The process of decolonization in Africa during the 1950’s through the 1970’s was a very smart yet risky idea. For some places independence was easily gained yet in other areas it was a battle. During the time periods where colonization existed, Africa was peaceful and kept things in order. People had control over their specific locations and there were no questions to be asked. Once it was decided to remove these rights, things got out of hand rather quickly. Violence was a main occurrence during the decolonization timeframe because rules, rights, leaderships, etc. got altered and drastically changed. Sometimes nonviolence was used but it usually wasn’t as effective. A major example of using nonviolence actions to gain independence is when Gandhi protested in India. African leaders have tried very hard to lessen the influence of Western powers and the broader international community but they’ve never been completely successful because they continuously needed support in state building, economic development, and public health initiatives.
At the end of WWII is when decolonization was brought up as a serious topic of discussion. Over 200,000 Africans had fought in Europe and Asia for the Allies’ freedom and democracy which showed quite the contradiction. They were fighting for something that wasn’t even going to truly benefit them. In 1945 is when the 5th Pan African Conference met to go over the possibility of granting back independence to the colonized areas. Ghana played a significant role during the decolonization process in Africa because Ghana was the first Sub-Saharan African majority government to gain independence in 1957. Not only did Ghana gain independence, but they did this by acting nonviolently. For years following th...
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...nce, they wanted to prove themselves. Super powers and international organizations gave them a limited amount of time to become successful before they swept back in to make decisions. Because the African countries could not create a steady economy in such a short amount of time, they had to accept assistance from Western powers. These Western powers gained a lot of unfair benefits from these relationships and bettered their super power state. No matter how hard the African countries would try, the Western powers continued to have ultimate power and serious aids during this decolonization period. African leaders have tried very hard to lessen the influence of Western powers and the broader international community but they’ve never been completely successful because they continuously needed support in state building, economic development, and public health initiatives.
Whilst there is some debate on the differences between colonialism, imperialism and ‘informal empire’, this article is more concerned with the period of ‘high’ imperialism in Africa from the 1880s - more commonly known as the scramble for Africa. Unlike earlier models of colonialism, high imperialism was more concerned with gaining spheres of influence. These spheres were gained through treaties, local agreements or by force if necessary. This facilitated the development of new trade networks to offload the surplus of production and to procure rights of access to raw resources. The availability of cheap labour was exploited, strategic land and maritime locations were acquired and the national prestige of the imperial power became elevated. The rhetoric to ‘stamp out the evil’ of slavery and slave-trading and the mantra proclaiming a ‘civilising mission’ on the ‘Dark Continent’ were also functional aspects of European imperialism. However, this article is primarily concerned with the process and experience of decolonisation in Africa.
Have you ever pondered the idea of another nation ruling? This was the question that many Africans had to wonder under European rule. What was the driving force behind imperialism in Africa? What three major reasons did european countries become interested in Africa?
Africa was known for its land of richness, full of its right elements to have the right resources, education, and state of order. European nations looked for and wanted raw materials, and saw Africa as the perfect foundation. Then the European nations have decided to colonize and attack parts of Africa then divide it with each other. After ruling and taking charge of these areas they have not stopped, but rather their greed for more is just starting. Africans have tried more than once to stop these attacks, but nothing changed. In the end, after all of these attacks the Africans lost their freedom and land. This is a very obvious case of unfairness where the European nations decided to rule a land and take all their resources that do not belong to them in the first
Africa has had a long and tumultuous road of colonization and decolonization the rush to colonize Africa started in the 17th century with the discovery of the vast amounts of gold, diamonds, and rubber with colonization hitting a fever pitch during World War I. However, the repercussions of colonization have left deep wounds that still remain unhealed in the 21st century. Early on, European nations such as Britain, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany and Belgium scrambled for territories. Countries wanted land so they could harvest the resources, increase trade, and gain power. The European colonization of Africa brought racism, civil unrest, and insatiable greed; all of which have had lasting impacts on Africa.
A. Adu Boahen's African Perspectives on Colonialism neatly classifies African responses to European colonialism during both phases of invasion and occupation during the 19th century with precise labels according to their nature or time period. However, the reactions can also be loosely grouped into two diametric characterizations: peaceful and violent. Although creating this dichotomy seems a gross generalization and oversimplification of the colonial African experience, it more importantly allows for a different perspective- one that exposes the overwhelming success of the typically peaceful or pacifist reaction in contrast to the little gain and large losses of the violent response.
