Decolonization across Asia and Africa
20th Century · 1914 – 2000
Decolonization was the process by which the European empires, and to a lesser extent the Japanese and American ones, gave up or lost their colonies in Asia and Africa. It began in earnest after the Second World War. India and Pakistan became independent in 1947, and most of Africa followed between the late 1950s and the 1970s. Some Portuguese colonies were not freed until 1975, and Namibia, ruled by South Africa, became independent only in 1990.
The paths to independence differed widely. Some colonies won it through negotiation and mass political movements, others through long and bloody wars. Weakened European powers, rising nationalist movements and the new international climate of the United Nations and the Cold War all played a part, though historians weigh these factors differently. The result was the creation of dozens of new states, a changed United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, and lasting debates over borders, economies and the legacies of imperial rule. South Africa, a self-governing state since 1910, is a separate case: its system of apartheid, which ended in 1994, was a form of minority rule rather than colonial rule from overseas.
Things happened, and the rest is history
The Atlantic Charter and the war's effect on empire
EventWhat happened
In August 1941 Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill issue the Atlantic Charter, which speaks of the right of all peoples to choose their form of government. Japan takes Hong Kong on 25 December 1941, then conquers Malaya, Singapore, Burma and the Dutch East Indies in early 1942, defeating European forces in a matter of weeks or months. Churchill states that the charter was not meant to apply to the British Empire.
The rest is history
The swift Japanese victories damaged the claim that European rule was secure. Nationalists across Asia and Africa cited the charter in their demands for self-rule. Historians broadly agree that the war weakened the colonial powers financially and politically, though they debate how much it alone caused independence. The war set the stage for the postwar wave, beginning with Asia in 1945 to 1947.
Sources
- PrimaryThe Atlantic Charter. Joint declaration by Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston S. Churchill, 14 August 1941.
- BookLouis, William Roger. Imperialism at Bay: The United States and the Decolonization of the British Empire, 1941-1945. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977.
Indian nationalism and the Quit India movement
EventWhat happened
The Indian National Congress, founded in 1885, grows into a mass movement under leaders including Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. In August 1942 Congress calls on Britain to Quit India, and the British arrest its leaders and suppress the protests. Muslim League leaders, under Muhammad Ali Jinnah, meanwhile press the case for a separate Muslim state.
The rest is history
After the war, Britain's Labour government, facing economic strain and unrest, decided to leave. Lord Mountbatten, the last viceroy, brought the date forward, and India and Pakistan became independent on 14 and 15 August 1947. Partition of Punjab and Bengal caused mass migration and violence, and estimates of deaths run to hundreds of thousands or more. Indian independence was the largest single transfer of power from a European empire in Asia, and many historians see it as an influence on later movements, though other Asian colonies were gaining independence at much the same time.
Sources
- BookSarkar, Sumit. Modern India, 1885-1947. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1983.
- BookKhan, Yasmin. The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007.
Indonesia's declaration and the Dutch war
EventWhat happened
On 17 August 1945, just after Japan's surrender, Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaim Indonesia's independence. The Netherlands tries to regain control and launches large military actions in 1947 and 1948. International pressure, including from the United States and the United Nations, builds against the Dutch.
The rest is history
After a mix of fighting and negotiation, the Netherlands formally transferred sovereignty at the end of 1949. The case showed that a colonial power could not easily reconquer a territory whose people were determined to be free. Indonesia later hosted the 1955 Bandung Conference, a landmark meeting of Asian and African states.
Sources
- BookRicklefs, M. C. A History of Modern Indonesia since c. 1200. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001.
Vietnam: from Hanoi's declaration to Dien Bien Phu
EventWhat happened
On 2 September 1945 Ho Chi Minh declares the independence of Vietnam in Hanoi. France seeks to restore its rule, and war breaks out in late 1946. In May 1954 the Viet Minh defeat the French garrison at Dien Bien Phu.
The rest is history
The Geneva Conference of 1954 ended French rule in Indochina and temporarily divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel. The division, shaped by Cold War rivalries, led to a further war involving the United States. Dien Bien Phu showed that a colonial army could be beaten in open battle, and it influenced anticolonial movements elsewhere, including in Algeria.
Sources
- BookLogevall, Fredrik. Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam. New York: Random House, 2012.
The Bandung Conference of 1955
EventWhat happened
In April 1955 delegates from 29 Asian and African countries meet at Bandung, Indonesia. They condemn colonialism and racial discrimination and call for cooperation and peace. Leaders present include Nehru, Sukarno, Zhou Enlai and Gamal Abdel Nasser.
