 | This article mayrequirecleanup to meet Wikipedia'squality standards. The specific problem is:The article was recently merged with another large article,African independence movements. Please helpimprove this article if you can.(October 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | This articleduplicates the scope of other articles. Pleasediscuss this issue and help introduce asummary style to the article. |
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Decolonisation of Africa" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(February 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Thedecolonisation of Africa was a series of political developments inAfrica that spanned from the mid-1950s to 1975, during theCold War.Colonial governments gave way tosovereign states in a process often marred by violence, political turmoil, widespread unrest, and organised revolts. Major events in the decolonisation of Africa included theMau Mau rebellion, theAlgerian War, theCongo Crisis, theAngolan War of Independence, theZanzibar Revolution, and the events leading to theNigerian Civil War.[1][2][3][4][5]
TheScramble for Africa between 1870 and 1914 was a significant period of Europeanimperialism in Africa that ended with almost all of Africa, and its natural resources, claimed ascolonies by European powers, who raced to secure as much land as possible while avoiding conflict amongst themselves. The partition of Africa was confirmed at theBerlin Conference of 1885, without regard for the existing political and social structures.[6][7]
Almost all the precolonial states of Africa lost their sovereignty. The only exceptions wereLiberia, which had been settled in the early 19th century by formerly enslavedAfrican-Americans and was recognized as independent by the United States in 1862[8] but was viewed by European powers as being in the United States' sphere of influence, andEthiopia, which won its independence at theBattle of Adwa[9] but was lateroccupied by Italy in 1936.[10]Britain andFrance had the largest holdings, butGermany,Spain,Italy,Belgium, andPortugal also had colonies.[11]
By 1977, 50 African countries had gained independence from European colonial powers.[12][better source needed]
.svg)
In the early 20th century,nationalism gained ground globally. Following the end ofWorld War I,German,Austro-Hungarian andOttoman Empires according to the principles espoused inWoodrow Wilson'sFourteen Points. Though many anti-colonial intellectuals saw the potential ofWilsonianism to advance their aims, Wilson had no intention of applying the principle ofself-determination outside the lands of the defeatedCentral Powers. The independence demands ofEgyptian andTunisian leaders, which would have compromised the interests of the victorious Allies, were not entertained. Though Wilsonian ideals did not endure as theinterwar order broke down, the principle of an international order based on the self-determination of peoples remained relevant.
After 1919, anti-colonial leaders increasingly oriented themselves toward the Soviet Union'sproletarian internationalism.[13]
Many Africans fought in both World War I andWorld War II. In World War I, African labor was essential on the Western Front, and African soldiers fought in theSinai and Palestine campaign. Many Africans were not allowed to bear arms or serve on an equal basis with whites. The sinking of theSS Mendi in 1917 was a particularly tragic incident for Africans in the war, with 607 of the 646 crew killed being BlackSouth Africans.[14] In the Second World War, Africans fought in both the European and Asian theatres of war.[15]
Approximately one millionsub-Saharan Africans served in European armies in some capacity. Many Africans were compelled or even forced into military service by their respective colonial regimes, but some voluntarily enlisted in search of better opportunities than they could find in civilian employment.[16] This led to a deeper political awareness and the expectation of greater respect and self-determination, which went largely unfulfilled.[17] Because the victoriousallied powers had no intention of withdrawing from their colonial holdings at the end of the war, and would instead need to rely on the resources and manpower of their African colonies during postwar reconstruction in Europe, the colonial powers downplayed Africans' contributions to the allied victory.[16]
On 12 February 1941, United States PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime MinisterWinston Churchill met to discuss the post-World War II world. The result was theAtlantic Charter.[18] It was not a treaty and was not submitted to theBritish Parliament or theSenate of the United States for ratification, but it turned out to be a widely acclaimed document.[19] Clause Three referred to the right to decide what form of government people wanted, and to the restoration of self-government.
Prime Minister Churchill argued in the British Parliament that the document referred to "the States and nations of Europe now under the Nazi yoke".[20] President Roosevelt regarded it as applicable across the world.[21] Anticolonial politicians immediately saw it as relevant to colonial empires.[22]
In 1948, three years after the end of World War II, theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights recognised all people as being born free and equal.[23]
Italy, a colonial power, lost its African empire,Italian East Africa,Italian Ethiopia,Italian Eritrea,Italian Somalia andItalian Libya, as a result of World War II.[24] Furthermore, colonies such asNigeria,Senegal andGhana pushed for self-governance as colonial powers were exhausted by war efforts.[25]
The United Nations 1960Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples stated that colonial exploitation is a denial of human rights, and that power should be transferred back to the countries or territories concerned.[26]
Colonial economic exploitation involved diverting resource extraction, such as mining, profits to European shareholders at the expense of internal development, causing significant local socioeconomic grievances.[27] For early African nationalists, decolonisation was a moral imperative around which a political movement could be assembled.[28][29]
In the 1930s, colonial powers cultivated, sometimes inadvertently, a small elite of local African leaders educated in Western universities, where they became familiar with ideas such asself-determination. Although independence was not encouraged, arrangements between these leaders and the colonial powers developed,[11] and such figures asJomo Kenyatta (Kenya),Kwame Nkrumah (Gold Coast, nowGhana),Julius Nyerere (Tanganyika, nowTanzania),Léopold Sédar Senghor (Senegal),Nnamdi Azikiwe (Nigeria),Patrice Lumumba (DRC),António Agostinho Neto (Portuguese West Africa) now (Angola) andFélix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d'Ivoire) came to lead the struggles forAfrican nationalism.
