JANUARY 20, 2017

Get out stuff for notes and

highlighter

Decolonization & Nationalism

in Africa
Rwanda Background Info
 Complete on a separate sheet of
paper
• Get out notes from yesterday
• Explain the reasons for Imperialism
• Explain the impact of Imperialism on
the people of Africa
 Road towards independence

• Post-WWII - a focus on self-

determination in Europe

• Colonialism seemed to
contradict what WWII fought for

• Colonial powers are weak and

poor, can’t afford colonies
 End of an Empire?

“The wind of change is blowing through this

continent, and whether we like it or not, this
growth of national consciousness is a political
fact. We must all accept it, and our national
policies must take account of it.”
- British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1960 to the
South African Parliament

• What is the significance of this statement to the

British Empire?
 Independence

• Three major routes:

– Peaceful / Negotiated independence
• Typically achieved in non-settler colonies
ex = Ghana
– Violent
• Typically occurred in settler colonies
ex = Kenya, Algeria
– Incomplete
• White settler minority population given political
power in decolonization, ex = S. Africa
1994
Results of Decolonization
 External Challenges

• Western investments remain

– Impact?

• Economic dependence on former

colonial powers

• Cold War (USSR v. US) struggle to

spread influence
 Internal Challenges

• Tribal allegiances
• Illiteracy / under developed
education system
• No tradition of ongoing political
leadership in modern times
• Religious differences
• Diverse geography and climate
• Established social hierarchies
 Results of Decolonization

• Nationalist parties & African elites

gain power
– Use anti-colonial legacy to maintain
power & cloud ineptitude & favoritism
• Economic dependence on West
coupled with political corruption
cripples attempts to diversify economy
– Stuck in cash crop ag & extraction of
resources
 Results of Decolonization

• Initial political parties reflected

ethnic, regional, or religious groups -
few true national parties
• Power often gained by corrupt
African “strongmen” (dictators) who
ignored the social needs of people
• Large loans to modernize economies
squandered by those in power -
leave little progress, lots of debt