The Collapse of
Imperialism in Africa
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What is Decolonization?
• Decolonization: the process of becoming free of
colonial status and achieving statehood
• Between WWI and WWII, movements for
independence begun in earnest in Africa and
Asia
• Dominance of colonial powers seemed at odds
with Allied goals in WWII.
• Call for national self-determination – fight for
independence.
• Empires reluctant to let colonies go.
Impact of World War One on
Decolonization
World War I
• Promises of self-determination
• Use of colonial soldiers in trenches
• Locals filled posts left by colonial powers
during war
• Financial strain on empire
• Treaty of Versailles
Africans in WWI
Role:
• Served w/allies (colonial powers)
• Served as front line troops
• Served in auxiliary roles
• Only saw action in Africa
WWI Impact on Africa:
• Africans who served return to villages
with new ideas about freedoms
• Western ideas taught in African schools
• Africans organize nationalist groups
Impact of World War Two on
Decolonization
Africans in WWII
Role:
• Served as front line troops and in
auxiliary roles
• Provided resources to the Allies
• Saw action in Middle East, Italy, Burma,
and North and East Africa
WWII Impact on Africa:
• Turning Point in African History!!!!!
• Post-war: Africans no longer satisfied
to remain under colonial control
• Wave of nationalism sweeps across
Africa
Results of World War II
Defeat of dictatorships.
Unparalleled destruction.
The decline of colonial powers.
The rise of the superpowers
and the Cold War.
World War II
• US support of anti-colonial liberation
movements
• Increased nationalist uprisings following WWI
and WWII and as a result of the global
depression
• Costs of empire
• Atlantic Charter (1941) “right of all people to
choose the form of government under which
they live”
• Soviets condemned colonialism
Atlantic Charter (1941)
"respect
the right of
all peoples to choose
the form of
government under
which they will live;
and they will wish to
see sovereign rights of
self-government
restored to those who
have been forcibly
deprived of them"
Impact of WWII
• The formation of the United Nations
after WWII helped the
independence movements in Africa.
• In its charter, the UN declared that
all colonial possessions should have
the right to self determination
(ability to choose their own
government).
• Collectively the world supported self
determination, however individually
they often fought against
independence movements.
• Britain, France, Belgium and Portugal
would lose the territory that they
had acquired and exploited for so
many years.
The UN Charter
indicated a move
away from
imperialism
Great Britain
• Prime Minister Winston Churchill: “I have not
become His Majesty’s Chief Minister to preside
over the liquidation of the British Empire”---Churchill did not want to get rid of the empire,
but circumstances forced him to
• European power destroyed by WWII.
• G.B. no longer had energy or wealth to maintain
a colonial empire.
Decolonization of Asia & Africa
Changed the Makeup of the UN
Impact of Cold War on
Decolonization
Africa Produced Many NewlyIndependent Nations in a Very
Short Time
who often found themselves
caught in a battle between the
two superpowers
Influence of the Cold War
• The rivalry between USA and the Soviet Union also
had an impact on African independence.
• As African countries became independent for the
first time they were expected to ally with one side or
the other.
• Both the US and USSR gave military aid to countries
in Africa.
• Each side ended up supporting corrupt rulers in a
number of cases simply to gain an ally.
How the Cold War Affected
Decolonizaztion?
• Provided inspiration a blend of capitalist
and socialist economies and agendas.
• Provided arms to those who sided with
one or the other (proxy wars and arms
races).
• Encouraged violent recourse for some as
a result of the power politics of cold war
competition.
Cause for Decolonization:
African Nationalism
Defining Nationalism
• Nationalism – A strong pride in one’s country
or a desire for self-government
(independence).
• In this case Nationalist wanted
INDEPENDENCE.
• Independence – when a country gains the
right to govern itself without foreign rule or
influence.
Defining “African Nationalism”
• First African Nationalists as those seeking to create
nation-states in Africa
– generally by transforming colonies into
independent states, but potentially also by
transforming ethnic or linguistic groups into
states
• Second (less common) definition sees African
Nationalism as the attempt to define the continent
of Africa as a coherent “nation”
African Nationalism
Nationalism: loyalty and
devotion to a nation or culture
Pan-Africanism: A movement,
founded around 1900, to secure
equal rights, self-government,
independence, and unity for
African peoples
AFRICAN NATIONALISM
• Movement took off following World War II
• Africa under imperial rule
– Harsh treatment of African peoples
– Artificial borders
• Divided cultural groups
• United long-standing enemies
The African National Congress
• Developed in the specific (and unusual)
environment of the Cape Colony, where a nonracial, propertied franchise had been in place
since 1853
• African National Congress founded in 1912, two
years after the Cape Colony had been made a
part of the Union of South Africa
• Made up largely of African “middle class”—
teachers, lawyers, journalists, etc.
