2. DESCOLONISATION.

THE PROCESS AND ITS

CONSEQUENCES.
Descolonisation of the Middle East:
In the Middle East, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan Iraq and various countries of the Arabian Peninsula
became independent. The UN decided to divicie Palestine in 1947 in order to create the State of
israel.
The proclamation of the State of Israel by the Jews in 1948. It originated several Arab Israeli
Wars and a conflict that continues to this day.

The push to decolonise. The Bandung Conference and the UN:

The Bandung Conference (Indonesia) decolanised Asian and African countries under the
iniciative of Indian prime minister Nehru. Its final statement had an enormous International
impact because it condemned colonialism and racism. affirmed the right of the nations to
determine their fate, called for peacelul ccexistence, and made a commitment to impartial ty n
response to the great powers. This statement set the foundatios of the future Non-Al gned
Movement.
The descolonisation of Africa:
The decolonisation process in Africa took longer to take hold.
The process of independence first affected the northern colonies, like Libya ,Tunisia and
Morocco. Algeria became independent after a long war against France.
Later on, most of Sub-Saharan Africa (Ghana, Nigeria, Somalia, Kenya, etc.), was decolonised
in a peaceful way. Armed conflicts only arose in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, where
an apartheid regime was established.
Finally, the Portuguese colonies of Guinea-Bissau, Angola and Mozambique gained their
independence.

Consequences. The Third World:

The new countries were faced with serious problems:
Political. The arbitrary demarcation of borders brought about frequent wars and conflicts, which
served as a pretext for the imposition of violent and corrupt military dictatorships.
Economic. Many countries continued to rely on their former metropoles or fell under economic
dependence on the United States or the Soviet Union. It is known as neo-colonialism. was
manifested by unequal trade exchanges and foreign debt.
Social. The strong growth of population and the poor economic situation of the former colonies
created low standards of living. Its most important manifestations were hunger or malnutrition,
medical and health deficiencies, and illiteracy.
The group of countries which resulted from decolonisation were called Third World countries
because of their resemblance to the Third Estate which existed before the French Revolution
andalso because of their decision of non-alignment with first world (capitalist bloc) and second
world (communist bloc) countries.