[17] Several analyses point to different reasons for the spread of anti-colonial political movements. Similarly, as Britain withdrew from Palestine in 1948, it left behind separate Jewish and Arab countries per a UN partition plan. Most former colonies adhere to their colonial-era borders, and many of those countries still use their former colonizers languages: for example, twenty-five African nations list English as an official language and twenty-one list French. During this time, roughly from 1945 to 1975, countries gained independence through various means, including nonviolent pressure and resistance, diplomacy and negotiation, and violent armed conflict. Let's explore the different ways new nations responded to such challenges. In 2001, it was followed by a Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism. In 1961, India annexed Goa and by the same year nationalist forces had begun organizing in Portugal. America in the Post War Period. Why is the decolonization of Africa important? The contract was broken and each of the regions of the Spanish Empire had to decide whether to show allegiance to the Junta of Cadiz (the only territory in Spain free from Napoleon) or have a junta (assembly) of its own. Elements of nation-building include creating and promoting symbols of the state like a flag, a coat of arms and an anthem, monuments, official histories, national sports teams, codifying one or more Indigenous official languages, and replacing colonial place-names with local ones. In 1783, the North American colonies were divided between the independent United States, and British North America, which later became Canada. The Non-Aligned Movement constituted itself around the main figures of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, Sukarno, the Indonesian president, Josip Broz Tito the Communist leader of Yugoslavia, and Gamal Abdel Nasser, head of Egypt. "The Impossible Republic: The Reconquest of Algeria and the Decolonisation of France, 19451962,", Smith, Tony. Tomasz Kamusella. And in Indonesiaa sprawling Southeast Asian archipelago comprising roughly 6,000 inhabited islands in which more than 260 million citizens speak over 700 languagesthe countrys founding father, Sukarno, attempted to unite the exceedingly diverse country through a national identity based on ideas rather than geography, language, religion, or ethnicity. Consumed with post-war debt, European powers were no longer able to afford the resources needed to maintain control of thei r African colonies. In 1990, the Assembly proclaimed theInternational Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (1990-2000), which included a specific plan of action. Today, there are 17 Non-Self-Governing Territoriesremaining and fewer than 2 million people live in them. For generations, colonized people called for independence to little avail. Other methods such as public interaction, and attempts to eradicate the use of Korean, Hokkien, and Hakka among the Indigenous peoples, were seen to be used. In 2014, it annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, the first such action in Europe since the end of the Second World War. In 1931, Japan seized Manchuria from the Republic of China, setting up a puppet state under Puyi, the last Manchu emperor of China. The intrusiveness and bad relations this engendered were somewhat checked by the Clark Memorandum and renounced by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Good Neighbor Policy". ", McDougall, James. America's only African colony, Liberia, was formed privately and achieved independence early; Washington unofficially protected it. Postwar Agreements: Several countries on the losing side of World War II forfeited their colonies as terms of their surrender. Washington remained baffled why the Dutch were so inexplicably enamored of an obviously hopeless cause. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, India's independence movement leader, led a peaceful resistance to British rule. It is in this sense that the European Second World War made a contribution to the decolonisation and political liberation of Africa. Cold War Challenges: Decolonization did not occur in a vacuum. Only after World War II did large-scale decolonization begin. The main tenets of the NIEO were: The UNCTAD however wasn't very effective in implementing the NIEO, and social and economic inequalities between industrialized countries and the Third World grew throughout the 1960s until the 21st century. Examples of such former colonies include South Africa, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, and the United States. In the U.S.-administered territory of Guam, some popular movements have called for independence, although other Guamanians hope the Pacific island becomes the fifty-first state of the United States. [8][9] In states that have won independence, Indigenous people living under settler colonialism continue to make demands for decolonization and self-determination. As a result of decolonization many Territories became independent and joined the UN. Significant violence was involved in several prominent cases of decolonization of the British Empire; partition was a frequent solution. Many decolonized countries created programs to promote industrialization. There was no serious planning for independence, and exceedingly little training or education provided. To this day, the Algerian war officially called a "public order operation" until the 1990s remains a trauma for both France and Algeria. Some of the colonial territories like French, Indo-china, Dutch Indonesia, British Malaya, and Italian East Africa were occupied by enemy conquest and were virtually cut off from their colonial governors. A model poses with a Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S8 smartphone during a media event in Seoul, South Korea, on April 