During World War II, some local African industries and towns expanded whenU-boats patrolling theAtlantic Ocean impeded the shipping of raw materials to Europe.[12][better source needed]
Over time, urban communities, industries, and trade unions grew, improving literacy and education, and leading to the establishment of pro-independence newspapers.[12][better source needed]
By 1945, theFifth Pan-African Congress demanded the end of colonialism, and delegates included future presidents ofGhana,Kenya,Malawi, and other nationalist activists.[30]
Following World War II, rapid decolonisation swept across the continent of Africa as many territories gained their independence from European colonisation.
In August 1941, United States PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime MinisterWinston Churchill met to discuss their post-war goals. In that meeting, they agreed to theAtlantic Charter, which in part stipulated that they would, "respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live; and they wish to see sovereign rights and self-government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them."[31] This agreement became the post-WWII stepping stone toward independence as nationalism grew throughout Africa.
Consumed by post-war debt, European powers could no longer afford to maintain control of their African colonies.[citation needed] This allowed African nationalists to negotiate decolonisation very quickly and with minimal casualties.[citation needed] Some territories, however, saw large death tolls as a result of their fight for independence.[citation needed]
Historian James Meriweather argues that American policy towards Africa was characterized by a middle road approach, which supported African independence but also reassured European colonial powers that their holdings would remain intact. Washington wanted the right type of African groups to lead newly independent states, in other words not communist and not especially democratic. Meriweather argues that nongovernmental organizations influenced American policy towards Africa. They pressured state governments and private institutions to disinvest from African nations not ruled by the majority population. These efforts also helped change American policy towards South Africa, as seen with the passage of theComprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986.[32]
On 6 March 1957, Ghana (formerly theGold Coast) became the first sub-Saharan African country to gain its independence from European colonisation.[40] Starting with the 1945Pan-African Congress, the Gold Coast's (modern-day Ghana's) independence leaderKwame Nkrumah made his focus clear. In the conference's declaration, he wrote, "We believe in the rights of all peoples to govern themselves. We affirm the right of all colonial peoples to control their own destiny. All colonies must be free from foreign imperialist control, whether political or economic."[41]
In 1948, three Ghanaianveterans were killed by thecolonial police on a protest march.Riots broke out inAccra and though Nkrumah and other Ghanaian leaders were temporarily imprisoned, the event became a catalyst for the independence movement. After being released from prison, Nkrumah founded theConvention People's Party (CPP), which launched a wide-scale campaign in support of independence with the slogan "Self Government Now!"[42] Heightened nationalism within the country grew their power and the political party widely expanded.
In February 1951, the CPP gained political power by winning 34 of 38 elected seats, including one for Nkrumah who was imprisoned at the time. TheBritish government revised the Gold Coast Constitution to give Ghanaians a majority in the legislature in 1951. In 1956, Ghana requested independence inside theCommonwealth, which was granted peacefully in 1957 with Nkrumah as prime minister andQueen Elizabeth II as sovereign.[43]
Prime MinisterHarold Macmillan gave the famous"Wind of Change" speech inSouth Africa, in February 1960, where he spoke to the country's Parliament of "the wind of change blowing through this continent."[44] Macmillan urgently wanted to avoid the same kind ofcolonial war that France was fighting in Algeria. Under his premiership, decolonisation proceeded rapidly.[45]
Britain's remaining colonies in Africa, except forSouthern Rhodesia, were all granted independence by 1968. British withdrawal from the southern and eastern parts of Africa was not a peaceful process. Kenyan independence was preceded by the eight-yearMau Mau Uprising. InRhodesia, the 1965Unilateral Declaration of Independence by the white minority resulted in acivil war that lasted until theLancaster House Agreement of 1979, which set the terms for recognised independence in 1980, as the new nation ofZimbabwe.[46]
Britain has moved to return its last British-occupied possession in Africa by signing a formal agreement in 2025 transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Under the terms of the agreement, the strategic atoll of Diego Garcia and its 38-kilometre buffer zone are immediately returned to Mauritius. This agreement allows for the continued operation of the joint Anglo-American base on Diego Garcia.[47]
Belgium controlled several territories and concessions during the colonial era, principally theBelgian Congo (modernDRC) from 1908 to 1960 andRuanda-Urundi (modernRwanda andBurundi) from 1922 to 1962. It also had a small concessionin China (1902–1931) and was a co-administrator of theTangier International Zone inMorocco.
Roughly 98% of Belgium's overseas territory was just one colony, about 76 times larger than Belgium itself, known as the Belgian Congo. The colony was founded in 1908 following the transfer of sovereignty from theCongo Free State, which was the personal property of Belgium's king,Leopold II. The violence used by Free State officials against indigenous Congolese and the ruthless system of economic extraction had led to intense diplomatic pressure on Belgium to take official control of the country. Belgian rule in the Congo was based on the "colonial trinity" (trinité coloniale) of state, missionary and private company interests. During the 1940s and 1950s, the Congo experienced extensive urbanization and the administration aimed to make it into a "model colony". As the result of a widespread and increasingly radical pro-independence movement, the Congo achieved independence, as theRepublic of Congo-Léopoldville in 1960.