"An Appeal to the Members of the Imperial Parliament
and Public of Great Britain“ 1914
• This Congress, gravely disturbed at the menace to native rights under the
Natives' Land Act, passed a strong resolution against the Bill…
• A deputation waited upon the Government asking that the Bill should be
delayed until the natives could study its provisions. These efforts failed, and the
Bill which had been introduced only in May became law on June 16th, (1913).
The natives, already suspicious of the measure, were now greatly alarmed at the
haste with which it was forced through Parliament. Accordingly, the Native
Congress, July 19th, 1913, resolved to send a deputation to His Majesty the King,
praying that the Act might be disallowed…
• All these endeavours having failed, the Native Congress meeting at Kimberley,
February, 1914, re-affirmed its resolution to send a deputation to England. But,
once more, it petitioned the Union Parliament and the King's representative.
The petition, however, was not presented, as its presentation was discouraged
by the Prime Minister, who also is now Minister of Native Affairs.
• After exhausting all these constitutional Means in South Africa, for the redress
of our grievances in connection with the Natives' Land Act of 1913 it was
decided by the South African Native National Congress that we should proceed
to England, as their delegates, to lay our cause before the Imperial Government
and the people of Great Britain.
Cause for Decolonization: PanAfricanism
Pan-Africanism
• Started in the 1920’s
• Wanted unity for all
Africans
• Wanted unity of all people
in the world of African
descent
Pan-Africanism
• Began in the early 1900s
• Slogan: “Africa for the Africans”
–Called for a sense of unity among
African nations and their people
–Recognized that independence from
colonial rule could come only if diverse
tribes could unite for a common cause.
Pan-Africanism
• By the beginning of World War One only Liberia and Ethiopia
were not under imperialistic control.
• Few African countries obtained independence until after World
War Two.
• Many Africans fought in WWII.
• Africans resented being treated like 2nd class citizens.
• Africans moved to cities and began to become exposed to
nationalistic movements.
• Africans wanted their own self-determination.
Pan - Africanism
• Pan – Africanism movement which sought
to unify native Africans
and those of African
heritage into a "global
African community".
• Pan-African Congress - a
series of five meetings in
1919, 1921, 1923, 1927,
and 1945 that were
intended to address the
issues facing Africa due to
European colonization of
much of the continent.
Pan-Africanism
_______________ is the idea that there
is a global African community made up
of native Africans and the descendants
of African slaves and migrants across the
world.
Negritude Movement
• Encouraged Africans to celebrate
their heritage
• Rejected the view held by colonial
powers of African cultures
– “White Man’s Burden”, R.Kipling
• Greatest leader of the PanAfricanism and the Negritude
movement is Leopold Sedar
Senghor—a poet and politician
[President of Senegal for 20 years]
Leopold Sedar Senghor
• Western educated
Francophone
intellectual from
Senegal
• Poet who became
first president of
Senegal.
• Advocated
democratic socialism
and negritude.
• Negritude: validation
of African culture
and the African past
by the Negritude
poets.
• Recognized
attributes of French
culture but were not
willing to be
assimilated into
Europe.
Léopold Senghor
• Born into a polygamous family in Joal, Senegal
(near but outside the Quatre Communes) in
1906
• He went to Catholic boarding school at the age
of 8 and considered becoming a priest
• His skill in such subjects as Greek and Latin
won him a scholarship to study in France at the
Sorbonne
• In 1935 he became the first African certified as
a lysée teacher
• Senghor taught in a
number of French
schools while also
writing poetry
• He became a major
proponent of the
Negritude movement
• In 1939, he enrolled in
the French army
• He was captured in 1940
and became a POW
Prayer for Peace, Léopold Senghor, 1940
…Lord God, forgive white Europe!
Yes, it is true, Lord, that for four centuries of enlightenment
She has thrown her spit and her baying watchdogs on my lands
And Christians, renouncing Your light and Your gentle hear
Have lighted their camps with my parchments,
Tortured my followers, deported my doctors and scientists.
…I want to pray especially for France.
Lord, among white nations, place France at the Father’s right hand.
Oh, I know she, too, is Europe, that she has snatched my children
Like a cattle-rustling brigand from the north
To fatten her lands with sugarcane and cotton
Since black sweat is fertilizer.
…Yes, Lord, forgive France, who hates occupying forces
And yet imposes such strict occupation on me
Who offers a hero’s welcome to some, and treats
The Senegalese like mercenaries, the Empire’s black watchdogs.