13, 2017. Driven by pragmatic demands of budgets and manpower the British made deals with the local politicians. & Smith S. (2001). Some nationalized industries and infrastructure, and some engaged in land reform to redistribute land to individual farmers or create collective farms. The constitution of the French Fourth Republic provided for token decentralization of colonial rule, and cycles of revolt and repression marked French history for 15 years after the end of World War II. Except for a few absolute monarchies, most post-colonial states are either republics or constitutional monarchies. Japan expanded its occupation of Chinese territory during the 1930s, and occupied Southeast Asia during World War II. Tuesday, December 26 . The Charter also created theTrusteeship Councilas a main organ of the UN. In early 1945, Japan ousted the French administration in Vietnam and executed numerous French officials. By 1954 French North Africa was beginning to stir; guerrilla warfare occurred in both Morocco (where the French had deposed and exiled Sultan Muammad V) and Tunisia. Decolonization as political change The rapidity of the retreat from modern colonial empire impressed all as it was . [82] On 22 May 2019, the United Nations General Assembly debated and adopted a resolution that affirmed that the Chagos Archipelago "forms an integral part of the territory of Mauritius". By becoming a symbol of both peace and opposition to British imperialism, many Indians began to view the British as the cause of India's problems leading to a newfound sense of nationalism among its population. In Asia, kung fu cinema emerged at a time Japan wanted to reach Asian populations in other countries by way of its cultural influence. For instance, Japanwhich ruled over two hundred million people across thirteen modern-day countriesrenounced control of its empire in a 1951 peace treaty. However, one thing remains important to remember: decolonization is a relatively recent phenomenon. The process of decolonization after World War II was a significant turning point in global history, as it marked the end of colonialism and the rise of independent nations. [citation needed]. After a nine-year war of independence against France, Vietnam split into two countries: a Chinese- and Soviet-backed north and a U.S.-backed south. After their 2nd defeat, a Frenchman called Santiague de Liniers was proclaimed a new Viceroy by the local population and later accepted by Spain. In 1956, Morocco and Tunisia gained their independence from France. The Dutch in the East Indies, and at home, were practically unanimous (except for the communists) that Dutch power and prestige and wealth depended on an extremely expensive war to regain the islands. Decolonization allowed the colonizer to disclaim responsibility for the colonized. In 2020, the General Assembly adopted resolution 75/123declaring the period 2021-2030 the Fourth International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism. There was widespread unrest and organized revolts, especially in French Algeria, Portuguese Angola, the Belgian Congo and British Kenya.[47][48][49][50]. [32] Large-scale communal violence broke out between Muslims and Hindus and Muslims and Sikhs after the British left in 1947 in the newly independent dominions of India and Pakistan. Some former colonies like South Korea and Taiwan shifted from exporting raw materials to instead producing various industrial goods such as ships and computers. for the viewpoint from London and Paris see Rudolf von Albertini. India's independence movement started at the beginning of the 20 th century. In 1955 these leaders gathered at the Bandung Conference along with Sukarno, the leader of Indonesia, and Zhou Enlai, Premier of the People's Republic of China. The wave of decolonization, which changed the face of the planet, was born with the UN and represents the world bodys first great success. In 1809, the independence wars of Latin America began with a revolt in La Paz, Bolivia. India's independence movement started at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1945 the Netherlands could not regain these islands on its own; it did so by depending on British military help and American financial grants. Whenever Africans sneaked up behind Tarzan, we would scream our heads off, trying to warn him that 'they' were coming". I am aware that this is a gross simplification of hundreds of years of development of science in the Western world. [71], Kenyan writer Ngg wa Thiong'o has written about colonization and decolonization in the film universe. By 1900, the U.S. advocated an Open Door Policy and opposed the direct division of China. General elections in India in 1946 strengthened the Muslim League. The CFA franc is a currency shared by 14 countries in West and Central Africa, mostly former French colonies. Armed struggle against colonialism centred in a few areas, which mark the real milestones in the history of postwar decolonization. Millions of formerly disenfranchised people voted for the first time, and new, postcolonial leaders brought attention to historically neglected global issues such as economic inequality and foreign military intervention. High-quality, standards-aligned classroom resources, lesson plans, teaching inspiration, and professional development opportunitiesall inspired by our mission that Global Civics is essential for twenty-first century citizenship. The Sukarno regime held fast through three years of intermittent war, however, and the Dutch found no allies and no international support. First, the two postwar superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, preferred to exert their might by indirect means of penetrationideological, economic, and militaryoften supplanting previous colonial rulers; both the United States and the Soviet Union took up positions opposed