Decolonization in a Global Context

Decolonization Overview
 Theories of World Analysis: Decolonization
 Imperialism and Decolonization Overview:


Theories of World Analysis
Focus: Decolonization
How did the world get to be the way it is today? (And is it fair?)

Colonized Voices
Can the subaltern speak?

As we listen to the following voices…
 Choose a voice that most speaks to you if you can.
Choose several if several speak to you equally.
 Make a list of these leaders’ and writers’
frustrations, analyses and desires.
 Compare their frustrations, analyses and desires to
your own, especially those evoked during our
simulation.
 Which do you most associate with your own feelings
on imperialism/colonization?
 What connections to other historical events and
theories can you make?

Vaclav Havel-Czechoslovakia
 Life cannot be destroyed for good, neither ... can history
be brought entirely to a halt. A secret streamlet trickles
on beneath the heavy lid of inertia and pseudo-events,
slowly and inconspicuously undercutting it. It may be a
long process, but one day it must happen: the lid will no
longer hold and will start to crack. This is the moment
when something once more begins visibly to happen,
something truly new and unique ... something truly
historical, in the sense that history again demands to be
heard.
 Open letter to Dr. Gustáv Husák, Communist President (8
April 1975)

World Studies & World Analysis
 Frameworks for how the world has evolved
 Often economic as much as historical
 World-systems theory
 Globalization
 Human Web
 Clash of Civilizations
 Imperial hegemons/vacuums
 Decolonization~Neo-Colonialism
 Kant-Fukuyama “End of History”

World-System Theory
 Immanuel Wallerstein (70s and 80s)
 Favored by Marxists and Asianists
 “Re-Orients” world history to an Asia-centric perspective
 International division of labor:
 Core states
 (Britain)
 Semi-Periphery
 (Spain/Ottoman Empire)
 Periphery
 (India)
 (19th Century Example)
 Imperial/post-colonial
history

Global Patron
National/Regional Client
(Patron to local authorities)
Local Client
(Patron to producing classes)
The Dependency Hierarchy
Producing Classes
(Patronized by the hierarchy)
Collaborative
Elites

UN HDI (Human Development Index)

Comparative Colonialisms
 Which of the following qualify as decolonization
issues?
 According to you…
 According to Springhall…
 According to the IB…
 What accounts for the difference? What is the role of the
historian in defining struggles for independence?

Reactions and Reflections
 Which did you react to the most strongly?
 Which do you most associate with your own feelings
on imperialism/colonization?
 What connections to other historical event and
theories can you make?

Vaclav Havel
 Life cannot be destroyed for good, neither ... can history
be brought entirely to a halt. A secret streamlet trickles
on beneath the heavy lid of inertia and pseudo-events,
slowly and inconspicuously undercutting it. It may be a
long process, but one day it must happen: the lid will no
longer hold and will start to crack. This is the moment
when something once more begins visibly to happen,
something truly new and unique ... something truly
historical, in the sense that history again demands to be
heard.
 Open letter to Dr. Gustáv Husák, Communist President (8
April 1975)

Comparative Colonialisms
 Which of the previous qualify as decolonization
issues?
 According to you…
 According to Springhall…
 According to the IB
 What accounts for the difference?

“Limitations and Values”
 Debates
 Before European Hegemony?
 500 years or 5000?
 Over-simplification?
 Complicated by the growth of multi-nationals
 Uses
 Framework of power
 Structuralism
 “Haves and have nots”
 Reinforces “soft” history
with economic analysis

World Systems Theory
 Video 1
 Hugo Chavez 2
 Che
 FHC

Essential Questions
 What are some of the theoretical frameworks
economists have suggested for understanding Latin
American development?
 Structurally, what has been the role of the United
States in the development of Latin America?
 Which framework do you think is best for Latin
America? You may suggest a possibility not
addressed here.
 Please write a critical summary of the lecture in
which you make a sincere attempt to answer the
questions above. Endeavor to incorporate Research
readings and Fieldwork materials in your analysis.

“Inner National System”
 Interpretation of world-system
 USA, China, Brazil, etc.
 Core, Semi-Periphery, Periphery in one nation-state
 Usually urban cores of economic/political power
 Semi-peripheral areas: satellite cities, suburbs
 consumers
 Rural zones providing labor/raw materials
 Draws on theories mentioned here & other theorists
(Zinn’s “inner buffer state”)
 --WJT.

World Systems and Latin America
 1492: Latin American integration into the world system
 Columbian Exchange
 Triangular Trade
 Devastating impact
 16th -19th Centuries: Periphery to Spain/Portugal
 19th-20th Centuries: Periphery to Britain/USA
 20th Century: Periphery to USA
 21st Century: ??? BRIC? Semi-periphery? New World
system?

20th Century Theorists
 UN Economic Commission for
Latin America (ECLA/CEPAL)
 Headed by Argentine economist
RaúlPrebisch(60s-70s)
 Interpretation: “Dependency
theory”
 CelsoFurtado (also in ECLA)
applied these theories to Brazil
 Debate ongoing: Capitalism or
Socialism?

20th Century Theorists, Cont.
 Recognize him?
 Fernando Henrique Cardoso
(FHC)
 Sociologist/Economist/President
 Variant of dependency theory—
not strictly negative
 Saw in growth during military
client stage potential for Brazil’s
development with foreign
monopolies present
 “Dependent capitalist
development” or “Associated
dependent development”
 End of Brazilian economic miracle