In conclusion, the motives concerning imperialism in Africa are a matter of expanding empires, helping natives, and natural resources. Europeans countries constantly tried to compete with their neighbors in fair ways to become the most dominating country. Just as much as they took possession of Africa, their will was also to assist Africa on their right path and put an end to any dilemmas they may be
European imperialism in Africa caused Africans to lose their independence and culture. After a long time, “the wave of Independence across Africa in the 1950s and 1960s brought to the end around 75
Problems began for Africa when there was the “scramble for Africa. Africa was extremely divided throughout the continent. There was no nation intact. Even though they were divided into colonies, they still had no sovereignty. Since they had no form of nationalism it made it impossible to succeed as a nation. This really hurt Africa economically. If they would have been able to come together as a nation they could have pulled all of their assets together and exploit them in order to make money. By not doing this it allowed the government to exploit the people. This is why there are starving people in Africa on television. The states of Africa were created in order to make money by exporting all the various resources, whether it was slaves, minerals, or agriculture. There was much to gain by owning a chunk of land in Africa. This reason being because Africa is so rich in their resources for trade. After the race was over it left Africa severely divided.
... reasons. They wanted new land and the natural resources that can only be found in Africa, they wanted the new market opportunities that having colonies in Africa would open up to them, and the wanted to stay in competition with other European countries. The motives of the Europeans quickly deteriorated as they started exploiting the native Africans and abusing the slave trade that they had promised to abolish with the three C’s. The African people suffered a great deal as many of them were killed, harmed, or forced into slavery for the smallest civil unrest. The Europeans involved in the imperial take over lost their humanity as they started to treat fellow humans as though they were no more than cows lined up for slaughter. In their attempts to imperialize Africa, the Europeans became what they hated, feared, and sought out to exterminate, they became savages.
The inception of the Pan-African movement was motivated by colonialism and racism faced by African people living in Europe, West Indies and North America in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Through this, leaders of African states originated this movement to unite people of African descent to fight against racism and colonialism (Schraeder, 2000:126). The Pan-African movement was initiated by significant figures such as William Dubois and Marcus Garvey. The concept of this movement started outside of Africa. Africa was later included into this movement as it became the continent of concern of the movements vision. The African demand for colonization to end erupted a war between Africa and its colonizers. This war indicated a certain awareness and importance of uniting people of Africa together which is the initial Pan-African vision. (Schraeder, 2000:127)
In terms of political changes, European imperialism negatively affected Africa. Firstly, European colonization created enormous conflict between colonists and the African people. African resistance to “The Scramble for Africa” lead to the instability of Africa’s political structure. There was ineffective resistance of the African people against the Europeans. In an attempt to regain their independence, Africans took up arms against their colonial masters as soon as they perceived them to be at a disadvantage. In southern Africa, in The Republic of Namibia, the Herero people rose against German rule in 1904, killing over 100 German settlers and traders. German commander, General von Trotha, retaliated with a war aimed simply at extermination. This resulted in the decline of 70% of the Herero population.1 Nowhere else was colonialism quite so brutal, but almost everywhere it tended towards unrestrained brutality as soon as it was challenged.2 Warfare created considerable unrest among African people. Afterwards, the people of Africa came to the realization that the consequences of resistance against European colonists could be devastating. As well, the Europeans demonstrated that they had the technology and resources to gain control. Secondly, colonial expansion changed the face of Africa’s political structure. The Berlin Conference of 1884-85, attended by 13 European nations and the USA, set the ground rules for partition of Africa. When the conferenc...
The definition of decolonization differs from person to person, from nation to nation, and from past experience to past experience. In my opinion decolonization is a thought out active resistance of colonial forces with a goal of eventually obtaining indigenous liberation. Colonialism has brought forth many problems with it. As more time passes the problems keep getting worse. Problems such as crimes being committed on Natives and loss of tradition.
"The wind of change is blowing through this [African] continent, and whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact. We must all accept it as a fact, and our national policies must take account of it" (Macmillan). This speech, made by the prime minister of England in 1960, highlights the vast changes occurring in Africa at the time. Changes came quickly. Over the next several years, forty-seven African countries attained independence from colonial rule. Many circumstances and events had and were occurring that led to the changes to which he was referring. The decolonization of Africa occurred over time, for a variety of complex reasons, but can be broken down into two major contributing factors: vast changes brought about in the world because of World War II and a growing sense of African nationalism.
The age of the Cold War impacted decolonization either positively or negatively. But, most evidence suggests that it was affected negatively. The age of the Cold War lasted from 1949 to 1989. There were many examples from each country of how decolonization took place. Decolonization took place from 1945-1980, during a thirty-five-year period after World War II, when the European empires in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific gradually came apart as the former colonies became independent nations. (Map of Decolonization pg 855).
An overwhelming majority of African nations has reclaimed their independence from their European mother countries. This did not stop the Europeans from leaving a permanent mark on the continent however. European colonialism has shaped modern-day Africa, a considerable amount for the worse, but also some for the better. Including these positive and negative effects, colonialism has also touched much of Africa’s history and culture especially in recent years.