to colonialism. After World War I, the colonized people were frustrated at France's failure to recognize the effort provided by the French colonies (resources, but more importantly colonial troops the famous tirailleurs). All of the British colonies on mainland Africa became independent by 1966, although Rhodesia's unilateral declaration of independence in 1965 was not recognized by the UK or internationally. [24] Contemporary decolonial scholarship has critiqued the emancipatory potential of enlightenment thought, highlighting its erasure of Indigenous epistemologies and failure to provide subaltern and Indigenous people with liberty, equality, and dignity. However Morocco merged French Morocco with Spanish Morocco, and Somalia formed from the merger of British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland. In 1820 there was a Constitutionalist Revolution in Portugal, which led to the return of the Portuguese court to Lisbon. President Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat in office from 1913 to 1921, ignored the Philippines, and focused his attention on Mexico and Caribbean nations. In 1945, more than 150 years after the U.S. We didn't identify with the Indians at all and we never wanted the Indians to win. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). In the 1960s, due to economic needs for post-war reconstruction and rapid economic growth, French employers actively sought to recruit manpower from the colonies, explaining today's multiethnic population. This practice, known as colonialism, provided imperial powers with access to raw materials such as sugar and tobacco, a new base of potential customers for their leading exports, and the opportunity to convert hundreds of millions of people to Christianity. Many other countries have turned to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fundor, more recently, to Chinafor such funding. Eritrea merged with Ethiopia in 1952, but became an independent country in 1993. Get the latest news from World101, including teaching resources and special offers. Britain left India in 1947, Palestine in 1948, and Egypt in 1956; it withdrew from Africa in the 1950s and 60s, from various island protectorates in the 1970s and 80s, and from Hong Kong in 1997. Where did decolonization occur after World War II? Meanwhile, in Rwanda and Sudan, tensions between ethnic groups grew after independence, leading to discrimination, violence, and eventually genocide (actions taken with the intent to destroy a specific group of people). Throughout the Cold War, the two superpowers waged proxy wars in countries such as Afghanistan, Angola, El Salvador, Guatemala, Korea, and Nicaragua. Between 1945 and 1960, three dozen new . Deciding not to annex Cuba outright, the U.S. established it as a client state with obligations including the perpetual lease of Guantnamo Bay to the U.S. Navy. After World War II, European countries generally lacked the wealth and political support necessary to suppress faraway revolts; they also faced opposition from the new superpowers, the U.S. and the Soviet Union, both of which had taken positions against colonialism. As a result, people in South Korea and Taiwan today enjoy, on average, higher incomesand, consequently, better government servicesthan those in many economically volatile countries. Ngg wa Thiong'o explored the cultural and linguistic legacies of colonialism in the influential book Decolonising the Mind (1986). Today, almost all the worlds population lives in independent countries, but that doesnt mean that decolonization is entirely over. The two superpowers backed protest movements, funded aid packages, and provided military support to advance their respective goals. For instance, the decolonization of Algeria by France was particularly uneasy due to the large European population (see also pied noir),[67] which largely evacuated to France when Algeria became independent. Angola. Corrections? The reasons why decolonization took place are many and complex, varying widely from one country to another. This transition, also known as industrialization, allowed the two economies to soar given the high demand and high prices for such goods. On July 26, 1956, he nationalized the Suez Canal Company, ending the last vestiges of European authority over that vital waterway and precipitating the most serious international crisis of the postwar era. When the Democrats returned to power in 1933, they worked with the Filipinos to plan a smooth transition to independence. Thus decolonization allowed the goals of colonization to be largely achieved, but without its burdens. The decolonization of Oceania occurred after World War II when nations in Oceania achieved independence by transitioning from European colonial rule to full independence. In 1935, the Philippines transitioned out of territorial status, controlled by an appointed governor, to the semi-independent status of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. International Pressure: The founding of the United Nations in 1945 gave newly independent countries a forum to raise global support for decolonization around the world. as kids, we tried to act out the things we had seen in the movies. Then, the 1982 Latin American debt crisis exploded in Mexico first, then Argentina and Brazil, which proved unable to pay back their debts, jeopardizing the existence of the international economic system. Political Challenges: Many countries emerged from colonialism with little political experience. In 1933 Japan seized the Chinese province of Rehe, and incorporated it into its Manchurian possessions. Economic Challenges: Many empires set up their colonies exclusively to export a small handful of raw materials like cotton, iron, and petroleum. However, some of the Dominions were already independent de facto, and even de jure and recognized as such by the international community. Britain, isolated internationally, threw the problem into the lap of the United Nations; in November 1947 the General Assembly voted for partition. In 1947, British India was partitioned into the independent dominions of India and Pakistan. The Napoleonic Wars also led to the severing of the direct links between Portugal and its only American colony, Brazil. With this new wave of Indian nationalism, Gandhi was eventually able to garner the support needed to push back the British and create an independent India in 1947.