Iran, Latin America construct new world
system
 During the Cold War era, Latin America (with the exception of Cuba)
was considered to be under America's 'sphere of influence'. Latin
American people suffered from US imperialistic policies for more than
two centuries.
During Iran's Islamic Revolution, Latin America witnessed the collapse of
the Shah's regime that had given away the wealth of the country to the
US and Britain. Latin America saw the unstoppable Iranian people, who
took over the streets following the call of Imam Khomeini. Latin America
realized that they should pay attention to a country capable of
overthrowing such a regime, and one that could end US domination.
The recent popular revolutions that have taken place across Latin
America, and which have brought to power true national leaders such as
Evo Morales and Hugo Chavez illustrate that Iran and Latin America
have much in common.
The West is threatened by the relationships that are emerging between
Latin America and Iran, and has condemned them. Thomas Shannon,
the senior US official for Latin America, said recently that Iran was
making allies in the region to counter Washington's traditional influence
and could use such relations to threaten US security. He urged Latin
American governments to comply with US sanctions against Iran and
called them to be "vigilant".
Immanuel Wallerstein, professor emeritus at Yale and director of the
FernandBraudel Center in New York, argues that the Bush
administration's endless wars have exposed the limits of American
power. US hegemony is coming to an irreversible end, revealing,
Wallerstein says, "multiple poles of geopolitical power". He predicts that
we are entering "a situation of structural crisis towards the construction
of a new world system [with no hegemonic power]."
In this new system, Iran and Latin America can play a decisive role in
international politics. They own important energy resources, educated

Dependency
Theory
 Think of it in terms of human
relationships:
 Power is the ability to make others do things
they wouldn’t otherwise want to do.
 The basis of power is dependency
 Person B depends on Person A if B has
goals and needs that A can fulfill.
 Person A controls Person B’s access to
the “commodity” they need, therefore
controlling B’s behavior/resources.
 B’s dependency on A is related
to both supply and demand.
 Demand refers to how much B needs what A
controls. (This could be validation, oil,
affirmation, salary, “love”, a promotion or
even a “connection to God!”)
 Supply refers to the availability, quality and
cost of alternative means of satisfying those
needs that are in demand.
 In other words, how easy/difficult it is
for B to go elsewhere and gain the
“commodity” A controls.

A Hierarchy of Dependency
 Specifically for Latin America
and United States
 But can be applied to other
global relationships
 Form of Patron-Client
relationship
 Complexity of Patrons: USA or
McDonald’s?

The Scramble for Grades
 Tomorrow, you will be competing in a Knowledge Bowl
competition to earn the chance to get extra-credit points
for your quarter grade. Today, we will compete in a
warm-up exercise whose winners will earn a great
advantage in tomorrow’s game. Winning today is
essential for winning tomorrow, thus earning a higher
grade. You are now seated in three groups each with
different colored mini-blocks:
 Large Group: Green blocks. Place one on your desk and take
three more. Keep them handy and do not throw them away.
 Medium Group:Blue blocks. Place one on your desk and take
 Small Group: Red blocks. Place one on your desk and take

Introduction to
Colonization & Decolonization:
Case Studies in Modern Africa and Asia
Colonization in 1945

Terms
 colonialism: one country’s domination of another country or people,
usually achieved through aggressive actions; involves formal political control of
one country over another
 colony: the territory acquired, usually through aggressive actions
 colonization: the act of colonizing
 imperialism: similar to colonialism but used more broadly to refer to political
or economic control exercised either formally or informally
 new imperialism: period of European imperialism involving extension of
formal political control in Africa and Asia, 1870-1914
 decolonization: process of granting independence to a colony; refers
particularly to the period after WWII when European colonies in Africa and
Asia achieved independence

History of Imperialism – Periods:
I. Imperialism before 1450
II. Age of European Exploration & Early Modern
European Imperialism (1450-1700)
III. European Merchant Empires (1700-1815)
IV. Imperialism of Free Trade (1815-1870)
V. New Imperialism (1870-1914)
VI. Mandates (post-WWI) & Trusts (post-WWII)
VII. Decolonization (1945-1970)
VIII. Modern Economic Imperialism & Neocolonialism

I. Imperialism before 1450
 one state attempts to dominate all others
through unified system of control
 new territories usually adjacent or nearly
adjacent to imperial center

Alexander the Great’s Empire,
320 B.C.

II. Age of European Exploration & Early
Modern European Imperialism (1450-
1700)
 emerging European nation-states compete for
political and economic power  drives
exploration of and expansion into new lands
 extension of formal political control over
territories
 new territories typically overseas – in S and SE
Asia and New World

Why?
ECONOMIC/POLITICAL POWER
 desire for products
 mercantilism – control trade of
colonies in order to reap benefits
 trade as war

Trading Companies
 British East India
Company (1600)
 Dutch East India
Company (1602)
 Dutch West India
Company (1621)

Who?
1. Portugal (1415)
2. Spain
3. Netherlands, England, France

In 1492 ….
… Columbus sailed the
ocean blue …

… and the lucky guy ran into a giant heap of
dirt in the way of his targeted destination.
Result: Spain builds a colonial empire in the
so-called “New World.”

Going back a bit to 1488 …
Bartholomeu Dias reaches the Cape of Good Hope

And in 1498…
Vasco da Gama rounds the southernmost tip of Africa...
… and reaches India via the sea

Portuguese Empire, at maximum
extent in the 16th c.

British Colonies in North America,
1763-1775

French Colonial Empire
Key
light blue = first empire of 1600s-1700s;
dark blue = second empire, built after 1830

III. European Merchant Empires
(1700-1815)
 by 18th c. European exploration and
expansion resulted in the creation of
powerful sea-based empires
 world system = area where different
cultures are related through commercial and
other interactions

3 world systems
North
Atlantic
South
Atlantic
Indian
Ocean

North Atlantic system
 regions: Western Europe, Russia, the Baltic,
Scandinavia, Newfoundland, Canada and
northeastern USA
 colonial powers: French, Dutch, English
 main products: timber, fish, fur

South Atlantic system
 regions: South and Central America, Brazil,
Caribbean, West Africa, southeastern USA
 colonial powers: Spanish, Portuguese,
English
 main products: silver, sugar, tobacco,
African slaves, cotton

Indian Ocean system
 regions: South and Southeast Asia, East
Africa
 colonial power: Britain
 main products: spices, silk, other luxury
goods

IV. Imperialism of Free Trade
(1815-1870)
 extension of informal influence (namely
economic) rather than asserting formal
political control
 driven by capitalism
 product of Industrial Revolution
(begins in Britain ca. 1780)
 Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations (1776)

“The sun never sets on the British
Empire.”