Of Belgium's other colonies, the most significant wasRuanda-Urundi, a portion ofGerman East Africa, which was given to Belgium as aLeague of Nations Mandate, whenGermany lost all of itscolonies at the end ofWorld War I. Following theRwandan Revolution, the mandate became the independent states ofBurundi andRwanda in 1962.[48]
TheFrench colonial empire began to fall duringWorld War II when the Vichy France regime controlled the Empire. One after another, most of the colonies were occupied by foreign powers with Japan in Indochina, Britain inSyria,Lebanon, andMadagascar, the United States and Britain inMorocco andAlgeria, and Germany and Italy inTunisia. Control was gradually reestablished byCharles de Gaulle, who used the colonial bases as a launching point to help expel the Vichy government from Metropolitan France. De Gaulle, together with most Frenchmen, was committed to preserving the Empire in its new form. TheFrench Union, included in theConstitution of 1946, nominally replaced the former colonial empire, but officials in Paris remained in full control. The colonies were given local assemblies with only limited local power and budgets. A group of elites, known as evolués, who were natives of the overseas territories but lived in metropolitan France emerged.[50][51][52]
De Gaulle assembled amajor conference of Free France colonies in Brazzaville, in central Africa, in January–February 1944. The survival of France depended on support from these colonies, and De Gaulle made numerous concessions. These included the end of forced labour, the end of special legal restrictions that applied to natives but not to whites, the establishment of elected territorial assemblies, representation in Paris in a new "French Federation", and the eventual representation of Sub-Saharan Africans in the French Assembly. However, Independence was explicitly rejected as a future possibility:
After World War II ended, France was immediately confronted with the beginnings of thedecolonisation movement. In Algeria demonstrations in May 1945 wererepressed with an estimated 20,000-45,000 Algerians killed.[54] Unrest in Haiphong, Indochina, in November 1945 was met by a warship bombarding the city.[55]Paul Ramadier's (SFIO) cabinet repressed theMalagasy Uprising in Madagascar in 1947. French officials estimated the number of Malagasy killed from as low as 11,000 to a French Army estimate of 89,000.[56]
InCameroon, theUnion of the Peoples of Cameroon's insurrection which began in 1955 headed byRuben Um Nyobé, was violently repressed over two years, with perhaps as many as 100,000 people killed.[57]
French involvement inAlgeria stretched back a century.Ferhat Abbas andMessali Hadj's movements marked the period between the two wars, but both sides radicalised after the Second World War. In 1945, theSétif massacre was carried out by the French army. TheAlgerian War started in 1954.Atrocities characterized both sides, and the number killed became highly controversial estimates that were made for propaganda purposes.[58] Algeria was a three-way conflict due to the large number of "pieds-noirs" (Europeans who had settled there inthe 125 years of French rule). The political crisis in France caused the collapse of the Fourth Republic, asCharles de Gaulle returned to power in 1958 and finally pulled the French soldiers and settlers out of Algeria by 1962.[59][60] Lasting more than eight years, the estimated death toll typically falls between 300,000 and 400,000 people.[61] By 1962, theNational Liberation Front was able to negotiate a peace accord with de Gaulle, theÉvian Accords[62] in which Europeans would be able to return to their native countries, remain in Algeria as foreigners or take Algerian citizenship. Most of the one million Europeans in Algeria poured out of the country.[63]
French conservatives were disillusioned with the colonial experience after the disasters in Indochina and Algeria. They wanted to cut all ties to the numerous colonies in French Sub-Saharan Africa. During the war,de Gaulle had successfully based his Free France movement and the African colonies. After a visit in 1958, he made a commitment to make sub-Saharan French Africa a major component of his foreign-policy.[64] TheFrench Union was replaced in the newConstitution of 1958 by theFrench Community. OnlyGuinea refused by referendum to take part in the new colonial organisation. However, the French Community dissolved itself amid the Algerian War; almost all of the other African colonies were granted independence in 1960, following local referendums. Some colonies chose instead to remain part of France, under the status ofoverseasdépartements (territories). Critics ofneocolonialism claimed that theFrançafrique had replaced formal direct rule. They argued that while de Gaulle was granting independence, on one hand, he was creating new ties with the help ofJacques Foccart, his counsellor for African matters. Foccart supported in particular theNigerian Civil War during the late 1960s.[65]
Robert Aldrich argues that with Algerian independence in 1962, it appeared that the Empire practically had come to an end, as the remaining colonies were quite small and lacked active nationalist movements. However, there was trouble inFrench Somaliland (Djibouti), which became independent in 1977. There also were complications and delays in the New HebridesVanuatu, which was the last to gain independence in 1980.New Caledonia remains a special case under French suzerainty.[66] The Indian Ocean island ofMayotte voted in areferendum in 1974 to retain its link with France and forgo independence.[67]
Unlike other European nations during the 1950s and 1960s, the PortugueseEstado Novo regime did not withdraw from its African colonies. During the 1960s, various armed independence movements became active in Portuguese Africa. ThePortuguese Colonial War, also known as theAngolan,Guinea-Bissau andMozambican War of Independence, was a 13-year-long conflict fought betweenPortugal's military and the emergingnationalist movements in Portugal's African colonies between 1961 and 1974. The Portuguese regime at the time, theEstado Novo, was overthrown by a militarycoup in 1974, and the change in government brought the conflict to an end.[68] From May 1974 to the end of the 1970s, over 500,000 Portuguese citizens from Portugal's African territories (mostly from PortugueseAngola andMozambique) left those territories as refugees—theretornados.[69][70]
The Colony of Liberia, later the Commonwealth of Liberia, was a private colony of theAmerican Colonization Society (ACS) beginning in 1822. It became an independent nation—theRepublic of Liberia—afterdeclaring independence in 1847.
