World History (Decolonisation) by Shivlal Gupta

Model Answer

Question #1. The most far-reaching historical outcome of the 2nd World War was the hastening of the liquidation of nineteenth century empires. Discuss.

Approach:

•   Contextually introduce with the process of decolonisation
•   Discuss about the decolonisation process of all the parts of world
•   Conclude with the gist of your answer

Hints:

Colonialism appeared on the political horizon of the globe when European nations, principally Spain and Portugal and subsequently other European nations such as Great Britain, France, Holland, etc began building empires over Asia, Latin America and Africa. It was, however, after the end of Second World War and the establishment of the United Nations that the process of decolonisation began when several Asian, African and Pacific countries emerged as sovereign independent countries

Decolonization accelerated after 2nd world war

• The process of decolonisation was accelerated after the Second World War. Some of the colonial territories like French Indo-China, Dutch Indonesia, British Malaya and Italian East Africa were occupied by enemy conquest and were virtually cut off from their colonial governors.
• The Japanese occupation of South East Asia provided a fillip to the nationalist sentiments and movements in the region by driving out the Western colonialists, removing them from strategic positions in the colonial administration and replacing many of these with natives.
• Though quite authoritarian and oppressive, the eventual collapse of the Japanese gave the nationalists an opportunity to seize the arms left by the defeated armies and give a militant thrust to their struggles. Indonesia and Vietnam proclaimed their independence in this way.
• The Indonesian nationalists had to fight a long struggle for four years against the Dutch to gain their independence. In both cases, an open war was fought between the colonial power and the nationalist forces.
• In Vietnam, under the leadership of Viet Minh, after the 1954 cease-fire, the French withdrew from the northern parts of the country. In the south, a non-Communist government was installed. Later the French presence was replaced by the Americans. The long-drawn heroic struggle of the Vietnamese against American imperialism is a legend in itself.
• The most momentous event was indeed the independence of India in 1947. The transfer of power in India was facilitated after the socialist oriented Labour party government came to power in Britain, though the vivisection of the country into India and Pakistan could not be avoided.
• Among the British African colonies, the Gold Coast (Ghana since independence) and Nigeria became the pioneers of independence.
• In March 1957, the Gold Coast together with the Trust territory of Togoland became the independent state of Ghana with dominion status within the Commonwealth. Nkrumah, its Prime  Minister, was a champion of African independence and an exponent of Pan Africanism. The federation of Nigeria attained complete independence in 1960.

Conclusion:

The rise of colonialism marks an important chapter in the history of the world as it changed the relations between different parts of the world. Decolonisation as well as anti-imperialist struggles of the colonies gave rise to what is referred to as the Third world. These nationalist, anti-imperialist movements varied from country to country in their specifics. This was due to the patterns of colonial policies and their impact on colonial societies.

Question #2. Discuss the conditions that favoured imperialism in Africa? In the process of de-colonization, why Africa was de-colonised later than Asia?

Approach:

•   Briefly introduce about the colonisation of Africa.
•   Discuss the conditions that favoured imperialism in Africa
•   Mention the reasons as to why Africa was de-colonized later than Asia.
•   Conclude by describing the contemporary situation in Africa.

Hints:

Difficult terrains, non-navigable rivers & other such geographical features ensured that colonialism had a late entry in mainland Africa and was restricted for a long time to Coastal Africa. By 1914 whole Africa was scrambled among Britain, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Portugal. The imperialist powers controlled and colonized Africa till the end of Second World War.

The conditions that existed in the continent at that time favoured the growth of imperialism:

•   The most important condition was that the Industrial Revolution had not come to this part of the world.
•   Africa was politically and militarily unable to stand up to the armed might and power of Europe.
•   The governments of the countries of Africa were very weak. The old ways of governing were still followed.
•   Strong nation states in the modern sense had not developed. The people’s loyalties were still to local princes as in feudal times, or to tribal chieftains. These rulers cared little for the welfare of the people.
•   The huge size of these continent was very difficult to control by a strong centre as there was no proper means of transport, communications etc.
•   The ‘Civilizing Mission’: Men and Ideas, supported colonialism in these countries.
•   Explorers and adventurers further helped in discovering and opening up of new areas to be colonized
•   Improvement in Transportation and Communication in imperialist countries.

The process of decolonization began in Asia in 1945. Towards the end of 2nd World War, Japan surrendered before the allied forces in 1945.However, the decolonization process in Africa stretched over a much longer period than in Asia, lasting up till 1990. Between 1950 to 1959, six African countries were liberated with sacrifice of over 2, 00,000 African lives. 1960s saw the dismantling of the British, French and Belgian colonial empires with mass support. In the mid-1970s, the Portuguese empire in Africa collapsed. The process of decolonization ended only in the early 1990s with the independence of Rhodesia and Namibia.

Reasons for delay in African decolonisation:

• As compared to Asia, the African continent was endowed more with raw materials, mineral resources, labour, and territory for future settlement. As a result, the colonial powers tried to stay there for as long a time as possible.
• The nationalist movements for freedom started early in Asia, while in many of African countries such movements could start only after the Second World War.
• Asian continent saw the advent of modern education early, which ignited the intelligentsia to demand civil and political liberties, starting with the beginning of 19th Century. As a result the colonial powers deliberately delayed the introduction of modern education into the African continent.
• European powers carved up Africa with very little regard to the identity of the peoples living there resulting in tribal division and hatred. They lacked mutual trust and did not witness pan-African unity against common enemy- colonialism.
• Because of centuries old slave-trade of African people by the white colonialists, the racist repression was very intense (in the form of apartheid) which could be dismantled only after a prolonged battle.
• It was this fear of Soviet influence in Africa, particularly on the part of the United States, that created such a major problem for African nations. Western powers viewed African independence through the lens of the Cold War, which rendered African leaders as either pro-West or pro-East. Hence, there was a little scope of acceptable middle ground.

Conclusion:

Africa as a continent was heavily balkanized without any respect for ethnic and sub-national distribution of population. As a result of which the conflicts remained in Africa even after independence and the consequences are visible even today in the form of neo-liberal struggle.