Decolonization of Africa
With decolonization of Africa the withdrawal of European is colonial powers from Africa called. The decolonization (also decolonization called) Unlocked in Africa in the wake of the Second World War one. There had been independent states in Africa before. The withdrawal began in 1951 with the independence of the Italian colony of Libya and ended in 1976 with that of the British crown colony of Seychelles . European colonial rule in Africa ended at the same time as the colonial era worldwide.
Colonial Policy after 1945
When the European economy regained momentum in the 1950s, debates were held for the first time in the colonial countries about the granting of independence to the African colonies . The main concern was the profitability of the colonies for the mother countries . The decision to decolonize came primarily for economic reasons, because the mother countries could no longer finance their colonies. So the general conclusion was that it would be economically more beneficial to withdraw politically from Africa.
In addition, the European rulers saw themselves more and more threatened by the rising nationalism in the colonies. Some models were the Asian independence movements, especially those in India , which had already formed shortly after the First World War . A struggle for rule by military means or even a restructuring of the colonial empires were out of the question in the long term. In addition, there were “promises” of greater self-government that the colonial powers had made during the war when troops from the colonies reinforced their armies. Therefore, from around 1950 onwards, the states were given independence. The social carriers of decolonization were mostly local elites who occupied lower functions in the colonial administration and were frustrated by the lack of opportunities for advancement.
With the transfer of power, the colonial rulers were always anxious to promote or install governments that were acceptable to them. Europe wanted a democratic Africa, but neither did they want to forego all influence.
The ways to independence
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British colonies
The British were the first colonial power to consider an extensive decolonization of Africa. They wanted a gradual handover of power to moderate, democratic governments. Above all, one was careful to avoid violence - albeit with little success. Because in many formerly British-ruled states there were bloody conflicts. In Kenya , the Mau Mau uprising was suppressed in 1956 . The 1951 elections in Nigeria fueled regional conflicts. In southern Rhodesia , white settlers unilaterally declared independence, which led to escalations with the African nationalists under Robert Mugabe . The Central African Federation also splintered over nationalist disputes.
Most of Britain's former colonies became part of the Commonwealth of Nations .
French colonies
France initially had very different plans. One wanted to bind the colonies even closer politically in the form of the French Union . However, the independence efforts in the colonies stood in the way. Only after the end of the Algerian War (1962) did France finally abandon colonialism - not least because further bloodshed would have met with broad rejection.
To what extent the independence of the colonies was desired by the natives is not entirely certain. When the French colonies were faced with a choice in a referendum on September 28, 1958, the vast majority of the population preferred a further connection to France to complete independence. Two years later, the French colonial empire was history. Only Algeria actually had the status of a colony until the victory of the Algerian Liberation Front ( FLN ) in 1962, even if it was administratively part of France for decades.
see also French North Africa , French Morocco
Italian colonies
The Kingdom of Italy annexed Libya after the Italo-Turkish War (1911–1912). In 1934 Mussolini declared Italy's Libyan possessions a colony of Italian Libya . There were border disputes over the Aouzou strip in the south with France and its colony French Equatorial Africa . During World War II, Italian troops attacked Egypt but were repulsed by British troops. From 1941 to 1943 German troops (" Afrikakorps " under General Field Marshal Erwin Rommel ) supported the Italian units in Libya against Allied units until both the Italian and German units had to surrender in May 1943 near Tunis . From 1943 to 1949, Libya was occupied by Great Britain and France.
In 1949 the United Nations decided to give Libya independence and appointed Adrian Pelt as High Commissioner . In 1960 the Italian Trust Territory of Somalia gained its independence.
Portuguese colonies
Portugal , then under the dictatorship of António Salazar , vigorously rejected any thought of independence for its colonies Angola , Guinea-Bissau , Cape Verde , Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe . The result was uprisings in Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique from 1960 onwards, to which Portugal responded with the Portuguese colonial war . At the same time, it drastically changed its colonial policy by significantly improving the situation of Africans in its colonies and making them Portuguese citizens - with the aim of preventing them from the struggle for independence and winning them over to remain in the Portuguese Empire. In 1973, however, the war in Guinea-Bissau was lost and this country declared its independence. By this point, however, the Portuguese armed forces had practically neutralized guerrilla movements in Angola, while Mozambique was in a kind of military equilibrium.
The economic and human wear and tear caused by the war in Portugal made a decisive contribution to the fact that a military coup - the so-called Carnation Revolution - overthrew the Salazar regime in 1974. The new interim government and the subsequent one under Vasco Gonçalves immediately put an end to all military operations. Portugal initiated the decolonization of its African colonies and recognized their independence in 1975.
