21 Decolonization, lowe notes

21 Decolonization

Summary of events

At the end of WW2, certain nations of Europe still claimed ownership of vast areas of the rest of the world, particularly in Asia and Africa

Britain’s empire was the largest. It consisted of India , Burma, Ceylon, Malaya, Cyprus, Hong Kong, the West Indies, the Falklands and Gibraltar

France had the second largest empire, with territories in Africa, Indo China and the West Indies. In addition, Britain and France still held land in the Middle East taken from Turkey at the end of WW1. Britain held Transjordan and Palestine and France had Syria. They were intended to look after them and prepare them for independence

Other important empires were those of
Holland (Dutch East Indies)
Belgium (Congo and Ruanda Urundi)
Portugal (Angola, Mozambique and Guinea)
Spain (Spanish Sahara, Ifni, Spanish Morocco and Spanish Guinea)
Italy (Libya, Somalia and Eritrea)

By 75 most of these colonial territories had gained their independence
The Dutch and French colonies, they had to fight for it against determined European resistance.
The problems in different areas were quite complex. In India there were religious problems and in other colonies the whites were afraid to be ruled by the black



21.1 Why did the European powers give up their empires?

a) nationalist movements

· the nationalists wanted to get rid of the foreign rule
· The Europeans claimed that they brought the western civilization in the area but the local population had a feeling that the Europeans exploited them.
· The development and prosperity of the colonies were held back in the interests of Europe and most colonial people continued to live in poverty
· In India the nationalists wanted to get rid of the British since 1885, but nationalism was not so big in other areas and progress towards independence would have been much more slow without WW2





b) the effects of the second world war

1.
· Before the war, colonial peoples believed it would be impossible to defeat the militarily superior Europeans by force of arms.
· The Japanese successes in the early part of the war showed that it was possible for non Europeans to defeat European armies
· The Japanese captured British territories as Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Burma, the Dutch East Indies and French Indo China
· The colonial people have fought against the Japanese with guerrilla war, and if the Europeans would have tried to regain power in those areas, the local people would have used the same type of defence and attack, guerrilla war

2.
· Asians and Africans became more aware of social and political matters as a result of their involvement in the war
· Many Africans who had left their homeland for the first time to fight the Allied armies
· There were surprised of the comfortable conditions they experienced

3.
· Some European policies during the war encouraged colonial peoples to expect independence as soon as the war was over

4.
· The war weakened the European states, so in the end they were not militarily strong enough to hold on their empires which struggled for independence
· The British were the first to give independence to India (47) but then the British policy was to delay (slow down) independence as soon as possible, but to give way when the pressure became irresistible
· The French, Dutch. Spanish and Portuguese reacted differently and seemed to hold tight grip on their empires even if militarily campaigns were required
· Ultimately, they all had to admit defeat



c) Outside Pressures

· The Americans were against imperialism, also because they have been a former colony of the UK.
· The USA considered the newly independent nations as potential markers into which they could step and establish both economic and political reform
· During the war, Roosevelt said that the Atlantic Charter was for all peoples not only by the ones endangered of the Germans
· The UN demanded a step by step decolonization
· The USSR was also against imperialism
· This pressure encouraged nationalists all over the world to intensify their campaigns
21.2 Indian independence and partition

The British promised dominion status as soon as the war was over, this meant more or less independency, but still accepting the British monarch as head of state, like Australia
Ernest Bevin, the foreign secretary, wanted to prove that the British did not exploit the Indians by introducing a development programme fro India. However, the idea was dropped because the English did not afford and the Indians were suspicious of any delay (hold up, stoppage)
The British Prime Minister, Atlee, wanted to give India full independence, this turned out very difficult
It ended up in the division in two different states, Pakistan and India


a) why was the partition of India necessary


1. Religious hostilities between Hindus and Muslims
· This was the main problem
· The Hindus represented 66% of the population while the Muslim the rest
· The Hindus won their elections in 37 and asked the Muslim League to merge the Hindu National Congress Party
· The Muslims were afraid that in this case they would be dominated by the Hindus, there for required an own area

2. Compromise attempts failed
· The British proposed a scheme where the central government had limited powers and the local would be much greater. This would increase the possible Muslim independence
· This idea failed

