Decolonization, Nationalism,

and The Rise of New Nations

The 20th Century

Global Events Leading Up to
Decolonization
Imperialism

Growing Nationalism

World War I

World War II

Cold War
How WWI?
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
How WWII?
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
How the 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.
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.
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
Japanese invasion interrupted the 1920s and
1930s conflict between the Communists (Mao
Zedong) and the Guomindang (Chiang Kai-
shek)
During the war, CCP 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 Peoples Revolution- Mao; Nationalist
leaders fled to Taiwan.
Outline
GMD-CCP Civil War (1946-1949)
Recovery and Socialism (1949-1956)
Rethinking the Soviet model (1956-
1957)
Great Leap Forward (1958-1961)
Recovery & growing elite division
(1962-5)
Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
(1966-1976)
Anti-Japanese War (1937-1945)
Civil War (1946 1949)
GMD: Guomindang (Nationalist Party)
Chiang Kai-shek (President)
CCP: Chinese Communist Party
Mao Zedong
War of Liberation
Mao Zedong
A revolution to remove 3 big
mountains
imperialism
feudalism
bureaucrat-capitalism
A United Front of
workers
peasants
petty bourgeoisie and national bourgeoisie
Peoples Republic of China
1949-10-01, PRC, Beijing
Chairman: Mao Zedong
5-Star Red Flag

Republic of China
government retreated to
Taiwan
Economic Reconstruction 1950s
Soviet Union model and assistance
land reform (eliminate landlord class)
heavy industry (state-owned enterprises)
First National Peoples Congress (1954)
PRC Constitution
Zhou Enlai
Premier
Foreign Minister
Great Leap Forward (1958-1960)
abandon the Soviet model of economic
development
Soviet scientific planning
mass mobilization
peoples communes
Great Leap Forward (1958-1960)
unrealistic output targets
industry
agricultural and human disaster
Growing Division (1962-1965)
Mao Zedong vs. Liu Shaoqi and Deng
Xiaoping
charismatic leadership vs. bureaucracy
Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)
Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
commitment to revolution and class
struggle
power struggle to succeed Mao
Phase I: the rise and fall of red guards
Phase II: the rise and fall of Lin Biao
Phase III: the rise and fall of the Gang
of Four
Phase I: Red Guards (1966-69)
Phase I: Red Guards (1966-69)
Purge of party cadres
Liu Shaoqi and Deng
Xiaoping
Purge of intellectuals
Phase II: Lin Biao (1969-71)
the putative successor to Mao Zedong
the cult of personality around Mao
In 1971 Lin allegedly tried but failed
to assassinate Mao
to flee to Soviet Union (9.13)
9.13 eroded the credibility
of the entire leadership
of the Cultural Revolution
Phase III: the Gang of Four
1972 1976
power struggle between
the radical Gang of
Four, led by Jiang Qing,
Maos wife
the moderates, led by
Premier Zhou Enlai
the fate of Deng
Xiaoping
Diplomatic Breakthrough
1971, PRC became the representative
of China in UN (replaced ROC)
Diplomatic Breakthrough
1972, President Nixon visited Beijing
Mao and Zhou Died in 1976
Turning point in Chinas postwar era
Gang of Four were arrested
End of the Cultural Revolution
Maos legacies
Reforms and Opening up
The 3rd Plenum of the 11th CCP Central
Committee in 1978
Deng Xiaopings ascendancy
economic modernization became focus
US-PRC diplomatic relations in 1979
China since 1945
Mao dies in 1976 and
Deng Xiaoping comes to
power.
Deng institutes the Four
Modernizations, which
focuses on improving
agriculture, industry,
science and technology
as well as defense.
Deng was in power until
his death in 1997
Government in China Today
Currently known as the
Peoples Republic of
China (PRC).
It is a single-party
socialist republic (one
party, in favor of the
working class)
The Communist party
holds power
The current president is
Hu Jianto
Beijing is the capital city
Review of Chinas Population
Over 1.3 billion
people (1/5 of the
worlds population)
56 recognized ethnic
groups. The Han
are the largest
(92%)
Large population
can be attributed to
Mao
Population in China

Efforts were made to

limit the population
Only 2 children per family
law
One Child Policy
Policies did not work
that well
Rural families did not
comply
Males regarded more
highly than females
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
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.
Mohandas Mahatma Gandhi

Passed English bar - lawyer for Indian merchants in South

Africa.