| Country | Colonial name | Colonial power | Independence date | First head of state | Independence won through |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Liberia |  Liberia |  United States (American Colonization Society) | 26 July 1847[az] | Joseph Jenkins Roberts[ba] William Tubman | Liberian Declaration of Independence |
| Country | Date of acquisition of sovereignty | Acquisition of sovereignty |
|---|---|---|
 Algeria | 3 July 1962 | French recognition of Algerian referendum on independence held two days earlier |
 Angola | 11 November 1975 | Independence from Portugal |
 Benin | 1 August 1960 | Independence from France |
 Botswana | 30 September 1966 | Independence from the United Kingdom |
 Burkina Faso | 5 August 1960 | Independence from France |
 Burundi | 1 July 1962 | Independence from Belgium |
 Cabo Verde | 24 September 1973 10 September 1974 (recognised) 5 July 1975[bb] | Independence from Portugal |
 Cameroon | 1 January 1960 | Independence from France |
 Central African Republic | 13 August 1960 | Independence from France |
 Chad | 11 August 1960 | Independence from France |
 Comoros | 6 July 1975 | Independence from France declared |
 Democratic Republic of the Congo | 30 June 1960 | Independence from Belgium |
 Republic of Congo | 15 August 1960 | Independence from France |
 Djibouti | 27 June 1977 | Independence from France |
 Egypt | 28 February 1922 | The UK ends its protectorate,granting independence to Egypt |
 Equatorial Guinea | 12 October 1968 | Independence from Spain |
 Eritrea | 1 June 1936 5 May 1941 19 May 1941 10 February 1947 19 February 1951 15 September 1952 | Abyssinian campaign, independence fromEthiopiadeclared |
 Eswatini | 6 September 1968 | Independence from the United Kingdom under the name Swaziland |
 Ethiopia | 900 BC | D'mt Kingdom |
 Gabon | 17 August 1960 | Independence from France |
 Gambia | 18 February 1965 | Independence from the United Kingdom |
 Ghana | 6 March 1957 | Independence from the United Kingdom |
 Guinea | 2 October 1958 | Independence from France |
 Guinea-Bissau | 24 September 1973 10 September 1974 (recognised) 5 July 1975[bc] | Independence from Portugal declared |
 Ivory Coast | 4 December 1958 | Autonomous republic withinFrench Community |
| Ivory Coast | 7 August 1960 | Independence from France |
 Kenya | 12 December 1963 | Independence from the United Kingdom |
 Lesotho | 4 October 1966 | Independence from the United Kingdom |
| Liberia | 26 July 1847 | Independence fromAmerican Colonization Society |
 Libya | 24 December 1951 | Independence fromUN Trusteeship (British and French administration after Italian governance ends in 1947) |
 Madagascar | 14 October 1958 | TheMalagasy Republic was created as autonomous state withinFrench Community |
| 26 June 1960 | France recognizes Madagascar's independence | |
 Malawi | 6 July 1964 | Independence from the United Kingdom |
 Mali | 25 November 1958 | French Sudan gains autonomy |
| 24 November 1958 4 April 1959 20 June 1960 20 August 1960 22 September 1960 | Independence from France | |
 Mauritania | 28 November 1960 | Independence from France |
 Mauritius | 12 March 1968 | Independence from the United Kingdom |
 Morocco | 7 April 1956 | Independence from France and Spain |
 Mozambique | 25 June 1975 | Independence from Portugal |
 Namibia | 21 March 1990 | Independence from South African rule |
 Niger | 4 December 1958 | Autonomy withinFrench Community |
| 23 July 1900 13 October 1922 13 October 1946 26 July 1958 20 May 1957 25 February 1959 25 August 1958 3 August 1960 8 November 1960 10 November 1960 | Independence from France | |
 Nigeria | 1 October 1960 | Independence from the United Kingdom |
 Rwanda | 1 July 1962 | Independence from Belgium |
 São Tomé and Príncipe | 12 July 1975 | Independence from Portugal |
 Senegal | 25 November 1957 24 November 1958 4 April 1959 4 April 1960 20 August 1960 20 June 1960 22 September 1960 18 February 1965 30 September 1989 | Independence from France |
 Seychelles | 29 June 1976 | Independence from the United Kingdom |
 Sierra Leone | 27 April 1961 | Independence from the United Kingdom |
 Somalia | 20 July 1887 26 May 1925 1 June 1936 3 August 1940 19 August 1940 8 April 1941 25 February 1941 10 February 1947 1 April 1950 26 June 1960 1 July 1960 | Union ofTrust Territory of Somalia (formerItalian Somaliland) andState of Somaliland (formerlyBritish Somaliland) |
 South Africa | 11 December 1931 | Statute of Westminster, which establishes a status of legislative equality between the self-governing dominion of theUnion of South Africa and the UK |
| 31 May 1910 | Creation of the autonomousUnion of South Africa from the previously separate colonies of theCape,Natal,Transvaal andOrange River | |
 South Sudan | 9 July 2011 | Independence fromSudan after a civil war. |
 Sudan | 1 January 1956 | Independence fromEgyptian and Britishjoint rule |
 Tanzania | 9 December 1961 | Independence ofTanganyika from the United Kingdom |
 Togo | 30 August 1958 | Autonomy withinFrench Union |
| 27 April 1960 | Independence from France | |
 Tunisia | 20 March 1956 | Independence from France |
 Uganda | 1 March 1962 | Self-government granted |
| 9 October 1962 | Independence from the United Kingdom | |
 Zambia | 24 October 1964 | Independence from the United Kingdom |
 Zimbabwe | 11 November 1965 | Unilateral declaration of independence bySouthern Rhodesia |
| 18 April 1980 | Recognized independence from the United Kingdom as Zimbabwe |
Colonialism in the colonial era, mostly refers to Western European countries' colonisation of lands in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. The main European countries active in this form of colonization includedSpain,Portugal,France, theTsardom of Russia (laterRussian Empire andSoviet Union), theKingdom of England (laterGreat Britain), theNetherlands,Belgium[71] and theKingdom of Prussia (now mostly Germany), and, beginning in the 18th century, theUnited States. Most of these countries had a period of almost complete dominance of world trade at some stage in the period from roughly 1500 to 1900. Beginning in the late 19th century,Imperial Japan also engaged in settler colonization, most notably inHokkaido andKorea.