[31]. How Did Decolonization Reshape the World? Angola was a Portuguese colony until 1975. "[53] Moscow's policy had long been to settle ethnic Russians in the non-Russian republics. An example of decolonization is India becoming independent from England after World War II. Spain took the step to occupy the Dominican Republic and restore colonial rule. Indias first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, requested the former British colonial ruler, Lord Louis Mountbatten, stay on to aid the new administration. All rights reserved. The Monroe Doctrine was expanded by the Roosevelt Corollary in 1904, providing that the United States had a right and obligation to intervene "in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence" that a nation in the Western Hemisphere became vulnerable to European control. Hundreds of princely states, states ruled by monarchs in treaty of subsidiary alliance with Britain, were integrated into India and Pakistan. Puerto Rico became an unincorporated territory of the US, but Cuba became independent in 1902. Most of Europe was broke and the administering of colonies was no longer a top priority. [10], Although examples of decolonization can be found as early as the writings of Thucydides,[citation needed] there have been several particularly active periods of decolonization in modern times. John Kenneth Galbraith argues that the postWorld War II decolonization was brought about for economic reasons. As a result, the cost of maintaining thousands of soldiers and administrators in colonies halfway around the world became increasingly unfeasible, particularly for the United Kingdom, which emerged from the conflict with crippling debt. In 1804, Haiti secured independence from France as the Empire of Haiti, which later became a republic. Nation-building is the process of creating a sense of identification with, and loyalty to, the state. Typical challenges of decolonization include state-building, nation-building, and economic development. The process of breaking away from colonial rule often entailed years of violence or protest. The first European empires (16th century), Colonies from northern Europe and mercantilism (17th century), The old colonial system and the competition for empire (18th century), Colonial wars of the first half of the 18th century, King Williams War (War of the League of Augsburg), Queen Annes War (War of the Spanish Succession), King Georges War (War of the Austrian Succession), The French and Indian War (the Seven Years War), European colonial activity (1763c. Most African countries became independent as republics. Only Hong Kong and Macau remained in outside control. Washington pushed hard to accelerate decolonization and bring an end to the colonial empires of its Western allies, most importantly during the 1956 Suez Crisis, but American military bases were established around the world and direct and indirect interventions continued in Korea, Indochina, Latin America (inter alia, the 1965 occupation of the Dominican Republic), Africa, and the Middle East to oppose Communist invasions and insurgencies. For example, Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi supported the creation of a unified India free of British rule, whereas Muhammad Ali Jinnah pushed for the formation of two separate countries: Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. Ultimately, these countries could not garner enough support for their vision and instead settled for the creation of a less powerful organization called the Organization of African Unitya forerunner to todays African Union. In Southern Africa, however, the transfer of power to an African majority was greatly complicated by the presence of entrenched white settlers. European powers controlled most of Africa on the eve of the First World War. TheSpecial Committeecontinues to monitor the situation in the remaining 17 territories, working to facilitate achieving their decolonization. [66], In a few cases, settler populations have been repatriated. So how did former colonies approach the task of creating competent, stable, and representative governments? Karl Wolfgang Deutsch, William J. Folt, eds. Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique and Namibia were among the African countries that achieved independence a bit later bringing to an end the era of colonial rule on the continent of Africa. Across the empire, the general protocol was to convene a constitutional conference in London to discuss the transition to greater self-government and then independence, submit a report of the constitutional conference to parliament, if approved submit a bill to Parliament at Westminster to terminate the responsibility of the United Kingdom (with a copy of the new constitution annexed), and finally, if approved, issuance of an Order of Council fixing the exact date of independence.[29]. "[94], David Strange writes that the loss of their empires turned France and Britain into "second-rate powers".