NELSON NELSON MODERNHISTORY MODERNHISTORY

NELSON MODERNHISTORY

DECOLONISATION DECOLONISATION Nelson Cengage has developed this series A Globalised World for Australian senior secondary students of Age of Imperialism Modern History. The series includes titles Australia 1918–1950s that encompass the period from the 18th century to the contemporary world and China and Revolution they explore the social, cultural and political Civil Rights in the United States of America developments that shape the 21st century. Decolonisation Written by experienced educators and Germany 1918–1945 experts in their fields, each book builds on India a narrative framework to incorporate recent research and historiography, primary and Recognition and Rights of Indigenous Peoples secondary sources, and learning activities. Russia and the Soviet Union These key features combine to support the The American Revolution development of historical knowledge and The Changing World Order understanding and historical skills that will enable students to interpret and reflect on The Enlightenment Decolonisation the experience and developments that have The French Revolution Decolonisation is the term used to describe the process of the breakup of empires and created the world in which they live. the establishment, or re-establishment, of nation states. After 1945, the European imperial The Industrial Revolution powers, such as France, the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands, responded to the The Struggle for Peace in the Middle East demands of their colonial subjects for independence. The nature of the demands for independence United States of America 1917–1945 ranged from peaceful agitation and negotiation, as in British India, to bloody and protracted wars, as in French Indochina. Regardless of the path to independence, the outcome was the Women’s Movements establishment of dozens of new nation states in Africa and Asia after the Second World War. Workers’ Rights This transformation is most clearly illustrated in the membership of the United Nations. Formed in 1945 with 51 member nations, drawn mainly from Europe and the Americas, by 1970 the Unitied Nations’ membership had more than doubled to include 127 countries. Most of these new members were recently decolonised nations in Africa and Asia. WOOD

Franklin D Roosevelt

ISBN: 978-0170244046 In the Atlantic Charter of 1941, Franklin D Roosevelt, as President of the United States of America, called for the right of self-determination and self-government of imperial colonies. This charter encouraged nationalist ASHLEY WOOD movements around the world to question the nature of imperial rule. SERIES EDITOR: TONY TAYLOR Read more about the Atlantic Charter and Franklin D Roosevelt in Chapter 1. 9 780170 244046 For learning solutions, visit cengage.com.au

decol_sb_44046_cvr_gatefold_finalart.indd 1-4 23/07/14 10:46 AM If a people does not want to be ruled in the old way anymore, there is nothing much that can be done.

Eric Hobsbawm

Australia • Brazil • Japan • Korea • Mexico • Singapore • Spain • United Kingdom • United States 9780170244046 iii Contents

About the series iv Series editor acknowledgements vi Author acknowledgements vii

001 Introduction 090 Chapter 4 The Congo 006 CHAPTER 1 Decolonisation – 108 Chapter 5 an overview Algeria

042 Chapter 2 134 Chapter 6 India East Timor

064 Chapter 3 146 Conclusion Vietnam

Index 150 9780170244046 developments oftheperiod. and summarisesthemajor is abird’s-eye viewofthetopic Illustrated timeline to ensure that you develop the skills and attributes you need in senior History subjects. to ensuresubjects. thatyoudeveloptheskillsandattributesneedinseniorHistory contestability, tounderstandandinterpret societiesfrom thepast.TheactivitiesandtasksinDecolonisation the historicalconcepts,suchasevidence,continuityandchange,causeeffect, significance,empathy, perspectivesand As seniorstudentsyouwillusehistoricalskills,includingresearch, evaluation,synthesis,analysisandcommunication, world. come tobetterappreciate themakingofmodern isaninterpretiveseries. EachbookintheseriesisbasedonunderstandingthatHistory studyofpastbywhichyoualso History andispartoftheNelsonModern studentsofHistory Decolonisation hasbeendevelopedespeciallyforseniorsecondary Using Decolonisation figures and frequently include questions and activities. figures andfrequently include questionsandactivities. are biographicalprofiles and assessmentsof key historical SIGNIFICANT Developing understandings of the past and present in senior History extends on the skills you learnt in earlier years. inearlieryears. Developing understandingsofthepastandpresent extendsontheskillsyoulearnt inseniorHistory about the series INDIVIDUALS

provide acontexttotheissuesthatare addressed. CHAPTER introductions learning andrevision. documents asaready reference for definitions andsummariesof key feature briefbiographies,profiles, Key documents and concepts, terms organisations, Key Key figures and of evidencefrom thepast. evaluation andinterpretation and activitiestoaidyour combined withquestions through thetextandare literature appearfrequently sources andsecondary of visualandtextprimary Source Studies each chapter. you asread provide afocusfor These questions start ofthechapter. are listed atthe questions Inquiry have been written have beenwritten

97801702440469780170244091 97801702440469780170244091 around Australia.Forfurther informationabouttheseries visit: series includesnumerous History titlesonarangeoftopicscovered courses The NelsonModern inseniorHistory Beyond thisbook and activities. Many alsoincludequestions historical developments. of key events,conceptsand contain extendeddiscussions INFORMATION BO XES

www.nelsonsecondary.com.au. complex ideasandevents. are usedtovisuallysummarise a rangeofhistoricalunderstandingsandskills. the chapter’s content.These tasksincorporate consolidate knowledge andunderstandingof reading, andarangeoflearningactivitiesthat precis ofthetopic,suggestionsforfurther conclude eachchapter. They includeabrief CHAPTER CHAPTER T DIAGRAMS alk ing sources SUMMARY REVIEW ACTIVITIES this periodinhistory. understanding andinterpretation of these finaltaskswillhelpyoubuildan your knowledge ofit.More importantly, a seriesofactivitiestoconsolidate summarises thetopicandincludes THE ANd C onclusion

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v Corbis/Hulton-Deutsch Collection

9780170244046 2 Key figures and organisations

AHMED BEN BELLA WINSTON CHURCHILL MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND (1916–2012) (1874–1965) GANDHI (1869–1948)

Soldier, revolutionary and Algeria’s Served as British prime minister on India’s most famous nationalist leader. first president. He fought with the two occasions: 1940–45 and 1951–55. He is forever associated with non-violent Free French Forces in the First World He held a variety of positions in the resistance as a method of protest and is War but returned home determined British government before becoming regarded as the father of modern India. to bring about independence for prime minister after the defeat of He trained as a lawyer in England and Algeria. He became a key figure in Neville Chamberlain in 1940. He led worked in South Africa before returning the National Liberation Front (FLN). Britain throughout the Second World to India in 1914. He immediately began Although arrested by the French, he War and was a staunch supporter of lobbying for independence and was was released in 1962 to attend the Britain’s empire. He stated in 1942, imprisoned several times for sedition. peace talks that resulted in Algerian ‘I have not become the King’s First Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu independence. Minister in order to preside over the extremist in 1948. liquidation of the British Empire’.

ROGER CASEMENT PATRICE LUMUMBA (1864–1916) CHARLES DE GAULLE (1925–61) (1890–1970) Irish-born writer and British consul, who later became a political activist. The 1904 Casement Report that investigated human rights abuses within the Congo Free State resulted in the formation of the Congo Reform Movement and with Casement’s Congolese nationalist, politician support it demanded that the atrocities French general, politician and and founder of the Congolese be addressed. president of France from 1959 to Nationalist Movement in 1958. 1969. Remembered mainly for his After parliamentary elections in the role in leading the Free French Forces newly independent Congo in 1960 in the Second World War, he also he became prime minister but was played an important part in Algerian dismissed later that year by President independence. Historians are divided Kasavubu. He was assassinated by as to whether he was determined to Belgian forces in January 1961. set Algeria free or whether he only did so when presented with no other option. 9780170244046

2 9780170244046 Winston Churchill 20 years earlier. different viewfrom that heldby of decolonisation.Thiswasavery In it,herecognised theinevitability during atourofSouthAfricain1960. of change’ speech, which was delivered 1963. Heiswellknownforhis‘winds British primeministerfrom 1957to address thesituation. the CongoReformAssociationto the CasementReport,Morel formed ivory. In1904,followingtherelease of arriving carriedvaluablerubberand no commercial goods,whileships guns, chainsandotherordnance, but ships boundfortheCongocarried shipping agent.Morelthat observed when heworkedwithaLiverpool Congo. Hissuspicionswere firstraised role inexposingtheatrocities inthe newspaper articlesplayedasignificant andpolitician.His British journalist (1894–1986) HAROLD MACMILLAN (1873–1924) EDMUND DENE MOREL