…Oh, Lord, take from my memory France that is not France,
This mask of meanness and hate on the face of France…
Towards Independence
• Senghor did not actively campaign for
independence from France
• He was the head of the local council of Senegal
when he was elected president of the newly
independent nation in 1960
• Senghor retained French advisors and
remained a strong supporter of French
language education and francophonie
Africa for Africans
• Nationalists
composed of exservicemen, urban
unemployed &
under-employed,
and the educated.
• Pan-Africanism and
Negritude
• Senghor (Senegal)
and Dubois (AfricanAmerican)
Steps to African Independence
Nationalism grew in the
different African countries
after WWII.
Most Europeans were
reluctant to fight to hold onto
overseas colonies.
African leaders began to use
the cry of “Africa for Africans”.
Steps to African Independence
African leaders organized
political parties and staged
strikes & boycotts.
Organization of African Unity Formed in 1963 to promote
peace and independence
Pan-Africanism – calls for the
unifying of all of Africa
Colonial Rule and Independence in
Africa
Nelson Mandela
I dream of the realization of the unity
of Africa, whereby its leaders
combine in their efforts to solve
the problems of this continent. I
dream of our vast deserts, of our
forests, of all our great
wildernesses.”
According to this quote,
what does Africa need to
solve its problems?
Robert Mugabe
The land is ours. It's not
European and we have taken it,
we have given it to the rightful
people... Those of white
extraction who happen to be in
the country and are farming are
welcome to do so, but they
must do so on the basis of
equality.
What is Mugabe angry about?
Phases of Decolonization in
Africa
Phases of Decolonization
• Phase One: roughly 19571973 (most of West and
East Africa)
• Phase Two: roughly 19741994 (mostly
Southern/Central Africa)
Phase One---The 1960s: Optimism and
Compromise
• The first phase of decolonization was by no
means without violence, but it included many
examples of peaceful, smooth transfer of
power
• Colonial powers maintain some control over
the terms of decolonization
• Decolonization was grounded in the rhetoric of
democracy and classical liberalism
• Newly independent states looked to Japan and
Germany as models of a post-occupation boom
Phase Two of Decolonization
• Violence was far more ubiquitous
than in the first phase of
decolonization
• Decolonization tended to be
grounded in the rhetoric of
liberation and social transformation
• Deeply enmeshed with the Cold War
Decolonization in Africa: Where
and How?
How British Handled
Decolonization of their African
Colonies
British Colonies Were Some of the
First to Seek Independence
Britain felt hypocritical
becauseabout colonialism.
War left her weak and unable to afford
colonies.
A New African educated middle class began
to emerge in the cities.
De-colonization in Africa
• 1957, Gold Coast
(renamed Ghana)
independence, led by
western- educated,
Kwame Nkrumah.
• By 1963, all of British
ruled Africa, except
Southern Rhodesia, was
independent.
British Africa
•Independence in British Africa
was more complex.
•Colonies were handled on an
individual basis, not as a unified
group like French Africa.
•Britain formed committee in 1947
to deal with colonies.
•Recommended independence for
Africa, which they saw as
inevitable.
•London opted to gradually grant
independence.
North Africa
• North African states led the way during
independence era.
• Libya achieved independence in 1951.
• Egypt became independent in 1922.
• Morocco, Tunisia, and Sudan became independence
in 1956.[Atlas Mts. in Morocco above.]
BRITISHArea/Country
EMPIRE IN AFRICA
Independence
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
1922
British Cameroon → split between Nigeria & Republic of Cameroon
1961
Egypt
1922
Gambia
1965
Gold Coast → Ghana
1957
Kenya
1963
Nigeria
1957
Nyasaland → Malawi
1964
Sierra Leone
1961
Somaliland → joined Italian Somaliland as Republic of Somalia
1960
Southern Rhodesia → independence under white minority rule
1965
Tanganyika → joined Zanzibar as Tanzania
1964
Togoland → joined Ghana (independent in 1957)
1956
Uganda
1962
De-colonization in Africa
• 1957, Gold Coast
(renamed Ghana)
independence, led by
western- educated,
Kwame Nkrumah.
• By 1963, all of British
ruled Africa, except
Southern Rhodesia,
was independent.
British Colonies
After 1945 European colonial powers began a process of decolonization—the
withdrawal of colonial powers from their colonies and areas of influence.
Great Britain led the way.