While some European colonisation focused on shorter-term exploitation of economic opportunities (Newfoundland, for example, orSiberia) or addressed specific goals such as settlers seeking religious freedom (Massachusetts), at other times long-term social and economic planning was involved for both parties, but more on the colonizing countries themselves, based on elaborate theory-building (noteJames Oglethorpe'sColony of Georgia in the 1730s andEdward Gibbon Wakefield'sNew Zealand Company in the 1840s).[72] In some cases European colonization appeared to be primarily for long-term economic gain, as in the Congo where Joseph Conrad'sHeart of Darkness described life under the rule ofKing Leopold II of Belgium in the 19th century andSiddharth Kara has described colonial rule and European and Chinese influence in the 20th and 21st centuries.[71]
Colonisation may be used as a method of absorbing and assimilating foreign people into the culture of the imperial country. One instrument to this end islinguistic imperialism, or the use of non-indigenous colonial languages to the exclusion of any indigenous languages from administrative (and often, any public) use.[73]
Many African independence movements took place in the 20th century, when a wave of struggles for independence in European-ruled African territories were witnessed.World War II (1939-1945) served as the catalyst for many of these movements, as it devastated both thecolonial empires and their African territories. The colonial powers were distracted by the war againstNazi Germany, and thus had less time and resources devoted to their colonies, weakening their influence.[74]
After WW2, Harry Truman and Winston Churchill introduced the Atlantic Charter, which declared that the United States and Britain would "respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live." The United Nations was also formed, and colonial powers were required to make annual reports on their territories, and it gave Africans a voice to list their grievances. The end of WW2 also saw the decline of Britain and France, and the rise of the United States and the USSR, which did not support colonial Europe's overseas territories.[74]
Notable independence movements took place:
French colonization ofAlgeria began on June 14, 1830, when French soldiers arrived in a coastal town, Sidi Ferruch.[75] The troops did not encounter significant resistance, and within 3 weeks, the occupation was officially declared on July 5, 1830.[75] After a year of occupation over 3,000 Europeans (mostly French) had arrived ready to start businesses and claim land.[75] In reaction to the French occupation, Amir Abd Al-Qadir was elected leader of the resistance movement. On November 27, 1832, Abd Al-Qadir declared that he reluctantly accepted the position, but saw serving in the position as a necessity in order to protect the country from the enemy (the French).[75] Abd Al-Qadir declared the war against the French as jihad, opposed to liberation.[75] Abd Al-Qadir's movement was unique from other independence movements because the main call to action was for Islam rather than nationalism.[75] Abd Al-Qadir fought the French for nearly two decades, but was defeated when the Tijaniyya Brotherhood agreed to submit to French rule as long as "they were allowed to exercise freely the rites of their religion, and the honor of their wives and daughters was respected".[75] In 1847 Abd Al-Qadir was defeated and there were other resistance movements but none of them were as large nor as effective in comparison.[75] Due to the lack of effective large-scale organizing, Algerian Muslims "resorted to passive resistance or resignation, waiting for new opportunities," which came about from international political changes due to World War I.[75]
AsWorld War I began, officials discussed drafting young Algerians into the army to fight for the French, but there was some opposition.[75] European settlers were worried that if Algerians served in the army, then those same Algerians would want rewards for their service and claim political rights (Alghailani). Despite the opposition, the French government drafted young Algerians into the French army for World War I.[75] Since many Algerians had fought as French soldiers during World War I, just as the European settlers had suspected,Muslim Algerians wanted political rights after serving in the war. Muslim Algerians felt it was all the more unfair that their votes were not equal tothe other Algerians (the settler population) especially after 1947 when the Algerian Assembly was created. This assembly was composed of 120 members. Muslim Algerians who represented about 9 million people could designate 50% of the Assembly members while 900,000 non-Muslim Algerians could designate the other half.
.jpg)
When the French arrived in Algeria in 1830, they quickly took control of all Muslim establishments.[75] The French took the land in order to transfer wealth and power to the new French settlers.[75] In addition to taking property relating Muslim establishments, the French also took individuals' property and by 1851, they had taken over 350,000 hectares of Algerian land.[75] For many Algerians, Islam was the only way to escape the control of French Imperialism.[75] In the 1920s and 30s, there was an Islamic revival led by the ulama, and this movement became the basis for opposition to French rule in Algeria.[75] Ultimately, French colonial policy failed because the ulama, especially Ibn Badis, utilized the Islamic institutions to spread their ideas of revolution.[75] For example, Ibn Badis used the "networks of schools, mosques, cultural clubs, and other institutions," to educate others, which ultimately made the revolution possible.[75] Education became an even more effective tool for spreading their revolutionary ideals when Muslims became resistant to sending their children to French schools, especially their daughters.[75] Ultimately, this led to conflict between the French and the Muslims because there were effectively two different societies within one country.[75]
The fight for independence, or the Algerian war, began with a massacre that occurred on May 8, 1945 inSetif, Algeria. After WWII ended, nationalists in Algeria, in alignment with the American anti-colonial sentiment, organized marches, but these marches became bloody massacres.[76] An estimated 6,000–45,000 Algerians were killed by the French army.[76] This event triggered a radicalization of Algerian nationalists and it was a crucial event in leading up to theAlgerian War.
