Decolonization of Asia

and Africa
 Concept
 Decolonization is the process by which different nations
access to its independence and put an end to a political and
legal (and, in theory, economic) situation of colonialism
(domination and exploitation for another country)

 When?: Mostly from the end of the World War II to the 70s

 General features:
 After getting the independence, in some nations remained
situations of neo-colonialism and unequal exchange
 Poverty and dictatorial governments
 Most of these nations belonged to the Non-Aligned
Movement and tried not to get involved in the Cold War
 The situation under the
European yokes
 In Agriculture and Mining:

o Economy subordinated to Western tastes and very fragile

o Specialization in 2-3 products to export

o Agriculture based on speculation, which destroys local

farming communities

o Eviction of small farmers from their properties

o Mining without taking into account local necessities and in

a very aggressive way for the Environment.
 The situation under the
European yokes
 In Industry and Trade:

o The metropoli impedes the development of an

autonomous industry.

o Unequal exchange: the colonies are forced to sell

commodities at a very low price and to buy the final
product manufactured by the European industries.

o Economy dominated by military and official members of

the metropolis, along with local hierarchs (caciques).

o Workers in misery
 The situation under the
European yokes
 Labour condition:

o Forced labour and slavery

o They had to pay taxes on workdays

o Submission of the local population and destruction of their

culture and value system (family and clan institutions).

o In the WWI and WWII, soldiers as “gun food”. The colonies

were forced to send soldiers to fight as “gun food” and the
occupied territories did not benefited at all from that. They
were considered Europeans just to combat, not to receive
services.
 Causes that paced the way to
independences
 Awareness of the situation of exploitation: children of a
privileged minority studied in Europe and they discovered
ideas such as Democracy, Liberalism,…

 Both, for different reasons, the US and the USSR, supported

anti-colonial liberation movements.
 14 points of Wilson: sovereignty and equality for people
who want to govern themselves.
 Lenin: “Imperialism is a stage of Capitalism”

 Consequences of WWI and WWII: Discredit of the Western

civilization. The greed of the European countries had led the
world to disaster.

 League of Nations, against colonialism.

 Phases of decolonization
 1918-1946, independence of the Middle East
 After the WWI, the Ottoman Empire disappeared. Turkey
inherited the main territory, but without colonies. Iraq,
Jordan and Palestine were given to UK; Syria and Lebanon
to France. In both cases, as mandates.
 1946-1955 (when took place the Bandung Conference)
 Asian phase: India, Pakistan, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Burma,
Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. are born.
 1955-1975, African phase
 Countries of North Africa and those of the Black Africa got
its independence
 1975-1995, last phase. Namibia and countries in Oceania and
the Caribbean.
 What were the mandates?
 The mandates were colonies of the former Ottoman Empire
given to Great Britain and France to act as supervisors on
behalf of the League of Nations.

 The European countries should encourage the economic

development of the mandates and promote the respect of the
international human rights. Also, they should report regularly
to the League of Nations the outcomes of its tutelary action.

 The aim was to prepare the way for independence, but, due to
the weakness of the League of Nations, in practice, the
mandates replaced a colonial government by other, creating a
“second colonization”.
 The Middle East (1919-1946)
 Modern Middle East takes shape after the WWI. British and French
divided up most Arab lands from Ottoman Empire after the war.

 Saudi Arabia: In 1927, United Kingdom recognized the independence

of the kingdom of Nejd and Hiyaz (precedent of Saudi Arabia. The
country is officially born in 1932 and unifies the Bedouin tribes).

 Iraq gained freedom from British in 1932. The new country was given
limited access to the Persian Gulf. Religious and ethnic tensions
prevailed between Sunnis and Shiites.

 Jordan became a independent state (separate from UK) in 1946

 French grant independence to Lebanon (1943) and to Syria (1946).

Syria is being today tearing apart due to a civil war. Mostly of the
country has been occupied by the terrorist and extremist Islamic
group ISIS.
The Middle East (1919-1946)
Asia (1946-1955)
 Asia (1946-1955)
 India. The historic India was a British colony from the late eighteenth
century. Britain developed the infrastructure of India in the form of harbors,
railroads, modern cities and cotton and steel mills. English became the lingua
franca for a land with many different languages
 In India, there were two great religious groups: Hindus and Muslims.
Both of them wanted to get rid of the British domination

 Two movements:
 1885. Hindu National Congress is founded
 1906. Muslims founded the India Muslim League.

 Nationalism was a minority movement and independence just an illusion

until the figure of Gandhi and his tactics. Motto: “freedom through non-
violence”. This resulted in campaigns of civil disobedience and passive
resistance. Gandhi shot dead by a Hindu fanatic in 1948
 Asia (1946-1955)
 India. Great Britain gave India its
independence in 1947.
 There were a lot of cultural,
religion and ethnic problems.
 Gandhi wanted a united India,
but Muslim Pakistan became
independent from Hindu India.
 Pakistan´s Hindu eastern
territory became later
Bangladesh (1971).
 Conflict still occurs over the
Kashmir region

 In 1948, Ceylon and Burma gained

also independence from Great
Britain. Ceylon became Sri Lanka.
Asia (1946-1955)
 Asia (1946-1955)
 Indochina (from France). If India was
“the jewel in the crown” for UK, Indochina was it
for France.