Ghana
• British colony of the
Gold Coast, West
Africa, first to achieve
independence
Two Movements
• Goal: to cooperate
with British, gain
influence peacefully
• Less cooperative
movement also
brewing
• 1947, Kwame
Nkrumah became
leader of Convention
People’s Party (CCP)
Kwame Nkrumah
• Nkrumah led strikes,
demonstrations
• similar to Gandhi
• British jailed him
• He transformed CCP
into major political party
• 1951, British pressured
into allowing national
elections
Former Gold Coast Becomes
Ghana
The British Colonies
Background:
• First colony to gain independence
• Colonial name: The Gold Coast
Leader(s):
• Kwame Nkrumah: nationalist &
independence leader
Process:
• Use civil disobedience
• 1948 riots in Accra = British reforms
• Convention People’s Party created
• 1951 British allow free elections
= CPP wins majority
• 1957 British grant independence
Kwame Nkrumah Led the Former Gold
Coast
to Independence
Educated abroad.
Schoolteacher.
Preached nonviolence.
Used boycotts and
strikes.
Ultimately successful
1957.
Kwame Nkrumah
• Born 1909 to a fairly poor
family
• He excelled in school and
became a teacher, but in 1935
managed to secure a
scholarship to study theology in
the US
• In the US he combined study
with networking and, in
particular, friendships with
Marxists from the African
diaspora
• He returned to Ghana following
the Pan-African Congress of
1945
Nkrumah’s Rise
• 1947: Formation of the United Gold Coast Convention,
made up of coastal lawyers and businessmen—
Nkrumah was elected president
• 1948: Police open fire on peaceful demonstration,
which prompted rioting—colonial government
arrested Nkrumah
• Nkrumah had nothing to do with the rioting, but his
arrest made him a celebrity
• Following his release from prison, Nkrumah founded
Convention People’s Party, a more radical version of
the UGCC.
• The CPP campaigned for independence with
an emphasis on the area’s industrial
development and “progress”
• British began incremental moves towards selfgovernment for Gold Coast
• 1954 elections were held for internally
sovereign government
• In 1957, Nkrumah became the prime minister
of the independent nation of Ghana, but some
British officials remained
New Nation
CCP swept Gold Coast national elections
• Nkrumah continued to press for independence
– 1957, Britain granted Gold Coast full independence
– Nkrumah became first prime minister of new nation, Ghana
Nkrumah and Ghana
• Nkrumah envisioned Ghana’s independence in
the first step towards African unification
• He believed such a unification was necessary to
be able to compete economically and politically
• In order for Africa to claim its place among
other nations, he believed, it would have to
experience the same kind of industrial
revolution or technological shift that other
areas had experienced
Ghana and Nkrumah
• Kwame Nkrumah – the leader of Ghana
and its predecessor state, the Gold Coast,
from 1952 to 1966. (President/PM)
• Studied abroad for about 15 years (USA)
• Nkrumah organized a "People's Assembly” –proposing
government reforms which were rejected.
• Led campaign for change which included civil disobedience.
• Arrested, but released shortly afterwards and asked to form and
lead government of Ghana.
• Ghana became the first sub-Saharan African country to gain its
independence in 1957.
• Military coup (with possible assistance from USA) overthrew
Nkrumah in 1966.
• Today is considered one of the most respected leaders in African
history
Ghana
• 1964: Ghana declared a one-party state with
Nkrumah as Life President
• Nkrumah insisted that the development of
the country as a whole (which he saw as
synonymous with industrialization) must
supersede individual prosperity
• One major project was the Akosombo dam,
which put Ghana into serious debt
Significance of Ghana
• Name—Pan-African reference to the medieval
kingdom (actually located in present-day Mali)
• Transition to independence dominated by one
party (Convention People’s Party)
• Small, relatively coherent country (population
of approx. 5 million)
• Ghana set the precedent for African
independence but also proved to be an
atypical case
Ghana: First African State
to Gain Independence
Nkrumah and Ghana
• Increased debt
meant higher taxes
on cocoa farmers,
the basis of the
economy
• While Nkrumah
was on a state visit
to Vietnam in 1966,
he was overthrown
in a military coup
Ghana today still needs to
modernize
Market in Kumasi.
Sells shoes crafted from old automobile tires.
Sprawls across 25 dusty acres in ancient
Ashanti capital.
One of the largest marketplaces in West Africa.
Nigeria
Nigeria
• Britain given control during Belgium
Conference
• Nigeria divided into two colonies – north
and south
• Britain treated ethnic groups differently.
• British spent more money on roads and
schools in south than in north.
• By 1940, Nigerians started fighting for
freedom by forming political parties.
• 1957, Nigerians were allowed to elect
their Prime Minister – the first head of the
government.
• Nigeria did not have to fight for its
independence from Britain.
• Abubakar was overthrown and murdered
in a military coup by primarily junior
officers of Igbo extraction on January 15,
1966.
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
(Ah-boo-bah-kahr Tah-fah-wahBhah-lay-wah)
1st Prime minister of Nigeria
British Central Africa
British Central Africa
• Southern Rhodesia: sizeable settler
population (150,000 in 1950, 200,000 by
1960), Northern Rhodesia: mineral resources,
Nyasaland: labor resources
• S. Rhodesian settlers began demanding
federation following WWII
• Federation strongly resisted by Africans, incl.