[95]. During the next 15 years, the Spanish and Royalist on one side, and the rebels on the other fought in South America and Mexico. After World War II, European countries generally lacked the wealth and political support necessary to suppress faraway revolts; they also faced opposition from the new superpowers, the U.S. and the Soviet Union, both of which had taken positions against colonialism. Much later, in 1970, further communal violence broke out within Pakistan in the detached eastern part of East Bengal, which became independent as Bangladesh in 1971. How did decolonization occur in India? Namibia, Africa's last UN Trust Territory, became independent of South Africa in 1990. [5][6], The United Nations (UN) states that the fundamental right to self-determination is the core requirement for decolonization, and that this right can be exercised with or without political independence. The Netherlands was overrun and almost starved to death by the Nazis during the war, and Japan sank the Dutch fleet in seizing the East Indies. Thus, nationalism in the colonies became stronger in between the two wars, leading to Abd el-Krim's Rif War (19211925) in Morocco and to the creation of Messali Hadj's Star of North Africa in Algeria in 1925. [81], The sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean is disputed between the United Kingdom and Mauritius. (See Balfour Declaration). In 1990, the General Assembly reaffirmed that the question of Western Sahara was a question of decolonization which remained to be completed by the people of Western Sahara. Historian Robert Daniels says, "A special dimension that the anti-Communist revolutions shared with some of their predecessors was decolonization. The next year, the Non-Aligned Movement was officially created in Belgrade (1961), and was followed in 1964 by the creation of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) which tried to promote a New International Economic Order (NIEO). The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a revolt of a portion of the Indian Army. Today, the legacy of their independence movements remains visible, not just in the borders of the world map but also in the politics, economics, languages, cultures, and demographics of countries worldwide. ", In general, the release of the colonized caused little economic loss to the colonizers. The second oil crisis occurred in the wake of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. However, the decolonization occur after this war as a result of respect for human rights as well as Us and European War Debts. UN Photo/Denise Cook, Sustainable Development and Climate Action, Declaration on the Granting of Independenceto Colonial Countries and Peoples, International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, Statute of the International Court of Justice, Annual Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organization, Secretary-General's Action Agenda on Internal Displacement, Prevention of Genocide and the Responsibility to Protect, Black Sea Grain Initiative Joint Coordination Centre, Trkiye-Syria Earthquake Response (Donate). In 2002, former Portuguese Timor became independent as East Timor. ' Decolonisation unfolded in two phases. Most of Africa's island countries had also become independent, although Runion and Mayotte remain part of France. The Arab chain reaction against Britain started in Egypt, where in July 1952 a group of army officers seized power. In the United States, the two major parties were divided on the acquisition of the Philippines, which became a major campaign issue in 1900. By 1990 all but one of the trust territories had achieved independence, either as independent states or by merger with another independent state; the Northern Mariana Islands elected to become a commonwealth of the United States. Even in independent countries, the legacy of colonialism and decolonization remains visible. [2][3] Other scholars extend the meaning to include economic, cultural and psychological aspects of the colonial experience. In June 1956 the British troops quit Suez on schedule. The Soviet coup d'tat attempt in August 1991 accelerated the breakup of the USSR, which formally ended on December 26, 1991. The decolonization of Africa followed World War II as colonized peoples agitated for independence and colonial powers withdrew their administrators from Africa.The only two world powers to officially and actively support decolonization in Africa through the entire 20th century were the Soviet Unionand the People's Republic of China all others Some were administered directly by the UK, and others by British dominions - Nauru and the Territory of New Guinea by Australia, South West Africa by the Union of South Africa, and Western Samoa by New Zealand . Updates? All Arab spokesmen expressed intransigent opposition to any two-nation solution. [85], Indigenous decolonization theory views Western Eurocentric historical accounts and political discourse as an ongoing political construct that attempts to negate Indigenous peoples and their experiences around the world. Hunt, Lynn, Thomas R. Martin, Barbara H. Rosenwein, R. Po-chia Hsia, and Bonnie G. Smith. Kwame Nkrumah (19091972) who was inspired by the works of Garvey led Ghana to independence from colonial rule. Did you think of the American colonies in 1776? In certain instances, the United States and the Soviet Union supported opposing factions in postcolonial civil wars. Britain granted independence to India in 1947 as a safety precaution due to the violent uprisings in the pre-Gandhi era. The U.S. relinquished the Philippines in 1946. Portugal gave up its African colonies in the 1970s; Macau was returned to the Chinese in 1999. Netherlands: Portugal: Where did rapid decolonization occur after WWII? The Fourteen Points were preconditions addressed by President Woodrow Wilson to the European powers at the Paris Peace Conference following World War I. The Balfour Declaration of 1926 declared the British Empire dominions as equals, and the 1931 Statute of Westminster established full legislative independence for them.
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