V. New Imperialism
(1870-1914)
 states resume extending formal political
control, not just economic or diplomatic
influence
 territories acquired in Africa and Asia
 still driven by capitalism

VI. Mandates (post-WWI)
& Trusts (post-WWII)
 League of Nations mandates – transferred
control of German and Ottoman colonies
to WWI victors
 United Nations Trust Territories –
successors to mandates when UN replaced
League of Nations in 1946
 colonial power required to set target date for
trust’s independence

League of Nations mandates in Africa,
the Middle East, and the Pacific

VII. Decolonization
(1945-1970)

VIII. Modern Economic Imperialism &
Neocolonialism
economic domination: the domination by a powerful,
usually Western nation of another nation that is
politically independent but has a weak economy greatly
dependent on trade with the powerful nation

Process of Decolonization and
Nation- Building
 Surge of anti-colonial nationalism after
1945. Leaders used lessons in mass
politicization and mass mobilization of
1920s and 1930s.
 Process continues between 1920-
1980; incomplete colonialisms
continue to exist according to some
arguments
106

Definitions I
 Colonialism
 colonialism: one country’s domination of another country or
people, usually achieved through aggressive actions; involves formal
political control of one country over another
 Imperialism
 imperialism: similar to colonialism but used more broadly to refer to
political or economic control exercised either formally or informally
 new imperialism: period of European imperialism involving extension
of formal political control in Africa and Asia, 1870-1914
 Decolonization
 decolonization: process of granting independence to a colony; refers
particularly to the period after WWII when European colonies in
Africa and Asia achieved independence

Definitions II
 Hegemony
 An indirect form of imperial dominance in which the
hegemon (leader state) rules sub-ordinate states by
the implied means of power rather than direct military
force.

Definitions III
 Dependence (-y theory)
 The premises of dependency theory are that:
 Poor nations provide natural resources, cheap labor, a
destination for obsolete technology, and markets for
developed nations, without which the latter could not have
the standard of living they enjoy.
 Wealthy nations actively perpetuate a state of dependence
by various means. This influence may be multifaceted,
involving economics, media control, politics, banking and
finance, education, culture, sport, and all aspects of human
resource development (including recruitment and training of
workers).
 Wealthy nations actively counter attempts by dependent
nations to resist their influences by means of economic
sanctions and/or the use of military force.

Definitions III.1
 According to former Brazilian President Fernando
Henrique Cardoso
 there is a financial and technological penetration by the
developed capitalist centers of the countries of the
periphery and semi-periphery;
 this produces an unbalanced economic structure both
within the peripheral societies and between them and the
centers;
 this leads to limitations on self-sustained growth in the
periphery;
 this favors the appearance of specific patterns of class
relations;
 these require modifications in the role of the state to
guarantee both the functioning of the economy and the
political articulation of a society, which contains, within
itself, foci of inarticulateness and structural imbalance

Definitions IV
 World System (Theory)
 World-systems theory stresses that the world-system (and not
nation states) should be the basic unit of social analysis.
World-system refers to the international division of labor,
which divides the world into core countries, semi-periphery
countries and the periphery countries. Core countries focus
on higher skill, capital-intensive production, and the rest of the
world focuses on low-skill, labor-intensive production and
extraction of raw materials. This constantly reinforces the
dominance of the core countries. Nonetheless, the system is
dynamic, and individual states can gain or lose the core
(semi-periphery, periphery) status over time. For a time, some
countries become the world hegemon; throughout last few
centuries, this status has passed from the Netherlands, to the
United Kingdom and most recently, the United States.

Definitions IV.1
 World-system theory asks several key questions:
 how is the world-system affected by the changes in its
components (nations, ethnic groups, social classes, etc.)?
 how does the world-system affects its components?
 to what degree, if any, does the core need the periphery to
be underdeveloped?
 what causes the world-systems to change?
 what system may replace capitalism?
Some questions are more specific to certain subfields; for
example, Marxists would concern themselves whether
the world-system theory is a useful or unhelpful
development of Marxist theories

Definitions V
 Neo-Colonialism
 the practice of using capitalism, globalization, and
cultural forces to control a country (usually former
European colonies in Africa or Asia) in lieu of direct
military or political control. Such control can be
economic, cultural, or linguistic; by promoting one's
own culture, language or media in the colony,
corporations embedded in that culture can then make
greater headway in opening the markets in those
countries. Thus, neocolonialism would be the end
result of business interests leading to deleterious
cultural effects

Definitions V.1
 As long as imperialism exists it will, by definition, exert its domination
over other countries. Today that domination is called neocolonialism."
 Che Guevara
 In place of colonialism as the main instrument of imperialism we have
today neo-colonialism. [...] Neo-colonialism, like colonialism, is an
attempt to export the social conflicts of the capitalist countries. The
result of neo-colonialism is that foreign capital is used for the
exploitation rather than for the development of the less developed
parts of the world. Investment under neo-colonialism increases rather
than decreases the gap between the rich and the poor countries of
the world. The struggle against neo-colonialism is not aimed at
excluding the capital of the developed world from operating in less
developed countries. It is aimed at preventing the financial power of
the developed countries being used in such a way as to impoverish
the less developed
 Kwame Nkrumah, Neocolonialism, the Last Stage of Capitalism

UN Human Development Report
2010

World System Theory Depiction of
the Modern World

Patterns I
 Three general overarching patterns:
1. Civil war (China)
2. Negotiated independence (India and
much of Africa)
3. Incomplete and/or violent de-
colonization (Palestine, Algeria and
Southern Africa, Vietnam)

Patterns II
Violent vs. non-Violent Resistance
Algeria & Vietnam vs. India
Active Resistors v. Passive Victims
Bystanding issues

Failed
Traditional
Rebellion
(Late 19th and
early 20th
Centuries
[Philippines,
South Africa,
Sudan, India
China, etc.])
Western
Inspired
Nationalist
Movement
(Leaders & Goals)
WWI, WWII,
Cold War
Independence
Violent or
Non-violent
(Events/Methods)
Resurgence of
Indigenous
Challenges
(Major Problems)
Building a
Nation-State
(Structure of new
Gov’t)
Modern, but
not Western
Society
DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONALISM
1914-Present

