An End to Colonialism 1919 through 1980 Africa

An End to Colonialism 1919 through 1980

Africa • Africa was the most recent region to fall under European control • Anticolonial and nationalist movements were just beginning to grow • In Africa, the Europeans had firm control • After 1918, the African ire grew rapidly 2

• European expansion of agriculture into new, more arid lands • Confining African tribes to “reserves” (much like the Indian reservations in the U. S. ) • European attempts at assimilation of the African tribes 3

• Africans began to protest by using: 1. Boycotts 2. Refusing to obey chiefs who worked with the Europeans 3. Violent protests – burning property was common 4. Asking Christian missionaries to intercede on their behalf 4

• In Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta (1898 -1978) encouraged the use of traditional African methods to fight colonialism • World War II (1939 -45) weakened the colonial powers and encouraged the Africans to increase pressure for an end to colonial rule • Anticolonial feelings surged and led to mass protests in many parts of Africa 5

Decolonization and Nation Building: The process to ending colonial rule usually followed at least one of the following • Civil War • Negotiated independence • Incomplete decolonization 6

• Following World War II, Africans flocked to the cities looking for improved opportunities – jobs, education, housing • Expanding educational opportunities led to better educated people who wanted better jobs • A lack of better jobs led to frustration and an increase in membership in nationalist movements 7

• The new world powers – the U. S. and the U. S. S. R. – both favored decolonization for their own reasons • They encouraged the new U. N. to support an end to colonial rule • Pressured by the super powers and the U. N. , the colonial powers agreed to decolonize 8

• The Gold Coast (Ghana) gained independence in 1957 • Under Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah, it became Africa’s first independent state • In 1952, the Kikuyu people of Kenya rebelled against British rule in what became known as the Mau Rebellion • Great Britain responded with tremendous force and brutality, but failed to quell the Kikuyu 9

• In 1963, Great Britain granted Kenya independence under the leadership of Jomo Kenyatta • Kenyatta had been jailed by the British without ever being charged with a crime • In attempting to stop the Kikuyu rebellion, British troops massacred hundreds of thousands of Kikuyu • Local whit landowners wanted the Kikuyu exterminated 10

• Other egions of Africa had to wait longer, and nearly all experienced much more violent transitions to indpendence: 1. Angola 2. Mozambique 3. Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) 11

Roles • Women played significant roles in gaining freedom, many of whom were educated and modern • European educated Africans • Africans who were veterans of World War II • Indians, and others, who had come to Africa as contract laborers 12

PROMPT: Analyze the political and cultural continuities and changes that resulted from decolonization in Africa following World War II. Your time frame here will run from 1885 – 1980. 13