Spanish colonies
Spain gave up its African colonies of Equatorial Guinea and Western Sahara shortly before the death of dictator Franco in 1975, leaving them partly in a devastating political state. Western Sahara was occupied by Morocco shortly after the Spanish withdrawal .
Belgian colony of the Congo
The decolonization of the Belgian Congo was a disaster . Its population had not been able to gain any experience with democratic organization, because until 1960 they were excluded from any political participation . The first free elections, in which over 100 "parties" ran, were disastrous and resulted in the Congo crisis . The vote strongest party Mouvement National Congolais-Lumumba of Patrice Lumumba had only 33 of the 137 mandates . His centralist plans favored the separatist tendencies in the difficult-to-control province of Katanga .
Mandate / trust areas
After the First World War, the former German colonies were administered by the victorious powers as mandate areas on behalf of the League of Nations. In terms of international law, they were no longer colonies, but there was a high degree of continuity in the practice of rule. France and Great Britain shared Cameroon ( French / British Cameroon ) and Togo ( French / British Togoland ). In Tanganyika the administration was administered by Great Britain and in Rwanda-Urundi by Belgium. Nazi plans to reestablish German colonial rule failed because of the Second World War and the focus on the Soviet Union as the main enemy. The areas became fiduciary areas on behalf of the UN after the Second World War and became independent around 1960. South West Africa was an exception , as the South African Union entrusted with the administration did not recognize the UN trusteeship and sought integration as part of South Africa. In response to international pressure, the South African government had to gradually move away from this. South West Africa (now Namibia ) only gained independence in 1990 with the end of the South African apartheid regime .
Problems of decolonization
In general, the borders drawn by the European colonial powers usually also formed the later state borders . However, they were drawn arbitrarily during the conquest, regardless of existing tribal or peoples boundaries. However, in Africa there was also no popular term tied to a territory. In some cases, ethnic groups only formed during the formation of the independence movements from 1940. As a result, almost all African states are multiethnic states with the problems that arise from them. This planted a seed for the instability that is widespread today in many African countries. Often the only overarching institution is the military.
Due to the colonial administration, which mostly precluded self-administration of the black majority of the population, a democratic tradition was lacking in many countries, which strongly favored the formation of dictatorships after independence.
Another problem is the economic orientation of almost all colonies as suppliers of raw materials, especially for food and beverages as well as mining products. The manufacturing industry has always been neglected. Little has changed in this even after independence. Many African economies are therefore at the mercy of world market prices, which they cannot determine themselves.
After all, “ tribalism ” is still a serious problem in many parts of Africa : there is no (or less) loyal to the “national” society as a whole that has emerged on the territory of the newly formed states - or is still about to become arise - but to the "ethnic" group to which one belongs or to which one considers oneself to belong and / or is considered.
States by year of their independence
literature
- Franz Ansprenger: Political History of Africa in the 20th Century , Beck, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-406-44468-7 .
- John Iliffe : History of Africa , 2nd edition, Beck, Munich 2000 ISBN 3-406-46309-6 .
- Dietmar Rothermund, The Routledge Companion to Decolonization , Arlington & New York, 2006, ISBN 0-415-35633-4 .
- Gerhard Altmann: Farewell to the Empire. The internal decolonization of Great Britain 1945–1985 . Wallstein, Göttingen 2005, ISBN 978-3-89244-870-9 .
- Fabian Klose: Human rights in the shadow of colonial violence. The wars of decolonization in Kenya and Algeria 1945–1962 . Oldenbourg, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-486-58884-2 (publications of the German Historical Institute London 66).
- Judith Strohm, Eric van Grasdorff, Verena Ackels: 50 years of African independence . A (self-) critical balance sheet . Editions AfricAvenir / Exchange & Dialogue, Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-939313-95-3 .
Web links
- ARD.de special on 50 years of African independence ( Memento from January 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- Main topic “Decolonization and postcolonial societies in Africa” on contemporary history online with texts, links and a collection of materials
- Africa, the decolonization , interactive map with timeline. In: 20minuten , March 22, 2013.
Individual evidence
- ↑ See for example Franz-Wilhelm Heimer , Der Entkolonisierungskonflikt in Angola. World Forum, Munich 1979.
- ↑ see also fr: List d'élections en 1958 # Septembre
- ↑ UN Resolution 289 IV: "Question of the Disposal of the former Italian Colonies", Nov. 21, 1949
- ^ Sebastian Conrad: German colonial history. CH Beck, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-406-56248-8 , p. 116.
- ↑ See Lasse Heerten: Review of: Klose, Fabian: Human rights in the shadow of colonial violence. The wars of decolonization in Kenya and Algeria 1945–1962. Munich 2009 . In: H-Soz-u-Kult , March 18, 2010.