Explanations
 Internationalist explanations
 The influence of the United Nations, the Cold War, the
Non-Aligned Movement and other international influences
and support networks
 Nationalist explanations
 The influence of nationalism and national movements
 Metropolitan explanations
 Reasons stemming from the political, economic and
ideological developments of the colonial metropoles
 Collaborative elites
 The role of collaborative elites both in maintaining and
ending empire; and in neo-colonial power structures

Theories
Analysis itself becomes politics; interpretation
acquires the undertones of a polemic ...
marking our own text with the signs of battle.
PARTHA CHATTERJEE, Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World

Theories—General
Perspective Concepts Examples
Orthodox
European
Agency
Metropolitan explanations based on
European source material; political and
economic reasons—also moral ones:
apologists for empire?
• John Darwin: economic
and political reasons for
Brit empire to leave
• Jacque Marseille: Pins
the point of no return on
the Great Depression
Revisionist
Colonial
Agency
Speaking for those unable to speak,
excentricly (Collaborative elites) or
radically (deconstruction of literature,
thought, perspective; also: Local
attempts to reclaim history—emphasize
emancipation
• Springhall and
Chamberlain (CEs)
• Spivak, Fanon, Said,
Gramsci
• Wallerstein, et al.
• Maulana Abul Kalam
Muhiyuddin Ahmed Azad
Post-
Revisionist
Joint Agency?
Calls for a synthesis of approaches, still
not well laid out—no comprehensive
school or approach. However…”post-
colonial globalization”
• A.G. Hopkins

New Thoughts: A. G. Hopkins
…the study of decolonization needs to be extended beyond Africa and
Asia to include the old dominions. The subject needs to become truly
global because, to complete the argument, decolonization was a
response to changes in the process of globalization after the Second
World War. The dialectic of empire had begun by promoting a form of
imperial globalization that subordinated outlying regions and integrated
them with a dominant metropolitan centre. Structures of dependence
put in place in the nineteenth century survived the upheaval of the
Second World War and were perpetuated for a decade after 1945.
Hierarchical imperial systems were then subverted by a mixture of
ideological and material forces that emerged in the mid 1950s, partly
as a result of developments arising from imperial rule and partly in
reaction to them. The propagation and implementation of principles of
human and civil rights undercut systems of domination based on
claimed ethnic superiority; profound changes to the world economy
reduced the value of colonial forms of integration and created new
alignments; principles of civic nationality were adopted to meet the
needs of an increasingly cosmopolitan world. The result was a novel
synthesis, post-colonial globalization, which washed over and
eventually eroded the boundaries that had marked out both Greater
Britain and the colonial dependencies.

Theories—Specific
 Subalterns: Spivak
 Post-Colonial Studies and Power (literary criticism): Fanon,
Said
 Negritude: Léopold Sédar Senghor
 Nationalist Explanations: Springhall, Chamberlain, Anderson
 Springhall and Chamberlain are not restricted to this one idea
 World Systems Theory
 Springing from the Annales school (New regional
interpretations)

Structural Analysis I
 Comparison
 French v. English decolonization patterns
 Peaceful v. Violent decolonization patterns
 Civil War v. Negotiated v. Incomplete patterns

Structural Analysis 2
 Categorization/Classification
 Determining examples of:
 Negotiated independence
 Nationalist/metropolitan/internationalist explanations
 Collaborative elites explanations
 When does colonialism become neocolonialism?

 Construction (of parameters)
 When does decolonization begin?
 When does it end?
 Has it ended?
 Where did decolonization take place?
 USA?
 Soviet Union?
 Korea?
 Ireland?

 Contextualization
 How does the process of decolonization fit in the larger
history of the 20th Century? (And further back.)
 What impact did the Cold War have on decolonization?
 What impact did the United Nations have on
decolonization?
 What impact did the non-Aligned movement have o
decolonization?
 What impact did the post WWI and post WWII economic
and political status quos have on decolonization?
 What theories and perspectives do these questions speak
to?

 Causality
 A myriad of possibilities
 Which can we think of?

 Complexity
 Understanding the processes of decolonization in the
context of:
 The Cold War
 The End of European Hegemony
 The varying strands of international communism and
socialism (China, Vietnam, Ghana, Cuba etc.)
 Globalization
 Resurgence of Islam and Islamic states
 Individual idiosyncrasies: Gandhi in South Africa, etc.

 Change and Continuity over time
 How do DAPI structures
 (Desire
 Acquisition
 Power
 Identity)
 Resistance movements
 ..change and remain the same over time (le longue
duree)
 …and 19th-20th Century…

 Coincidence
 Great Depression coincides with rising self-rule
sentiment
 Leaders educated in metropoles (HCM, Gandhi, etc.)

 Contingency
 Also multiple, almost endless possibilities
 Which can we think of?

 Conjuncture
 Conjunctures of
 Education/Diffusion
 Rise of Superpowers
 End of Empire
 World Wars

 Convergence (Synthesis)
 Communism and decolonization
 Nationalism and decolonization
 Islam (and other religions) and decolonization
 Syntheses of all of the above…
 All of the theories we have read…

 Creation
 What new theories, observations and syntheses can
you make based on your reading of the documents,
data and theory of decolonization?