Alamy/Keystone Pictures USA; Alamy/HeritageImagePartnershipLtd;Getty/Popperfoto Corbis/Hulton-Deutsch Collection;Corbis;Corbis/Henri Bureau/Sygma;Corbis/Bettmann;GettyImages/Time LifePictures/Terrence Spencer; reduce tensionswithPakistan. of importantpoliciesandworkedto partition heintroduced anumber British forhispoliticalactivities.After was imprisonedseveraltimesbythe He wasanavidfollowerofGandhiand the IndianNationalCongress in1918. asalawyerbefore and served joining in 1947.HewaseducatedEngland prime ministerofindependentIndia Indian politicianandelectedthefirst Nobel PeacePrizein1919. war Europe. Forhisefforts hewonthe and outlinedplansforapeacefulpost- aimed tocreate the LeagueofNations end oftheFirstWorld War, which Points’ peaceplandrawnupatthe He iswellknownforhis‘Fourteen president ofthe UnitedStatesin1912. New Jerseybefore beingelected28th of Studied lawandwasgovernor (1889–1964) JAWAHARLAL NEHRU (1856–1924) WOODROW WILSON

the NationalLiberationFront (FLN). sidelined in1954withthecreation of was repressed bypolice,andwasfurther Party. Itwasactiveuntil1950whenit the remnants oftheAlgerianPopular in 1946byAhmedMessaliHadjfrom Algerian nationalistmovementfounded the cease-fire in 1962. but wascurtailedwiththesigningof OAS wantedAlgeriatoremain French Army wouldregain theinitiative.The chaos inAlgeriasothattheFrench 1960–62, theOASaimedtocreate by GeneralRaoulSalan.Activein A group ofFrench Algeriansled the rulingpoliticalpartyinAlgeria. imprisonment. TheFLNiscurrently Ben Bellapriorto,andafter, his into onecoalition.ItwasledbyAhmed groups withsimilarnationalist ideas by combininganumberofdifferent 1950s partlyfrom theMTLDbut also colonialism. Itformedintheearly involved inthefightagainstFrench The keyAlgerianpoliticalgroup ( Secrète, Organisation Secret Démocratiques le Triomphe des Libertés Liberties Mo Triumph Libération Nationale, Front National Organisation de l’ vement ( Arm Front de OAS) of Democratic ( Liberation ent pour Mouvement pour for y

, MTLD) the

Introduction Armée

FLN)

3 6 Corbis 9780170244046 Decolonisation 7

Chapter one

Decolonisation – an overview

‘If a people does not want to be ruled in the old way anymore, there is nothing much that can be done.’ Eric Hobsbawm, Revolutionaries: Contemporary Essays, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1973, p.171

The second half of the 20th century saw perhaps the greatest political changes the world has ever experienced. In the 30 years from the end of the Second World War, dozens of nations gained their independence through the process known as ‘decolonisation’. The upheavals of the first part of the century – the First World War and the Great Depression – took their toll on the great European imperial nations such as France and Britain, and at the same time colonial peoples went through a period of political awakening. But these factors alone were not enough to create the conditions for decolonisation. The Second World War exhausted the imperial nations to an extent that they either realised they could no longer hold on to their colonial possessions, or they tried to reaffirm their rule in an effort to rebuild their empire. Either way, the result was that more than 50 new independent countries were created in the 30 years following the war. Whether the transition to independence was peaceful or not depended on a range of factors, including the type of colonial rule, the nature of the Inquiry question independence movement and the influence of global issues at the time. ++What factors made decolonisation possible? ❮ English Prime Minister Winston Churchill and US President Franklin Roosevelt photographed on board ship during the Atlantic Conference, which took place in the harbour of Argentia off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, in August 1941. 9780170244046 Chapter 1 Decolonisation – an overview 8 What is decolonisation? Quite simply, decolonisation is the gradual process by which colonisation is undone. It usually refers to the 20-year period after the Second World War, when most nations in Africa and Asia won their independence from their colonial rulers. New nations were created, and the power of Europe declined. In the first half of the 20th century, European powers reached their fullest extent. The end of the First World War had resulted in the confiscation of Germany’s colonies and the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire. The Allied nations – mainly Great Britain, Belgium and France – took control of their enemy’s former territories, thereby expanding their own. Britain and France shared control of the former Ottoman possessions in the Middle East. Germany’s nationalism A feeling of pride that former African colonies came under Belgian or British rule, while the colonies in the Pacific develops among a group region became territories of Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand or Japan. of people with a shared Nationalism had been seen in the interwar period, but the colonial powers were able background, culture, religion or language to resist any moves for independence and maintained control over both their new and old colonies. But after the end of the Second World War in 1945, things were very different. This time the victorious nations were exhausted militarily, economically and imperially. Japanese victories in Asia had demonstrated the vulnerability of Europe’s colonial powers, and within two decades their empires had crumbled as waves of nationalism swept across Africa and Asia.

Nations and nationalism

The ‘nation’ In order to understand ‘nationalism’ it is important to appropriately define the term ‘nation’. Importantly, a distinction must be made between a nation and a state. A state is a territory governed by a single political entity, for example Canada, Japan or Germany. A nation, on the other hand, is not necessarily identified by political boundaries, rather it is a group of people who share a common identity which is defined in terms of language, religion, ethnicity, history or culture. While there are many cases of states that are also nations, there are also many nations that are not political states.

Nationalism Nationalism as a term has multiple meanings. Historians use it to describe a sense of shared or common identity. These shared understandings of belonging combine with a feeling of pride and loyalty in one’s nation or country and a desire for its people to come together in political independence. It can also refer to a policy or movement that works towards achieving that independence. While nationalism in practice has been present for centuries – rebellions against Roman rule by Germanic tribes could be regarded as a form of proto-nationalism – the idea of nationalism in a modern sense developed with European domination of the world in the 19th and 20th centuries. This form of nationalism developed particularly after the French Revolution, when the relationship between the people and the state was being redefined after the overthrowing of the royalty. These ideas spread during the late 9780170244046 Decolonisation 9

19th century to Eastern Europe as well as to its western fringes, as, for example, with the development of modern Irish nationalism. Since the French Revolution, two broad schools of thought have developed around nationalism – primordialism or perennialism, and modernism. Primordialism holds that nationalism is a result of natural human evolution, during which time humans will inevitably organise into definable groups and subsequently begin to identify with those groups. Modernism, on the other hand, rejects this theory and instead contends that nationalism is a result of the structure of modern societies. In particular, the widening access to information that was available to people in the 18th and 19th-century industrial age brought people together in a way previously unseen. Historian and political scientist Benedict Anderson suggests that ‘print language is what invents nationalism’. Anderson takes the theory one step further and proposes that nations themselves are in fact ‘imagined political communities’. He proposes that the very idea of a nation and a community is somewhat contrived because ‘members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them’, but they nevertheless consider themselves part of the same community. To illustrate this point, consider the Olympic Games. It is quite normal for citizens of a particular country to come together to cheer on their athletes even though any one of those people will only ever know a tiny fraction of those with whom they associate themselves. Their community is, according to Anderson, ‘imagined’. Imagined or not, as European empires asserted their control over much of the world, the people they controlled were given little or no say in the decisions that affected them. Resentment against the colonial powers became organised into nationalist groups that argued, and often fought, for political independence.

Nationalism and the First World War Within Europe itself nationalism became a key factor in the outbreak of the First World War, and played a role not only in how the war began but also in how it ended. The assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 was motivated by nationalism. Gavrilo Princip, the young assassin, was a member of militant group The Black Hand, which advocated and fought for Serbian independence from the Austro-Hungarian empire. The shooting set in motion the events that would end with the mobilisation of Russian troops towards Austria in support of Serbia and Austria’s subsequent declaration of war on Russia. Similarly, recognition by US President Woodrow Wilson of nationalist aspirations influenced him in his writing of the famous ‘Fourteen Points’ plan in 1918 (see Key document on page 24). In it he argues for the redrawing of Europe’s borders after the war to take into account the self-determination desires of European peoples. Colonial people were inspired to interpret the Fourteen Points as referring to all colonial possessions. Therefore the First World War can be seen as part of the development of nationalism in the 20th century. 9780170244046 Chapter 1 Decolonisation – an overview 10 Colonisation and imperialism While often used interchangeably, the terms ‘colonisation’ and ‘imperialism’ have different meanings. Colonisation is the practice by which one country establishes a new settlement in another in order to trade with, exploit or settle the new territory. The process has been a feature of world history for thousands of years. As far back as 1000 bce the Phoenicians established colonies along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, and later the Roman Empire colonised much of Europe. The word ‘colony’ comes from the Latin colonia, which means to inhabit or cultivate. The German city of Cologne derives its name due to the fact that it began as a Roman colony. As European powers explored the world, they encountered new lands rich in resources. The Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries gave European nations a powerful appetite for those resources, be they cotton, rubber, minerals or simply labour. The relationship between a colony and its ruling nation was an exploitative one. Colonies gave up their resources, supplying raw materials, and received very little in return. Although new technology and infrastructure were often introduced into the colonies, the purpose was usually to make exploitation more efficient. Colonisation can be economic or strategic. The establishment of a colony can provide access to cheap labour and open up new markets, but in addition, that same colony can check the expansion of other interested world powers from expanding in the same region. Imperialism has a similar yet different meaning. Imperialism is the deliberate extension of rule by one state over others, with the intention to form an empire. Colonisation was often used as a method of imperialism – for example, the British colonised Australia and subsequently adopted it into their empire. At the same time the French were exploring the Pacific region, so the establishment of the colony at New South Wales in 1788 had, at least in part, strategic motivations.

