financial centre|offshore]] financial sector during the postwar years.

Modern political development began after World War II. The first political parties were formed in the 1950s. The [[Progressive Liberal Party]] was formed in 1953, and the [[United Bahamian Party]] was formed in 1956.

Bahamians achieved self-government in 1964, with [[Sir Roland Symonette]], of the United Bahamian Party, as the first Premier. Sir [[Lynden O. Pindling]], leader of the Progressive Liberal Party, became the first black Premier of the colony in 1967, and in 1968 the title was changed to [[Prime Minister of the Bahamas|Prime Minister]].