In response to the massacre, Messali Hadj, the leader of the independence party, the Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties (MTLD), "turned to electoral politics.[76] With Hadj's leadership, the party won multiple municipal offices.[76] But, in the 1948 elections the candidates were arrested by Interior Minister Jules Moch.[76] While the candidates were being arrested, the local authorities stuffed ballots for Muslim men, non-members of the independence party.[76] Since the MTLD could not gain independence via elections, Hadj turned to violent means and consulted "the head of its parliamentary wing, Hocine A ̈ıt Ahmed, to advise on how the party might win Algeria's independence through force of arms.[76]" A ̈ıt Ahmed had never been formally trained in strategy, so he studied former rebellions against the French and he came to the conclusion that "no other anti-colonial movement had had to deal with such a sizable and politically powerful settler population.[76]" Due to the powerful settler population, A ̈ıt Ahmed believed that Algeria could only achieve independence if the movement became relevant in the international political arena.[76] Over the next few years, members of the MTLD began to disagree about which direction the organization should go to achieve independence, so eventually the more radical members broke off to form the National Liberation Front (FLN).[76]
The FLN officially started the Algerian War for Independence and followed A ̈ıt Ahmed's advice by creating tensions in the Franco-American relations.[76] Due to the intensifying global relations, the Algerian War became a "kind of world war—a war for world opinion".[76] In closed-door meetings the United States encouraged France to negotiate with the FLN, but during UN meetings the United States helped France end discussion on Algeria.[76] Ultimately, the strategy of just focusing on superpowers was not successful for Algeria, but once A ̈ıt Ahmed began to exploit international rivalries the Algerian war for independence was successful.[76]
Thousands of women took part in the war, even on deadly missions.[77] Women took part as "combatants, spies, fundraisers, and couriers, as well as nurses, launderers, and cooks".[77] 3% of all fighters were women, which is roughly equivalent to 11,000 women.[77]
This is a quote of three women who participated in the war: "We had visited the site and noted several possible targets. We had been told to place two bombs, but we were three, and at the last moment, since it was possible, we decided to plant three bombs. Samia and I carried three bombs from the Casbah to Bab el Oued, where they were primed...Each of us placed a bomb, and at the appointed time there were two explosions; one of the bombs was defective and didn't go off.' – Djamila B., Zohra D., and Samia, Algiers, September 1956”.[77]
Algeria gained independence on February 20, 1962 when theFrench government signed a peace accord.[78] Peace in the country did not last long. Shortly after gaining independence, theAlgerian Civil War began. The civil war erupted from anger regarding one party rule and ever increasing unemployment rates in Algeria. In October 1988, young Algerian men took to the streets and participated in week-long riots.[79] In addition, the Algerian war for independence inspired liberationists inSouth Africa.[80] However, the liberationists were unsuccessful in implementing Algerian strategy into their independence movement.[80] The Algerian Independence movement also had a lasting impact on French thought about the relationship between the government and religion.[81]
Portugal built a five-centuryglobal empire, starting overseas expansion in the 15th century. Innovations such as thecaravel, better navigation tools, and the school atSagres underPrince Henry the Navigator gave the small Atlantic nation an early lead. Explorers reached islands likeMadeira and theAzores, pushed down the African coasts, and arrived in Asia, including Japan, by the 16th century. Portugal established forts and colonies across Africa, includingCape Verde,São Tomé and Príncipe, and territory around the Congo River such asCabinda,Luanda, andBenguela. On the southeast coast, they controlled ports likeMozambique,Quelimane, andLourenço Marques until Arab rivals from Oman took northern territories.
Weaknesses soon emerged. Portugal’s small population and limited popular support meant few settlers, and convict exiles were sent to places like Angola. African economies under Portuguese control became dependent on the Atlantic slave trade, especially toBrazil. Although slavery was outlawed in stages, ending in 1858, powerful interests delayed change. Political instability at home during and after theNapoleonic Wars hindered colonial governance. Meanwhile, theIndustrial Revolution increased European demand for African resources. Britain, tied to Portugal through long diplomatic and economic relations, pushed for free-trade access and often dominated commerce in Portuguese territories. Growing European competition in the 19th century led to disputes over regions such as the Shire Highlands (modernMalawi) and over control around the Congo River. British challenges to vague Portuguese claims set precedents requiring effective occupation, a principle formalised at theCongress of Berlin in 1884–85.
After World War II, Portugal renamed its colonies “Overseas Provinces” and resisted decolonisation. Modernisation followed, particularly inAngola andMozambique. In the 1960s, nationalist movements, supported by theEastern Bloc and others, launched liberation struggles. The resulting conflicts inAngola,Guinea, andMozambique became known as thePortuguese Colonial War.
InPortuguese Angola, the rebellion of the ZSN was taken up by the União das Populações de Angola (UPA), which changed its name to theNational Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) in 1962. On February 4, 1961, the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) took credit for the attack on the prison of Luanda, where seven policemen were killed. On March 15, 1961, the UPA, in a tribal attack, started the massacre of white populations and black workers born in other regions of Angola. This region would be retaken by large military operations that, however, would not stop the spread of theguerrilla actions to other regions of Angola, such asCabinda, the east, the southeast and the central plateaus.
In Portuguese Guinea, theMarxistAfrican Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) started fighting in January 1963. Itsguerrilla fighters attacked the Portuguese headquarters inTite, located to the south ofBissau, the capital, near the Corubal River. Similar actions quickly spread across the entire colony, requiring a strong response from the Portuguese forces.
The war in Guinea placed face to faceAmílcar Cabral, the leader of PAIGC, andAntónio de Spínola, the Portuguese general responsible for the local military operations. In 1965 the war spread to the eastern part of the country and in that same year the PAIGC carried out attacks in the north of the country where at the time only the minor guerrilla movement, theFrente de Luta pela Independência Nacional da Guiné (FLING), was fighting. By that time, the PAIGC started receiving military support from theSocialist Bloc, mainly fromCuba, a support that would last until the end of the war.
In Guinea the Portuguese troops mainly took a defensive position, limiting themselves to keeping the territories they already held. This kind of action was particularly devastating to the Portuguese troops who were constantly attacked by the forces of the PAIGC. They were also demoralised by the steady growth of the influence of the liberation supporters among the population that was being recruited in large numbers by the PAIGC.
With some strategic changes by António Spínola in the late 1960s, the Portuguese forces gained momentum and, taking the offensive, became a much more effective force. Between 1968 and 1972, the Portuguese forces took control of the situation and sometimes carried attacks against the PAIGC positions. At this time the Portuguese forces were also adopting subversive means to counter the insurgents, attacking the political structure of the nationalist movement. This strategy culminated in the assassination of Amílcar Cabral in January 1973. Nonetheless, the PAIGC continued to fight back and pushed the Portuguese forces to the limit. This became even more visible after PAIGC receivedanti-aircraft weapons provided by the Soviets, especially theSA-7 rocket launchers, thus undermining the Portuguese air superiority.
