Barbados: 20th Century Developments

Barbados entered the twentieth century as a British colony with a plantation economy still dominated by a small white landowning class, despite a Black majority population. Labour unrest swept the British West Indies in 1937, and Barbados was no exception; the resulting British inquiry, the Moyne Commission, recommended reforms including the legalization of trade unions and an expanded political franchise. Black political leaders gained growing influence through the 1940s, and universal adult suffrage was adopted in 1950, broadening participation in Barbadian political life.

Barbados achieved full internal self-government in 1961, with Errol Barrow emerging as a central political figure through the Democratic Labour Party. From 1958 to 1962, Barbados participated in the short-lived West Indies Federation, a regional union that dissolved after Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago withdrew. Following the federation's collapse, Barbados reverted to self-governing colony status and, under Barrow's leadership, pursued independence on its own.

Barbados became fully independent from Britain on November 30, 1966, with Barrow serving as its first prime minister. The new nation joined the United Nations and the Organization of American States, and Barrow later helped establish the Caribbean Free Trade Association in 1968, a precursor to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) founded in 1973. Barbados spent the remaining decades of the century building a diversified economy centered on tourism and financial services while maintaining a stable parliamentary democracy within the Commonwealth.