STRATHMORE UNIVERSITY

DECOLONIZATION OF
AFRICA AND ASIA

2/23/2015
Decolonization of Africa and Asia

Decolonization refers to the process whereby colonial powers transferred institutional and legal
control over their territories and dependencies to indigenously based, formally sovereign, nation-
states.

From a historian’s perspective, decolonization was one of the most important political
developments of the twentieth century because it turned the world into the stage of history. Until
World War I, historical writing had been the work of the European conquerors that, in the words
of Oswald Spengler, had made the world appear to ‘revolve around the pole of this little part-
world’ that is Europe. With few exceptions, the regions outside Europe were seen to be inhabited
by people without the kind of history capable of shaping the world. The process of
decolonization, which began towards the end of World War I, was accompanied by the
appearance of national historical consciousness in these regions, that is, the history, not of
dynasties or the work of God/gods, but of a people as a whole. To be sure, historical writing
continues to be filtered through national preoccupations, but the rapid spread of modern
historical writing to most of the world also enabled us to see how happenings in one region no
matter how peripheral or advanced were often linked to processes and events in other parts. It
became possible to grasp, as did the leaders of decolonization, the entire globe as an
interconnected entity for understanding and action.

Decolonization of Africa

During the Scramble for Africa in the late nineteenth century, European powers divided Africa
and its resources into political partitions at the Berlin Conference of 1884-85. By 1905, African
soil was almost completely controlled by European governments, with the only exceptions being
Liberia (which had been settled by African-American former slaves) and Ethiopia (which had
successfully resisted colonization by Italy). Britain and France had the largest holdings, but
Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, and Portugal also had colonies. As a result of colonialism and
imperialism, Africa suffered long term effects, such as the loss of important natural resources
like gold and rubber, economic devastation, cultural confusion, geopolitical division, and
political subjugation. Europeans often justified this using the concept of the White Man's
Burden, an obligation to "civilize" the peoples of Africa.

By the end of World War II there were only four independent states in Africa: Liberia, Ethiopia,
Egypt and the South-African Union. The rest of the countries were mainly British and French
colonies, but there were also Belgian, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese colonies. Germany had
already lost its colonies after World War I.
1960 is known as the "African Year": 17 colonies gained their independence.

 Benin
 Cote d' Ivory
 Nigeria
 Burkina Faso
 Gabon
 Senegal
 Cameroons
 Madagascar
 Somalia
 Central Africa
 Mali
 Togo
 Chad
 Mauretania
 Zaire
 Congo
 Niger

British Decolonization

In countries with only a few white settlers, like in Nigeria, decolonization was carried out like in
India: Britain made reforms in the constitution and gave Nigerian people seats in the government
and administration. After that there were parlamentary elections and Nigeria became independent
in 1960.

In countries with more white people British troops didn't leave immediately. This led to violence
in many countries. An example of this is the Mau-Mau-Insurrection (1952-1956) in Kenya,
which finally reached independence in 1963.

Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), North Rhodesia (Zambia) and Nyasaland (Malawi) were united in the
Federation of Central Africa (1953-1963). The Federation disbanded when Nyasaland left it.
Nyasaland and North Rhodesia got independent in 1966 and 1964. Since 1962 the "Rhodesian
Front" ruled in Rhodesia, which fought for white supremacy. In 1965 Rhodesia declared
independence from Britain unilaterally. It was the first state that declared independence
unilaterally after the US. Great Britain said in explanation that it didn't want Rhodesia to get
independent as long as there was no political equality for the African majority. The economic
sanctions of Great Britain and the United Nations didn't have any effect on the white regime.
After many years of guerilla war of the ZANU (Zimbabwe African National Union) and the
ZAPU (Zimbabwe African People's Union) the African majority finally won in 1980.
French Decolonization

In 1958 France gave its African colonies the opportunity of choosing whether to become
independent or to join the French Community (Communauté Francaise). Guinea was the only
state that decided to get independent in 1958, all the other states followed in 1960.

Algeria, which was not regarded a colony but rather a part of France, got its independence after
several years of war (1954-1962). France tried to stop the rebellion with brutal methods like
deportation, terror, military action,... . After the death of a few hundred thousand people the FLN
(Front de Libération Nationale) finally succeeded.

Belgian Decolonization

In 1960 Belgian-Congo (Zaire) became independent although it was not prepared for
independence, because Belgium had only exploited the colony and had done nothing for the
country itself. When Zaire became independent, there was not one black doctor, not one black
judge and not one black engineer in the whole country. In July 1960 there was political unrest
and 30,000 white citizens left Zaire hastily. When the richest province, Katanga, declared
independence, the UN sent in troops. In 1963 they forced Katanga to reunite with Zaire.

Decolonization in Asia

The decolonization of Asia was the gradual growth of independence movements on the Asian
continent, leading ultimately to the retreat of foreign powers and the creation of a number of
nation-states in the region. A number of events were catalysts for this shift, most importantly the
Second World War. Prior to World War II, some countries such as the Philippines during 1898
had proclaimed independence from Spain. The first state to be de-colonized was the Philippines
in 1898, and the last was Macau in 1999.

European powers began colonizing Asia in the early 16th century, beginning with the Portuguese
seizure of sites along the west coast of India, Ceylon and Malacca. In 1511, Portugal established
a permanent base in Malacca. In 1565, Spain commenced its colonization of the Philippine
Islands, creating a long sea trade route via Mexico to Spain.

The decline of Spain and Portugal in the 17th century paved the way for other European powers,
namely the Netherlands, France and England. Portugal would lose influence in all but three of its
colonies, Portuguese India, Macau and Timor.

By the end of the 17th century, the Dutch had taken over much of the old Portuguese colonies,
and had established a strong presence in present-day Indonesia, with colonies in Aceh, Bantam,
Makassar and Jakarta. The Dutch also had trade links with Siam, Japan, China and Bengal.
The British had competed with Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch for their interests in Asia since
the early 17th century, and by the mid-19th century held much of India (via the British East India
Company), as well as Burma, Ceylon, Malaya and Singapore. After India's First War of
Independence of 1857, Queen Victoria was declared Empress of India, thus solidifying the
British rule on the subcontinent. The last British acquisition in Asia was the New Territories of
Hong Kong, which was leased from the Qing emperor in 1897, expanding the British colony
originally ceded in the Treaty of Nanking in 1842.

The French had little success in India following defeats against the British in the 17th century,
though they held onto possessions on the east coast of India (such as Pondicherry and Mahar)
until decolonization. The French established their most lucrative and substantial colony in
Indochina from 1862, eventually occupying the present-day areas of Vietnam, Laos, and
Cambodia by 1887.

Japan's first colony was the island of Taiwan, occupied in 1874 and officially ceded by the Qing
emperor in 1894. Japan continued its early imperialism with the annexation of Korea in 1910.

The United States entered the region in 1898 during the Spanish–American War, taking the
Philippines as its sole colony through a mock battle in the capital and the purchase of the
Philippines from Spain after the declaration of independence and the First Philippine Republic.

India became independent from Britain on August 15,1947 after a long fight led by Mahatma
Gandhi in a non violent way by methods of civil disobedience.

Vietnam became independent after the Vietnam War (1946-1975).

References

Shillington, Kevin. History of Africa. 2nd Ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005

Ngugi Wa’Thiongo. Decolonizing the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature.
Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann, 1986

Toward the African Revolution. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1967

Duara, Prasenjit, ed. Decolonization: Perspectives from Now and Then. New York:

Routledge, 2003.