Africa’s Decolonization and Years of Independence SSWH20a

1. Africa’s Decolonization and Years of Independence SSWH20a

2. Time and Geography

4. SOCIAL/ POLITICAL

5. DecolonizationExternal and Internal Dynamics • Linked to global trends: • Calls for self-determination • Founding of UN • American opposition to colonialism • International labor movement • Successful independence movements in Asia South African military convoy in Namibia, 1978.

6. DecolonizationExternal and Internal Dynamics • Internal factors: • Injustices of colonial rule • White racism • African nationalism • New leaders with Western-style educations • Yearning for freedom • Each country’s conditions determined speed and ease of independence Marxist African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) soldier with an AK-47

7. POLITICAL

8. Post-Independence Politics • Problems faced: • Maintaining national unity, stability, prosperity • Pandemics and natural disasters • Continual interference by foreign powers Contemporaneously, Ebola Pandemic Fears Grip West Africa

9. Post-Independence Politics • Results of independence mixed • Millions died from famine, civil wars, and political terror • Millions became refugees African refugee camp.

10. Post-Independence Politics • Reasons for guarded hope: • Freeing of the last “colony,” South Africa • Generosity towards former colonizers and occupiers • Spirit of reconciliation in areas of ethnic conflict • Winding down of civil wars • Better leadership’ movements towards democracy • Return to prosperity in some nations Flag of South Africa, 1994

11. Decolonization: The Run-up To Independence • 1950-1965, rapid decolonization done peacefully • 35 states from former European colonies emerged • Since then, independence obtained through armed action • Portuguese colonies in 1975 • Rhodesia in 1980 • Eritrea in 1993 • South Africa in 1994 Political cartoon depicting Africa’s struggle for independence.

12. Influence of External Factors • Signing of the Atlantic Charter in 1941 • Britain/US pledged to principle of self-determination • UN: self-determination; end to colonialism • Nationalist movements in Asia • India’s independence in 1947 • China’s reassertion of control • Forced decolonization of France in Syria, Lebanon and Indochina

13. Influence of External Factors • International labor movement organized African protests for fair treatment and wages • African militancy and belief that colonialism could be defeated • Pan-African movement with ideas: “blackness” and Negritude; sense of racial unity and strength Pan Africanist Congress of Azania

14. Africa for Africans • New leaders: union leaders, soldiers, or university students returning home from America and Europe • Vision of a better Africa - “Africa for Africans” • More politically active than predecessors • Skillful at organizing and channeling grievance • Phenomenon of mass nationalism and national political parties Africa for Africans

15. Africa for Africans • Leaders: • Leopold Senghor, Senegal • Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nigeria • Kwame Nkrumah, Gold Coast • Jomo Kenyatta, KenyaJulius Nyerere, Tanganyika • Kenneth Kaunda, Northern Rhodesia Kaunda during an official visit to the United States in 1983

16. IndependenceOrderly Way with Minimum of Violence • Kwame Nkrumah, Gold Coast/Ghana, 1957, first independent nation • 1958, Charles de Gaulle, allowed vote for self-rule in French West and French Equatorial Africa • 1960 was a “miraculous year” for Africa: • more than half of the continent independent • more followed within the next four years Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of the Republic of Ghana See notes for documentary on Kwame Nkrumah

17. ECONOMIC/ POLITICAL

18. IndependenceDelayed and Violent • White settler colonies, Algeria, Kenya, (Southern) Rhodesia, Mozambique, Angola, Southwest Africa, and South Africa • Significant minority of Europeans who immigrated for a better life: • Had large houses, big farms • Cheap African labor – servants, laborers • Special privileges with colonial governments

19. IndependenceDelayed and Violent • Kenya: • Rebel group, “Land and Freedom Army or “Mau Mau” • Attacked African collaborators and white farmers • Retaliation: “Mau Mau” put into camps and brutalized • British public outraged by brutality; sea change • Kenya granted independent in 1963 • First president Jomo Kenyatta President Kenyatta in 1978

20. White Settler Colonies • Won freedom after years of conflict: • Rhodesia and South Africa • Algeria, Angola, Mozambique, Southwest Africa • South Africa, at last in 1994, Afrikaner-supported government of F.W. de Klerk allowed African majority right to vote • Nelson Mandela was first president. Nelson Mandela

22. The Immediate Post-independence Years • Return to African names - Mali, Ghana, and Zaire, etc. • New states not inclined to wipe out European presence • Colonial borders continued • Pro-democracy wave disappeared quickly – dictators, single parties took over Idi Amin Dada 

23. The Immediate Post-independence Years • Why? • No tradition of Western-style political institutions and Parliamentary customs • Strong tradition of personal leadership, loyalty to lineage/kin group • Post-independence leaders felt multi-party systems were alien and unworkable in Africa Colonel Muammar Gaddafi