Pre-WWII
 1931, Britain: Statute of Westminster
 converted the British Empire into the British
Commonwealth
 also allowed varying degrees of autonomy
140

End of WWII
 1941 – Atlantic Charter written by Roosevelt and
Churchill – affirming all nations the right self
determination
 By the end of WWII, colonialism seemed to
contradict the spirit of the Allies fight against Nazi
Germany and Fascist Italy
 Over 200,000 Africans had fought in Europe and
Asia for the Allies’ freedom and democracy –
most noticed the contradiction
 Most also learned that they could fight, and win,
against white Europeans
141

End of WWII
 In 1945, the 5th Pan African Congress met and
discussed the prospect of independence –
attending were a number of leaders who would
eventually lead their nations to independence
 In the years immediately after the war, several
colonies had achieved independence or were
on the road to independence in north east
Africa, some peacefully, others not
142

End of WWII
 Started a new pan-African nationalism that would
spread throughout continent
 In 1960 the United Nations General Assembly
passed Resolution 1514 that supported the end of
colonization
143

Global Events influential in
Decolonization
Imperialism
Growing Nationalism
World War I
World War II
Cold War

World War I
Promises of self-determination
Use of colonial soldiers in trenches
Locals filled posts left by colonial
powers during war
Financial strain on empire
Treaty of Versailles

World War II
Increased nationalist uprisings following
WWI and as a result of the global
depression
Costs of empire
US support of anti-colonial liberation
movements
Atlantic Charter (1941) “right of all people
to choose the form of government under
which they live”
Soviets condemned colonialism

Cold War
Provided inspiration a blend of
capitalist and socialist economies and
agendas.
Provided arms to those who sided
with one or the other (proxy wars and
arms races).
Encouraged violent recourse for some
as a result of the power politics of
cold war competition.

Nation- Building
Surge of anti-colonial nationalism after
1945. Leaders used lessons in mass
politicization and mass mobilization of
1920’s and 1930’s.
Three patterns:
1. Civil war (China)
2. Negotiated independence (India and much of
Africa)
3. Incomplete de-colonization (Palestine, Algeria
and Southern Africa, Vietnam)

China Case study
Japanese invasion interrupted the
1920’s and 1930’s conflict between
the Communists (Mao Zedong) and
the Nationalists in China (Chiang Kai-
shek)

China Case study
During the war,Communists expanded
peasant base, using appeals for women
(health care, divorce rights, education
access, graduated taxes, cooperative
farming).
Growth of party during the war in part
through use of anti-Japanese propaganda.
Resumption of civil war after Japanese
surrender.
1949 Great People’s Revolution- Mao
Nationalist leaders fled to Taiwan.

Negotiated Independence in
India and Africa
Independence with little bloodshed in
India and much of colonial Africa in
decades following World War II.
Why? At what cost?

India Case Study Background
India and other Asian colonies were
the first to establish independence
movements.
Western-educated minorities
organized politically to bring about the
end of modification of colonial
regimes.

India: History of the Movement
Indian National Congress party founded in
1885. (Elite group not mass movement)
Growth of Indian national identity-
presented grievances to the British.
Congress party attracted mass following
which opposed shift from the production of
food to commercial crops.
Gandhi and Congress leadership tried to
prevent mass peasant uprising (as was
happening in China) by keeping power
centered on middle class leaders.

Militant Nationalists
B.G. Tilak urged a boycott of British
manufactured goods and used threats of
terrorism.
Attracted a violent conservative Hindu
following.
Tilak was exiled and his
movement was repressed by
the British.

Peaceful Protests
Mohandas Gandhi and other western
educated lawyers led peaceful alternative.
Nation-wide protest against colonialism
through boycotts and campaigns of civil
resistance.
His efforts were not well received by the
Muslims who formed a separate
organization in 1906, The Muslim League.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Muslim League)
insisted on partitioned state (Hindu and
Muslim).

Continued Indian Resistance
Salt March, 1931
Government of India Act 1935

Indian Independence
August 1947 Pakistan
and India gained
independence.
Mass killings of
Muslims and Hindus
(1 million) followed by
mass migrations (12
million). (Gandhi
fasted to prevent war-
> assassination)
Jawaharlal Nehru, first
Prime Minister,began
modernization
campaign.

Decolonization in the Middle East-
Palestine and Israel
Zionism
1917 Balfour Declaration
Immigration of Jews to Palestine
European Holocaust
Increase of migration
1947- end of British mandate of Palestine
and failed UN partition solution
1948 establishment of Israel
Regional conflicts->

Egypt
1906 Dinshawai
incident aroused
nationalist passions.
Actions post- Indep
(1936) not sufficient.
Coup d’etat in 1952
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Nationalization of
Suez 1956 protested
by Israelis, British and
French but diplomacy
won over eventually.
Nasser= symbol of
pan-Arab nationalism.

Africa for Africans
Nationalists
composed of ex-
servicemen, urban
unemployed &
under-employed,
and the educated.
Pan-Africanism
and Negritude
Senghor (Senegal)
and Dubois
(African-American)

De-colonization in Africa
1957, Gold Coast
(renamed Ghana)
independence, led
by western-
educated, Kwame
Nkrumah.
By 1963, all of
British ruled Africa,
except Southern
Rhodesia, was
independent.

De-colonization in
French-ruled Africa
Initially more resistant
than the British.
Encouraged closer
French ties-
assimilation, not
autonomy.
Not willing to go far
enough in granting
rights.
With exception of
Algeria, by 1960 had
granted
independence.

Leopold Sedar Senghor
Western educated
Francophone
intellectual from
Senegal
Poet who became
first president of
Senegal.
Advocated
democratic
socialism and
negritude.
Negritude:
validation of
African culture and
the African past by
the Negritude
poets. Recognized
attributes of French
culture but were
not willing to be
assimilated into
Europe.

Violent and Incomplete
Decolonizations
Presence of European immigrant
groups impeded negotiations, leading
to violence. For example, Kenya,
Palestine, Algeria, and southern
Africa
Vietnam’s de-colonization
complicated by France’s colonial ties
and cold war politics.

Kenya
Presence of settlers
prevented smooth
transition of power.
Kenya (20,000
Europeans only) led to
violent revolt.
Mau-Mau Revolt,
1952, led by Kikuyus
suppressed by British.
1963 independence
granted to black
majority, led by
Kenyatta.

Algeria
Appeal of Arab
nationalism
Large French
settler population
1954- 1962 war
between FLN
(nationalist party)
and French troops
“part of France”
300,000 lives

South Africa
4 million white
residents
Afrikaner-dominated
(white) National Party
won 1948 election
Apartheid
No protests tolerated
(African National
Congress, Mandela,
Sharpeville massacre
1960)
1990’s black
government elected

Vietnam
French rule since
1880’s –rice, mining,
and rubber exports
Rise of foreign
educated intelligentsia
(Ho Chi Minh)
Formation of Viet Minh
in 1941
Guerrilla War with
France (1946-1954)
Divided country in
1954 led to gradual
US entry to contain
communism.