Dr. Hastings Banda
• Federation pushed through in 1953
•
•
•
•
•
British Central Africa
African protest intensified over the 1950s,
leading to the declaration of a state of
emergency in Nyasaland 1959
Prime Minister Harold Macmillan’s “winds
of change” speech in Cape Town, 1960
South Africa severed all ties with Britain
Zambia and Malawi moved towards
independence in 1964
Southern Rhodesian settlers under Ian
Smith issued unilateral declaration of
independence (UDI) in 1965
Kenya
The British Colonies
Background:
• Inspired by Ghana’s independence
• Colonial name: British East Africa
Leader(s):
• Jomo Kenyatta: independence
leader/kikuyu
• Kikuyu: largest ethnic group
• Mau Mau: Kikuyu guerilla group
Process:
• 1950’s British allow role in govt.
• whites oppose = lose land/crops
• Mau Mau Rebellion: violent rebellion
against British
• 1963 Kikuyu win elections and
declare independence
Kenya
In the 1950s the Kenyan path to independence did not go as smoothly as it
did in Ghana.
Conflict
Mau Mau
• Ownership of land, possibility
of independence led to conflict
between white Kenyan
farmers, native Kikuyu people
• Leader of Kenya’s nationalist
movement, Jomo Kenyatta
argued for Kikuyu’s right to
land, its importance
• Farmers feared independence
would cause them to lose large
tracts of valuable cash crops in
Kenyan highlands
• Many Kikuyu farmers formed
violent movement, Mau Mau
• Kikuyu wanted these ancestral
homelands back
• Group terrorized highlands,
murdered anyone opposing
them, including Africans who
cooperated with white settlers
Mau Mau
• Diffuse uprising in Kenya, 1952-1960
• “Land and Freedom Army,” mostly Kikuyu (but
did not include all Kikuyu)
• Oathing system played on established ritual
frameworks
• Mau Mau conflicts largely rural, involving
guerilla type actions
• Draconian British response included the arrest
of Kenyatta—not a Mau Mau leader
British Regain Control
British eventually regained control of colony
• British murdered, tortured members of Mau Mau movement
• Late 1950s, British convinced to accept decolonization
– 1963, Kenya became independent nation
– Jomo Kenyatta became first prime minister
Kenya
• Kenyans thought
the British had
taken land
unfairly.
• Mau Mau – secret
society that used
force to fight for
independence
from 1952 to
1960.
• Thousands of
people were
killed. (~100
Europeans)
Kikuyu Tribesmen (Mau Maus) 1950s
• Kenyans supported the Mau Mau
and their nationalist ideas.
• Convinced the British to help
Kenyans hold democratic elections.
• Jomo Kenyatta was elected President
in 1963.
Jomo Kenyatta
• Born Kamau wa Ngengi in 1889, educated in mission
schools and baptized as John Peter, later went by the
name Johnstone Kamau
• Worked as a clerk in the colonial administration
• In 1924, joined the Kikuyu Central Association, an
explicitly “tribal” political group
• In 1929, the KCA sent him to London to lobby the
British government on Kikuyu land claims
• Attended several schools in the UK and the USSR
before enrolling in University College London to study
anthropology with Bronislaw Malinowski
• Facing Mount Kenya, an ethnography of the Kikuyu was his
doctoral dissertation, published in 1938
• Remained resident in London until 1946—during this period
he married a (white) English woman and had a child with her
• He returned to Kenya and became president of the newly
formed Kenya African Union, campaigning for independence
from British rule
Towards Independence
• Despite his background in ethnic organizing,
Kenyatta was elected prime minister in 1963 on a
platform of national unity
• He sought reconciliation with the white settler
community, asking them to remain in Kenya
• Despite this emphasis on unification, the tension
between Kenyatta’s Kikuyu identity and the
nation’s Kenyan identity remained
Kenya and Kenyatta
• Jomo Kenyatta - considered the
founding father of the Kenyan
nation.
• Lived and studied abroad for
almost 15 years (England)
• Arrested in October 1952 and
indicted with five others on the
charges of "managing and being a
member" of the Mau Mau Society
(violent organization). The
accused were known as the
"Kapenguria Six".
• Imprisoned for 9 years.
• Died in office in 1978.
Africa: The Struggle for
Independence
• Kenyan Mau Mau
movement:
– Employed terrorism to
achieve goal of uhuru
(freedom).
– Convinced G.B. to
promise eventual
independence in 1959.
Kenya
Kenya Fights for Independence
• In Kenya, white settlers had moved in and
displaced African farmers, mostly of the
Kikuyu tribe.