24. Post-Independence Politics • Puppet governments – Ethiopia, Somalia, Angola, and Mozambique • Breakdown of democracy often ended in military dictatorships • First, Ghana, then from Nigeria to Somalia and from Algeria to Angola • Some generals wanted power and riches • Jean-Bedel Bokassa, Central African Republic • Idi Amin, Uganda • Joseph (Ssese Seko) Mobutu, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) • Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe

25. Robert Mugabe Idi Amin Jean-Bédel Bokassa Ssese Seko Mobutu

26. Hope for Change • Some vicious repressors been forced out • Popular protests against one-party dictatorships increasing • Since 1990s, right to establish legal opposition • Passage of time will reveal: trend or remission African Protesters

27. ECONOMIC

28. Post-Independence Economies • Outgrowths of colonial-era policies – monoeconomies: producing single crops: cacao, rubber, coffee, and palm oil or minerals: copper or bauxite for export Woman harvesting coffee in Etheopia

29. Post-Independence Economies • Operations owned by Westerners • Few domestic manufactures, mostly import substitutes • Emphasis on export crops meant Africans had to buy food instead of growing it African farmers

30. Africa – Moderate Growth Rate • World War II created demand for raw materials; prices rose, African producers prosperous • For over a decade, Africa’s GNPs rose, jobs, goods available, towns and villages had new schools, nation had university • Africa’s new leaders remained popular

31. Economic Crisis • After 1970s oil crisis, economies slid badly • Hit developing countries hard • Rapid inflation After 1970s oil crisis, economies slid badly

32. Economic Crisis • Combination of reasons • Diminishing food stocks • Prolonged drought: Ethiopia, Somalia, and the Sudan • Civil wars: Sudan, Chad, Angola, Mozambique, and Ethiopia • Sharp reduction in foreign aid • Continuing population increase, which was partly offset by the rapid spread of AIDS The red ribbon is a symbol for solidarity with HIV-positive people and those living with AIDS.

33. SOCIAL

34. Social Consequences • ¼ of sub-Saharan Africans live in “chronic food insecurity” • Labor migrated to cities where jobs are minimal City of Accra

35. Social Consequences • People took to living on streets and hawking • Theft, unknown in African society, became common, along with street violence because of hunger and deprivation African Street

36. The Population Bomb • Overwhelming problem • Too many people for available resources • No country tried to limit population growth • Agriculture - only 10% of land is suitable for cropping • Repeated droughts made matters worse • Rain forest was being destroyed • Pastoralism • Herders increased herds, which put further stress on land • Sahara Desert expanding southward

37. The Population Bomb • Tourism – major income producer • Large regions opened to human habitation, limits animal populations • Which in turn hurts tourism • Population bomb has exploded • Green Revolution prevented it elsewhere but not in Africa • Yields do not appear able to rise

38. The Population Bomb

39. Prospects at Start of 21st Century Internal and international conflicts • Still seems picture of chaos, famine, brutality • Continent holds most of world’s poorest people • Low life expectancies, high infant mortality • Low adult literacy rate, little access to higher education

40. Prospects at Start of 21st Century • AIDS • Has hit Africa harder than other parts of the world • Over 30% of population is infected • More AIDS deaths than rest of world combined • Official countermeasures weak, ineffective • Governments relying on international aid • Bizarre obstacle in South Africa: • President Thabo Mbeki deny connection between HIV and AIDS President Thabo Mbeki

41. POLITICAL

42. Law and Government

43. Prospects at Start of 21st Century • 2002, major rebellions, riots, demonstrations • Today, signs of a new harmony: • Organization of African Unity (OAU) - Africa’speacekeeper • Intervened in wars in Liberia, Congo-Kinshasa (former Belgian Congo), Darfur, and elsewhere • Peace returned to Liberia • Violence subsided in other parts of West Africa • National elections

44. ECONOMIC

45. Economies • Deeply indebted to World Bank, international banks • Structural Adjustment Programs supposed to re-start economies, but require unpopular measures

46. Signs of Hope for the Future • Malawi, Botswana, Kenya, and Mozambique democratized their politics • Better relations between the First and Second Worlds and the African Third World • Fantasts, tyrants, and kleptocracies (rules of thieves) lost colonial support • International lenders stopped financing grandiose projects • New projects to reflect real needs

47. Signs of Hope for the Future • Mini-grants to enterprising individuals and small groups, especially to women, replaced big programs • So far, these have produced much better results • Less emphasis on export crops, more on family farming • Change in attitudes toward women and their roles • Women receiving active support and encouraged to make their voices heard in politics, economy, public affairs generally

48. REVIEW