3. Violence broke out in August 46
· This happened when Viceroy (king’s representative in India) invited the Congress leader to form an interim (temporary) government, with the hope that they will be able to solve problems in the future
· Nehru the Congress leader was convinced that he could not trust the Hindus to treat the Muslims fairly
· Nehru called for a day of direct action, which would support the idea of a Muslim country
· This ended up with Muslims slaughtering Hindus, and the country seemed on the verge of civil war

4. Mountbatten decides partition
· When the British realized that they lost control, they then announced that they would leave the country in 48
· This was announced in order to force the Indians into adopting a more responsible attitude
· Mountbatten, the new Viceroy, realized and decided that a partition was the only way of avoiding civil war
· This was accepted by Nehru although Ghandi believed in non violence and was still hoping for a united India
· Mountbatten decided for a withdrawal even earlier in August 47

b) How was the partition carried out?

The Indian independence act, was rushed by the British (Aug 47)
This would separate the Muslim majority areas in the North West and north east from the rest of the country. They would become the independent state of Pakistan
Independence day was 15th August 1947, problems occurred immediately:

It was necessary to divide million of people. Unfortunately, this meant that millions of people found themselves on the wrong side of the new frontiers.

Millions of Muslims trying to get to Pakistan and millions of Hindus trying to et to India met on the way. This turned out into mob violence, especially in Punjab
In Bengal, Ghandi managed to calm down the spirits

3. Violence began to die before the end of 47, but in January Ghandi was killed by a Hindu fanatic that did not tolerate Ghandi’s tolerance towards Muslims
The chock seemed to bring people to their senses
Atlee argued that Britain could not be blamed for the deaths

4. In the longer term, Pakistan did not work well as a divided state, and in 71 East Pakistan broke away and became the independent state f Bangladesh


21.3 The West Indies, Malaya and Cyprus
· As these three territories moved towards independence, interesting experiments in setting up federations of states were tried, with varying degrees of successes
· A federation is when a number of states join together under a central or federal government which has overall authority; each of the states has its own separate parliament which deals with internal affairs
· This kind of system is found in USA, Canada, and Australia and many people thought it would be suitable for the British West Indies, Malaya and neighbouring British territories
· The West Indies was the first one to be tried, but it proved to be a failure, only survived until 62.







a) The West Indies

· These were groups of islands in the Caribbean Sea, like Jamaica and Trinidad, altogether with a population of 6 million people
· Britain was prepared to give them independence, but there were some difficulties:
1. Some of the islands were very small, and there were doubts about whether they were viable (workable) as independent states
2. The British felt that a federation would be the ideal way, but some of the islands objected.
· Like Honduras and Guiana were against a federation, this left Jamaica and Trinidad to worry with the problems of the smaller states
· Other islands did not wish that either, they wanted to be under British independence
· The British went ahead and established the West Indies Federation in 58
· This never functioned, the only thing they had in common, was a passionate commitment to cricket
· Jamaica and Trinidad withdrew in 61
· 62 Britain decided to abandon the federation, and gave independence to all islands that wanted
· Jamaica and Trinidad were the first in 62
· All of them became members of the British Commonwealth
· The islands realized that there were economical benefits to be gained
· The Caribbean Trade Association 68 was set up. This soon developed into the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM)

b) Malaya

· Was liberated from Japanese occupation in 45 , but there were 2 difficult problems to be faced before the British could withdraw

1. The area was multi racial, and it consisted of nine states each ruled by a sultan. The British decided to establish the Federation of Malaya 48, while Singapore remained a separate colony. Each state had its own legislature for local affairs, the sultans retained some power but the general government had overall control. All adults had the right to vote, but this meant that the Malays, the largest group, usually dominated affairs
2. The Chinese guerrillas started now to stir up strikes against the British, in support of an independent communist state. The British state of emergency which dealt with the communists remained in the area until 60
UN’s rapport showed that the people were pro the federation and this was later proclaimed. Brunei did not join, but they joined the Commonwealth (84) and Singapore became an independent republic in 65. The rest of the federation continued successfully