Portuguese Mozambique was the last territory to start the war of liberation. Its nationalist movement was led by theMarxist-LeninistLiberation Front of Mozambique (FRELIMO), which carried out the first attack against Portuguese targets on September 24, 1964, inChai, province ofCabo Delgado. The fighting later spread toNiassa,Tete at the centre of the country. A report from Battalion No. 558 of the Portuguese army makes references to violent actions, also in Cabo Delgado, on August 21, 1964. On November 16 of the same year, the Portuguese troops suffered their first losses fighting in the north of the country, in the region of Xilama. By this time, the size of the guerrilla movement had substantially increased; this, along with the low numbers of Portuguese troops and colonists, allowed a steady increase in FRELIMO's strength. It quickly started moving south in the direction of Meponda and Mandimba, linking to Tete with the aid ofMalawi.
Until 1967 the FRELIMO showed less interest in Tete region, putting its efforts on the two northernmost districts of the country where the use oflandmines became very common. In the region of Niassa, FRELIMO's intention was to create a free corridor to Zambézia. Until April 1970, the military activity of FRELIMO increased steadily, mainly due to the strategic work of Samora Machel in the region of Cabo Delgado. In the early 1970s, after the PortugueseGordian Knot Operation, the nationalist guerrilla was severely damaged.
TheOrganisation of African Unity (OAU) was founded May 1963. Its basic principles were co-operation between African nations and solidarity between African peoples. Another important objective of the OAU was an end to all forms of colonialism in Africa. This became the major objective of the organisation in its first years and soon OAU pressure led to the situation in the Portuguese colonies being brought up at theUN Security Council.
The OAU established a committee based inDar es Salaam, with representatives fromEthiopia,Algeria,Uganda,Egypt,Tanzania,Zaire,Guinea,Senegal andNigeria, to support African liberation movements. The support provided by the committee included military training and weapon supplies. The OAU also took action in order to promote the international acknowledgement of the legitimacy of the Revolutionary Government of Angola in Exile (GRAE), composed of theNational Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA). This support was transferred to the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and to its leader,Agostinho Neto in 1967. In November 1972, both movements were recognised by the OAU in order to promote their merger. After 1964, the OAU recognised PAIGC as the legitimate representatives of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde and in 1965 recognisedFRELIMO for Mozambique.
Eritrea sits on a strategic location along theRed Sea between theSuez Canal and theBab-el-Mandeb. Eritrea was an Italian colony from 1890 to 1941. On April 1, 1941, the British capturedAsmara defeating the Italians and Eritrea fell under the British Military Administration. This military rule lasted from 1941 until 1952. On December 2, 1950, theUnited Nations General Assembly, by UN Resolution 390 A(V) federated Eritrea withEthiopia. The architect of this federal act was the United States. The federation went into effect September 11, 1952. However, the federation was a non-starter for feudal Ethiopia, and it started to systematically undermine it. On December 24, 1958—the Eritrean flag was replaced by the Ethiopian flag; On May 17, 1960—The title "Government of Eritrea" of the Federation was changed to "Administration of Eritrea". EarlierAmharic was declared official language in Eritrea replacingTigrinya andArabic. Finally on November 14, 1962 -– Ethiopia officially annexed Eritrea as its 14th province.
The people of Eritrea, after finding out peaceful resistance against Ethiopia's rule was falling on deaf ears formed the Eritrean Liberation Movement in 1958. The founders of these independence movement were: Mohammad Said Nawud, Saleh Ahmed Iyay, Yasin al-Gade, Mohammad al-Hassen and Said Sabr. ELM members were organised in secret cells of seven. The movement was known as Mahber Shewate in Tigrinya and as Harakat Atahrir al Eritrea in Arabic. On July 10, 1960, a second independence movement, theEritrean Liberation Front (ELF) was founded in Cairo. Among its founders were: Idris Mohammed Adem, President, Osman Salih Sabbe, Secretary General, and Idris Glawdewos as head of military affairs. These were among those who made up the highest political body known as the Supreme Council. On September 1, 1961, Hamid Idris Awate and his ELF unit attacked an Ethiopian police unit in western Eritrea (near Mt. Adal). This heralded the 30-year Eritrean war for independence. Between March and November 1970, three core groups that later made up theEritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) split from the ELF and established themselves as separate units.
In September 1974, Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown by a military coup in Ethiopia. The military committee that took power in Ethiopia is better known by its Amharic name theDerg. After the military coup the Derg broke ties with the U.S. and aligned with theSoviet Union, and the Soviet Union and its eastern bloc allies replaced the United States as patrons of Ethiopia's aggression against Eritrea. Between January and July 1977, the ELF and EPLF armies had liberated 95% of Eritrea, capturing all but 4 towns. However, in 1978–79, Ethiopia mounted a series of five massive Soviet-backed offensives and reoccupied almost all of Eritrea's major towns and cities, except for Nakfa. The EPLF withdrew to a mountain base in northern Eritrea, around the town ofNakfa. In 1980 the EPLF had offered a proposal for referendum to end the war, however, Ethiopia, thinking it had a military upper hand, rejected the offer and war continued. In February–June 1982, The EPLF managed to repulse Ethiopia's much heralded four-month "Red Star" campaign, also known as the 6th offensive by Eritreans, inflicting more than 31,000 Ethiopian casualties.
In 1984, the EPLF launched a counter-offensive and cleared the Ethiopian from the Northeastern Sahil front. In March 1988, the EPLF demolished the Ethiopian front at Afabet in a major offensive the British HistorianBasil Davidson compared to the French defeat atDien Bien Phu. In February 1990, the EPLF liberated the strategic port ofMassawa, and in the process destroyed a portion of theEthiopian Navy. A year later, the war came to conclusion on May 24, 1991, when the Ethiopian army in Eritrea surrendered. Thus Eritrea's 30-year war crowned with victory.