‘The white man’s burden’ Colonialism has at its heart a fundamental belief in racism. For a nation to colonise and exploit another there needs to be a feeling that one’s own society is superior to that of the colonised. Parallel to the imposition of colonial rule on indigenous people was the introduction of Western values and religion in order to improve the lives of those people. In 1899, English writer Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem in response to the United States’ 1898 colonisation of the Philippines called ‘The White Man’s Burden’. In it he extols the virtues of colonisation for those being colonised, the ‘burden’ in the title suggesting that it is the moral obligation of the white man to help the ‘poor’ of the world and educate them in the ways of Western civilisation. It was interpreted almost cultural racism as a call to arms for colonial powers and helped to bring about the idea of cultural racism. The Western belief The term refers to the Western belief that different peoples in the world are at different levels developed in the 18th and 19th centuries that of evolution and that it is the duty of the most civilised – the Europeans – to help civilise the different peoples in the rest of the world. This notion helped to ensure guilt-free colonisation; the indigenous people world are at different levels were not being exploited, they were being helped! Alejandro Colas, lecturer and writer at the of evolution University of London, points out in his book Empire that, ‘empires are about expansion and subjection. In return they offer a third quality, namely “order” ’. The introduction of Christianity, education and the Western legal system were all intended to tame the ‘savage’ indigenous people and bring order to the perceived chaos that preceded the arrival of the Europeans. 9780170244046 Decolonisation 11

Rudyard Kipling – ‘The White Man’s Burden’ Published in 1899, Kipling’s poem brought about a certain pride in the feeling of superiority of the colonial powers over the lands they ruled. Penned in response to the United States’ colonisation of the Philippines, won from Spain in 1898, it has been interpreted in many different ways and acts almost as a guidebook for American colonialism passed on from the wisdom of the long existent British Empire. The ‘burden’ of the title is made clear in the first stanza. Kipling refers to the Philippinos as ‘sullen peoples, half-devil and half-child’, entreating the Americans to the British example of colonialism. In addition, the burden also falls on the colonial power to ‘bind your sons to exile’, suggesting that the new colonies will require constant care from ‘the best ye breed’. He points out the humanitarian side of colonialism and provides a justification for the actions of the great powers.

Take up the White Man’s burden– Send forth the best ye breed– Go bind your sons to exile To serve your captives’ need; To wait in heavy harness, On fluttered folk and wild– Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half-devil and half-child.

Take up the White Man’s burden– In patience to abide To veil the threat of terror And check the show of pride; By open speech and simple, An hundred times made plain, To seek another’s profit, And work another’s gain.

Take up the White Man’s burden– The savage wars of peace– Fill full the mouth of Famine And bid the sickness cease; And when your goal is nearest

The end for others sought, Alamy/The Art Archive Watch sloth and heathen Folly Source 1.1 Rudyard Kipling was a British poet and author. Born in India, he is most remembered for his stories of British soldiers stationed there. Bring all your hopes to nought. 9780170244046 Chapter 1 Decolonisation – an overview 12

Take up the White Man’s burden– Take up the White Man’s burden– No tawdry rule of kings, Ye dare not stoop to less– But toil of serf and sweeper– Nor call too loud on Freedom The tale of common things. To cloke your weariness; The ports ye shall not enter, By all ye cry or whisper, The roads ye shall not tread, By all ye leave or do, Go make them with your living, The silent, sullen peoples And mark them with your dead! Shall weigh your gods and you.

Take up the White Man’s burden– Take up the White Man’s burden– And reap his old reward: Have done with childish days– The blame of those ye better, The lightly proferred laurel, The hate of those ye guard– The easy, ungrudged praise. The cry of hosts ye humour Comes now, to search your manhood (Ah, slowly!) toward the light:– Through all the thankless years ‘Why brought he us from bondage, Cold, edged with dear-bought wisdom, Our loved Egyptian night?’ The judgment of your peers!

Rudyard Kipling, ‘The White Man’s Burden’, The Kipling Society. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Rudyard_Kipling.

Of course, little thought was really given to the effect of colonisation on those being colonised. Countless people were relocated from their homes to other areas for employment, such as in the Congo to harvest rubber; or for military service, such as in India to fight with the British in the First and Second World Wars. Economically, the colonies were also reliant upon their colonial rulers. Trade routes were established and patterns of trade emerged. For example, exports from British India to Europe and North America were double the value of its exports to the rest of Asia, despite the Asian market being much closer. Of course, the Western powers highlighted these sorts of figures as proof of having improved the lot of the people within their colonies, but the colonial powers took more from the colonies than they put in. A glance at the average income per person illustrates this point. Historian LS Stavrianos estimated the average income in the colonies in 1850 was around one-fifth of that in the colonial homeland, one-sixth in 1900 and only one tenth in 1960. Socially, too, the colonies became dependent on their colonial rulers, but whatever social improvements were brought to the colonised – such as improved health care or education – they helped to play a part in the exploitation of their own country. Certainly the life expectancy increased in many colonies over the course of colonial rule – for example, from barely 30 years in India in 1900 to more than 40 at independence in 1947 – but one could argue that the standard of living did not necessarily increase by the same measure. Medical care ensured a healthy workforce, and basic education an ability to carry out menial tasks. British historian Niall Ferguson highlights other improvements brought to those living under European imperial power. As well as increased life expectancy in many colonies, better medical 9780170244046 Decolonisation 13

care in West African colonies reduced infant mortality and resulted in a rapid population increase. In French Indochina 20 000 miles of road and 2000 miles of railway were laid, allowing access to coal, zinc and tin mines. And in Cameroon, sleeping sickness was eradicated. But overall, colonial rulers thought of their own needs first. As Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, Napoleon’s foreign minister, pointed out, ‘Empire is the art of putting men in their place’. The colonisation of Asia European dominance over Asia began in the 15th and 16th centuries with the arrival of Portuguese missionaries, and later merchants. The merchants were initially interested in the spices and other exotic things Asia had to offer, and finding a quicker and more profitable route rather than across land meant greater profits. As the trading routes were established, ports and trading posts were established along the routes taken by the Portuguese. The region of western India and modern day Indonesia became important trading areas. As Portuguese dominance faded in the 17th century, it was the English, French and Dutch who became rivals for dominance over the riches of the East. The Dutch East India Company established its headquarters in Batavia (modern Jakarta) on the island of Java. From there it spread its trading routes around the archipelago that makes up much of South-East Asia. Meanwhile the English were staking claims in India through their own private company, the English East India Company. By the mid-17th century the English East India Company had established itself as the most powerful political force in India. After their defeat at the hands of the English in the Seven Years’ War (1756–63), the French influence in Asia was reduced to trade and religious missions until their ‘civilising mission’ to Indochina in the 19th century. For centuries trade was at the heart of contact between Europe and Asia. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, trade was focused on spices and exotic goods such as silk and porcelain. During the 18th and 19th centuries, that focus shifted more towards raw materials to feed the new manufacturing boom. Economically, colonialism introduced a new economy based on money. Farmers could sell surplus crops or could adapt their practices to ensure they produced a product wanted by the Europeans, such as rubber. As the supply of raw materials grew, the colonial rulers introduced the infrastructure to transport it – roads, railways and ports. Those living near the ‘grid’ of transport benefited from the new ease of travel and communication, both socially and economically. However, isolated regions remained undeveloped and the colonial ruling strategy of ‘divide and conquer’ was put to effective use in much of the region. By 1895 all of South-East Asia, with the exception of Siam (modern Thailand), was under European colonial control. The French had colonised French Indochina; Burma and Singapore were controlled by the British; Spain controlled the Philippines although in 1898 lost it to the United States; the Dutch possessed the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia); and the Portuguese still hung on to Timor. In China, European influence was limited to the insistence that China open up her ports for trade with the West, as well as with Japan. For centuries China was herself a colonial power in Asia, having direct control over much of what is now Vietnam and Laos. During the time of European expansion in the 18th and 19th centuries, China was never a colonial possession, but over the course of those two centuries Western and Japanese influence devastated China’s economy and society. 9780170244046 Chapter 1 Decolonisation – an overview 14

British INDIA CHINA Dutch French PACIFIC German BURMA OCEAN FRENCH INDOCHINA Independent Portuguese Spanish Rangoon SIAM Bangkok Manila

Saigon PHILIPPINES

MALAYA

Singapore

INDIAN OCEAN GERMAN NEW GUINEA Batavia

DUTCH EAST INDIES BRITISH NEW GUINEA EAST TIMOR 0 500 1000 Kilometres (approx) N AUSTRALIA

Source 1.2 European colonies in South-East Asia, 1895. The extent of colonial control is clear, with all of South-East Asia, except Siam (Thailand), under the rule of a European nation. Three years later, in 1898, the Philippines would be lost by Spain to the United States.

