The decolonization of Africa was a series of political developments spanning from the mid-1950s to 1975, during the Cold War. Colonial governments gave way to sovereign states in a process often marred by violence, political turmoil, widespread unrest, and organized revolts.
The Scramble for Africa between 1870 and 1914 was a significant period of European imperialism in Africa that ended with almost all of Africa, and its natural resources, claimed as colonies by European powers, who raced to secure as much land as possible while avoiding conflict amongst themselves. Almost all the precolonial states of Africa lost their sovereignty.
In the early 20th century, nationalism gained ground globally. Following the end of World War I, German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires according to the principles espoused in Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points. Though many anti-colonial intellectuals saw the potential of Wilsonianism to advance their aims, Wilson had no intention of applying the principle of self-determination outside the lands of the defeated Central Powers. The independence demands of Egyptian and Tunisian leaders, which would have compromised the interests of the victorious Allies, were not entertained.
Many Africans fought in both World War I and World War II. In World War I, African labor was essential on the Western Front, and African soldiers fought in the Sinai and Palestine campaign. Many Africans were not allowed to bear arms or serve on an equal basis with whites. Approximately one million sub-Saharan Africans served in European armies in some capacity.
On 12 February 1941, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met to discuss the post-World War II world. In the 1930s, colonial powers cultivated, sometimes inadvertently, a small elite of local African leaders educated in Western universities, where they became familiar with ideas such as self-determination.
Read also: A Profile of Paul Onwuanibe
In August 1941, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met to discuss their post-war goals. Historian James Meriweather argues that American policy towards Africa was characterized by a middle road approach, which supported African independence but also reassured European colonial powers that their holdings would remain intact. Washington wanted the right type of African groups to lead newly independent states, in other words not communist and not especially democratic. Meriweather argues that nongovernmental organizations influenced American policy towards Africa. They pressured state governments and private institutions to disinvest from African nations not ruled by the majority population.
There was no one process of decolonization. Some colonies gained independence orderly, while others endured long civil wars. Some achieved independence through revolution. Some European powers sought to maintain close ties with their former colonies; others contested decolonization militarily.
The Cold War had a definite impact on the evolution of that competition and the political complexity of every region of the globe. By the early 20th century, the European powers colonized much of Africa and Southeast Asia, often claiming territory for future settlement, though European settlement in these colonies was sporadic, sometimes even for military conscripts.
World War II pushed the European powers out of Asia. The resulting independence movements were not a return to European colonial rule, but rather a push for self-governance and decolonization.
The Rise and Fall of Rhodesia: Mugabe and Zimbabwe's Liberation Struggle
Read also: A Timeline of Ancient Ghana
Key Milestones in African Decolonization
The decolonisation drama started in Egypt in 1922 with the restoration of the monarchy and limited internal self-government and finally ended in 1994 with the demise of apartheid in South Africa. In the long interregnum, decolonisation unfolded across the continent, reaching a crescendo in the 1950s and 1960s; in 1960 alone, often dubbed the year of African independence, 17 countries achieved their independence.
The colonial dominoes began falling from North Africa (Libya 1951) to West Africa (Ghana 1957) to East Africa (Tanzania 1961) before reaching Southern Africa (Zambia and Malawi 1964). The settler laagers of Southern Africa were the last to fall starting with the Portuguese settler colonies of Angola and Mozambique in 1974, followed by Rhodesia in 1980, and Namibia in 1990. South Africa, the largest and mightiest of them all, finally met its rendezvous with African history in 1994.
Notably:
- 1847: Liberia was established as a colony by the American Colonization Society. In 1847, the settlers issued a Declaration of Independence and passed a constitution, initiating Americo-Liberian self-governance.
- 1910: The Union of South Africa was established and declared a self-governing dominion of the British Empire on May 31, 1910.
- 1922: The United Kingdom issued a unilateral declaration of Egyptian sovereignty on February 28, 1922.
- 1951: Libya declared independence and established itself as a constitutional monarchy.
- 1956: Sudan gained independence from the United Kingdom and Egypt. The Kingdom of Morocco regained sovereignty in 1956, although Spain continues to control the coastal territories of Alhucemas, Ceuta, the Chafarinas Islands, Melilla, and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera today. Tunisia gained independence in 1956.
- 1957: Ghana gained independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1958: Guinea gained independence from France.
- 1960: Cameroon gained independence from France and the United Kingdom. Senegal gained independence on April 4, 1960, after more than three centuries of colonial rule. Togo declared its independence from France. Madagascar gained independence from France. The country gained independence from Belgium as the Republic of Congo in 1960 and was soon renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1964. Following their independence in 1960, the former colonies merged to form the Republic of Somalia. Dahomey, today known as Benin, gained independence from France. The former French colony of Niger gained independence on August 3, 1960. Burkina Faso gained independence from France.
