Decolonization of Africa
The decolonization of Africa followed World War II, when colonized peoples agitated for independence and colonial powers withdrew their administrators from Africa.[1]
Background
During the Scramble for Africa in the late nineteenth century, Western European powers divided Africa and its resources into political partitions at the Berlin Conference of 1884-85.[2][3] By 1905, control of almost all African soil was claimed by Western European governments, with the only exceptions being Liberia (which had been settled by African-American former slaves) and Ethiopia (which had successfully resisted colonization by Italy).[4] Britain and France had the largest holdings, but Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, and Portugal also had colonies. As a result of colonialism and imperialism, a majority of Africa lost sovereignty and control of natural resources such as gold and rubber. Following the concept of White Man's Burden, some Europeans who benefited from colonization, felt that colonization was needed to civilize Africans.[5][6]
Causes
World War II saw many British African colonies support the Allies against the Axis powers with both military power and resources.[7][8] Many African colonies did not gain independence after the war. Imperial Japan's conquests in the Far East caused a shortage of raw materials such as rubber and various minerals. Africa was therefore forced to compensate for this shortage and greatly benefited from this change. Another key problem Western Europeans faced were the U-boats patrolling the Atlantic Ocean. This reduced and hindered the amount of raw materials that could be transported from African colonies to Europe.[9] As a result of the loss in trade, local industries in Africa became more prominent. Local industries in turn caused the creation of new towns, and existing towns to see a rise in economy and population. As urban community and industry grew so did trade unions. In addition to trade unions, urbanization brought about increased literacy, which allowed for pro-independence newspapers.
On February 12th, 1941, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met to discuss the postwar world. The result was the Atlantic Charter.[10] It was not a treaty and was not submitted to the British Parliament or the Senate of the United States for ratification, but it turned to be a widely acclaimed document.[11] One of the provisions, introduced by Roosevelt, was the autonomy of imperial colonies. After World War II, the US and the African colonies put pressure on Britain to abide by the terms of the Atlantic Charter. After the war, some British considered African colonies to be childish and immature; British colonizers introduced democratic government at local levels in the colonies.
By the 1930s, the colonial powers had cultivated, sometimes inadvertently, a small elite of leaders educated in Western universities and familiar with ideas such as self-determination. These leaders came to lead the struggles for independence, and included leading nationalists such as Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya), Kwame Nkrumah (Gold Coast, now Ghana), Julius Nyerere (Tanzania), Léopold Sédar Senghor (Senegal), and Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d'Ivoire).
Timeline
This table is arranged by the earliest date of independence.
Country[12] | Colonial name | Colonial power[13] | Independence date[14] | First head of government | Independence won through |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Union of South Africa | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
May 31, 1910[15] |
Louis Botha | South Africa Act 1909 | |
Kingdom of Egypt | Sultanate of Egypt | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
February 28, 1922[16] |
Fuad I | |
Ethiopian Empire | Italian East Africa | Kingdom of Italy | January 31, 1942 | Haile Selassie I | |
Emirate of Cyrenaica | British Military Administration | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | March 1, 1949 | Idris I | |
United Kingdom of Libya |
|
|
December 24, 1951 | Idris I | |
Republic of the Sudan | Anglo-Egyptian Sudan |
|
January 1, 1956 | Ismail al-Azhari | Egyptian Revolution of 1952 |
Kingdom of Tunisia | French Protectorate of Tunisia | French Fourth Republic | March 20, 1956 | Muhammad VIII al-Amin | |
Kingdom of Morocco |
|
|
|
Mohammed V | |