The scramble for Africa In the 1800s the situation in Africa was quite different from that in Asia. While Europeans had been trading along the coast for centuries, the process of European colonisation did not occur in earnest until the last three decades of the 19th century. By then Europeans had discovered the health benefits of quinine and, armed with some resistance to malaria, they were able to venture more confidently into the jungles and river systems of central Africa. When quinine A naturally occurring European expansion into Africa did finally happen, it happened very quickly indeed. In substance found in the 1884–85, the Berlin Conference was held by German Chancellor Bismarck to establish bark of the cinchona tree, found to be an effective agreements between the major European powers and the United States for what became treatment for malaria. known as the ‘scramble for Africa’. In the absence of any African representation, agreements 9780170244046 Decolonisation 15

Algiers Tunis MEDITERRANEAN SEA Tripoli Cairo N

PROVINCES OF i l e

OTTOMAN EMPIRE

R

i

v

e r

Se ne g Dakar a N Massawa l R i g i e v r

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r i v e

r Addis Ababa

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Mogadishu

Libreville

C o n g Zanzibar ATLANTIC o

OCEAN R

i v

e Luanda r INDIAN OCEAN Z

a m Mozambique b KEY TO TERRITORY UNDER e z OCCUPATION OR CLAIMED i R BY EUROPEAN POWERS iv e r

Belgian Walvis Bay Boer Republics British Luderitz Bay

French Or ange R iv e r German Cape Town Portuguese Spanish 0 500 1000 1500 Kilometres (approx) N

Source 1.3 European colonies prior to the ‘scramble for Africa’.

were made for the allocation of trading regions and navigation on African waterways. European colonisation of Africa was already underway, but it was decided that basic ‘rules’ were needed to maintain some sort of control. With the words of South African businessman Cecil Rhodes echoing in their minds – ‘We are the first race in the world and the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race’ – the European powers sliced up Africa like a giant cake. In addition, Africa had two factors that worked against it – political weakness and military weakness. 9780170244046 Chapter 1 Decolonisation – an overview 16 Alamy/Photos 12

Source 1.4 The Berlin Conference 1884–85 at which the leaders of Europe and the United States agreed upon the division of Africa, thereby signalling the beginning of the ‘scramble for Africa’.

Political weakness The traditional African political structure illustrates why European conquest of Africa occurred relatively late, and also why, once established, European rule was so complete. In the 18th and 19th centuries, states in Africa were generally small – much smaller than other areas of colonial interest such as Asia or South America. In fact, for many people in Africa the largest political group was the clan. This made it difficult for Europeans to make far-reaching treaties or agreements because an agreement made with one clan would be no guarantee of an agreement with any neighbouring clans. Wars were common between rival clans and political unity was rare. In fact, in the early days of the European slave trade in Africa, treaties could be made with one clan with the express purpose of helping provide slaves from another for European export. While these tribal rivalries made the establishment of European power in Africa difficult initially, their long-term effect was that they made any coordinated opposition to European rule practically impossible. The Europeans played rival tribes against one another in their divide- and-conquer strategy, and it worked extremely well. Few alliances were made between African clans, and in fact tribal rivalry often rose again after independence, for example in the Congo. As soon as the Belgians left in 1962, the country, unprepared for its independence, descended into political chaos from which even today it has not recovered. 9780170244046 Decolonisation 17

Military weakness The military advantage held by Europeans over Africans was immense. Weapons such as the machine gun could fire hundreds of bullets every minute and a four-man crew could potentially hold off a force of hundreds. Historian Martin Gilbert, in his book A History of the Twentieth Century, calls a particularly effective type of machine gun, the Maxim gun, ‘the gun most associated with British imperial conquest’. Equal to its actual use in battle was the threat of its use – the machine gun became a powerful deterrent for the British in their expansion in Africa. There were other powerful weapons as well. Artillery made African settlements and fortresses defenceless, and in the late 19th century European soldiers carried more advanced repeater rifles. Europeans also had the training and discipline that African armies generally did not. Modern tactics played an important role too, as did the African refusal to adopt those same tactics when armed with the few modern weapons they possessed. All of this more than compensated for the European inferiority of numbers. At Sokoto in central West Africa in 1903, a British force of 600 held off a determined attack by more than 30 000. There were African victories, perhaps most famously by the force of Zulu warriors over the English at Isandlwana in 1879 (it was the first defeat of a British imperial force by an African army), but overall European military superiority would prove decisive.

British possessions The British controlled the largest slice of Africa, from Cairo to Capetown, as well as Nigeria and some West African colonies. In Uganda the country was divided arbitrarily into north and south, regardless of any traditional boundaries. Likewise in Sudan, the northern Arab region was ruled separately from the southern African area. The ‘divide and conquer’ policy helped to cement British rule, but created a climate of tension and distrust among the indigenous populations. In both countries, those tensions emerged again after decolonisation in the 20th century and the two nations were plunged into civil war. Britain’s other African colonies were administered by ‘indirect rule’, meaning that while there was a British governor-general who was in charge of the colony as a whole, at the local levels the country was administered through pre-existing leadership and political presence.

French possessions French colonial possessions extended across Western Africa and included Algeria, French Equatorial Africa and French West Africa covering modern Mali, Niger, Chad and Cote d’Ivoire. In addition, the French claimed Madagascar. Where the British ruled indirectly, the French wanted assimilation of their colonial populations. The desire was to create French Africans. The process was more difficult than expected but despite this the French conscripted nearly 250 000 Africans to fight in the First World War. Their observations of the liberties available to the French but not to themselves as colonial subjects coloured their view of colonialism, and they returned home from war with new ambitious political desires. 9780170244046 Chapter 1 Decolonisation – an overview 18

The Rhodes Colossus Cecil Rhodes, an English businessman, politician and mining magnate, was the founder of the Southern African territory of Rhodesia. Photos.com

Source 1.5 ‘The Rhodes Colossus’, a cartoon from the British Punch magazine, 1892. It caricaturised Cecil Rhodes after his announcement of plans for a telegraph line to be laid from Cape Town in South Africa to Cairo in Egypt. 9780170244046 Decolonisation 19

Questions

1 Conduct some research into the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. In what way is the image above a caricature of the Colossus? 2 The image is from a British publication and portrays a British historical figure. How do you think this might affect its reliability as a historical source?

French defence of colonialism In 1890, French Premier Jules Ferry encouraged the policy of overseas expansion and stated that colonialism and capitalism are inherently linked. He discussed the protectionism that develops within the imperial system and suggested that the acquisition of colonies is a natural progression of the European consumer society. His views were echoed by the other colonial powers of the time. ‘Colonial policy is the child of the Industrial Revolution. For wealthy countries where capital abounds … exports are essential for public prosperity. Both demand for labour and scope for capital investment depend on the foreign market. With the arrival of the latest industrial giants, the United States and Germany … not to mention Russia waiting in the wings, Europe has embarked on a competitive course from which she will be unable to turn back. … the raising of high tariffs has resulted in an increasing volume of manufactured goods, the disappearance of traditional markets, and the appearance of fierce competition. Countries react by raising their own tariff barriers, but that is not enough. The protectionist system, unless accompanied by a serious colonial policy, is like a steam engine without a safety valve. Social stability in this industrial age clearly depends on outlets for industrial goods … Colonial policy is an international manifestation of the eternal laws of competition. The Republicans [the ruling French party at the time] have, in less than 10 years, given France four kingdoms in Asia and Africa. Three of them are linked to us by tradition and treaty. The fourth represents our contribution to peaceful conquest, the bringing of civilisation into the heart of equatorial Africa.’ Christine Walsh, Prologue – a documentary history of Europe 1848–1960, Cassell Australia, 1968, pp. 190–91.

Questions

1 Describe the association between colonialism and the Industrial Revolution. 2 What did Jules Ferry claim the French were bringing into the ‘heart of equatorial Africa’? 3 Do you think Ferry’s final point contradicts his previous argument? Explain your views.

tariffs Taxes paid on imports and exports entering or leaving a country 9780170244046 Chapter 1 Decolonisation – an overview 20

Belgian possessions The Belgian colonies of Africa included the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi. The region of the Congo was claimed as a personal possession of King Leopold II of Belgium and became his business interest. Rich in natural rubber, the Congo became a source of immense wealth for the king, who exploited the people and the land with an unprecedented level of brutality. Joseph Conrad, author of Heart of Darkness, the 1902 novel set in the Congo, called Belgian rule ‘the vilest scramble for loot that ever disfigured the history of human conscience and geographical exploration’. The invention of the pneumatic tyre meant that rubber became a valuable new commodity, and the population of the Congo was put to work to ensure its continued harvesting. Quotas were set and families were regularly held hostage as an added ‘incentive’ for the head of the household to work hard. Failure to reach the required quota resulted in barbaric punishments including cutting off the left hand. With so many forced to work harvesting rubber, food crops were left unharvested and famine ensued. It is estimated that as many as 10 million people died in the Congo in the last two decades of the 19th century. In Rwanda the Belgians established the Hutus as the workforce and the Tutsis as the indirect administrators of Belgian rule. The politicisation of the two tribes created tensions that remain to this day and played a major role in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 in which the Hutus slaughtered up to one million Tutsis.