c) Cyprus

· The British wanted to give Cyprus independence, but this was delayed by complications
· On the island were 80% orthodox Greeks and 20% Muslim Turks
· The Greeks wanted to merge the island with Greece, but the Turks opposed to this
· Churchill’s successor dropped the idea of Greek independence thinking that the island was needed as a military base to protect interests in Middle East. However, the Greeks claimed that they would allow this even if the island would merge with Greece
· The British sent about 35 000 troops because the Greeks started a guerrilla campaign against the British
· The situation worsened when the Turks set up a rival organization in support of a dividing country
· Macmillan, Eden’s successor, decided to compromise:
The Archbishop dropped the idea of unity with Greece and in return Cyprus was granted full independence
Turkish interests were safeguarded; Britain gained two military bases and guaranteed independence of Cyprus
This seemed the perfect solution
· In 63 Civil war broke out between the Greeks and the Turks
· In 74 the isle divided into two, with the Muslims in the North and the Orthodox in the south
· UN has made many attempts but all of them failed
· The possibility of a federation may still work
























21.4 The British leave Africa

African nationalism spread rapidly since 45, also because they were educated by the English and Americans, where they were made aware of racial discrimination
The British were willing to give the Africans independence, but this process was very slow. The Africans had to act sometimes with violence in order to make things move quicker
The British thought that if the Africans would gain independence, they would still be able to exercise influence through trade routs, this was neo colonialism
NEO COLONIALISM means that the Western powers still exerted a great deal of control over the new states, which continued to need the markets and the investment that the west could provide
The British colonies in Africa fell into distinct groups which had important differences in character which were to affect progress towards independence

1. West Africa: Gold Coast, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and the Gambia

· Here there were relatively few Europeans and they tended to be administrators rather than permanent settlers with profitable estates to defend
· This made the independence rapid

a) the Gold Coast

· was the first African state south of Sahara to win independence after WW2, taking the name of Ghana (57)
· it was achieved smoothly, but not without any violence
· the nationalist leader, Kwame, educated in London and the USA and since 49 leader of the Convention People’s Party, organized the campaign for independence
· there were boycotts of European goods, violent demonstrations and general strike (50) and Kwame Nkrumah and other leaders were imprisoned fro a time
· the British realized that he had mass support, soon released him and agreed to allow a new constitution including:
The vote for all adults
An elected assembly
An eleven person Executive Council, of which eight were chosen by the assembly
in 51 elections, the first under the new constitution, the CPP won and Nkrumah was released and became Prime Minister
Until 57 the government worked under British supervision, when it received full independence

b) Nigeria

Nigeria was the largest of Britain’s African colonies
It was a difficult proposition because of its great size (60 million)
It was difficult also because the vast Muslim north, dominated by Hausa and Fulani tribes
The leading nationalist was Nnamdi Azikiwe
After his return in Nigeria in 37 he gained enormous prestige and in 45 he organized a great strike
In 54 a new constitution introduced local assemblies for the 3 regions with a federal (CENTRAL) in Lagos, the capital
The country became independent as a whole in 60
Tribal differences caused civil war to break out in 67

c) Sierra Leone and the Gambia

These gained independence without any serious incidents- Sierra Leone 61 and Gambia in 65


2. East Africa: Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika

Here, especially in Kenya, things were complicated by the settler factor
They were afraid to be settled under Black rule
The British believed that independence for East Africa was not as necessary as for West Africa. The thought that when independence would come , this would come in the form of multi racial governments where the Europeans would play a significant part
During Macmillan’s government (57-63) the English realized the strength of the African nationalism

a) Tanganyika

· Here the nationalist campaign was conducted by Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), led by Dr Julius Nyerere, educated in the UK.
· He insisted that the government had to be black and that the whites had nothing to be afraid of
· The country became independent in 61, Nyerere remained president until his retirement 85 and the country changed its name into Tanzania (64)

b) Uganda

The tribal ruler objected democracy
Uganda became independent in62 with Dr Milton Obote as Prime Minister

b) Kenya

Kenya was the most difficult to deal with because of the big number (66000) white settlers violently opposed to black majority rule
The refused to negotiate with African nationalist leader Kenyatta and his party KAU
The whites provoked a confrontation hoping to destroy the African party
KAU made little progress, the only British concession being to allow 6 Africans to join the Legislative Council of 44 members
The Mau Mau secret society organized terrorist attacks against European owned farms and black workers
A state of emergency was declared and Kenyatta and others were arrested
British troops crushed the terrorists
The terrorists have been defeated by 60, but then the British changed their mind and allowed Kenyatta to become Prime Minister, because he was considered a moderate. Kenya became independent in 63
He treated the whites OK


