Indian African and Middle Eastern Independence Movements WHII

Indian, African, and Middle Eastern Independence Movements WHII. 13 The student will demonstrate knowledge of political, economic, social, and cultural aspects of independence movements and development efforts by a. describing the struggles for self-rule, including Gandhi’s leadership in India; b. describing Africa’s achievement of independence, including Kenyatta’s leadership of Kenya; c. describing the end of the mandate system and the creation of states in the Middle East.

Indian Independence Movements

British Imperialism in India • During the 1800’s, the British East India Tea Company controlled large areas of India and treated it like a private colony. In fact, GB controlled about 3/5 of the “colony” with the remaining subcontinent being divided into more than 550 states headed by Indian Princes. • GB used the “old Roman Method” of divide and rule by granting favors to those princes who cooperated with them and by dealing harshly with those who did not. • By the 1900’s, British and Indians lived side by side but the two groups had little contact with each other. The British felt like they were the superior race.

Indian Nationalism • A movement for Indian nationalism began in the 1800’s. • During WWI, India gave troops and money to help GB and, in return, they promised the Indians more self-government. After the war, however, many British disagreed on whether or not to grant self-rule to the Indians.

Mohandas Gandhi • The leader of the Indian nationalist movement was Mohandas Gandhi. He was a spiritual and a political leader who opposed violence. – He urged people to support non violence by not cooperating with the government. This form of civil disobedience was called passive resistance. – “I believe in the doctrine of nonviolence as a weapon of the strongest. I believe that a man is the strongest soldier for daring to die unarmed with his breast bare before the enemy. ” • Gandhi led a movement to boycott British goods and to refuse to pay taxes. The British, in return, restricted civil liberties and violently broke up political gatherings. This turned many Indians against British rule. By WWII, India had beeen allowed to elect some representatives but the British still controlled much of their public policies like defense, revenue, and foreign issues.

WWII and India • Indian nationalists continued to work for self rule throughout WWII. Many refused to back GB during the war. • GB needed India as a base to help fight Japan and they sent someone to negotiate independence in 1942. The Indian National Congress rejected this plan, along with the Muslim league, a group of Muslim leaders formed to protect the rights of Indian Muslims. • Gandhi, meanwhile, continued to advocate that complete seperation from GB was the only answer. This was called the “Quit India” movement. • The Muslim league, led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah wanted a Muslim state that was separate from India. This new state was to be called Pakistan. • Jinnah and Gandhi held talks to resolve their differences but they failed. In 1946 bloody riots were taking place between Muslims and Hindus. • On August 15, 1947, India and Pakistan were formed. Six months later, Gandhi was assassinated because a Hindu extremist resented his tolerant attitude towards Muslims.

African Independence Movements

African Nationalism • The 1930’s had many Africans demanding independence from European colonial powers. • WWII became a turning point during African history because many promises of self-rule were made as a result of Africa’s willingness to provide and open routes for supplies. • The Pan Africanism movement was one that promoted the cultural unity of people of African heritage in their struggle for freedom.

British Colonies • One nationalist leader was Kwame Nkrumah. He organized a campaign of civil disobedience against the British in 1948. • This led to increased pressure on the British to allow for national elections. In 1951, Nkrumah’s party won and by 1957, the “Gold Coast” of Africa achieved full independence. It was renamed Ghana.

British Colonies (continued) • Ghana’s example was an example to many nationalists. By the 1950’s for example, Kenya was given a greater political role in East Africa. • The Kikuya, Kenya’s largest ethnic group was led by Jomo Kenyatta. They were excluded from large political roles, however and in the early 1950’s, a terror group called the Mau brought destruction along the African highlands. The British eventually put down this rebellion but not Kenya’s desire for independence. • Kenyatta was jailed as a suspected Mau leader and, then, released in 1961. He won an easy victory in national elections in 1963 and, later that year, they voted to gain independence from Great Britain.

French Colonies in Africa • France’s goal was to incorporate African colonies into France itself. Many Africans decided after WWII however that they wanted independence. • In 1958, Charles de Gaulle, the French President, gave African colonies a choice. They could be members of the French community and accept control of foreign affairs or they could become independent and lose all French aid. • Only Guinea accepted this proposal to become independent but they were isolated politically and economically. The Soviet Union, however, was willing to provide assistance, forcing de Gaulle to reverse his position. Two years later, all who accepted membership into the French community were granted independence without losing close French ties.