• Jomo Kenyatta was a spokesman for the
Kikuyu and led the movement to get
Europeans off their land.
• Kenyatta supported nonviolent methods, but
others turned to guerrilla warfare.
• By 1952, they began to attack European
settlers.
Kenya
• Presence of settlers
prevented smooth
transition of power.
• Kenya (20,000 Europeans
only) led to violent
revolt.
• Mau-Mau Revolt, 1952,
led by Kikuyus
suppressed by British.
• 1963 independence
granted to black
majority, led by
Kenyatta.
Kenya Fights for Independence
• The British called the guerrillas Mau Mau and
pictured them as savages.
• The British imprisoned Kenyatta and threw
thousands of Kikuyu into concentration camps.
• The British went on to bomb the Mau Mau
fighters, armed only with swords.
• The rebels were crushed, but not the freedom
movement.
• When the British released Kenyatta in 1963, he
became the first prime minister of an
independent Kenya.
Kenyan Independence: 1963
London educated Jomo Kenyatta provided
strong nationalist leadership.
Mau Mau Rebellions made up of Kikuyu
farmers weaken British settlers opposition.
Today famous athlete
opened school for orphans
Kip Keino, famed distance runner.
Opened school for grades 1-8.
Down road from his Baraka ("Blessing") farm.
He and his wife, adopted more than 100
orphaned and abandoned children in past 30 years.
Other British Colonies
The British Colonies
Background:
Leader(s):
• Robert Mugabe: African leader • Colonial name: British Central Africa
in civil war; 1st prime minister • 1953 Federation of Rhodesia &
Nyasaland created (multiracial)
Process:
• 1963 African majority
votes to withdraw
• 1964 Zambia & Malawi
created
• 1965 Southern Rhodesia
breaks away = civil war
(whites vs. Africans)
• 1979 elections held
• 1980 Mugabe leader
& land renamed Zimbabwe
The British Colonies
Background:
• Igbo people ruled from 10th C. to
1911 when British took over
• 1914 divided south (wealthy) &
north (poor)
• 1936 slavery outlawed in north
Process:
Leader(s):
• 1960 British grant them
• Nnamdi Azikiwe: first president
independence
• 1966-1970 Nigerian Civil War
• 1970-1979 Military rule = oil boom
• 1979-1999 Democracy to Military
rule (back and forth)
COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS
• British Commonwealth formed following the
dismantling of the British empire
• Today known as the Commonwealth of
Nations
• Voluntary organization of 53 member states
(as of 2009), including many in Africa
• Organization works toward common goals
• Interests include economic development,
education, and shared history
How French Handled
Decolonization of their African
Colonies
De-colonization in French-ruled Africa
• Initially more resistant
than the British.
• Encouraged closer
French ties- assimilation,
not autonomy.
• Not willing to go far
enough in granting
rights.
• With exception of
Algeria, by 1960 had
granted independence.
French West and Equatorial Africa
• After 1946, French West and Equatorial
Africa were permitted to send ten
delegates to the French National
Assembly
• Many of these delegates returned to
Africa and became nationalist leaders
• By 1956, internal self-government had
been achieved throughout French West
and Equatorial Africa
1958 “Oui” or “Non” Vote
• Instituted by Charles de Gaulle
• Aimed at forestalling African demands
for independence
• All colonies but Guinea voted “oui,”
agreeing to continued French
sovereignty
• All French ties to Guinea immediately
withdrawn
• Departing French officials destroyed
government records and buildings
1958 “Oui” or “Non” Vote
• Despite “oui” vote, colonies still
demanded further concessions in
terms of independence
• French government agreed to
formal independence for many
colonies in 1960, with the proviso
that economic ties to France be
maintained
FRENCH EMPIRE IN AFRICA
• 1945-1958 – French Union – organization of French
colonial possessions
• 1956 – Morocco and Tunisia independent
• 1958-1960 – French Community succeeded French
Union – ended in 1960 with most French colonial
possessions independent
• 1962 – Algeria independent
• Circa 115,000,000 French speakers in Africa (2009)
FRENCH AFRICA
• In Algeria, warfare raged from 1954 through 1962 as the “Front de la
Liberation Nationale” (FLN). Algerian independence was proclaimed
in 1962. [Algerian Square above.]
• In 1958, Guinea became the first French colony to achieve
independence without violence.
• French President Charles de Gaulle granted independence to 14
French African colonies in 1960 as dissatisfaction with imperialism
grew.
French North Africa
After World War II, France faced growing nationalist movements in its North
African protectorates of Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria.
