Chapter 37
The End of Empire
1
The Process of De-Colonization
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European Global Power Ending
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Decline of Empires: By the mid-20th century, a series of
developments undermined European global hegemony:
World War I: Sapped the strength and prestige of colonial powers like Great
Britain and France, and eliminated the German Empire.
Great Depression: Undermined the economic ability of imperial powers to
maintain their grip on their colonies.
World War II: Exhaustion, depletion, and chaos caused by World War II—the
upheaval the Japanese caused by taking over most of Southeast Asia, for
example—made the reassertion of colonial authority look almost impossible
after the war.
Leaders Educated in Europe and U.S.: Many independence leaders like
Jawaharlal Nehru and Ho Chi Minh were educated in the West and were
exposed to concepts like national sovereignty and individual rights.
2
The Process of De-Colonization

European Global Power Ending
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Decline of Empires: By the mid-20th century, a series of
developments undermined European global hegemony:
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War-Weary Populations: Citizens of the imperial powers were no
longer willing to make the sacrifices necessary to maintain overseas
colonies.
Superpowers: Both postwar superpowers at least ideologically opposed
to European imperialism.
Colonialism Swept Away: Between 1945 and 1990, national
independence movements had swept away swept away
colonialism and created over 90 new countries.
Decolonization: Nations gaining political independence and
freedom was not guarantee of stability and security; periods
of bloody struggle often followed independence.
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Independence
in South and
Southeast Asia
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Independence in Asia
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South Asia: India and Pakistan
Southeast Asia: Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos,
Indonesia, and the Philippines
Arab Nations in Southwest Asia: Syria, Iraq,
Lebanon, and Jordan gained independence,
although the former British mandate of Palestine
remained contested.
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Independence in Asia
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India’s Partitioned Independence
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1930s: Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) and the Congress
Party and Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948) of the
Muslim League helped to pressure British authorities to
pass the India Act of 1935, which granted a limited selfrule; at same time, calls for a separate Muslim state
intensified.
World War II: The war put the independence struggle on
hold, especially as the Japanese pulled close to the Indian
border.
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Partition and Violence
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Churchill Rejected
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Nehru and Gandhi
Winston Churchill (1874-1965): The wartime prime minister
despised Gandhi and said he would never preside over the
liquidation of the British Empire, but was voted out of office in
July 1945 in favor of Labor Party candidate more willing to let go
of the empire.
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964)
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Nehru was Gandhi’s political apprentice during the independence
struggles of the 1920s and 1930s.
Spoke against “communalism”: putting religious identity in front
of Indian national identity.
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Partition and Violence
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Great Calcutta Killing
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In Aug. 1946, the Muslim League called for a Day of Direct Action during
the negotiations with the British over independence, knowing these protests
might trigger violence.
About 6,000 people died in rioting in Calcutta as a result, leading to rise
communalist feeling.
1947 Partition
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To gain the cooperation of the Muslim League, the British create a plan in
which various regions would vote on whether or not to go forward with
partition; the regions of what are now Pakistan and Bangladesh voted to
separate.
Gandhi and Nehru were vehemently opposed to the idea.
10 million Hindu and Muslim refugees relocated by mid-1948
500,000 killed in the violence during the migrations, creating a bitterness
between the two countries that exists to this day.
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Partition and Violence
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Muslims Leaving India, 1947
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The Nonalignment Movement
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India Moves toward Nonalignment
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India’s independence—despite its violence—was a big turning point
for decolonization movements; it had been the “crown jewel” of the
British Empire. It inspired many other independence movements.
The “Third Path”: Nehru encouraged a “nonalignment strategy” that
encouraged newly independent countries to remain neutral in the
Cold War struggles.
Bandung Conference of 1955: Representatives from twenty-three
Asian countries and six African ones met in Bandung, Indonesia, in
April 1955 to discuss strategies for maintaining Cold War neutrality.
President Achmad Sukarno (1901-1970) of Indonesia proudly called
the meeting, “the first international conference of coloured peoples
in the history of mankind.”
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Partition and Violence
Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt and Jawaharlal Nehru of India speaking at the
Bandung Conference in Indonesia in 1955
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Nationalist Struggles in Vietnam
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Vietnam had a more difficult time than India keeping out of
Cold War complications.
Japan had invaded the French colony in Sept. 1940.
French send troops to reassert control after WWII.
Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969), a nationalist communist leader,
initially thinks he would have U.S. support against the
France, but does not. He mounts a guerilla war, and forces
France to surrender in 1954 after the Battle of Dien Bien
Phu.
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Nationalist Struggles in Vietnam
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Geneva Accords: Peace agreement gives Vietnam
independence, but it is divided at 17th parallel: Communist
North led by Ho Chi Minh and Pro-West South led by Ngo
Din Diem. An election in 1956 was supposed to decide the
government of a unified country, but Diem refused to let
this happen knowing he would lose as his rule did not gain
popular support.
National Liberation Front (NLF): The North sponsored this
guerilla group starting in 1960 to fight the unpopular
southern government, and channeled Chinese and Soviet
aid to them.
