Independence Movements
& Decolonization
Ch. 33-ish
Patterns: World War I –
Anti-Colonial Movements Begin
 WWI
weakened European colonizers
– Shattered perceptions of greatness
– Failed promises of self-determination
 While
WWI strengthened colonies
– Expanded administrative & industrial
opportunities
– Solidified public support
Patterns: World War II –
Nationalism Accelerates
 WWII
sapped resources & will of
Europe to maintain colonies
 U.S.
& USSR condemned colonialism
Patterns: Independence
 Mass
support based on promises of
better life
 Masses
rarely benefitted from
independence
India
Growing Nationalism
1 of 2

Earlier colonization = earlier nationalism

INC with modest goals & support initially

Increasingly resented hardships

Amritsar Massacre
2 of 2
Growing Nationalism

Gandhi broadened nationalist movement
– Civil disobedience
– Inclusive

Opposing Views
– Muslim League
1 of 2
Winning Independence

WWII yields negotiations

Partition
– Secular (Hindu-dominated) India
– Muslim Pakistan
– Ethnic violence
2 of 2
Winning Independence

India
– Democratic
– Growing middle-class
– Problems of social classes & diversity remain

Pakistan
– Endemic economic & political instability
– East Pakistan secedes → Bangladesh
Ghana (Tropical Africa)
Growing Nationalism

WWI caused shortages & exploitation in
Africa sparking nationalist groups
– Led by western-educated elites

WWII deepened resentment & hardships
while adding industry
Winning Independence

WWII → civil disobedience & gradual transfer of
power to nationalists
– Nkrumah

Nkrumah’s Ghana
– Ambitious gov’t development schemes
– Problems yield authoritarianism
Algeria (Settler Africa)
Growing Nationalism


European “superiority” shattered
Economic desperation & tension w/ white
settlers → violent independence
Winning Independence

British Kenya

French Algeria
– Guerilla war
– 1 million French cling, then flee
Vietnam
Growing Nationalism

Harsh French colonization

WWI sparks movements:
– VNQDD
 Destroyed by French repression
– Communists
 Ho Chi Minh
Winning Independence


WWII → free communist North Vietnam
French re-colonization & Cold War
tensions spark war
– North Vietnam, Viet Minh, Viet Cong
vs.
– South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem, U.S.

Communist unification
– Recent Chinese-style development
1 of 2
South Africa
 Long
settler history & ethnic divisions
led to tight gov’t control by whites
 Afrikaner
Nationalists used white
supremacy to pass apartheid
– System of racial segregation
Homelands
2 of 2
South Africa

Rich, repressive S. Af vs. black nationalism
– African National Congress & Mandela

1980s: internal & international pressure

1994: Apartheid ends
– President Mandela
Latin America
 Neo-Colonialism
Mexican Revolution

1876-1910: Diaz’s repressive dictatorship
– Export based growth → tension

1910-1920: Civil War & Revolution
– Turmoil as Villa & Zapata push for peasantbased reforms: land reform

Obregon & Constitution of 1917
– Secular, social justice

1920- : PRI
– One-party rule
– Redistribution of land
Interwar Years

Liberal democracy & free-trade questioned
– Nationalism from economic dependence
 Students, Depression necessitate change
– Authoritarianism echoes European Fascism

Heavy U.S. involvement
Cold War – Communism
1950s & 1960s:
 Governments swing toward communism
– Cold War brings foreign involvement
– Guatemala & United Fruit

Cuba
– U.S. influence & Batista → Communism & Castro
– Castro’s communist Cuba:
 Failed economy; Successful social programs
– Che Guevara
Cold War – U.S.
1960s & 1970s:
 Conservatives & U.S. counter communism
w/ military rule
– Stability w/o economic or political progress
1980s-today:
 Democracy spreads but communist
sympathies remain