3. Central Africa: northern and southern Rhodesia

Especially in southern Rhodesia, the settler factor was at its most serious
Here, the Europeans had a lot of ownership
This was the most troublesome area for Britain to deal with because there was a huge numbers of Europeans that were deeply entrenched and because the whites made sure to abolish all the major education for blacks
The whites persuaded Churchill’s government to divide the area into Central African Federation
The aim of the whites was to preserve their supremacy so the government was to favour the whites, who hoped that the federation would soon gain full independence from Britain , with a dominion status
The Africans watched their leaders that began campaigns, die.
A part of the British population supported the Africans

a) Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia

· Here, the British introduced constitutions which allowed the Africans to have own parliaments
· The both countries wanted to leave the federation, which was therefore terminated in December 63, signalling defeat of the settlers
· 64 they became fully independent and changed names into Malawi and Zambia

b) Southern Rhodesia

It gained independence only in 1980
Here the whites fought most fiercely to preserve their privileged position
There were about 200 000 whites, 20 000 Asians and 4 million Blacks
A right wing white racist party was convinced never to surrender, the black parties were banned
The whites thought the it would work the same way as in Malawi and Zambia, but the British conservative government refused and made it clear that independence would be granted only if constitution was changed to allow black Africans at least 1/3 of the seats in parliament
Ian Smith (Prime Minister of Rhodesia) rejected the new idea and claimed that white rule was necessary in order to avoid the problems faced by the black governments faced in other African states


Harold Wilson, the new British Labour Prime Minister 64-70 continued to refuse independence unless the constitution was changed to prepare black majority rule
Smith declared Rhodesia independent against the wishes of Britain (unilateral declaration of independence or UDI )
There were mixed reactions about UDI:
Britain had not much to do about it, since the government decided not to use force. Britain then decided to stop buying products from Rhodesia, thinking that, doing so, they will surrender
South Africa, also ruled by a white minority, and Portugal, which still owned neighbouring Mozambique, were sympathetic to the Smith regime and refused to obey the Security Council resolution, which meant that Rhodesia could still trade through these countries. Also many nations and companies evaded (avoided) the embargo (prohibition, ban), so Smith’s regime was not much affected by the resolution
The Commonwealth was seriously shaken. Countries as Ghana and Nigeria wanted UK to use force, but other countries such as Zambia and Tanzania hoped that economic sanctions would suffice. Relations became cool, when Britain seemed to treat different African countries in different ways

· In 70 Rhodesia declared itself independent, and the blacks started to suffer same treatment as the blacks in South Africa
· In 76 the whites began to compromise, why did they give way?

Mozambique became independent from Portugal and the new president sent guerrilla forces that activated and strained (damaged) the white security forces
The South Africans became less inclined to support Rhodesia after invasion of Angola. The Americans and South Africans were afraid that if no compromises would be made, USSR or Cuba might become involved in the conflict. This is why they urged Smith to make concessions
By 78 nationalist guerrillas controlled vast areas of Rhodesia and the whites were on the verge of defeat

Smith still tried everything to delay black majority rule as long as possible
There were some parties or divisions between the nationalists. Smith accused them for slowing down the progress and that they caused disunity
The parties:

ZAPU the party of the veteran nationalist Nkomo. Zimbabwe African People’s Union
ZANU Zimbabwe African National Union, party of the Reverend, Sithole
UANC, United African National Council, party of Bishop Abel
Mugabe, leadear of guerrilla wing ZANU, was a powerful figure







· Smith introduced an own scheme, with the whites and UANC, the most moderate of the nationalist parties.
· ZANU and ZAPU had massive support and they continued their guerrilla war
· Smith had to admit defeat and Britain had to agree with:

1. a new constitution which followed the black majority rule
2. The country would adopt the name of Zimbabwe and the government would contain 100 seats where the blacks were reserved 80
3. The Party UANC, with the moderate Bishop Muzorewa would step down as Prime Minister
4. the guerrilla war would end



· the transference to black majority was welcomed by all African and Commonwealth leaders as a common sense and moderation
· civil war between ZAPU and ZANU did not take place and the parties merged together in 87
· ZANU’S Mugabe became the countries first president and was re elected for a further mandate in 96.