Other European possessions The French, British and Belgian empires controlled most of Africa, but other European empires were nevertheless active in acquiring territories. Since Germany had only become unified in 1870, its establishment of imperial possessions was not on the same scale as that of the British and French. Its African colonies consisted of German East Africa (modern Tanzania), German Southwest Africa (Namibia) and Cameroon. The Portuguese controlled Mozambique, Angola and Port Guinea, and the Italian Empire consisted of Libya, Eritrea and Somaliland. Remarkably, only two nations remained independent in Africa during the height of colonial control – Liberia and Abyssinia (Ethiopia). Later, even Abyssinia came under the control of Italy in the 1930s. The world in 1900 By 1900 most of the world was dominated by a handful of imperial powers, mainly European, but also Japan and the United States. These nations had well-established empires with the largest being the British Empire. Almost 20 per cent of the world’s population, 450 million people, lived within it and the phrase ‘the sun never sets on the British Empire’ referred to the fact that no matter what time of day or night in Britain, it was daytime somewhere in the British Empire. It extended from Canada in the north to New Zealand in the south, from Fiji in the Pacific to 9780170244046 Decolonisation 21

EUROPE

TUNISIA MADEIRA (PORTUGAL) MOROCCO MEDITERRANEAN SEA ASIA

CANARY IS. IFNI Suez Canal (SPAIN) ALGERIA LIBYA RIO DE ORO

EGYPT

N Red Sea

FRENCH WEST i l e

AFRICA R

i v

e

r CAPE VERDE er Rive ig r Is. (PORTUGAL) N FRENCH ERITREA EQUATORIAL ANGLO- GAMBIA AFRICA EGYPTIAN PORT SUDAN SOMALILAND GUINEA NIGERIA GOLD ABYSSINIA SIERRA COAST (ETHIOPIA) LEONE CAMEROON INDIAN TOGOLAND LIBERIA OCEAN ongo Riv C er RIO MUNI UGANDA KENYA SAO TOME AND SEYCHELLES PRINCIPE (PORTUGAL) (BRITAIN) BELGIAN CONGO GERMAN ZANZIBAR (BRITAIN) CABINDA EAST AFRICA (TANGANYIKA) ALDABRA IS. (BRITAIN) NYASALAND ANGOLA COMORO IS. (FRANCE) NORTHERN Zam bezi R RHODESIA iv er ST HELENA GERMAN (BRITAIN) MADAGASCAR Belgian SOUTHWEST MOZAMBIQUE MAURITIUS AFRICA (BRITAIN) BECHUANA- (NAMIBIA) British LAND REUNION SOUTHERN (FRANCE) French WALVIS BAY RHODESIA (BRITAIN) German SWAZILAND Independent SOUTH AFRICA BASUTOLAND Italian ATLANTIC Portuguese OCEAN 0 500 1000 Spanish Kilometres (approx) N

Source 1.6 Africa at the beginning of the 20th century. With the exception of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and Liberia, the entire continent was controlled by European imperial powers.

Gibraltar in the Mediterranean. France’s empire was the next largest, with colonies in Africa and Asia. Others, including those of the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal and Spain, were also important empires. How was it, then, that empires that were built up over centuries found themselves collapsing in the 20th century? The reasons are complex, and no two decolonisation experiences were the same. Different countries followed different paths to independence and those paths were influenced by the differences in nationalist movements and ideas of nationalism, nature of colonial rule, economic issues and even geographical differences. But while they were different, generalisations can be made about the impact of world events and, like all historical events or changes, one needs to take into account a range of long- and short-term factors. 9780170244046 Chapter 1 Decolonisation – an overview 22 European states. Source 1.7 Decolonisation 0 Kilometres (approx) PACIFIC OCEAN 1500 Majorstatesandempires,1900.Thismapillustratesclearlyhowmuchoftheworldwascontrolledbyarelativelysmallnumber 3000 CANADA UNITED STATES N because ofhorrifichuman rightsabuses,andthetransferhadoccurred withoutincident. by BelgianKingLeopoldII, hadbeenhandedovertotheBelgianparliamentfor administration imperial authority. In1908 theCongoFree State,effectively anenormousprivateestateowned world. There were somestirringsofnationalism, butnothingthatwouldindicateachallengeto thereIn thefirstdecadeof20thcentury were fewthreats toEuropean rulearound the independence movements. This, combinedwithanemerging vulnerabilityof theEuropean powers,sawthebeginningof The FirstandSecondWorld Wars sawarise innationalismcoloniesaround theworld. of Europeanimperial powers The World Wars andthedecline The eve of BRITISH GUIANA GREENLAND DUTCH GUIANA ATLANTIC OCEAN FRENCH GUIANA the FirstW NETHERLANDS Belgium Other independent states PORTUGAL BELGIUM MAJOR WORLD STATESMAJOR ANDCOLONIAL POSSESSIONS,1900 BRITAIN GREAT WEST AFRICA SOUTHWEST FRANCE GERMAN FRENCH AFRICA SPAIN DENMARK orld W ITALY GERMANY BELGIAN CONGO AFRICA SOUTH SUDAN EGYPT OTTOMAN EMPIRE Portugal Britain ar BRITISH EASTAFRICA GERMAN EASTAFRICA France Spain INDIA INDIAN OCEAN BURMA RUSSIA The Netherlands Germany EAST INDIES DUTCH FRENCH CHINA INDO- EAST TIMOR AUSTRALIA PHILIPPINES JAPAN Italy United States ZEALAND PACIFIC OCEAN NEW

9780170244046 23

In India, the British contingent of 7500 personnel kept peaceful order over the population of some quarter of a billion people. The Indian National Congress had been formed to enable discussions between coloniser and colonised, but few were calling for outright independence at that stage. The French experienced some sporadic rebellions against their rule in Algeria, but they responded by annexing the country to France and administering its three regions as if they were départements of France itself and French rule was, if anything, made stronger. The European imperial system seemed secure and the colonisers could convince themselves that, by and large, those they had colonised knew their place. De Talleyrand’s observations from a century earlier seemed perfectly accurate.

THE FIRST WORLD WAR The effect of the First World War on emerging nationalist movements is an important consideration. Politically, the victorious powers emerged from the conflict with their empires intact, or even expanded if they were allocated a former enemy’s colony as a mandate. The scale of the war meant that most empires called upon soldiers from their colonies and so, for example, the French army was not only made up of French soldiers but also soldiers from Algeria and Vietnam. While serving in Europe, the colonial troops observed the living conditions and liberties that were available to citizens in Europe but were denied to them in their colony. They returned home to a cool reception from the colonial rulers. For example, little of the glory or honour that was bestowed on the British troops after the war was experienced by returning Indian soldiers. They were welcomed by a colonial regime that was, if anything, more determined to maintain its grip. London was aware that independence would be granted to India eventually, but it would be on its terms, and not before it felt India was ready for self- rule. The French, on the other hand, were less flexible than the British. Devastated after the war, France needed its colonies and their raw materials to rebuild the shattered nation. Algeria, of course, remained a part of France itself. There would be no talk of independence, and the result would be a series of disastrous wars.

The interwar period The First World War officially ended with the signing of various treaties at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Part of the Treaty of Versailles, the treaty signed with Germany, was the creation of the League of Nations, an international organisation whose broad aim was to preserve international peace. It was championed by US President Woodrow Wilson, who was unable to keep the United States out of the war but drafted a peace plan proposal in his ‘Fourteen Points’ speech. It addressed a number of likely post-war issues, such as disarmament and trade equality, but it was article five that had the most impact on colonial issues. It called for an ‘impartial adjustment of colonial claims’, and that ‘the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined’. Wilson was calling for a voice for the colonised people for the first time, partly because he believed that could help avoid future wars. Needless to say, not all parties were as enthusiastic about this particular article. 9780170244046 Chapter 1 Decolonisation – an overview 24

Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) Woodrow Wilson was the 28th president of the United States. He studied law and was president of Princetown University before entering politics. He was governor of New Jersey before being elected president in 1912. He tried to keep the United States out of the First World War but in April 1917 was compelled to enter the conflict for a number of reasons, including the broadening of the German U-boat campaign, which resulted in American ships being sunk. Wilson declared the United States was entering the war to make the world ‘safe for democracy’. He is known for his ‘Fourteen Points’ peace plan and his aim to create the League of Nations as part of the Treaty of Versailles with

Germany. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919. Getty/Popperfoto

The Paris Peace Conference and Woodrow Wilson’s ‘Fourteen Points’ In January 1919, two months after the armistice that brought the fighting in Europe to an end, the Paris Peace Conference was convened to discuss the post-war world. Thirty-two nations were represented, and four leaders were particularly significant. They were Britain’s David Lloyd George, Italy's prime minister Vittorio Orlando, French leader Georges Clemenceau, and US President Woodrow Wilson. In 1918 Wilson had drafted and presented his proposal for peace to the United States Congress, and at the Paris Peace Conference he insisted that his ‘Fourteen Points’ plan provide the basis for discussions regarding post-war Europe, despite no world leader agreeing with them all. Wilson’s plan strove for a higher level of diplomacy than simply territorial and economic gain. He was considered idealistic by many in his desire for democracy and self- determination. The plan addressed the key issues that Wilson felt caused the First World War, and he felt that by addressing them then another devastating European war could be avoided. Below is a summary of the ‘Fourteen Points’: I. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view. II. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants. III. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance. IV. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety. 9780170244046 Decolonisation 25

V. A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined. VI. The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement of all questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest cooperation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the independent determination of her own political development and national policy and assure her of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations under institutions of her own choosing; and, more than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that she may need and may herself desire. The treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to come will be the acid test of their good will, of their comprehension of her needs as distinguished from their own interests, and of their intelligent and unselfish sympathy. VII. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored, without any attempt to limit the sovereignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations. No other single act will serve as this will serve to restore confidence among the nations in the laws which they have themselves set and determined for the government of their relations with one another. Without this healing act the whole structure and validity of international law is forever impaired. VIII. All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored, and the wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world for nearly 50 years, should be righted, in order that peace may once more be made secure in the interest of all. IX. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality. X. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity to autonomous development. XI. Rumania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated; occupied territories restored; Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea; and the relations of the several Balkan states to one another determined by friendly counsel along historically established lines of allegiance and nationality; and international guarantees of the political and economic independence and territorial integrity of the several Balkan states should be entered into. XII. The Turkish portion of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees. XIII. An independent Polish state should be erected which should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international covenant. 9780170244046 Chapter 1 Decolonisation – an overview 26

XIV. A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.

‘President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points’, Lilian Goldman Law Library. Retrieved from http://avalon.law.yale. edu/20th_century/wilson14.asp. Of the 14 points, no fewer than five relate to the idea of nationalism. Points V, IX, X, XI and XII all imply that the people who were under the control of imperial powers should be free to choose their own future political direction. The great colonial powers, or at least those that survived the war, were very wary of these ideas because they did not want nationalist ideas spreading further than they already had. Britain was feeling pressure from India, as was France from Indochina and Algeria. Too much promotion of anti-colonial ideas in Europe could surely spread beyond that continent to other parts of the world. And spread they did. But whatever the desires of the European empires, Wilson’s ‘Fourteen Points’ played an important role in the desires of colonised people around the world for independence.