Morocco and Tunisia
• Nationalist campaigns for
independence began to grow in
early, mid-1900s in both
countries
• Attempts by France to crack
down on movements led to
increasing unrest,
demonstrations, guerrilla wars
• Meanwhile Algeria also
struggling for independence
Independence
• Algeria home to large French
settler population, was more
important to the French
• French government concluded it
could not fight guerrilla wars in
Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia at
same time
• Negotiated with nationalist
leaders in Morocco, Tunisia
• 1956, both countries granted
independence
Algeria
The French Colonies
Background:
• French colony since 1800’s
Leader(s):
• Ahmed Ben Bella: FLN leader and
1st president
• Charles de Gaulle: French leader
Process:
• National Liberation Front (FLN)
demands independence
• 1954 Algerian War of Independence
• 1958 de Gaulle offers 3 options
• 1962 France grants independence
Algeria
Algeria
• 1830, France first took control of some areas in Algeria
• 1950s, more than 1 million European settlers in area, owned best land,
dominated economy, had grip on political power
National Liberation Front
• 1954, group of Algerian nationalists formed National Liberation Front (FLN)
• FLN began campaign of armed attacks against French targets
• French responded with mass arrests, raids on Muslim towns
Attacks on Settlers, Reprisals
• Next year FLN directly targeted French settlers; attacks killed more than 100
people in one city
• French forces, groups of settlers responded by attacking Muslims; between
1,200 and 12,000 Muslims killed in reprisal attacks
French Responses
Battle of Algiers
Change in Government
• Attacks set pattern for deadly war
in Algeria—FLN targeted French
civilians, French attacked Muslim
population
• French settlers in Algiers
increasingly angry over perceived
lack of support from French
government
• FLN launched campaign of
bombings, assassinations at
civilians, military in Algiers
• May 1958, French troops, mob of
settlers seized control in Algiers,
demanded change of government
in Paris
• French responded with harsh
counterterrorism campaign,
torturing suspected FLN members
• Summer 1957, FLN largely
defeated, but war not over
• Demands met; Charles de Gaulle
appointed prime minister in June
1958
• De Gaulle seen as strong supporter
of settlers of Algeria
De Gaulle
De Gaulle hoped to satisfy both French settlers, Algerian nationalists
• Wanted to give Algeria limited degree of self-government
– Faced violent reaction from French settlers, who did not want France to give
up any control
– Violent reaction also from nationalists, wanted full independence
• De Gaulle decided French rule could not be maintained in Algeria
– February 1961, opened peace talks with FLN
– 1962, signed agreement granting Algeria independence
Algeria
French settlers fought
fiercely to keep Algeria a
French colony.
DeGaulle realized after
the war that France could
not hold onto Algeria by
force.
Independence came in
1962.
Other French Colonies
The French Colonies
Background:
• French Goal: integrate African
colonies into post-WWII French
Union
• Colonial name: French West Africa
Leader(s):
Process:
• Sekou Toure: independence
• Nationalist parties form
leader of Guinea
• 1958 French ultimatum = Join • Charles de Gaulle: French leader
French Union or Independence
• 1958 Guinea breaks away
• 1960 Senegal & Ivory Coast
granted independence
How Belgium Handled
Decolonization of their African
Colonies
The Belgian Colonies
Background:
• Congo rich in resources & minerals
• Congolese people are tribal =
Leader(s):
WWII brought unity
• Patrice Lumumba: independence
leader & 1st prime minister
• Joseph Mobutu: military leader &
dictator; seizes power after civil war
Process:
• name changed to Zaire
• 1955 Belgium sets 30 year timetable • 70’s-90’s poor economy
• 1959 violent protests in capital
• 1994 Rwandan genocide =
• June 1960 gain independence
refugees & destabilization
• 1960-65 civil war = new govt. vs. military• Mobutu forced out & exiled
• 1965 Mobutu and military seize control• 1997 renamed Dem of Congo
FORMER BELGIAN POSSESSIONS
• 1960 – Congo declared free by Belgium
– Democratic Republic of the Congo
– Province of Katanga attempted to secede – civil
war
– United Nations troops kept peace for four years
– Former president of Katanga, Moise Tshombe,
became prime minister in 1964
• Burundi and Ruanda (Rwanda)
– Belgian mandate ended in 1962
FORMER BELGIAN
POSSESSIONS
• Belgium – 3 territories: Rwanda,
Burundi, Belgium Congo
• Granted independence in 1960.
• Belgium Congo – Civil war after
independence.
• United Nations intervened
• Murder of 1st prime minister, Patrice
Lumumba. Thousands died.
Patrice Lumumba
• Became the leader of the
Mouvement National
Congolais .
• Arrested for inciting anticolonial violence.
• Lumumba and the MNC
were elected in 1960.