Women as leaders in the
Movement
Women fought alongside men in whatever
capacities were permitted in Algeria, Egypt,
China, Vietnam,India and elsewhere.
China, 1942:
“ The fighting record of our women does not
permit us to believe that they will ever again
allow themselves to be enslaved whether by a
national enemy or by social reaction at home.”
Women given constitutional rights but
social and economic equality rarely
achieved in postcolonial developing
nations.

Literature and Decolonization
Expressions of nationalism and rejections
of western superiority.
Gandhi, “ I make bold to say that the
Europeans themselves will have to
remodel their outlooks if they are not to
perish under the weight of the comforts to
which they are becoming slaves.”
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart
Senghor, “Snow upon Paris”
Aime Cesaire, West Indian poet, founder of
Negritude “Return to my Native Land”

International Organizations and
Decolonization
League of Nations
United Nations
Organization of African Unity (1963)

Fall of Empire: Fall out and
Legacy
Colonial
footprint
Problems of
Transition
Problems of
Identity

Who would stop the Japanese
Co-Prosperity Sphere (1939)?

How Was Japan Defeated?
At What Cost??

Results of World War II
Defeat of dictatorships.
Unparalleled destruction.
The decline of colonial powers.
The rise of the superpowers
and the Cold War.

Defeat of Dictatorships
Germany, Japan, and Italy
were occupied and turned into
democratic, peaceful nations.

Unparalelled Destruction
Much of
Europe,
North Africa
and East
Asia lay in
ruins.
Total war
had
destroyed
cities,
factories,
railroads, homes – and lives.

The Decline of the
Colonial Powers

Made a United Nations
Essential, But….

Permanent Members Have
Veto Power
Associated Press
"I came, I saw, I
vetoed" The Economist
United States.
United Kingdom.
France.
Russia.
Nationalist China
(Taiwan) until
1972.(US recognition)
The Permanent 5

And Remained Divided
by Cold War Issues

Decolonization of Asia & Africa
Changed the Makeup of the UN

First, Second, & Third
Worlds
with a North-South Divide

Africa Produced Many Newly-
Independent Nations in a Very
Short Time

who often found themselves
caught in a battle between the
two superpowers

British Colonies Were Some of the
First to Seek Independence
becauseBritain felt hypocritical about colonialism.
War left her weak and unable to afford
colonies.
A New African educated middle class began
to emerge in the cities.

Ghana: First African State
to Gain Independence

Kwame Nkrumah Led the
Former Gold Coast
to Independence
Educated abroad.
Schoolteacher.
Preached nonviolence.
Used boycotts and
strikes.
Ultimately successful
1957.

Ghana still a victim of the
world-system?
Market in Kumasi.
Sells shoes crafted from old automobile tires.
Sprawls across 25 dusty acres in ancient
Ashanti capital.
One of the largest marketplaces in West Africa.

Kenyan Independence: 1963
London educated Jomo Kenyatta provided
strong nationalist leadership.
Mau Mau Rebellions made up of Kikuyu
farmers weaken British settlers opposition.

Senegal: Home of the
Negritude Movement

The Solitary Baobob Tree
The national symbol of Senegal, baobab
trees often mark burial sites and inspire the
poetry of de-colonization…

I heard a grave voice answer,
Rash son, this strong young tree
This splendid tree
Apart from the white and faded flowers
Is Africa, your Africa
Patiently stubbornly growing again
And its fruits are carefully learning
The sharp sweet taste of liberty.
David Diop 1956

The old Belgian Congo, Formerly
Zaire,
Victim of Neo-Colonialism?

Mobutu Sese Seko
Ruled 1965-1997.
Supported by U.S.
as Cold War ally.
Changed name to
Zaire.
Left “a house that
had been eaten by
termites” NYTimes.
Reign described in
2002 documentary
as an “African
Tragedy.”

Today many parts of Congo are
experiencing punishing local conflicts
Michael Kamber for The New York Times
About 5,000 people fleeing the ethnic warfare in and
around Bunia, Congo, sought safety at a camp in 2002.

The Allure
Rich Mineral
Resources:
Gold
Diamonds
Copper
Have Often
Drawn Foreign
Exploitation.

Child Rebels
A child fighter in a rebel group stands watch
with a U.N. armored vehicle in Bunia, Congo,
where there have been reports of rape and
cannibalism.

Algeria
French
settlers fought
fiercely to
keep Algeria a
French colony.
DeGaulle
realized after
the war that
France could
not hold onto
Algeria by
force.
Independence
came in 1962.

Angola
400 years:
Portuguese
are the first
the arrive
and the last
to leave in
1975.

Angola Left
With Bitter Civil War
Mateus Chitangenda, Fernando Chitala and Enoke
Chisingi and their families have been displaced by war
to the town of Kunhinga, in central Angola.

Going to School
A father walks his daughter to school in
Kuito, Angola. All students in the town bring
their own small benches to class.

Nigerians today travel the
same way as the Congolese

Nigeria Struggles With
Ethnic & Religious Rivalries
Nigerian Muslims welcome Sharia law.
January 2000

This adulterous woman was
sentenced to death by
stoning

Woldwide attention has
given her hope
Amnesty
International is
campaigning
against the
stoning sentence
July 2002.

Some find Sharia a blessing
I Thank God for the Amputation

Nelson Mandela jailed for 20
years in his fight against
Apartheid

Lived to vote in the first
racially democratic election
1994

And Become President of
South Africa
South African President Nelson Mandela, center, flanked by
his two deputy presidents, Thabo Mbeki, left and F.W. de
Klerk, right, celebrate the new constitution, May 8, 1996.
(AP/WWP Photo Leon Muller)

Bits Per Capita: An
Information Revolution?

using ICTs for social and economic development
(Information and communication technologies)
All across Africa

A Cyber Shepherd in
Senegal’s Sahel
2004-04-15
Pastoralists tracking wandering cattle herds
using cell phones and Global Positioning Systems.