21. 5 The End of the French Empire

The main possessions at the end of the WW2 were:

a) Syria, French withdrew 46
b) Guadeloupe and Martinique (West Indies)
c) French Guiana (mainland of South America)
d) Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria (together known as Maghrib)
e) French West Africa
f) French Equatorial Africa
g) The large island of Madagascar

· The French began with trying to hold back all nationalist agitation
· But the French were influenced by Britain’s moves towards decolonization and after their defeat in Indo China their were forced to accelerate the process

Indo China
· France had protectorates over Annam, Tonkin, Cambodia and Laos.
· Protectorate means that the country was officially independent with own ruler, but was found under the protection of France (mother country) that controlled affairs in the protectorate just as in the colonies
· During the war the area was occupied by Japanese and resistance was organized by Ho Chi Minh and Vietminh
· When the Japanese withdrew, Minh declared Vietnam independent
· This was unacceptable for the French. This ended with a French defeat in 54
· The French defeat caused political crisis, the government resigned
· At the Geneva conference it was agreed that Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia should become independent
· The French had withdrawn, but the Americans came*J


Tunisia and Morocco


Both areas were protectorates
Tunisia had a ruler known as the Bey and Morocco had a Muslim king
Nationalists campaigned for independence already before the WW2.
Tunisia had about 250 000 settlers and Morocco about 300 000 settlers
The settlers were committed to maintain connections with France, which gave them advantages

Tunisia
Here the main nationalist group was New Destour led by Habib Bourghiba
He launched a guerrilla campaign and was later imprisoned
The guerrilla movement became more and more left wing
The French released Bourghiba (which was a moderate) thinking that it was easier to maintain influence with him, because he was a moderate
In March 1956 Tunisia became fully independent under Bourghiba’s leadership

Morocco
The pathway was quite similar with Tunisia’s
There was a nationalist party called Istiqlal (Independence) and King Mohamed was deposed
This caused guerrilla war and violent demonstrations
Because of the expense of the anti guerrilla war and of the pressure, the French gave way for the nationalists
Morocco became independent in 1956

Algeria

Here, the settler factor had the most consequences, over a million French settlers
They controlled about 1/3 of the fertile land in Algeria, taken from the natives
They used the land for wine production, which created less food production
There was an active but peaceful nationalist led by Hadj
After WW2 the natives could not take any official decisions
France did not dare to give independence to Algeria because they thought that it will turn out like in other colonies
Towards 1954, encouraged by Indo China, the National Liberation Front was built (FLN)
They made a guerrilla war but the French sent troops and defeated them
The war had important effects on France
they knew that FLN still had massive support and that Algeria never could be secure
the opinion in France varied, some people thought that the struggle was hopeless and some the opposite. France seemed on the verge of civil war
the French army, after disputes with Indo China, wanted to restore reputation and were unwilling to surrender. They even planned a military coup against those that wished to surrender


· the war caused the downfall of the fourth government
· suspecting that Algeria’s destiny would be equal to Tunisia’s, some army officials organized demonstrations and demanded that General de Gaulle should become a leading figure
· they were convinced that he would never give independence to Algeria
· the government resigned, because of the pressure
· the government called on de Gaulle to become a Prime Minister
· he had a condition: if he could draw up a new constitution he would accept to become Prime Minister
· he changed the constitution that involved that the President would be more powerful, and later 58 he came President, he held the position until 69
· when de Gaulle showed signs of negotiations with FLN the ones that did not wish to give independence to Algeria became mad, this is not how they expected him
· Led by Salan they built up OAS (secret army) 61, which began a terrorist campaign blowing up buildings and murdering people both in Africa and France
· They even attempted to assassinate de Gaulle and seized power in Algeria
· This was going too far for the French population
· When de Gaulle appeared on TV in uniform and denounced the OAS, the rebellion ended
· Ben Bella was released from prison (since 56) and was agreed that Algeria would become independent 1962and Ben Bella was elected president the same year
· Almost 80 000 left the country and the government regained the control of the land

4) The rest of the French empire

The French possessions in Africa south of Sahara were
1 .French West Africa consisting of 8 colonies: Dahomey, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Sudan and Upper Volta
2. French Equatorial Africa consisting of four colonies: Chad, Gabon, Middle Congo, and Shan
3. A 3rd group consisted Cameroon, Togo and Madagaskar