• On June 23, 1960 34-yearold Lumumba became
Congo's first prime minister.
•Ten weeks later, Lumumba's
government was deposed in a
coup during the Congo Crisis.
• He was subsequently
imprisoned and murdered in
circumstances suggesting the
support and complicity of the
governments of Belgium and the
United States
The Belgian Congo
• Extremely limited opportunities for education
and political organization
• 1956: “middle class” elections for municipal
governments
• Most political organizations were regionally
based
• Leopoldville/Kinshasa a key center of anticolonial agitation
The old Belgian Congo, Formerly
Zaire,
Faces Many Challenges Today!
Mobutu Sese Seko
Ruled 1965-1997.
Supported by U.S. as Cold
War ally.
Changed name to Zaire.
Left “a house that had
been eaten by termites”
NYTimes.
Reign described in 2002
documentary as an “African
Tragedy.”
Mobutu
• Rapid movement towards decolonization in
1959-60—insufficient preparation?
• Patrice Lumumba’s Mouvement Nationale
Congolais gained power but was unable to
gain sufficient support throughout the
country, lost control of both Katanga and the
army
• General Joseph Mobutu backed by US
• Even before Mobutu’s formal seizure of
power in a 1965 coup, the government
became rife with corruption
• Mobutu’s rise to power associated with a cult
of personality as well as outside backing
Congo Makes Up for a Lack
of Roads & Highways
Congo River barge carries hundreds of passengers on its
1000 mile journey from Kinshasa to Kisangani.
Many people travel on barges without shelter for as
long as a month, crowded together with their
belongings, livestock, furniture and wares for sale.
Today the Congo Is
Experiencing Punishing War!
Michael Kamber for The New York Times
About 5,000 people fleeing the ethnic warfare in and
around Bunia, Congo, sought safety at a camp on Monday.
Death in the Congo!
The Allure
Rich Mineral
Resources:
Gold
Diamonds
Copper
Have Often
Drawn Foreign
Exploitation.
Young Soldiers & a Victim
Child Rebels
A child fighter in a rebel group stands watch
with a U.N. armored vehicle in Bunia, Congo,
where there have been reports of rape and
cannibalism.
Portuguese Handling of
Decolonization
The Portuguese Colonies
Background:
• Post-WWII = Liberation Armies est.
• Colonial Name: Portuguese Guinea,
West Africa, and East Africa
Leader(s):
• Liberation Army: military units
created to fight for independence
Process:
• 1950’s-70’s bloody revolts
= Portugal vs. Liberation Armies
• 1974 coup in Portugal = colonial
withdrawal from Africa
• Independent nations of Guinea-Bissau,
Angola, and Mozambique
FORMER PORTUGUESE
POSSESSIONS
• Angola
– Independent in 1975
• Mozambique
– Independent in 1975
Portuguese Africa
• Metropolitan government viewed colonies
(Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Angola and
Mozambique) as absolutely essential, were
willing to exert force to retain them
• Pattern of “liberation movements” was set by
Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau
• By 1974, all Portuguese colonies in some state of
open hostility
• 1974 coup in Portugal predicated on military
withdrawal from Africa
Angola
400 years:
Portuguese
are the first
the arrive
and the last
to leave in
1975.
Civil War
• Withdrawal of Portuguese troops in 1975
left both Angola and Mozambique in a
state of civil war
• MPLA in Angola and FRELIMO in
Mozambique were strongly socialist in
perspective, received support from USSR
and Cuba (incl. 13,000 Cuban troops in
Angola)
• UNITA in Angola and RENAMO in
Mozambique received support from
South Africa, Southern Rhodesia and the
United States
Civil War
• Both MPLA and FRELIMO
constituted official governments,
but their legitimacy and ability to
govern were severely limited by
opposing groups
• Despite outside intervention,
opposition groups also played on
dissent within the populace at
large
Angola Left
With Bitter Civil War
Mateus Chitangenda, Fernando Chitala and Enoke
Chisingi and their families have been displaced by war
to the town of Kunhinga, in central Angola.
Going to School
A father walks his daughter to school in
Kuito, Angola. All students in the town bring
their own small benches to class.
Southern Rhodesia/Zimbabwe
• Violence against Smith government began
immediately following UDI
• Following Portuguese withdrawal, Smith
government found itself more isolated
• A compromise government was installed in
1978, but this was unable to stop guerilla
fighting and was discredited
• Full free elections held in 1979, resulting in
the 1980 creation of independent Zimbabwe
Italian Handling of
Decolonization
FORMER ITALIAN POSSESSIONS
• Ethiopia
– Independent during World War II
• Libya
– Independent in 1951
• Italian Somaliland
– Joined British Somaliland in 1960 as Somalia