South Africa: Eco-tourism
Small tourist businesses operating out of
the townships attracting customers from
around the world by using the Internet.

Mozambique stops poaching
with radios

Healthcare in Uganda
A health care worker conducting a survey
using a PDA.
(SATELLIFE Photo: Mark Grabowsky)

Decolonization:
Algeria vs. Uganda

Uganda:
 Britain,
1894
 Non-
Settler
Colony

Uganda: PSE Status Before Colonization
 Buganda Kingdom
 Between 1100 & 1600
 Traditional society
 Clan-based society
 Communal land ownership
 Some Islamic influence

Uganda:
 Valued Resources
 Cotton
 Method of Rule
 British officials took
high posts
 Imposed taxes
 Asserted British law
via local Buganda
Chiefs

Uganda: Nationalist Leaders & Groups
 Rising nationalism
after WWI and WWII
 Weak attempts at
nationalist political
parties
 Uganda National
Congress, 1952
 Uganda People’s Union,
1958
 Uganda’s People’s
Congress, 1959

Uganda:
 Year of Independence =
1961
 Methods of Gaining
Independence
 Requests for
independence dragged-on
for years
 British had puppet gov’ts
in Uganda
 Britain granted
Independence as part of a
larger wave of
decolonization around
1960
 Ugandans elected local
UGANDA

Uganda: Summary Since Free
 Idi Amin took rule in Uganda from
1971-1979
 Amin was born to a Catholic who
converted to Islam.
 Amin was abandoned by his
father and raised by his mother.
 He attended Islamic school and
excelled at reciting the Qur’an.
 After a few years he left school
and joined the British Colonial
army.
 Amin served in many campaigns
for the British and rose to the
highest rank possible for a Black
African.

Idi Amin
 Idi Amin's rule cost an
estimated 300,000 Ugandans'
lives.
 He forcibly removed the
entrepreneurial Indian minority
from Uganda, decimating the
economy.
 Thousands were killed for
opposing his rule
 His reign was ended after the
Uganda-Tanzania War in 1979
in which Tanzanian forces
aided by Ugandan exiles
invaded Uganda.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV_QgKJFZP0

Overarching Themes
• Colonies had to struggle to gain independence
• Settler colonies had more complicated
processes of gaining independence because of
the Euro. people who settled there – who also
wanted to keep their status and power
• Non-settler colonies also had complicated
(sometimes violent) independence fights, but
many were able to transition power to local
rulers as Euro. Influence moved out.
• Most African nations have been dominated by
military rulers since independence..

Algeria:
Colonizer &
Year
 France, 1830
 Settler Colony

Algeria: PSE Status Before Colonization
 History of Algeria
 Part of Greek & Roman Empires
 Islam arrived in 8th century (700s)
CE = Umayyad
 300 years of Ottoman rule
 French win control over Algeria in
1830
 Social and Economic Status
 Islam dominated society
 Trade center on Mediterranean
 Long-time source of piracy
 Strong agriculture due to Med.
climate
 Cotton, tobacco, grains, fruits,
vegetables (figs, olive oil, etc.)..

Algeria:
 Valued Resources
 Cash crops = cotton and tobacco
 Foods = fruits and vegetables
 Method of Rule
 Thousands of French migrated to
Algeria
 Termed “colons” for “colonizers”
or “settlers”
 Bought much land as it was cheap in
price for them
 French rule was strongest in urban
centers
 French governor held political
power
 French courts were imposed over
traditional Islamic courts (Sharia
Law)
 French owned most business and
profited greatly from
manufacturing, mining, agriculture
and trade

Algeria:
 Government imposed higher
taxes on Muslims than on
Europeans
 Muslims = 90% of
population
 Muslims earned 20% of
Algeria’s income
 Muslims paid 70% of
Algeria’s direct taxes
 French sought assimilation
 Mission to civilize the
Muslims
 Established French schools
with entirely French
curriculum (no Arabic)
 Only a small number of
Algerians fought back

Algeria: Nationalist Leaders & Groups
 WWI
 Many Algerians fought in France
 Many stayed in France after war
 Noticed unequal standards of living
 Inspired by European Enlightenment
 WWII
 Many Algerians fought for France
again
 After WWII
 French fight to re-establish colony by
attacking any protestors
 In response, a more radical Algerian
independence movements rise
 Groups
 Revolutionary Committee of Unity and
Action (CRUA) = main group
 Front de Liberation National (FLN)
 Leaders:
 Ahmed Ben Bella, Frantz Fanon

Algeria:
 Year of
Independence =
1962
 Methods of Gaining
Independence
 Guerilla tactics
 Hit and run
 Sniping
 Bombing of French
police and civilians
 Café wars

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca3M2feqJk8&fea
ture=related

Post-Colonialism
 After the revolution, Ahmed Ben Bella was elected as premier in a
one-sided election and was recognized by the United States.
 Algeria was admitted as the 109th member of the United Nations
 Ben Bella declared that Algeria would follow a neutral course in
world politics
 In 1965 Ben Bella's government banned opposition parties,
providing that the only party allowed to overtly function was the
FLN.
 Algeria remained stable, though in a one-party state, until violent
civil war broke out in the 1990s.

Post-Colonialism: Algeria
 “For Algerians of many political factions, the legacy of
their War of Independence acted to legitimise the
unrestricted use of force in achieving a goal deemed to
be justified. Once invoked against foreign colonialists, the
same principle could be turned with relative ease also
against fellow Algerians. The determination of the FLN to
overthrow the colonial rule, and the ruthlessness
exhibited by both sides in that struggle, were to be
mirrored thirty years later by the determination of the FLN
government to hold on to power and of the Islamist
opposition to overthrow that rule, and the brutal struggle
which ensued.”