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Dissolution of French Indochina
Ho Chi Minh of
North Vietnam
Ngo Dinh Diem, first
president of South
Vietnam, who served
from 1955 until 1963.
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Nationalist Struggles in Vietnam
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President Lyndon Johnson (1908-1973): In 1965, he escalates U.S.
involvement, and send troops to South Vietnam and bombing North Vietnam.
War Unpopular in U.S.: By 1968, the war had become increasingly unpopular.
Richard Nixon was elected on a platform of getting the U.S. out of the war, and
once in office, started the process of Vietnamization, or turning the fighting
over to South Vietnamese troops. Widespread anti-war protests break out in the
U.S. and President Johnson decides not to run for reelection, and stops the
intensive bombing campaign of the North by October 1968.
Extending the War: Yet Nixon also expanded the war into Cambodia with
invasion and bombing in 1969 and 1970, and resumed heavy bombing of North
Vietnam (Johnson had stopped this in Oct. 1968). Despite heavier firepower,
the U.S. was only able to fight the North Vietnamese to a draw.
The Paris Peace Accords: Orchestrate U.S. withdrawal in 1973.
South Vietnam Lost: Without U.S. troops, the South fell to the Northern forces
in 1975, and Vietnam was unified under communist rule.
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Nationalist Struggles in Vietnam
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The Issue of Palestine
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After World War II, several Middle Eastern Arab states gain
complete independence: Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, etc.
Palestine had ruled by Great Britain between the wars.
Britain had proclaimed support for Jewish “homeland” in
Palestine with the Balfour Declaration in 1917, which was
supported by the Allies as well at the 1919 Paris Peace
Conference.
The British attempted to limit the growing Jewish migration so as
not to alarm Arab Palestinians.
Pan-Arab Nationalism: Opposition to the Jewish state was a
rallying point for the newly independent Arab states.
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Creation of the State of Israel
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Jewish and Arab pressure drove the British to hand Palestine
over to United Nations for a resolution to the growing crisis.
U.N. develops a partition plan of 1947 divides Palestine into
two distinct states, but this is not acceptable to Arabs in and
outside of Palestine, sparking a civil war.
May 1948: Jews declare independence of state of Israel while
fighting Arabs and as British withdraw.
Sparks series of conflicts spanning five decades
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Arab-Israeli Wars in 1948-49, 1956, 1967, 1973, and 1982.
Israel greatly expands territory beyond U.N. partition during wars.
Intifada: A Palestinian mass movement against the Israeli presence
in Gaza and other occupied territories was sparked in 1987.
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The Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1949-1982
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Egypt and Arab Nationalism
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Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egypt, 1918-1970)
takes leadership position in Arab world
Gained power in a coup in 1952 that overthrew King
Farouk; eschewed democratic principles in favor of a
secular militarism and pan-Arab nationalism. Cracked
down on communists and the Muslim brotherhood.
Nasser attempts to nationalize the Suez Canal (1956)
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British, French, and Israelis respond with an invasion, but they did not
alert the U.S. or U.N. ahead of time, so both condemn it.
U.S. was concerned about driving oil-rich Arabs into Soviet hands.
Nasser complicated bipolar cold war power politics, especially by
splitting Britain and France from the U.S.
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Decolonization in Africa
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Legacy of Colonial Rule
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Different conditions in each nation led to different paces of
decolonization.
African countries adopted non-European, pre-colonial names
upon independence: Ghana, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, etc.
Internal Divisions
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These complicated decolonization and the creation of a national
identity: tribal, ethnic, linguistic, religious, as well as arbitrary
national boundaries.
In places were the colonial government had support of settlers—
as in Algeria and Kenya— decolonization became violent.
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Decolonization in Africa
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France and North Africa
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Abandonment of Most Territories
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In 1956, Morocco and Tunisia gain independence.
Thirteen other colonies in West and Equatorial also declare
independence in 1960, “The Year of Africa”
But determination to retain Algeria
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Longer period of French colonization (since 1830)
Two million French citizens born or settled in Algeria by
WWII: called “pied-noirs”
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Algerian War of Liberation
Frantz Fanon
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Front de Libération Nationale: In 1954, the FLN
begins guerilla warfare against France
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Simmering anger since French massacre of peaceful
protesters in Sétif in May 1945
France deploys 500,000 French soldiers by 1958
War ends with Algerian independence in 1962
Frantz Fanon (1925-1961) who treated patients
during the war, published The Wretched of the
Earth, a manifesto against colonial rule, in 1961.
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Négritude and African Nationalism
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Cultural and political movement in former French
West African colonies.
Influence of “black is beautiful” from U.S.
Revolt against white colonial values and
reaffirmation of African civilization
Black elites organize protests
Cold War complicated decolonization: authorities
could label nationalists as subversive communists
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Ghana
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“Gold Coast” had been a British crown colony since
1874; exporting cacao was key to the economy.