The French after 50 did not allow any more independence privileges for the colonies, they decided to clamp down all nationalist movements
But the French were forced by events in Indo China and by the fact that Britain was preparing to give independence to the Gold Coast and Nigeria. The French were forced to change their policies
In 56 12 colonies in West Africa were each given a self government for internal affairs, but they continued to press for full independence
When de Gaulle came to power in 58 he proposed a new plan hoping to maintain as much control as possible :

1. the 12 colonies would continue to have a self government each with own parliament for own affairs
2. they would all be members of a new union the French Community and France would take important decisions about taxation and foreign affairs
3. all members would receive economic aid
4. there would be a referendum in each colony to decide whether the plan should be accepted or not
5. colonies which opted for full independence could have it, but they would receive no aid from France for weed

· Guinea gained full independence and no aid for weed
· All of the colonies became independent 60
· This independence was neo colonialism, all states became independent but France still influenced their economic and foreign policies and any independent action was almost out of question

21.6 Holland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and Italy

All these wanted to continue with the colonies because they were not as wealthy as France and Britain and did not have money for neo colonialism


a) Holland
Before WW2 Holland had a huge empire in the East Indies (Sumatra, Java Celebes, West Irian) and 2/3 of Borneo. They also owned some land in West Indies and Surinam on the mainland of South America
It was in the valuable East Indies that the first challenge came to Dutch control even before the war
The Dutch operated in a quite similar way as French in Algeria, they grew crops and did very little for the natives and living standards
Nationalist groups protested but were arrested 30’s
When the Japanese invaded in 42 they released these groups and allowed them to protest and promising them that they would gain independence when the war ended
After the war Sukarno declared the area independent but the Dutch sent troops. Nevertheless the Dutch were long away from a victory
Reasons for their decision were:
1. the expanse of the campaign was crimpling for a small country like Holland to sustain
2. outright victory seemed long away
3. they were under strong pressure from the UN
4. USA and Australia were also against because they wanted to influence the country after Holland’s downfall
5. the Dutch hoped that by making concessions they would be able to preserve the link between Holland and Indonesia to maintain influence

· Holland agreed to recognize independence of the Unites States of Indonesia 49 with Sukarno as president, but not including West Iran
· Sukarno agreed to a Netherlands Indonesia Union but after a while demanded Holland to hand over West Irian
· They started to expel Europeans and to take over Dutch owned properties
· Holland gave way and West Irian became part of Indonesia 63.
· 65 Sukarno was overthrown in a right wing military coup because he was under too much influence in China and the Indonesian communist party
· USA was involved in the coup and welcomed Sukarno’s successor General Suharto
· He introduced The New Order, a purge of communism where at least half million people died
· Of other Dutch possessions Suranim was also allowed to become independent republic 75, the West Indian islands were treated as a part of Holland, though allowed some control over their internal affairs

b) Belgium
· Belgian Congo and Ruanda Urundi ended in chaos civil war and violence
· The Belgians thought that the best way to preserve control was to:

1. denying the Africans any advanced education, this would prevent them coming in contact with nationalists
2. using tribal rivalries to their advantage by playing off different tribes against each other
· despite these techniques nationalist ideas began to arise


1. Belgian Congo

· The Belgians were surprised when an uprising occurred which were against the living standards and unemployment in the country. This spread soon trough the whole country
· the Belgians suddenly changed their policy and announced that Congo will become independent in 6 month
· This was devastating for the country because there was no educated person and employees in the country. This means that there were no educated doctors, teachers etc.
· Why could the British take such a decision?
1. There were afraid of more blood spilling in the country and the Belgians wanted to protect the citizens living there
2. they did not want to face the expense of anti guerrilla war
3. they were sure that because of the lack of education in the country the Belgian influence could be preserved

2. Ruanda Urundi

· it was given independence in 62 and divided into 2 states Rwanda and Burundi
· neither of the states were properly prepared, this caused violence and war after the victory against the Belgians



c) Spain

Spain owned areas in Africa the largest in Spanish Sahara
General Franco (39-75) did not show interest about the colonies
When nationalist movements developed he did not resist long in the case of Spanish Morocco 56 (independent)