To learn more: Rent
“The Battle of Algiers”

To learn more: Rent
“The Last King of Scotland”

Nation- Building
• Surge of anti-colonial nationalism after 1945.
Leaders used lessons in mass politicization and
mass mobilization of 1920’s and 1930’s.
• Three patterns:
1. Violent Revolutions and Civil War (China, Algeria,
Vietnam, Palestine)
2. Non-Violent, negotiated independence (India, Ghana
Turkey)
3. Both violent and non-violent methods (Kenya, Egypt,
South Africa)

Decolonization in the Middle East-
Palestine and Israel
• Zionism
• 1917 Balfour Declaration
• Immigration of Jews to Palestine
• European Holocaust
• Increase of migration
• 1947- end of British mandate of Palestine and failed
UN partition solution
• 1948 establishment of Israel
• Regional conflicts->
Violent Movements

UN Partition Plan
Britain, which had ruled Palestine since 1920, handed over responsibility
for solving the Zionist-Arab problem to the UN in 1947.
The UN recommended
splitting the territory into
separate Jewish and
Palestinian states.
The partition plan gave:
• 56.47% of Palestine to the
Jewish state
• 43.53% to the Arab state
• An international enclave
around Jerusalem.
• On 29 November 1947, 33
countries of the UN General
Assembly voted for partition,
13 voted against and 10
abstained.
Which Countries are most likely to
vote against the U.N. Partition Plan?

Palestinian Intifada
•Protest took the form of civil disobedience, general strikes,
boycotts on Israeli products, graffiti, and barricades, but it was
the stone-throwing demonstrations against the heavily-armed
occupation troops that captured international attention.
•The Israeli Defense Forces responded and there was heavy loss
of life among Palestinian civilians.
•More than 1,000 died in clashes which lasted until 1993.
A mass uprising - or intifada
against the Israeli occupation
began in Gaza and quickly
spread to the West Bank.

Algeria
1954- 1962 war between FLN (nationalist party) and French troops
• Appeal of Arab nationalism
• Large French settler population “Part of France”
• Algerians used guerilla and terrorist tactics
• French used counter terrorism and torture
• 300,000 lives lost
1962 - Ahmed Ben Bella became the first President
• Primarily a one-party state
• Current challenges by Islamic Fundamentalists
Violent Movements

India: History of the Movement
• Indian National Congress - 1885. (Elite group not
mass movement)
• Growth of Indian national identity- presented
grievances to the British.
• Congress party attracted mass following.
• Gandhi and Congress leadership tried to prevent
mass peasant uprising (as was happening in China)
by keeping power centered on middle class
leaders.
Non-Violent Movements

Militant Nationalists
• B.G. Tilak urged a boycott of
British manufactured goods
and used threats of terrorism.
• Attracted a violent
conservative Hindu following.
• Tilak was exiled and his
movement was repressed by
the British.

Peaceful Protests
• Mohandas Gandhi and other
western educated lawyers led
peaceful alternative.
• Nation-wide protest against
colonialism through boycotts and
campaigns of civil resistance. (Salt
March, Homespun Movement)
• His efforts were not well received
by the Muslims who formed a
separate organization in 1906, The
Muslim League.
• Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Muslim
League) insisted on partitioned
state (Hindu and Muslim).

Indian Independence
• August 1947 Pakistan and
India gained
independence.
• Mass killings of Muslims
and Hindus (1 million)
followed by mass
migrations (12 million).
(Gandhi fasted to prevent
war-> assassination)
• Jawaharlal Nehru, first
Prime Minister,began
modernization campaign.

De-colonization in Africa
• -1957, Gold Coast (renamed
Ghana) independence, led
by western- educated,
Kwame Nkrumah.
• Used Non-violent methods
influenced by Gandhi
• Developed a parliamentary
democracy
• - By 1963, all of British ruled
Africa, except Southern
Rhodesia, was independent.
Non-Violent Movements

Africa for Africans
• Nationalists
composed of ex-
servicemen, urban
unemployed and
western educated
elite.
• Pan-Africanism and
Negritude
• Senghor (Senegal)

Kenya
• Presence of settlers prevented
smooth transition of power.
• Jono Kenyatta used non-
violent protests
• Kenya (20,000 Europeans only)
led to violent revolt.
• Mau-Mau Revolt, 1952, led by
Kikuyus suppressed by British.
• 1963 independence granted to
black majority, led by Kenyatta.
Both Violent and Non-Violent Movements

Egypt
• 1906 Dinshawai incident
aroused nationalist passions.
• Actions post- Indep (1936) not
sufficient.
• Coup d’etat in 1952 Gamal
Abdel Nasser
• Nationalization of Suez 1956
protested by Israelis, British and
French but diplomacy won over
eventually.
• Nasser= symbol of pan-Arab
nationalism.

South Africa
• 4 million white residents
• Afrikaner-dominated (white) National Party
won 1948 election
• Apartheid – separation of races
• No protests tolerated (African National
Congress, Mandela, Biko, Sharpeville
massacre 1960, Spear of the Nation)
• World boycotts led by Desmond Tutu
• 1990- DeKlerk legalized ANC and ended
Apartheid
• 1994 –first open election
• Mandela- first Black President

Failed
Traditional
Rebellion
Western
Inspired
Nationalist
Movement
(Leaders & Goals)
WWI, WWII,
Cold War
Independence
Violent or
Non-violent
(Events/Methods)
Resurgence of
Indigenous
Challenges
(Major Problems)
Building a
Nation-State
(Structure of new
Gov’t)
Modern, but
not Western
Society
DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONALISM
1914-Present

Nasser in
Egypt
Ataturk in TurkeyNkrumah in
Nehru in
India
Kenyatta in
Kenya
Mao Zedong in

Challenges of Independence
• Ethnic disputes
• Dependent economies
• Growing debt
• Cultural dependence on
west-> religious
revivalism as backlash
• Widespread social unrest
• Military responses to
restore order
• Population growth
• Resource depletion
• Lack of middle class in
some locales
• Education deficit and
later, brain drain.
• Neo-colonialism through
economic debt.

Conclusions
• Decolonization was sometimes a violent process-
dependent in large part on how many settlers had
come to the colony.
• In many parts of world, decolonization was not
revolutionary. Power passed from one class of
elites to another. Little economic and social
reform occurred.
• Significant challenges faced independent nations.
• Western economic dominance of the global trade
system continued unabated. WHY?

Decolonization in a Global Context

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