First sub-Saharan colony to achieve independence in
1957; takes the pre-colonial name “Ghana”
Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972), leader of Ghana and
advocate for Pan-African unity
Celebrated visit of Queen Elizabeth II in 1961, which
affirmed Ghana’s independence and equality
Few transitions to independence went as smoothly as
Ghana’s.
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Ghana
President Nkrumah dancing with Queen Elizabeth during her 1961 visit
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Kenya
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Rebels from the Kikuyu ethnic group—one of the largest in
Kenya—begins to attack on British settlers and
“collaborationist” Africans in 1947.
British authorities declare a state of emergency in 1952, while
settlers refused to see the revolt as an expression of discontent
with colonial rule, but rather as communist subversives.
Arrested nationalist leader Jomo Kenyatta (1895-1978) in
1953, giving no room for dialogue
Overwhelming British military response crushes Kikuyu by
1956: 12,000 Africans killed vs. 100 Europeans
A bloody, but negotiated withdrawal, followed by
independence is completed by Dec. 1963.
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South Africa
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“Internal Colonialism” in South Africa: Political system
set up to keep blacks in a state of economic and political
subservience
Apartheid or “Separateness”
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Instituted by the Afrikaner National Party in 1948, which sought
to crush all black independence movements.
87 percent of territory for whites
Division of Africans into tribes and settlement in “homelands”
African National Congress publishes Freedom Charter
(1955), articulating a goal of a multiracial democracy
Repression of ANC causes worldwide ostracism of South
Africa
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Dismantling of Apartheid
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When F.W. de Klerk (1936-) became president of South
Africa in 1989, he pushed the National Party to begin to
dismantle apartheid and legalized the ANC.
De Klerk has Nelson Mandela (1918-) released from
prison on Robben Island in 1990
Negotiations begin to end of white minority rule
1994 elections bring African National Congress (ANC) to
power and Mandela
Relatively calm transition to democratic society
Truth and reconciliation investigations used
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Nelson Mandela
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Chinese Communism
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Massive, pervasive policies of economic and cultural
engineering
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First Five-Year Plan (1955)
Great Leap Forward (1958-1961)
Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)
The first two are economic failures, leading to mass famine;
the third persecutes the educated classes and pushes China’s
development behind.
The Cultural Revolution could not be sustained after Mao’s
death
Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997) comes to power in 1981,
moderates Maoism
Tiananmen Square pro-democracy rallies in 1989 are put down
in a brutal fashion
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Indian Democracy
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Indian democracy flourishes under
Indira Gandhi (1917-1984)
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Daughter of Nehru, no relationship to Mohandas; takes over leadership
of Congress in 1966; served as prime minister from 1966 to 1977, and
then from 1980 to 1984
“Green revolution” increases agricultural yields, benefitting wealthy
peasants but increasing rural poverty
Declares a state of emergency from 1975-1977; institutes repressive
policies to slow population growth, including forced sterilization
Assassinated by Sikh bodyguards after her government’s
attack on Sikh extremists in Amritsar in 1984.
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Islamism
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Some Middle Eastern Muslims became increasingly wary
of secular foreign influences; often seeing them as yet
another form of imperialism.
CIA support of Iranian Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi
(1919-1980), overthrown in Iranian Revolution of 1979
(the CIA had overthrown the democratically elected
president of Iran in favor of the Shah in 1953)
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Coalition of religious people and political radicals who wished to
throw off the Shah’s oppression
Led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
Held U.S. diplomats hostage from the Teheran embassy for two
years
Shut down U.S. facilities, confiscated economic ventures
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Blindfolded U.S. Diplomats
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The Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)
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Saddam Hussein (Iraq, 1937-2006) uses oil, U.S.
support to build a huge military machine
Attacks Iran in 1980
Massive devastation for both sides; ends in
stalemate
Hussein attacks Kuwait and provokes the Gulf
War (1991)
U.S.-led coalition drives him out, creating further
hardships for Iraqi people
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Colonial Legacies in Sub-Saharan
Africa
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Organization of African Unity (OAU): Formed 1962 with
thrity-two member states
Declared boundaries permanent
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Despite arbitrary nature, necessary to forestall conflicts
Promotion of Pan-Africanism
Failure to prevent ethnic strife; even Nkrumah was deposed in
1966
Falling commodity prices increase poverty in the continent
New International Economic Order (NIEO): Coalition of
developing nations proposing more equitable sharing of global
wealth in the 1970s.
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Developments in Latin America
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Mexico: failed attempts to redistribute land
Argentina: military dominate politics
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Juan Perón (1895-1974) elected president, 1946
Wife Eva (Evita) especially popular (1919-1952)
Guatemala and Nicaragua: U.S. intervention as
local governments attempt to control U.S.
economic interests
Under Reagan, U.S. supports anti-communist
Contra forces in Nicaragua
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Revolutionary Ideologies
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Liberation Theology: Mixture of Marxism and
Catholicism that rises in popularity in Latin
America
Agitation for women’s liberation, especially in
Nicaragua
Search for economic equality
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Dependency theory: Argentine economist Raul Prebisch puts
forth the idea that developing countries needed to replace raw
exports with domestic manufacturing and industrialization.
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