Africa and the Middle East
Section 1
Africa and the Middle East
Section 1
African Nations Gain Independence
Preview
• Starting Points Map: Africa and the Middle East
• Main Idea / Reading Focus
• British and French Colonies
• Faces of History: Jomo Kenyatta
• Portuguese and Belgian Colonies
• South Africa
• Map: Independence in Africa
Africa and the Middle East
Click the icon to play
Listen to History
audio.
Click the icon below
to connect to the
Interactive Maps.
Section 1
Africa and the Middle East
Section 1
African Nations Gain Independence
Main Idea
After World War II, almost all countries in Africa gained
independence from ruling European powers.
Reading Focus
• What ideas and actions led to independence for British and
French colonies?
• Why did Portuguese and Belgian colonies have difficulty
achieving independence?
• What effect did apartheid have on the lives of black South
Africans?
Africa and the Middle East
Section 1
British and French 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 and France led the way.
Ghana
• British colony of the
Gold Coast, West
Africa, first to achieve
independence
• African leaders
established
convention to
demand greater
participation in
government
Two Movements
National Elections
• Goal: to cooperate
with British, gain
influence peacefully
• Nkrumah led strikes,
demonstrations
• Less cooperative
movement also
brewing
• 1947, Kwame
Nkrumah became
leader of Convention
People’s Party (CCP)
• British jailed him
• Still transformed CCP
into major political
party
• 1951, British
pressured into
allowing national
elections
Africa and the Middle East
Section 1
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
Section 1
Africa and the Middle East
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
Africa and the Middle East
Section 1
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
Africa and the Middle East
Section 1
Africa and the Middle East
Section 1
French Africa
Different Path
• French African colonies followed different path toward independence
• French goal had been to incorporate colonies into France itself
• Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle tried to pursue goal after World War II
Benefits in Relationship
• African leaders believed they should have greater opportunities for self-rule
• However, rejected final break with France because they believed Africans
could attain economic, cultural benefits from continued relationship
French Community
• 1958, de Gaulle called for referendum on continued union
• Most colonies voted to join new organization, known as French Community
• France granted most colonies of Community independence a few years later
Africa and the Middle East
Section 1
Find the Main Idea
How did Britain grant independence to its
African colonies?
Answer(s): Britain granted independence to its
colonies after they began nationalist movements.
Africa and the Middle East
Section 1
Portuguese and Belgian Colonies
Transition Difficult
Belgian Congo
• Transition to independence for
Belgian, Portuguese colonies
more difficult than for British,
French
• After World War II, Belgian
government agreed to prepare
people of Belgian Congo for
self-government
• Belgians, Portuguese held on to
colonies longer than any other
European nations
• 1950s, African nationalists in
Congo demanded immediate
self-government
• Violence forced decolonization
• 1960, Belgians announced
complete withdrawal; soon
violence toward Belgian
settlers, civil war erupted
Africa and the Middle East
Section 1
Leaders Emerge in Portuguese Colonies
• Portugal continued to hold on to colonies
• Meanwhile, African leaders emerged in colonies of Angola,
Portuguese Guinea, Mozambique
• Leaders organized armies to fight for independence
Bloody Warfare in Portuguese Colonies
• Long years of bloody warfare marked last decades of Portuguese
rule
• War, military coup in Portugal drained Portuguese economy; made it
impossible to continue support of colonies
• 1974, Portugal withdrew completely from Africa
Africa and the Middle East
Section 1
Summarize
How did Africans in the Portuguese colonies
achieve independence?
Answer(s): African leaders organized armies to
fight for independence; years of bloody warfare
ended Portuguese rule.
Section 1
Africa and the Middle East
South Africa
In the early 1900s South Africa was run by white Afrikaners—
descendants of the original Dutch settlers. Even though South Africa
had received independence from Great Britain in 1910, nonwhites in
South Africa were not free under the Afrikaner government.
Apartheid
• 1948, racial discrimination
heightened when Afrikanerdominated National Party began to
run South African government
• Instituted policy of apartheid,
“apartness” in Afrikaner language
Racial Separation
• Apartheid policy divided into four
racial groups: White, Black,
Colored (mixed ancestry), Asian
• Attempted to create greater
separation between whites,
nonwhites, impose harsh controls
Apartheid laws banned interracial marriages, and placed further
restrictions on African ownership of land and businesses.
Section 1
Africa and the Middle East
Apartheid Laws
Laws Harsh on Blacks
Citizenship Denied
• Apartheid laws especially harsh
on blacks in South Africa
• Under apartheid, only white
South Africans could vote, hold
political office
• Required to carry passes,
identity books
• Also faced imprisonment if
police found them in an area for
more than 72 hours without
pass
• Blacks made up nearly 75
percent of population, were
denied South African citizenship
• Restricted to certain
occupations, very little pay
Section 1
Africa and the Middle East
Homelands
Townships
Further Segregation
• Apartheid placed limits on
where blacks could live
• Restricted businesses allowed
in townships, kept people poor
• Required to live in impoverished
areas of cities called townships
• 1950s, created rural
“homelands” for tribes, groups
Citizenship
• Did not include good farmland,
resources
• Used homelands as excuse for
depriving blacks of citizenship
Aliens
• Men forced to migrate without
families to work in mines,
factories, farms
• Homeland policy made millions
resident aliens in own country
Africa and the Middle East
Section 1
Africa and the Middle East
Section 1
Africa and the Middle East
Section 1
Africa and the Middle East
Section 1
Find the Main Idea
What was apartheid, and how did it
function?
Answer(s): policy of separating whites and
nonwhites and placing restrictions upon
nonwhites; enforced by police, laws