The answer would be D. collective bargaining.
The smaller countries were under the protection of two great democratic countries, Britain and the US. This guided the people towards freedom. Britain had relinquished it's colonies after WWII which means the islands didn't have to fight for their freedom.
The answer in the space provided is consciousness. It is because consciousness allows a person to be aware of the things that is around him or her in a state of being awake in which it involves of having to make decision, to day dream, reflect and even concentrate as they are the things done when a person is awake and conscious.