Map of African Decolonization
The Role of Key Figures
Ghana’s independence movement was led by Kwame Nkrumah, who established the Convention People’s Party (CPP) in the British colony of the Gold Coast. The CPP campaigned for independence through strikes and other nonviolent actions and would go on to win thirty-four out of thirty-eight seats in the Gold Coast’s Legislative Council in the 1951 general election.
Read also: Exploring Sudan's Ancient Wonders
After Tunisia gained independence in 1956, Bourguiba became the country’s leader for three decades.
Unlike many other French colonies, Guinea’s population overwhelmingly voted for independence under the leadership of their first president, Sékou Touré.
Mandela embodied all the key phases, dynamics and ideologies of African nationalism from the period of elite nationalism before the Second World War when the nationalists made reformist demands on the colonial regimes, to the era of militant mass nationalism after the war when they demanded independence, to the phase of armed liberation struggle.
Challenges and Complexities
Ghana’s independence movement was led by Kwame Nkrumah, who established the Convention People’s Party (CPP) in the British colony of the Gold Coast.
The post-independence period was marked by political instability, economic underdevelopment, and social unrest, exacerbated by a series of military coups and authoritarian regimes.
After independence, Niger was ruled by a one-party regime for fourteen years, and political instability and economic mismanagement abounded.
Conveniently forgotten is the fact the British and American governments upheld the apartheid regime for decades and condemned Mandela’s African National Congress as a terrorist organisation.
The sanctified portrait of Mandela hollows out the exceedingly complex and contradictory man and historical figure that Mandela was and the true measure of his life and legacy.
Post-apartheid reconciliation may or may not have been a romantic attribute of Mandela the man; it was certainly a pragmatic imperative for Mandela the nationalist leader.
Neocolonialism and Modern Challenges
Beginning in the 1950s and through the 1970s, West African countries tossed off political domination by attaining flag independence, but the economic arrangements endured.
When Ghana gained independence, then-President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana identified this phenomenon as "neo-colonialism." Nkrumah wrote in his 1965 book Neo-Colonialism, the Last Stage of Imperialism that colonialism had not ended; it had only morphed into a more subtle form that was no less effective against African states than the brutality of colonialism. Notable intellectuals of African political thought, particularly Tanzania’s former President Julius Nyerere, espoused similar views.
As it happened, Presidents Nyerere and Nkrumah-as well as other early leaders of the anti-colonial movements-passed away one after another, leaving behind an unfulfilled desire and struggle to decolonize. The British, French, and Portuguese left the region's governance structures to indigenous ruling elites, although exploitative activities continue to dominate the continent’s economic life.
Emerging powers, notably China and India, have joined the scramble to exploit economic and political power in Africa. The Chinese are engaged in intense mining activities in five African countries including Guinea, Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The fact that the continent’s economic and political potential lie untapped in the hands of the political elites irks ordinary people.
These economic and social problems are reasons why, in spite of Tinubu's warning, ordinary people living in the region have tolerated coups. The continent is inhabited by a population that has grown weary of the endless presence of colonial powers on its shores. It is natural, therefore, that any means of throwing off the fetters of imperialism are welcome.
African UN Voting Comparison
Decolonization by Region
The decolonization process for each colonial holding varied. Some were given gradually increasing levels of political representation and autonomy before becoming fully independent, whereas others gained independence abruptly. Some traveled a relatively peaceful path to independence, whereas others fought lengthy liberation wars. Some were relatively well poised to enjoy political and economic success as a newly independent country, whereas others immediately experienced civil war or struggled with economic development.
The decolonization of European colonies in Africa began in earnest in the 1950s, with most colonial holdings becoming independent in the next decade, and it was complete by the end of 1980. Three countries (Eritrea, Namibia, and South Sudan) later achieved independence from other African countries, and Black majority rule in South Africa was achieved in 1994.
The following table summarizes the decolonization process in Africa by region:
| Region | Key Events |
|---|---|
| North Africa | World War II promoted national independence. Tunisia and Morocco gained independence in 1956. Algerian independence in 1962. |
| Western Africa | Kwame Nkrumah led Ghana to independence in 1957. Other colonies followed, though some faced challenges. |
| Central Africa | French colonies were designated as French Equatorial Africa. The Congo Free State became the Belgian Congo in 1908. |
Popular articles:
tags: #Africa