As Wilson’s ‘Fourteen Points’ implied, the days of colonialism were numbered after the First World War. Around the world, nationalist groups became more organised and began calling for reforms and, where possible, independence. Even in Great Britain, the world’s most powerful imperial nation, Irish nationalists had risen up against their perceived oppressors in 1916 and, by 1921, the British authorities caved in and gave virtual independence to the predominantly Catholic south of Ireland. The Great Depression of the early 1930s put further pressure on imperialist nations. When agricultural prices fell it was the colonies that suffered the most. Those that were industrialised began to shift their economies, such as India, but others, such as the Belgian Congo, suffered terribly as the demand for raw materials fell. In addition, most Africans were outraged when Italy invaded Abyssinia in 1935. Until then Abyssinia had been a symbol of hope for those wanting eventual independence and its collapse was seen as a last straw by many. Word of the invasion spread quickly due to radio – the new mass media of the day – and so many nationalists were spurred into action. In Vietnam the Indochinese Communist Party was calling for national revolution and the overthrow of the French, while in Burma the Dobama Asiayone (We Burmans Association) began agitating against British rule. Anti-colonial feeling was on the rise and by the eve of the Second World War in 1939 the end of colonial European empires was, as historian Eric Hobsbawm suggests, probable but not imminent. It would take another world changing event to tilt the balance towards the nationalist movements.

THE SECOND WORLD WAR The first four decades of the 20th century had shown that the desire for independence was common throughout the colonial empires, but the Second World War transformed the situation into one that could no longer be controlled by the colonial powers. The most destructive war in world history, the Second World War cost the lives of some 60 million people. Its effects echoed throughout the 20th century and still influence today’s world. The war stimulated nationalist and independence movements in a number of ways. 9780170244046 Decolonisation 27

In some ways the war drew the empires closer together. Certainly in the case of the British Empire, involvement in the conflict was generally seen by most colonies as a necessary duty to help defend the world against Nazism and fascism. Millions of soldiers served in the armed forces and were deployed across the globe. The axis powers used colonial soldiers in their war effort as well. Italians called on Abyssinian troops and the Japanese conscripted Koreans for their campaigns in China. For the Allies, their colonial possessions became valuable sources of raw materials. Britain’s imports from its African colonies more than doubled over the course of the war. In the Belgian Congo the colonial administrators used their power to freeze wages to ensure that the cost of its valuable rubber and copper did not rise for the Allied powers. However, the realities of the war also revealed colonial weaknesses that would not be forgotten by those who desired independence after 1945.

European vulnerability The war demonstrated the vulnerability of the European powers and, despite being ultimately victorious, the first years of the war were desperate times for the Allies. France had fallen, the British Army was being pushed across the deserts of North Africa and was brought to its knees with the fall of Singapore, and the Japanese had conquered much of South-East Asia. Japanese successes in particular gave hope to nationalist movements within the colonies because they demonstrated that non-Europeans could defeat Europeans on the battlefield. Despite claims that they were ‘liberating’ the European colonies, the Japanese were simply intending to replace the expelled colonial system with one of their own. In November 1943 they held a Greater East Asia Conference at which a range of issues was discussed, foremost University of Washington Library, Poster Collection Library, University of Washington Alamy/Stocktrek Images, Inc.

Source 1.8 This poster illustrates the Source 1.9 This posted called on the British importance of the overseas colonies to the Empire to unite during the Second World War. It British Empire and their role in the war effort. became a powerful image of unity, but whether it was merely an image could be debated. 9780170244046 Chapter 1 Decolonisation – an overview 28

being a promise of greater independence to the occupied countries of East Asia. With the tide of the war turning against them, and keenly aware of rising anti-colonial sentiment in Asia, the Japanese were eager to capitalise on their presence before the war was lost. They formed what they called the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, but the arrangement was little more than a bogus front for Japanese imperialism. Most nationalist groups were realistic enough to acknowledge this, but they still accepted Japanese help in ousting the Europeans. As the Japanese began to lose the war, the Co-Prosperity Sphere collapsed and those same nationalist groups turned against them and, in the case of Vietnam, declared themselves independent. The post-war return of the old colonial powers would be violently resisted by the newly invigorated nationalist groups.

Wartime promises In order to encourage cooperation between the United States and Great Britain, US President Franklin Roosevelt met British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to discuss how the post-war world should be organised. The resultant Atlantic Charter of August 1941 echoed Woodrow Wilson’s ‘Fourteen Points’ in that it called for the rights of self-determination and self-government and greater equity in international economic systems. It encouraged nationalist movements around the world to question the nature of colonial rule. Churchill claimed that the charter applied only to victims of Nazi aggression, but Roosevelt reaffirmed that it applied everywhere. Indeed, the third point of the charter declaring ‘the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live’ did not leave much room for ambiguity.

The Brazzaville Conference In late January 1944 a conference was held in Brazzaville, the capital of the French Congo. The Brazzaville Conference was attended by Charles de Gaulle and French colonial governors to discuss the nature of French colonialism in the post-war world. The French Empire had become somewhat of a dichotomy. The Republic of France was founded in 1789 upon the ideals of equality and fraternity, yet the fact that it controlled a vast colonial empire appeared to betray those ideals. French politicians claimed that the colonial empire was merely a step along the path to creating a Plus Grande France (Greater French Republic) and that they were undertaking a ‘civilising mission’ to prepare the colonised for their assimilation into the Republic. Rather than seizing an opportunity to redefine relations with its colonies, the result of the Brazzaville Conference was to continue along the path of assimilation and integration, meaning there was no suggestion of independence or autonomy for any of France’s colonies. Many nationalists, including Ho Chi Minh, took matters into their own hands and simply declared their independence from France. The French would fight back, but the Vietnamese thought they had allies in both the United States and the Soviet Union. 9780170244046 Decolonisation 29

Winston Churchill (1874–1965) Winston Churchill was a British politician and twice served as prime minister, first in 1940–45 and again in 1951–55. Prior to entering politics he served in the British army as a commissioned officer and as a war reporter in Afghanistan and Africa in the 1890s. He held a variety of positions in the British government before becoming prime minister after the defeat of Neville Chamberlain in 1940. He led Britain through the Second World War but was soundly defeated in the general election of 1945. Churchill was a staunch defender of the British Empire and was opposed to granting independence to its colonies. In 1942

he stated, ‘I have not become the King’s First Minister in Corbis order to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire’.

Two views on French colonialism The following documents provide contrasting views of French colonialism. The first is part of the statement of the Brazzaville Conference of 1944 at which the French reaffirmed their colonial rights over their colonies, in particular those in Africa. The second document was written by 20th century French poet and politician Aimé Césaire. In it he criticises French colonialism and compares it with Hitler’s European expansion in the 1930s.

Extract from the Brazzaville Conference, 1944 It is man and the African, his aspirations and needs, and let us not shy away from acknowledging it, his weaknesses … which will be the constant preoccupation of this conference; it is the incorporation of the indigenous masses into the French world, the development of our links with them, from the stage of instinctive devotion … to the loyalty of the educated man and citizen, which is necessarily different and more qualified, it is the ascent of African populations towards political identity … One half-century has been sufficient for France to make order and peace reign over these vast territories, to cover them with the institutions of education, welfare, of proselytism, and with technical accomplishments … From time to time we read that this war must end with … a freeing of colonial peoples. In greater colonial France, there are neither peoples to be freed nor racial discriminations to be abolished. There are populations who feel themselves to be Frenchmen, and who wish to play … a greater part in the life of the French community. There are populations that we want to lead, step by step, to (political) identity … but who do not want to know any other independence than that of France. Claire Gorrara and Rachael Langford (Eds.), France Since the Revolution, Texts and Contexts, Arnold Publishers, 2003, p.105. 9780170244046 Chapter 1 Decolonisation – an overview 30

Extract from ‘Discourse on colonialism’, Aimé Césaire, 1955 Each time a head is cut off or an eye put out in Vietnam and in France they accept the fact, each time a little girl is raped and in France they accept the fact, each time a Madagascan is tortured and in France they accept the fact, civilisation acquires another dead weight, a universal regression takes place, a gangrene sets in, a centre of infection begins to spread … At the end of all the racial pride that has been encouraged, all the boastfulness that has been displayed, a poison has been infected into the veins of Europe and, slowly but surely, the continent proceeds towards savagery. It would be worthwhile to study clinically, in detail, the steps taken by Hitler and Hitlerism to reveal to the very distinguished, very humanistic, very Christian bourgeois of the 20th century that … what he cannot forgive Hitler for is not crime in itself, the crime against man, it is not the humiliation of man as such, it is the crime against the white man, the humiliation of the white man, and the fact that he applied to Europe colonialist procedures which until then had been reserved exclusively for the Arabs of Algeria, the coolies of India and the blacks of Africa. Claire Gorrara and Rachael Langford (Eds.), France Since the Revolution, Texts and Contexts, Arnold Publishers, 2003, p.105.