Spanish Sahara
Here Franco resisted longer because of the resources of phosphate in the area
Only after his death Spain gave independence to Spanish Sahara
Instead of being independent and ruled by its nationalist party the Spanish decided to divide it between its two neighbouring states, Morocco and Mauritania
Mohamed Abdelazia declared the Democratic Arab Republic of Sahara 76, which was recognized by Algeria, Libya, the communist states and India
· Algeria and Libya decided to withdraw making it easier for Sahara to struggle on against Morocco
· The fact that Sahara had been officially recognized by the USSR was enough to arise American suspicious
· When it seemed that the Moroccans too were prepared to negotiate, the new American president, Reagan, encouraged them to continue to fight, stepping up aid to Morocco
· The war dragged on through the 80, and a new country became a victim of super power self interest
· In 90 UN organized a referendum should be held so that the people of Sahara could chose whether to be independent or no, but progress towards organizing this was very slow

c) Portugal

The main Portuguese possessions were in Africa: Angola, Mozambique, and the Portuguese Guinea
The right wing Portuguese government ignored the nationalist movements and after 45 their colonies seemed quiet
They were mainly agricultural there were few industrial workers and the black population was almost entirely illiterate
Though the nationalist groups were formed in the 3 colonies, they remained insignificant
Several factors changed the situation
by 1960 the natives were encouraged by other African countries that gained independence
fighting broke out in Angola 61 where Aghostino’s was the main nationalist movement. Violence soon spread to Guinea where Cabral led the resistance and to Mozambique where the Frelimo guerrillas were organized by Mondlane
the nationalists, who had strong connections with Marx received economic and military aid from the communist bloc
the Portuguese army found it impossible to suppress (hold back, delay) the guerrillas. The party by 73 was spending 40% of its budget fighting 2 colonial wars simultaneously

· still the Portuguese refused to abandon the colonies
· public opinion and many army officers were sick of the wars and in 74 overthrew Salazar government
· all the colonies gained independence, Guinea took the name of Guinea Bissau 74, Mozambique and Angola 74

Angola

South African troops invaded now Angola, in support of the UNITA, while General Mobutu of Zaire, with American backing launched another invasion in support of FNLA
The Americans did not want the local Marxist party MPLA to influence the country. MPLA gained help from Cuba and USSR
The communist aid helped them do defeat both invasions and in 76 Neto became new president
The South Africans also interfered in Mozambique in order to eliminate Frelimo government. This put the country in a critical situation

East Timor

It was half of the small island in the East Indies
East Timor’s nationalist movement Fretilin won the war against the ruling group which wanted to remain united with Portugal
The USA denounced the country as Marxist and supplied Indonesia with military aid to attack East Timor
The UN did not take any decisions because these two were two small areas. The Indonesians created about 100 000 victims

d) Italy

It was officially decided (47) that Italy should lose all its colonies because they supported Hitler
Ethiopia was handed back to the rule of Emperor Selassie who was in exile when the Italian took over 35
Libya was given independence under King Idris (51)
Eritrea was made part of Ethiopia 52 but it was to a large measure of slef governing within a federal system
Italian Somaliland was merged with the British Somaliland to form the independent state of Somalia (60)
Idris became unpopular with his people, they thought that he was too pro West. He was overthrown in 69 by a socialist revolutionary movement which nationalized the oil industry and began to modernize the country
Selassie became unpopular with his peoples because he made no attempt to modernize Ethiopia and did little to improve the living standards of his people. He also cancelled Eritrea’s rights of self governing, this led to war. He was overthrown in 74
Both in Libya and Ethiopia new leaders arose which gained aid from the USSR



Verdict on decolonization

The decolonization was not a pleasure and had no happy ending
There were some gains for the people that could now decide the internal problems
There were new problems that they faced: Neo Colonialism meant that Western European countries and the USA still exerted a great deal of control over the new states, which continued to need the markets and the investment that the west people could provide
Many states, especially in Africa, had been badly prepared or not at all for independence. They left the natives uneducated and in poverty
In most cases, the Western powers controlled their economy. When some of the new states inclined signs of connection with the communist bloc, the capitalists cut off the aid
All the Third World states faced the problem of poverty. They were economically underdeveloped and often their economy fell apart.