Ghana | Gold Coast | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[21] | March 6, 1957 | Kwame Nkrumah | |
Republic of Guinea | French Fourth Republic | October 2, 1958 | Sékou Touré | ||
Republic of Cameroon |
|
|
Ahmadou Ahidjo | UPC rebellion | |
Togolese Republic | French Togoland | French Fifth Republic | April 27, 1960 | Sylvanus Olympio | |
Republic of Mali | Mali Federation | French Fifth Republic | June 20, 1960[23] | Modibo Keita | |
Republic of Senegal | Mali Federation | French Fifth Republic | June 20, 1960[23] | Léopold Senghor | |
Malagasy Republic | Malagasy Republic | French Fifth Republic | June 26, 1960 | Philibert Tsiranana | Malagasy Uprising |
Republic of the Congo | Belgian Congo | Kingdom of Belgium | June 30, 1960 | Joseph Kasa-Vubu and Patrice Lumumba | Congo Crisis |
Somali Republic |
|
|
|||
Republic of Dahomey |
|
|
Hubert Maga | ||
Republic of Niger | Republic of Niger | French Fifth Republic | August 3, 1960 | Hamani Diori | |
Republic of Upper Volta | Republic of Upper Volta | French Fifth Republic | August 5, 1960 | Maurice Yaméogo | |
Republic of Côte d'Ivoire | French Ivory Coast | French Fifth Republic | August 7, 1960 | Félix Houphouët-Boigny | |
Chad |
|
French Fifth Republic | August 11, 1960 | François Tombalbaye | |
Central African Republic |
|
French Fifth Republic | August 13, 1960 | David Dacko | |
Republic of the Congo |
|
French Fifth Republic | August 15, 1960 | Fulbert Youlou | |
Gabonese Republic |
|
French Fifth Republic | August 17, 1960 | Léon M'ba | |
Federation of Nigeria |
|
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
|
Nnamdi Azikiwe | |
Islamic Republic of Mauritania | Islamic Republic of Mauritania | French Fifth Republic | November 28, 1960 | Moktar Ould Daddah | |
Republic of Sierra Leone | Sierra Leone Protectorate | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | April 27, 1961 | Milton Margai | |
Tanganyika[27] | Tanganyika Territory | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | December 9, 1961 |
|
|
Kingdom of Burundi | Kingdom of Belgium | July 1, 1962 | Ntare V | ||
Republic of Rwanda | Kingdom of Belgium | July 1, 1962 | Grégoire Kayibanda | Rwandan Revolution | |
People's Democratic Republic of Algeria | Algeria | French Fifth Republic | July 3, 1962 | Ahmed Ben Bella |
|
Uganda | Protectorate of Uganda | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | October 9, 1962 | Milton Obote | |
Kenya | Colony and Protectorate of Kenya | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | December 12, 1963 | Jomo Kenyatta | Mau Mau Uprising |
People's Republic of Zanzibar | Sultanate of Zanzibar | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | January 12, 1964 | Abeid Karume | Zanzibar Revolution |
Republic of Malawi | Nyasaland Protectorate | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | July 6, 1964 | Hastings Kamuzu Banda | |
Republic of Zambia | Protectorate of Northern Rhodesia | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | October 24, 1964 | Kenneth Kaunda | |
The Gambia | Gambia Colony and Protectorate | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | February 18, 1965 | Dawda Kairaba Jawara | |
Rhodesia | Colony of Southern Rhodesia | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | November 11, 1965 | Ian Smith | Unilaterally declared independence |
Republic of Botswana | Bechuanaland Protectorate | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | September 30, 1966 | Seretse Khama | |
Kingdom of Lesotho | Territory of Basutoland | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | October 4, 1966 | Leabua Jonathan | |
Mauritius | Mauritius | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | March 12, 1968 | Veerasamy Ringadoo | |
Kingdom of Swaziland | Swaziland | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | September 6, 1968 | Sobhuza II | |
Republic of Equatorial Guinea | Spanish Territories of the Gulf of Guinea | Kingdom of Spain | October 12, 1968 | Francisco Macías Nguema | |
Republic of Guinea-Bissau | Overseas Province of Guinea | Portuguese Republic | September 24, 1973 | Luís Cabral | |
People's Republic of Mozambique | State of Mozambique | Portuguese Republic | June 25, 1975 | Samora Machel | |
Republic of Cabo Verde | Overseas Province of Cape Verde | Portuguese Republic | July 5, 1975 | Aristides Pereira | Guinea-Bissau War of Independence |
Union of the Comoros | French Comoros | French Fifth Republic | July 6, 1975 | Ahmed Abdallah | |
Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe | Overseas Province of São Tomé and Príncipe | Portuguese Republic | July 12, 1975 | Manuel Pinto da Costa | |
People's Republic of Angola | State of Angola | Portuguese Republic | November 11, 1975 | Agostinho Neto | |
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic[28] |
|
February 27, 1976 | El-Ouali Mustapha Sayed | ||
Republic of Seychelles | Seychelles | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | June 29, 1976 | James Richard Marie Mancham | |
Republic of Djibouti | French Territory of the Afars and the Issas | French Fifth Republic | June 27, 1977 | Hassan Gouled Aptidon | |
Republic of Namibia | South-West Africa | Republic of South Africa | March 21, 1990 | Sam Nujoma | Namibian War of Independence |
State of Eritrea | Provisional Government of Eritrea | Transitional Government of Ethiopia | May 24, 1993 | Isaias Afwerki | Eritrean War of Independence |
Republic of South Sudan | Southern Sudan | Republic of Sudan | July 9, 2011 | Salva Kiir Mayardit | 2011 South Sudanese independence referendum |
See also
- Colonialism
- Decolonization
- Indépendance Cha Cha, a 1960 Congolese song widely considered as the anthem of African independence
- Economic history of Africa
- Scramble for Africa
- Wars of national liberation
- Year of Africa
Notes
- ↑ Birmingham, David (1995). The Decolonization of Africa. Routledge. ISBN 1-85728-540-9.
- ↑ "Berlin Conference of 1884-1885". http://www.oxfordreference.com''. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
- ↑ "A Brief History of the Berlin Conference". http://teacherweb.ftl.pinecrest.edu''. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
- ↑ Evans, Alistair. "Countries in Africa Considered Never Colonized". http://africanhistory.about.com''. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
- ↑ Siddiqui, Habib. "WHITE MAN’S BURDEN: THE NEVER-ENDING SAGA". http://www.iosworld.org''. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
It was a “White man’s burden” to “civilize” the so-called “uncivilized”, “savage”, “Negroes!” Within a few years, the entire Africa was colonized by the Europeans, and her mineral resources looted out to Europe and her people put into chains to work
- ↑ Gray, Richard. Francophone African Poetry and Drama: A Cultural History Since the 1960s. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-7864-7558-2. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
The mission to civilize the African continent has historically been referred to as the 'white man's burden'
- ↑ Sherwood, Marika. "Colonies, Colonials and World War Two". http://www.bbc.co.uk''. BBC. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ↑ "Nationalism and Independence". http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu''. Michigan State University. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
World War II (1939-1945) had an important effect on Africa. Some important battles were fought in North Africa. Many Africans from French and British colonies were also recruited to fight for the Allies in Europe, Asia, and North Africa.
- ↑ "History of WW2: Battle of the Atlantic". http://www.history.co.uk''. History Channel. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ↑ "The Atlantic Conference & Charter, 1941". https://history.state.gov''. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
The Atlantic Charter was a joint declaration released by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on August 14, 1941 following a meeting of the two heads of state in Newfoundland.
- ↑ Karski, Jan (2014). The Great Powers and Poland: From Versailles to Yalta. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 330. ISBN 9781442226654. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
- ↑ Explanatory notes are added in cases where decolonization was achieved jointly by multiple countries or where the current country is formed by the merger of previously decolonized countries.
- ↑ Some territories changed hands multiple times, so in the list is mentioned the last colonial power. In addition, the mandatory or trustee powers are mentioned for territories that were League of Nations mandates and UN Trust Territories.
- ↑ The dates of decolonization for territories annexed by or integrated into previously decolonized independent countries are given in separate notes.