The rest is history
The conference gave newly independent states a shared voice outside the two Cold War blocs. It helped lead to the Non-Aligned Movement, founded at Belgrade in 1961. It also encouraged African nationalists who were still seeking independence.
Sources
- BookLee, Christopher J., ed. Making a World after Empire: The Bandung Moment and Its Political Afterlives. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2010.
Ghana's independence in 1957
EventWhat happened
Kwame Nkrumah forms the Convention People's Party in 1949 and campaigns for self-government in the Gold Coast. After election victories under British-supervised reforms, he becomes prime minister. On 6 March 1957 the Gold Coast becomes independent as Ghana.
The rest is history
Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African colony to gain independence from European rule in the postwar era. Its example encouraged movements elsewhere, and Nkrumah promoted pan-African unity. In 1960, called the Year of Africa, seventeen colonies became independent, many of them French territories.
Sources
- BookRooney, David. Kwame Nkrumah: The Political Kingdom in the Third World. London: I. B. Tauris, 1988.
- BookCooper, Frederick. Africa since 1940: The Past of the Present. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
The Suez Crisis of 1956
EventWhat happened
In July 1956 Egyptian president Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal Company. In October, Britain and France, in secret agreement with Israel, attack Egypt. Under strong pressure from the United States and the Soviet Union, they withdraw by December.
The rest is history
The episode is widely seen as exposing the limits of British and French power. Britain's prime minister Anthony Eden resigned in January 1957. Historians regard it as a turning point in how both countries approached their remaining colonies, though both were already moving toward withdrawal.
Sources
- BookKyle, Keith. Suez. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1991.
The Algerian War of Independence
EventWhat happened
In November 1954 the National Liberation Front begins an armed uprising against French rule in Algeria, which France treats as part of its territory. The war involves guerrilla fighting, urban attacks and harsh French counterinsurgency, including torture. In 1958 the crisis brings Charles de Gaulle back to power in France.
The rest is history
De Gaulle eventually negotiated with the FLN. The Evian Accords of March 1962 ended the war, and Algeria became independent on 5 July 1962 after a referendum. Several hundred thousand people were killed, with estimates debated, and about a million settlers and others left for France. The war remains a sensitive subject in both countries.
Sources
- BookHorne, Alistair. A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962. London: Macmillan, 1977.
The wind of change speech
Popular beliefThe legend
It is often said that Harold Macmillan's 1960 speech to the South African parliament suddenly made Britain give up its African empire. The phrase 'the wind of change is blowing through this continent' is told as the moment British policy turned.
The rest is history
Macmillan spoke at Cape Town on 3 February 1960. The speech was important as a public acknowledgment of African nationalism, and it was a pointed message to South Africa's government. But British withdrawal was already underway, with Ghana free since 1957, and the Colonial Office had been planning transfers for some time. Nigeria became independent in October 1960, and Kenya in 1963 after the Mau Mau conflict.
Sources
- PrimaryMacmillan, Harold. Speech to both Houses of the Parliament of South Africa, Cape Town, 3 February 1960.
- BookDarwin, John. The End of the British Empire: The Historical Debate. Oxford: Blackwell, 1991.
Decolonization as a gift from the colonizers
Popular beliefThe legend
A common view holds that European powers granted independence peacefully and willingly once they judged colonies ready for self-rule.
The rest is history
Some transfers were negotiated, but many were driven by nationalist movements, strikes, revolts and wars. These include Indonesia, Vietnam, Algeria, Kenya and the Portuguese colonies. The Portuguese empire lasted until the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Lisbon, after which Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau became independent in 1974 and 1975. Historians such as Frederick Cooper stress that outcomes came from pressure and bargaining on both sides, rather than a planned handover.
Sources
- BookCooper, Frederick. Africa since 1940: The Past of the Present. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
- BookBetts, Raymond F. Decolonization. London: Routledge, 1998.
Colonial borders drawn at the Berlin Conference
Popular beliefThe legend
It is often said that Africa was carved up at the Berlin Conference of 1884 to 1885, and that the borders of independent states are simply those lines drawn there.
The rest is history
The conference set rules for claiming African territory, notably the idea of effective occupation, and recognized the Congo Free State. It did not itself divide the continent. Most borders were fixed in later treaties up to the early 1900s. At independence, the Organization of African Unity chose in 1964 to keep the inherited colonial borders to avoid conflicts, though disputes and secessions such as Biafra and Eritrea followed.
Sources
- PrimaryGeneral Act of the Berlin Conference on West Africa, 26 February 1885.
- BookPakenham, Thomas. The Scramble for Africa. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1991.