Questions 1 In your own words, summarise the purpose of the Brazzaville Conference as stated in the first extract. 2 What does the extract from the Brazzaville Conference suggest about the idea of freedom in the French colonies? 3 In what way does Césaire compare French colonialism to ‘Hitlerism’?

The post-war world The end of the Second World War brought both challenges and opportunities for the nationalist movements in South-East Asia. The Japanese rule over the region had seen the majority of South-East Asia under the control of a single colonial power for the first time, and its collapse in 1945 had far-reaching consequences. Many nationalist groups had found themselves fighting against the Japanese during their period of rule, but their struggles for independence failed to succeed before the Japanese surrender. European colonial powers outlived the Japanese, and soon enough they were to return to their colonies to re-assert control. The world, however, was a different place after the war. 9780170244046 Decolonisation 31

Japanese victories during the war had demonstrated that the European colonial powers were neither invincible nor inherently superior. And since nationalist groups had fought some successful guerrilla campaigns against the Japanese, they developed skills in warfare that they would employ against the returning colonial powers. In addition to the apparent weakness of the colonial powers in the face of the Japanese, the international context is important in understanding the post-war decolonisation process. The Atlantic Charter gave hope to nationalist groups that they would be granted new freedoms by the colonial powers, despite Churchill’s claims that it only referred to countries under Nazi oppression. The colonial powers found themselves under pressure to follow a path of decolonisation from a range of nations and organisations. The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (see page 32) had echoed Woodrow Wilson’s ‘Fourteen Points’ in that many of the rights it specified were not enjoyed by those under colonial rule. Led by the United States, the United Nations demanded the colonial powers provide plans for decolonisation. The United States was, in theory at least, hostile to imperialism, having itself thrown off colonial chains, and both President Roosevelt and his successor, President Truman, encouraged the British to work towards independence for India.

Harry Truman (1884–1972) Harry Truman was the 33rd president of the United States. He fought in the First World War and was elected to the US Senate in 1934. He served as vice-president from 1944 and, after President Roosevelt died, became president in 1945. He was staunchly anti-communist and took a hard line on communist expansion in the early days of the Cold War. He

established the ‘containment’ policy against the USSR. Corbis/Oscar White

Newly independent states, free from the limited intra-colonial economic systems, could become potential trading partners, ripe for both economic and political influence. In the climate of a Cold War, the United States was keen to exert influence far beyond its own borders. Delays in granting independence to colonial states in Africa and Asia would, in Washington’s eyes, help the spread of communism. Nevertheless, the European powers needed their colonies now more than ever. The political changes in immediate post-war Europe resulted in many potential trading partners being cut off behind the ‘Iron Curtain’ and the devastation wrought by the war meant that raw materials were needed to rebuild nations such as Britain and France. But as historian Eric Hobsbawm said in his book Revolutionaries, ‘if a people does not want to be ruled in the old way anymore, there is nothing much that can be done’. So it was, then, that the different factors that came together during and after the Second World War meant that even the most conservative European politicians realised that decolonisation was inevitable. 9780170244046 Chapter 1 Decolonisation – an overview 32

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. It defines and cites the political rights that are taken for granted in most democratic nations. Some of the key Articles are outlined below. PREAMBLE Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people, Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations, Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms, Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations. Article 1. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Article 2. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Article 3. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. Article 4. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. Article 5. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Article 9. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. Article 13. (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. 9780170244046 Decolonisation 33

Article 14. (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. (2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. Article 18. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. Article 19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Article 20. (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. (2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association. ‘The Universal Declaration of Human Rights’, United Nations. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr. Getty Images/Fotosearch

Source 1.10 Eleanor Roosevelt, who played a key role in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is pictured here reviewing the results as a poster. The United Nations General Assembly called upon all member states to display the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in schools and to ensure that its ideas were publicised. 9780170244046 Chapter 1 Decolonisation – an overview 34

Questions 1 Compare and contrast the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights with Woodrow Wilson’s ‘Fourteen Points’. Make a list of similarities and differences. 2 Why do you think the Universal Declaration of Human Rights does not specifically mention any countries or nationalities? 3 Discuss which Articles, of those presented here, would appeal to people under colonial rule. 4 Why do you think the United Nations called for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be displayed and publicised in the schools of member nations?

Decolonisation in Asia The process of decolonisation in Asia began soon after the Second World War. The withdrawal of the Japanese left an absence of structured government in many of the areas they had occupied, and local nationalist groups took advantage of the situation before the Europeans could regroup and return. In some cases the imperial powers accepted the need for decolonisation and worked towards shaping rather than avoiding the process. For example, in India the British had been preparing for a transfer of power ‘some time’ after the war and worked actively towards it. Albeit with some complications, the transfer of power was, from a British perspective, generally peaceful. The conflict and chaos began after the partition in 1947. However, in Malaya, the process was more violent when a politically threatening communist insurrection had to be controlled by the British in the 1950s. The communists claimed to be fighting to free the Malayans from the British oppression, so granting independence was seen as an expedient way of solving the problem. Malaya gained independence from Britain in 1957. The French had a much more difficult time in Asia. Refusing to accept decolonisation, they fought bitterly to retain Indochina, but to no avail. In 1954 they were forced to concede after the disastrous battle of Dien Bien Phu. Similarly, the Dutch in Indonesia fought against an emerging Indonesian republic to retain their possession but were ultimately defeated. The United States remained in Asia as an influential power, not because of colonial possessions (its possession, the Philippines, was granted independence in 1946) but rather because of its superpower status during the Cold War. At the same time as promoting the idea of decolonisation, the US government was aware of the communist threat that could emerge in any number of destabilised states. In fact, the United States actively aided some countries in their colonial pursuits if they sensed a communist threat, such as the Indonesians in East Timor. By 1960 the decolonisation process in Asia was largely complete. Only five states were yet to gain their independence and by 1965 all Asian states were free of European colonialism, except Hong Kong, which was leased to Britain from China. 9780170244046 Decolonisation 35

The ‘Winds of change’ speech In 1960, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, during a tour of African Commonwealth states, delivered an important speech while visiting the Parliament of South Africa. The speech is highly significant because it marks a point at which the British accepted the need for African people to govern themselves. Below are some notable excerpts.

In the 20th century, and especially since the end of the war, the processes which gave birth to the nation states of Europe have been repeated all over the world. We have seen the awakening of national consciousness in peoples who have for centuries lived in dependence upon some other power. Fifteen years ago this movement spread through Asia. Many countries there, of different races and civilisations, pressed their claim to an independent national life. Today the same thing is happening in Africa, and the most striking of all the impressions I have formed since I left London a month ago is of the strength of this African national consciousness. In different places it takes different forms, but it is happening everywhere. The wind of change is blowing through this continent, and whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact. We must all accept it as a fact, and our national policies must take account of it. As I see it the great issue in this second half of the 20th century is whether the uncommitted peoples of Asia and Africa will swing to the East or to the West. Will they be drawn into the Communist camp? Or will the great experiments in self-government that are now being made in Asia and Africa, especially within the Commonwealth, prove so successful, and by their example so compelling, that the balance will come down in favour of freedom and order and justice? The struggle is joined, and it is a struggle for the minds of men. What is now on trial is much more than our military strength or our diplomatic and administrative skill. It is our way of life. Harold Macmillan’s ‘Winds of change’ speech. Retrieved from http://africanhistory.about.com/od/eraindependence/p/ wind_of_change2.htm.

Questions 1 Why do you think it was significant for a British prime minister to deliver a speech such as this? 2 How did Macmillan see the Cold War in relation to the ‘winds of change’? 3 Do you think the term ‘neo-colonialism’ could refer to any part of Macmillan’s speech? Which part and why? 4 What are the values and limitations of this speech as a historical source?