 During the WWII, the territory was occupied

by Japan. Once Japan was defeated, despite
the rejection of France, Indochina was
divided in three states. Laos (1953),
Cambodia (1954) and Vietnam (1954).

 Vietnam was divided into North Vietnam

(Communist) and South Vietnam (Capitalist)
at the 17th parallel and elections were
supposed to be held to reunify the country.
It never happened because of the fear of the
US for resulting in a powerful communist
country. This gave rise to the War or
Vietnam.
 Asia (1946-1955)
 Indonesia (from Netherland):
 The former Dutch colonies quickly defeated the Dutch who were in no
position to defend their colony after five years of Nazi occupation.
 During the war, Indonesia became part of the Japanese Empire.
 After the war, Ahmed Sukarno led the country against the invaders and
defeated the Japanese.
 Indonesia became an independent republic in 1947.

 The Philippines became independent from USA in 1946.

 Malaysia and Singapore got its independent from UK as the same country in
1963. In 1965, Singapore separated from Malaysia.
Asia (1946-1955)
 Africa (1955-1975)
 Three major routes to independence:

 Peaceful and negotiated: typically achieved in non-settler

colonies (ej. Ghana).

 Violent (as in Asia): typically occurred in settler colonies (ej.

Kenya, Algeria, etc.).

 Incomplete: white settler minority population was given

political power in decolonization (ej. South Africa and the
fight of Mandela against the “apartheid”)
Africa (1955-1975)
Africa (1955-1975)
 Africa (1955-1975)
 Three milestones: Bandung Conference, the episode of Suez
Canal and the raise of Negritude

 1955: Bandung Conference. Meeting of 29 African and Asian

countries gathered by the Indonesian President, Sukarno.

o The called themselves the “Third World”= newly decolonized

and “Non Aligned” countries within the “bipolar” Cold War.

o Because the decolonization process was still ongoing, the

delegates at the conference had to speak for other colonized
peoples (especially in Africa) that had not yet established
independent governments. The delegates agreed on the
principles of peaceful coexistence.
 Africa (1955-1975)
 1955: Bandung Conference

 The leaders agreed on encouraging the collaboration among

the nations of the “Third world”, promoting efforts to reduce
their reliance and dependency on European and North
America economies.

 Leaders of developing countries banded together to avoid

being forced to take sides in the Cold War contest.

 The protection of human rights and the principle of self-

determination is on the ground of a peaceful coexistence.
 Africa (1955-1975)
 1955: Bandung Conference
 Africa (1955-1975)
 The figure of Nasser and the episode of the Suez Canal

 Nasser carried out a coup d’etat in 1952. He dethroned the

king Faruq I (a puppet of British and French governments).

 In 1956, to collect money to build the Aswan dam, one the

biggest in the world, Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal
which arose protests from Israelis and led to the Anglo–
French invasion.

 But, international pressure forced them to withdraw after six

weeks. The Canal became Egyptian property. Nasser and his
diplomacy became the symbol of pan-Arab nationalism.
 Africa (1955-1975)
 The figure of Nasser and the episode of the Suez Canal
 Africa (1955-1975)
 The raise of negritude:
 Nationalists movements were composed of ex
civil servants and western educated and
intellectual people. Among them the figure of
Senghor will stand out.

o He was a poet who became the first

president of Senegal

o He advocated for negritude: validation of

African culture and the African past.

o They recognized attributes of European

culture but were not willing to be
assimilated into European way of life.
 Africa (1955-1975)
 The French Empire: :
 1956: Morocco and Tunisia
 1962: Algeria, after a war against France

 The British Empire:

 British Commonwealth formed following the dismantling of the British
empire. Today known as the Commonwealth of Nations

 Voluntary organization of states, including many in Africa, with

common interest in economic development
 Africa (1955-1975)
 The British Empire:
 The case of South Africa: For many years, the white settlers passed
laws that protected the power of the European settlers and
discriminated against Africans = apartheid.

 The leader of the Nationalist African parties, Nelson Mandela, was

imprisoned (1962-1990) for denouncing this discrimination. After
being released, he later became the president and the symbol of
the peace and harmony between blacks and white. Every year on
July 18, the Nelson Mandela day is celebrated.
 Africa (1955-1975)
 The case of South Africa: apartheid.
 Africa (1955-1975)
 The Belgium possessions:
 1960. Congo declared free by Belgium
 The province of Katanga attempted to secede which led to a civil war.
United Nations troops kept peace for four years.

 The Italian possessions:

 Ethiopia: independent during World War II
 Libya: Independent in 1951

 The Portuguese possessions:

 Angola and Mozambique: independent in 1975

 The Spanish possesions:

 Equatorial Guinea, 1968
 Western Sahara, 1975. But inmediatly occupied by Morocco till today
(The Green March, 6-Nov-1975). Western Sahara is one of the last
territories cataloged as a remaining colony in the world by the ONU.
Africa (1955-1975)
 Challenges of independence
 Overcome ethnic disputes because artificial borders drawn by the Europeans
at the Berlin Conference

 Lack of national identity in some countries

 Weak democracies, with military responses to restore order

 Dependent economies and neo-colonialism through economic growing debt

 Depletion and over exploitation of natural resources

 Widespread social unrest and lack of middle class

 Population growth with education deficit and poor health system

 Cultural dependence on west values and principles