Gandhis answer to a spiritual theory of social action

Satyagraha - soul force. A tactic using nonviolent
resistance or civil disobedience.
A Revolution in Indian politics
Gandhis Satyagraha -
What do you think? Wherein in courage
required in blowing others to pieces
from behind a cannon, or with a smiling
face to approach a cannon and be
blown to pieces?...Believe me that a
man devoid of courage and manhood
can never be a passive resister.
Gandhi in India

1915: back in India - Dressed in traditional clothing-

crisscrossed India on third-class trains listening to
common people to understand their plight.
Urged a boycott of British goods, jobs & honors.
The British Back Down
1931 - released Gandhi from jail & negotiated
with him as an equal.
1935 - Indian got a new constitution.
1942- called on British to Quit India civil
disorder campaign arrested & jailed.
The Muslim League
Led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948)
Feared Hindu domination of an independent India
ruled by Congress Party.
Made Muslim separation from Hindu majority a
nationalist issue.
In 1940 Jinnah told a Muslim League conference
that Britain should give Indian Hindus & Muslims
separate homelands Gandhi appalled victory of
hate over love
Independence But Partition
Britain agreed to speedy independence in 1945, but
murderous clashes between Hindus and Muslims in
1946 led to a delay.
In the end...
Indias last Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten (1900-1979)
proposed partition. Both sides agreed.

One fifth of humanity gained independence on

August 14th 1947.
The Tragedy of Partition
Massacres and mass expulsions.
100,000 slaughtered & five million refugees
Gandhi said What is there to celebrate? I see nothing but
rivers of death.
Gandhi was gunned down in January 1948 by a Hindu
fanatic, while announcing a fast to protest Hindu
persecution of Muslims.
Refugees
Modern India
Largest democracy in the world
Jawaharlal Nehru became the first prime minister for the next 17
years
Democracy, Unity, & Economic Modernization

Challenges:
Kashmir= years of conflict that continues today
Cold War alignment= NON Alignment Movement
Industrialization= slow but coming
Social and cultural issues= continuous challenges with progress
Caste system
Economic
Womens rights
Kashmir
Border both India & Pakistan
Hindu leader with large Muslim populations
1947-Pakistan invaded leading Kashmir to align with India
fighting cont.d until 1949. Cease fire lead to 1/3 control by
Pakistan 2/3 by India.
1962- China seized part of Kashmir
1972- Indian and Pakistani forces fought again
Today: tensions continue and flare up intermittently
Nehrus Family Rules
1964 Nehru dies
Congress Party left with no strong leader
1966 Indira Gandhi becomes Prime Minister (Nehrus
daughter)
1980 re-elected (after a short period out of office)
Increased food/grain production
Faced a threat from Sikh extremists agitating for an
independent state
1984 500 were killed in a violent demonstrations
2 months later her Sikh bodyguards shot her
1984-89 Rajiv Gandhi leader / charged with
corruption
1991 killed by a bomb while campaigning near Madra
Independence
in Africa

The Colonial Divisions of Africa and the Emergence of New Nations

Africa
Nationalists composed
of ex-servicemen, urban
unemployed & under-
employed, and the
educated.
Pan-Africanism (Marcus
Garvey) and Negritude
(Senghor)
Senghor (Senegal) and
Dubois (African-
American)
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.
Africa
French-Ruled:
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.
Leopold Sedar Senghor
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.
"L'motion est ngre, la
raision est hllne." (emotion
is Negro, reason is Greek)
"Negritude is the totality of
the cultural values of the
Black world."
Violent & Incomplete Decolonization
Presence of European immigrant groups
impeded negotiations violence.
Kenya, Palestine, Algeria, and southern
Africa
Vietnams de-colonization complicated
by Frances colonial ties and cold war
politics.
Middle East: Palestine & 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->
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.
South Africa
4 million white residents
After 1901, denied civil rights to black
population
Strong economy, both mining &
industry
Black workers demanded change
Afrikaner-dominated (white) National
Party won 1948 election
Apartheid
South Africa
Apartheid
87% of land for whites;
others classified by race
No protests tolerated (African
National Congress, Mandela,
Sharpeville massacre 1960)
Evoked international
opposition
1989, end of apartheid
F. W. de Klerk
1990s: black government elected
1994, Nelson Mandela: 1st
black president
Vietnam
French rule since 1880s 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) (aided by China)
Divided country in 1954
(Geneva Conference) led to
gradual US entry to contain
communism.
Vietnam
Cold War stalemate
Viet Cong
Bombing campaign
(President Johnson),
ground troops in
1965
Until 1973Paris
Peace Accords
1975, last American
troops leave
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.
Fall of Empire: Fall out & Legacy
Colonial
footprint
Problems of
Transition
Problems of
Identity
Challenges of Independence
Ethnic disputes Population growth
Dependent economies Resource depletion
Growing debt Lack of middle class in
Cultural dependence on some locales
westreligious Education deficit and
revivalism as backlash later, brain-drain.
Widespread social Neo-colonialism through
unrest economic debt.
Military responses to
restore order
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?