Decolonisation in Africa Decolonisation in Africa occurred generally later than in Asia. Left largely unoccupied by enemy forces during the war, the colonial powers more easily reaffirmed their ruling status after 1945. In addition, nationalist groups were emerging, but ethnic rivalries emerged again and in many cases prevented organised large-scale resistance to European rule. 9780170244046 Chapter 1 Decolonisation – an overview 36

TUNISIA MALTA CYPRUS KUWAIT MOROCCO 1956 1964 1956 1959 1961 BAHRAIN 1971 QATAR 1971 ALGERIA LIBYA EGYPT WESTERN 1962 1951 1922 SAUDI SAHARA 1975 ARABIA UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 1971 SENEGAL 1959 MAURITANIA MALI 1960 1959 NIGER OMAN 1977 1960 CHAD SUDAN ERITREA GAMBIA 1965 1960 1956 BURKINA 1993 YEMEN 1967 FASO 1960 DJIBOUTI 1977 GUINEA-BISSAU 1974 CÔTE NIGERIA D’IVOIRE 1960 CENTRAL GUINEA 1958 ETHIOPIA 1960 AFRICAN REPUBLIC 1960 CAMEROON SIERRA LEONE 1961 GHANA 1957 LIBERIA BENIN 1960 1960 SOMALIA KENYA 1960 TOGO 1960 GABON ZAIRE 1963 EQUATORIAL GUINEA 1968 1960 1960 UGANDA 1962 CONGO 1960 RWANDA 1962 TANZANIA BURUNDI 1962 1961 ANGOLA MALAWI 1964 1975 ZAMBIA MOZAMBIQUE 1964 1975

1940–49 MADAGASCAR NAMIBIA 1960 1990 BOTSWANA 1950–59 MAURITIUS 1966 1968 1960–70 ZIMBABWE 1980

After 1970 SOUTH SWAZILAND 1968 AFRICA Independent 1931 LESOTHO or uncolonised N 1965

1940–49 CHINA

AFGHANISTAN NEPAL 1950–59 BHUTAN 1960–70 PAKISTAN 1947 LAOS After 1970 1954 INDIA 1947 Independent or uncolonised

EAST PAKISTAN 1947 THAILAND VIETNAM 1954 PHILIPPINES MYANMAR 1946 (BURMA) CAMBODIA 1948 1954 SRI LANKA 1948 MALAYA 1963 MALDIVES PAPUA 1965 SINGAPORE NEW GUINEA 1965 INDONESIA 1950

N EAST TIMOR

Source 1.11 The decolonisation process in Asia and Africa. Within two decades of the end of the Second World War the decolonisation process was largely complete. 9780170244046 Decolonisation 37

The processes of decolonisation generally depended on how determined the imperial rulers were to retain their possessions, how ready they thought the African nations were to administer themselves, and the actions of nationalist groups within the countries. Generally speaking, if effective leadership could be identified and encouraged, then decolonisation was more peaceful. This was the case for Britain’s West African possessions of Ghana, Gambia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. There were few white settlers in these countries so, whereas the French had to deal with the settler situation in Algeria, the British faced no such complication in West Africa. In addition, a place in the British Commonwealth and continued trading was enticing enough for the colonies to maintain contact with London. Likewise, some of Britain’s East African colonies had few whites present, although in Kenya the situation was different. A ferocious war between the British authorities and the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (more commonly known as the Mau Mau) lasted from 1952 to 1956 and hastened the movement for independence, finally granted in 1960. The Mau Mau rebellion resulted in Britain’s first forced withdrawal from Africa. The French did not enjoy the generally peaceful decolonisation experience of the British. Their determination to hold onto their possessions resulted in a disastrous war in Algeria that would last for eight years from 1954–62. Its other African colonies had been granted independence by 1960 but Algeria was considered a part of metropolitan France itself and so would not be surrendered so easily. Belgium’s colony of the Congo was entirely unprepared for independence. Ruled almost exclusively by Europeans, the hasty departure of the Belgians in 1960 merely paved the way for ethnic rivalry to erupt into chaos and civil war. Portugal stubbornly held onto its colonies in Africa and did so with more success, but with at least as much bloodshed as France. It took a revolution in Portugal and a new government to acknowledge that decolonisation was inevitable. Angola won independence in 1975, followed soon after by Mozambique. British possessions in the Caribbean In addition to its colonies in Africa and Asia, Great Britain also controlled a number of island nations in the Caribbean region, including Jamaica, Trinidad, Grenada, Barbados and the Bahamas. As they moved towards independence in the mid 20th century, it was suggested that they should form a federation. This means that a central government has ultimate authority but each member state retains its own parliament to manage its internal affairs. The Australian colonies federated in 1901 and it was thought the same process would be advantageous to the West Indies. Unfortunately there were problems. There were concerns as to whether some of the very small nations would be viable as independent states. If they were not, then they would require continued external support. In addition, there were disagreements between the states as to how much they should contribute financially towards the federation’s budget. These problems were evaluated and it was decided by Great Britain that federation would proceed. In 1958 the West Indies Federation was established, but only three years later, in 1961, both Trinidad and Jamaica withdrew. The federation was abandoned in 1962 and by 1983 almost all of the islands of the West Indies had been granted independence (however, they all remained members of the British Commonwealth). 9780170244046 Chapter 1 Decolonisation – an overview 38

Federation may have failed, but the benefits of maintaining economic ties with each other were realised and in 1968 the Caribbean Free Trade Association was established, which became the Caribbean Community and Common Market in 1973.

Decolonisation in the Soviet Empire The Soviet Union also experienced a period of decolonisation within its own empire. During the Cold War the Soviet Union encouraged, and at times supported, the wars of decolonisation fought by a number of countries, most significantly Vietnam and the Congo. There was little secret that the intention was to install a local communist party to expand Soviet interests as much as it was to liberate oppressed people. Closer to home, however, the Soviet Union faced larger problems towards the end of the 20th century. Reforms from Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had given people freedoms that they had not previously enjoyed under communism. They used this freedom to speak out against communist rule. Unrest spread to the ‘satellite states’ (those countries of Eastern Europe under Soviet influence, for example Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Hungary) and Gorbachev made it clear they would need to deal with the unrest by themselves – they could not rely on Soviet forces to restore order. Soon the republics that made up the Soviet Union itself, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine, began to declare independence and break away from the empire. By the end of 1991 the Soviet Union was no more and its former states had formed the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Independence – granted or won? Historians have long discussed the degree to which decolonisation occurred from ‘above’, that is to say that independence was granted voluntarily by the colonial power, or from ‘below’, in that it was the action of the nationalist movements within the colonies that won their freedom. The degree to which it was one or the other varies greatly depending on the colonial power and the colonised nation. In most cases it would be fair to say that it was a mixture of the two. In India, for example, there is little question that the Indian National Congress and the actions of people such as Gopal Gokhale (see page 46) and Mahatma Gandhi (see page 51) helped to forge independence. However, the British Empire played its role as well through actions such as the Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909 and the Government of India Act of 1919. Clearly both the colonised and the coloniser had a role to play. However, whether the British were hoping to shape Indian independence or simply to delay it is a question that is still debated. 9780170244046 Decolonisation 39

Chapter summary In both Asia and Africa most new nations chose to remain connected in some way to their former colonial rulers after gaining independence. The reality was that centuries of colonial rule, and everything that came with it, could not be dissolved by Europeans simply leaving. The colonial rulers could still influence their former colonies and, locked in as they were to the colonial trading patterns, it was economically advantageous, if not vital, for the former colonies to maintain links with Europe. The term used to describe the economic influence that emerged after decolonisation is ‘neo-colonialism’. It is a widely used term to describe the economic power and influence Western nations have over former colonies around the world.

Key points ++ The purpose of colonisation was interpreted in a number of ways by the different European powers. ++ The decolonisation experience was different from colony to colony. ++ Decolonisation has been interpreted in a number of ways by different people. ++ The First and Second World Wars played a key role in the development of nationalist sentiment in European colonies. ++ The weakening of European power after the Second World War resulted in new demands for independence. ++ Most decolonised states have found some benefit in maintaining economic ties with their former European power.

Weblinks Weblinks relevant to this chapter can be found at http://nmh.nelsonnet.com.au/decolonisation. 9780170244046 Chapter 1 Decolonisation – an overview 40

Chapter review activities 1 ‘Colonialism does not work without racism.’ What evidence is there to support this statement? 2 ‘Improvements in medicine in the European colonies were ultimately more beneficial to the coloniser, not the colonised.’ Discuss whether you think this statement is accurate. 3 ‘The Industrial Revolution was a key cause of colonialism.’ To what extent is this statement true? 4 What was the Berlin Conference and what was its impact on Africa? 5 Explain how the cartoon The Rhodes Colossus (Source 1.5, page 18) illustrates colonialism in Africa. 6 What economic motives were there for imperial nations to decolonise, or to try to retain their colonial possessions? 7 How did the Cold War affect attitudes towards decolonisation? 8 How did the United States feel that decolonisation could complement the policy of containment? 9 Create a flowchart like the one below of the different long- and short-term factors that came together to create the conditions for decolonisation after the Second World War. (You may need to alter the layout of the boxes to reflect your understanding of the process.)

Second World War Decolonisation 9780170244046 Decolonisation 41

10 Read back over the section ‘The post-war world’ on page 30, and the chapter summary on page 39. How would you define the term ‘neo-colonialism’? 11 ‘Decolonisation does not solve the problems that colonisation creates.’ Using examples, discuss whether this statement has merit. 12 Investigate the nationalist movement in a country that is not represented as a case study in this chapter, for example Burma, Uganda or Angola. Write a report commenting on the following factors: ++ The reasons for colonisation ++ Conditions in the colony at the start of the 20th century ++ The emergence of movements for decolonisation ++ The outcomes of decolonisation and the key developments over time. 9780170244046 Chapter 1 Decolonisation – an overview