- ↑ The Union of South Africa was constituted through the South Africa Act entering into force on 31 May 1910. On 11 December 1931 it got increased self-governance powers through the Statute of Westminster which was followed by transformation into republic after the 1960 referendum. Afterwards, South Africa was under apartheid regime until elections resulting from the negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa on 27 April 1994 when Nelson Mandela became president.
- ↑ On 28 February 1922 the British government issued the Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence. Through this declaration, the British government unilaterally ended its protectorate over Egypt and granted it nominal independence with the exception of four "reserved" areas: foreign relations, communications, the military and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.[17] The Anglo–Egyptian treaty of 1936 reduced British involvement, but still was not welcomed by Egyptian nationalists, who wanted full independence from Britain, which was not achieved until the 1952 revolution. The last British troops left Egypt after the Suez Crisis of 1956.
- ↑ King, Joan Wucher (1989) [First published 1984]. Historical Dictionary of Egypt. Books of Lasting Value. American University in Cairo Press. pp. 259–260. ISBN 978-977-424-213-7.
- ↑ Anglo-Egyptian Condominium Agreement of 1899, stated that Sudan should be jointly governed by Egypt and Britain, but with real power remaining in British hands.[19]
- ↑ Robert O. Collins, A History of Modern Sudan
- ↑ Cape Juby was ceded by Spain to Morocco on 2 April 1958. Ifni was returned from Spain to Morocco on 4 January 1969.
- ↑ The British Togoland mandate and trust territory was integrated into Gold Coast colony on 13 December 1956.
- ↑ After the French Cameroun mandate and trust territory gained independence it was joined by part of the British Cameroons mandate and trust territory on October 1, 1961. The other part of British Cameroons joined Nigeria.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Senegal and French Sundan gained independence on 20 June 1960 as the Mali Federation, which dissolved a few months later into present day Senegal and Mali.
- ↑ The Trust Territory of Somalia (former Italian Somaliland) united with the State of Somaliland (former British Somaliland) on July 1, 1960 to form the Somali Republic (Somalia).
- ↑ Independent Benin unilaterally annexed Portuguese São João Baptista de Ajudá in 1961.
- ↑ Part of the British Cameroons mandate and trust territory on October 1, 1961 joined Nigeria. The other part of British Cameroons joined the previously decolonized French Cameroun mandate and territory.
- ↑ After both gained independence Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged on 26 April 1964
- ↑ The Spanish colonial rule de facto terminated over the Western Sahara (then Rio de Oro), when the territory was passed on to and partitioned between Mauritania and Morocco (which annexed the entire territory in 1979), rendering the declared independence of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic ineffective to the present day (it controls only a small portion east of the Moroccan Wall). The UN still considers Spain as administrating country of the whole territory,[29] awaiting the outcome of the ongoing Manhasset negotiations and resulting election to be overseen by the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. However, the de facto administrator is Morocco (see United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories).
- ↑ UN General Assembly Resolution 34/37 and UN General Assembly Resolution 35/19
References
- Ali A. Mazrui ed. "General History of Africa" vol. VIII, UNESCO, 1993
- April A. Gordon and Donald L. Gordon, Lynne Riener. "Understanding Contemporary Africa" London, 1996
- Dávila, Jerry. "Hotel Tropico: Brazil and the challenge of African Decolonization, 1950–1980." Duke University Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0822348559
- Diueter Rothermund. "The Routledge Companion to Decolonization" Arlington & New York: Routledge, 2006
- Kevin Shillington "History of Africa" St. Martin's Press, New York, 1995 (1989)
- Michael Crowder. "The Story of Nigeria" Faber and Faber, London, 1978 (1962)
- Vincent B. Khapoya. "The African Experience" Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1998 (1994)
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External links
- Africa: 50 years of independence Radio France Internationale in English
- "Winds of Change or Hot Air? Decolonization and the Salt Water Test" Legal Frontiers International Law Blog