Belgian Colonies • Belgium and Portugal at first opposed any selfrule in their African colonies. As a result, independence in their colonies was more difficult. • Belgium opposed independence because of the great wealth of timber and mineral resources in its colonies. IN the 1950 s, neighboring British and French colonies introduced nationalistic ideas into the Congo. Belgium resisted and proposed a 30 year timetable to prepare for independence. IKN 1959, violent protests erupted in Leopoldville, the capital city. This so alarmed Belgium that they gave Congo its independence on June 30, 1960.

Portuguese Colonies • Portugal opposed independence despite the success of many surrounding independence movements in Africa. • African leaders formed “liberation armies and long bloody wars followed. Eventually nationalists gained control of much of the Portuguese territory. • In 1974, the Portuguese military staged a coup and announced that it would withdraw from Africa. • Guinea-Bissau, Angola, and Mozambique became independent nations, as a result. Portugal was the first to establish colonies in Africa and the last to give them up.

South Africa • The only part of Africa that was not independence now was South Africa. It was created in 1910 with the union of two British and two Boer (Dutch) territories. It was ruled by whites who had dominant status and only linked itself to Great Britain in foreign affairs. • By custom, whites and non-whites were segregated socially. Non whites were given less educational opportunities and could, by law, only get low-paying manual work. • In 1948 the National Party came to power. These were African speaking Dutch descendents. They established segregation and economic exploitation as government policy. This was known as apartheid (“apartness”).

South Africa • • • The African National Congress (ANC) joined to fight apartheid by openly fighting these laws. Some of the members, including a black lawyer named Nelson Mandela, felt they should confront the violent responses of the South African government against the protestors. In 1960, police fired on a peaceful demonstration, killing 60 and wounding 180. The ANC was banned as a response to these demonstrations. In 1960 Hendrik Verwoerd, the Prime Minister, declared South Africa a republic and withdrew from Great Britain. He, then, arrested Mandela, accused him of treason, and sentenced him to life in jail. Meanwhile, Desmond Tutu and Steven Biko still protested apartheid. Biko was, eventually killed, but many joined the anti-apartheid movement. They continued to pass laws that re-affirmed apartheid. Finally, in the 1980’s the government began to retreat from their strict policies. Nations around the world imposed economic sanctions to try and force South Africa to further eliminate racist policies. In September 1989, F. W. de Klerk was elected President of South Africa. He lifted a 30 -year ban on antiapartheid rallied and legalized the ANC. He, also, ordered the release of Nelson Mandela. Violence still persisted, as fights for leadership among the Black population persisted between the ANC and the Zulus. Thousands died over the next 15 months. In 1994, South Africa held its first all-races elections and Nelson Mandela was elected President. He served until 1999.

Middle Eastern Independence Movements

Egypt and Great Britain • After WWII, Great Britain faced demands for independence for true independence. Between 1945 and 1952 negotiations to grant independence failed. • King Farouk of Egypt headed a corrupt government and in 1952 a group of army leaders toppled the king and declared Egypt a republic. Soon, they declared their independence from Great Britain.

• Gamal Abdel Nasser became the new leader of Egypt and one of his first acts was to nationalize the Suez Canal. • Great Britain, France, and Israel felt threatened by this move because they wanted their ships to have free passage through the canal. They devised a plan that Israel should launch an attack across the canal and into Egypt. The British and French, meanwhile, would pretend to intervene and, then, destroy Egyptian armed forces in the process. • The plan almost went into effect but Egypt refused intervention. Both sides sank each other ships until the US threatened to stop giving aid to Britain if the fighting did not stop. They were worried that the Soviet Union would intervene and did not want to start a larger conflict. • The Suez crisis, however, was seen as a final defeat for European imperialism because Nasser became the most popular leader in the region and an inspiration to other Middle Eastern nations who wished to be politically free. • Later, Iran and Turkey declared their independence from Great Britain and their influence was, largely, gone by this point.