On May 24, 1993, after a UN-supervised referendum on April 23–25, 1993, in which the Eritrean people overwhelmingly, 99.8%, voted for independence, Eritrea officially declared its independence and gained international recognition.
At the onset ofWorld War I, theUnion of South Africa participated in the invasion and occupation of several Allied territories taken from theGerman Empire, most notablyGerman South West Africa andGerman East Africa in present-dayTanzania. Germany's defeat forced the newWeimar Republic to cede its overseas possessions to theLeague of Nations as mandates. A mandate over South-West Africa was conferred upon theUnited Kingdom, "for and on behalf of the government of the Union of South Africa", which was to handle administrative affairs under the supervision of the league. South-West Africa was classified as a "C" mandate, or a territory whose population sparseness, small size, remoteness, and geographic continuity to the mandatory power allowed it to be governed as an integral part of the mandatory itself. Nevertheless, the League of Nations obliged South Africa to promote social progress among indigenous inhabitants, refrain from establishing military bases there, and grant residence to missionaries of any nationality without restriction. Article 7 of the South-West Africa mandate stated that the consent of the league was required for any changes in the terms of the mandate.
With regards to the local German population, the occupation was on especially lenient terms; South Africa only repatriated civil and military officials, along with a small handful of political undesirables. Other German civilians were allowed to remain. In 1924 all white South-West Africans were automatically naturalised as South African nationals and British subjects thereof; the exception being about 260 who lodged specific objections. In 1926 a Legislative Assembly was created to represent German, Afrikaans, and English-speaking white residents. Control over basic administrative matters, including taxation, was surrendered to the new assembly, while matters pertaining to defence and native affairs remained in the hands of an administrator-general.
FollowingWorld War II, South West Africa's international status after the dissolution of the League of Nations was questioned. TheUnited Nations General Assembly refused South Africa permission to incorporate the mandate as a fifth province, largely due to its controversial policy of racialapartheid. At the General Assembly's request the issue was examined at theInternational Court of Justice. The court ruled in 1950 that South Africa was not required to transfer the mandate to UN trusteeship, but remained obligated to adhere to its original terms, including the submission of annual reports on conditions in the territory.
Led by newly electedAfrikaner nationalistDaniel François Malan, the South African government rejected this opinion and refused to recognise the competence of the UN to interfere with South-West African affairs. In 1960 Ethiopia andLiberia, the only two other former League of Nations member states in Africa, petitioned the Hague to rule in a binding decision that the league mandate was still in force and to hold South Africa responsible for failure to provide the highest material and moral welfare of black South West Africans. It was pointed out that nonwhite residents were subject to all the restrictiveapartheid legislation affecting nonwhites in South Africa, including confinement to reserves, colour bars in employment,pass laws, and "influx control" over urban migrants. A South African attempt to scupper proceedings by arguing that the court had no jurisdiction to hear the case was rejected; conversely, however, the court itself ruled that Ethiopia and Liberia did not possess the necessary legal interest entitling them to bring the case.
In October 1966 the General Assembly declared that South Africa had failed to fulfill its obligations as the mandatory power and had in fact disavowed them. The mandate was unilaterally terminated on the grounds that the UN would now assume direct responsibility for South-West Africa. In 1967 and 1969 the UN called for South Africa's disengagement and requested the Security Council to take measures to oust theSouth African Defence Force from the territory that the General Assembly, at the request of black leaders in exile, had officially renamedNamibia. One of the greatest aggravating obstacles to eventual independence occurred when the UN also agreed to recognise theSouth West African People's Organization (SWAPO), then an almost exclusivelyOvambo body, as the sole authentic representative of the Namibian population. South Africa was offended by the General Assembly's simultaneous dismissal of its various internal Namibian parties as puppets of the occupying power. Furthermore, SWAPO espoused a militant platform which called for independence through UN activity, including military intervention.
By 1965 SWAPO's morale had been elevated by the formation of a guerrilla wing, thePeople's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), which forced the deployment ofSouth African Police troops along the long and remote northern frontier. The first armed clashes between PLAN cadres and local security forces took place in August 1966.
An extensive body of literature has examined the legacy ofcolonialism and colonial institutions on economic outcomes in Africa, with numerous studies showing disputed economic effects .[82]Modernisation theory posits that colonial powers builtinfrastructure to integrate Africa into theworld economy; however, this was built mainly for extraction purposes. African economies were structured to benefit the coloniser and any surplus was likely to be 'drained', thereby stifling localcapital accumulation.[83]Dependency theory suggests that most African economies continued to occupy a subordinate position in the world economy after independence with a reliance on primarycommodities such as copper inZambia and tea inKenya.[84] Despite this continued reliance and unfair trading terms, ameta-analysis of 18 African countries found that a third of them experienced increased economic growth post-independence.[83]
Scholars including Dellal (2013),Miraftab (2012) and Bamgbose (2011) have argued that Africa's linguistic diversity has been eroded.[full citation needed] Language has been used by western colonial powers to divide territories and create new identities, which have led to conflicts and tensions between African nations.[85] In the immediate post-independence period, African countries largely retained colonial legislation. However, by 2015 much colonial legislation had been replaced by laws that were written locally.[86]
The Atlantic Charter was a joint declaration released by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on August 14, 1941, following a meeting of the two heads of state in Newfoundland.
[...] Georgia represented a break from the past. As one scholar has noted. it was 'a preview of the later doctrines of "systematic colonization" advocated by Edward Gibbon Wakefield and others for the settlement of Australia and New Zealand.' In contrast to such places as Jamaica and South Carolina, the trustees intended Georgia as 'a regular colony', orderly, methodical, disciplined [...]
_(cropped).jpg)
.svg)