chapter 37
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Chapter 37. The End of Empire. The Process of De-Colonization. European Global Power Ending Decline of Empires: By the mid-20 th century, a series of developments undermined European global hegemony: - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Chapter 37
The End of Empire
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The Process of De-Colonization European Global Power Ending
Decline of Empires: By the mid-20th century, a series of developments undermined European global hegemony:
• World War I: Sapped the strength and prestige of colonial powers like Great Britain and France, and eliminated the German Empire.
• Great Depression: Undermined the economic ability of imperial powers to maintain their grip on their colonies.
• World War II: Exhaustion, depletion, and chaos caused by World War II—the upheaval the Japanese caused by taking over most of Southeast Asia, for example—made the reassertion of colonial authority look almost impossible after the war.
• Leaders Educated in Europe and U.S.: Many independence leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Ho Chi Minh were educated in the West and were exposed to concepts like national sovereignty and individual rights.
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The Process of De-Colonization European Global Power Ending
Decline of Empires: By the mid-20th century, a series of developments undermined European global hegemony:
• War-Weary Populations: Citizens of the imperial powers were no longer willing to make the sacrifices necessary to maintain overseas colonies.
• Superpowers: Both postwar superpowers at least ideologically opposed to European imperialism.
Colonialism Swept Away: Between 1945 and 1990, national independence movements had swept away swept away colonialism and created over 90 new countries.
Decolonization: Nations gaining political independence and freedom was not guarantee of stability and security; periods of bloody struggle often followed independence.
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Independence in South andSoutheast Asia
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Independence in Asia
South Asia: India and Pakistan Southeast Asia: Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos,
Indonesia, and the Philippines Arab Nations in Southwest Asia: Syria, Iraq,
Lebanon, and Jordan gained independence, although the former British mandate of Palestine remained contested.
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Independence in Asia
India’s Partitioned Independence 1930s: Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) and the Congress
Party and Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948) of the Muslim League helped to pressure British authorities to pass the India Act of 1935, which granted a limited self-rule; at same time, calls for a separate Muslim state intensified.
World War II: The war put the independence struggle on hold, especially as the Japanese pulled close to the Indian border.
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Partition and Violence
Churchill Rejected Winston Churchill (1874-1965): The wartime prime minister
despised Gandhi and said he would never preside over the liquidation of the British Empire, but was voted out of office in July 1945 in favor of Labor Party candidate more willing to let go of the empire.
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) Nehru was Gandhi’s political apprentice during the independence
struggles of the 1920s and 1930s. Spoke against “communalism”: putting religious identity in front
of Indian national identity.
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Nehru and Gandhi
Partition and Violence Great Calcutta Killing
In Aug. 1946, the Muslim League called for a Day of Direct Action during the negotiations with the British over independence, knowing these protests might trigger violence.
About 6,000 people died in rioting in Calcutta as a result, leading to rise communalist feeling.
1947 Partition To gain the cooperation of the Muslim League, the British create a plan in
which various regions would vote on whether or not to go forward with partition; the regions of what are now Pakistan and Bangladesh voted to separate.
Gandhi and Nehru were vehemently opposed to the idea. 10 million Hindu and Muslim refugees relocated by mid-1948 500,000 killed in the violence during the migrations, creating a bitterness
between the two countries that exists to this day.
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Partition and Violence
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Muslims Leaving India, 1947
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The Nonalignment Movement
India Moves toward Nonalignment India’s independence—despite its violence—was a big turning point
for decolonization movements; it had been the “crown jewel” of the British Empire. It inspired many other independence movements.
The “Third Path”: Nehru encouraged a “nonalignment strategy” that encouraged newly independent countries to remain neutral in the Cold War struggles.
Bandung Conference of 1955: Representatives from twenty-three Asian countries and six African ones met in Bandung, Indonesia, in April 1955 to discuss strategies for maintaining Cold War neutrality. President Achmad Sukarno (1901-1970) of Indonesia proudly called the meeting, “the first international conference of coloured peoples in the history of mankind.”
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Partition and Violence
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Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt and Jawaharlal Nehru of India speaking at theBandung Conference in Indonesia in 1955
Nationalist Struggles in Vietnam
Vietnam had a more difficult time than India keeping out of Cold War complications.
Japan had invaded the French colony in Sept. 1940. French send troops to reassert control after WWII. Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969), a nationalist communist leader,
initially thinks he would have U.S. support against the France, but does not. He mounts a guerilla war, and forces France to surrender in 1954 after the Battle of Dien Bien Phu.
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Nationalist Struggles in Vietnam Geneva Accords: Peace agreement gives Vietnam
independence, but it is divided at 17th parallel: Communist North led by Ho Chi Minh and Pro-West South led by Ngo Din Diem. An election in 1956 was supposed to decide the government of a unified country, but Diem refused to let this happen knowing he would lose as his rule did not gain popular support.
National Liberation Front (NLF): The North sponsored this guerilla group starting in 1960 to fight the unpopular southern government, and channeled Chinese and Soviet aid to them.
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Dissolution of French Indochina
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Ho Chi Minh ofNorth Vietnam
Ngo Dinh Diem, firstpresident of South Vietnam, who served from 1955 until 1963.
Nationalist Struggles in Vietnam President Lyndon Johnson (1908-1973): In 1965, he escalates U.S.
involvement, and send troops to South Vietnam and bombing North Vietnam. War Unpopular in U.S.: By 1968, the war had become increasingly unpopular.
Richard Nixon was elected on a platform of getting the U.S. out of the war, and once in office, started the process of Vietnamization, or turning the fighting over to South Vietnamese troops. Widespread anti-war protests break out in the U.S. and President Johnson decides not to run for reelection, and stops the intensive bombing campaign of the North by October 1968.
Extending the War: Yet Nixon also expanded the war into Cambodia with invasion and bombing in 1969 and 1970, and resumed heavy bombing of North Vietnam (Johnson had stopped this in Oct. 1968). Despite heavier firepower, the U.S. was only able to fight the North Vietnamese to a draw.
The Paris Peace Accords: Orchestrate U.S. withdrawal in 1973. South Vietnam Lost: Without U.S. troops, the South fell to the Northern forces
in 1975, and Vietnam was unified under communist rule.
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Nationalist Struggles in Vietnam
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The Issue of Palestine
After World War II, several Middle Eastern Arab states gain complete independence: Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, etc.
Palestine had ruled by Great Britain between the wars. Britain had proclaimed support for Jewish “homeland” in
Palestine with the Balfour Declaration in 1917, which was supported by the Allies as well at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference.
The British attempted to limit the growing Jewish migration so as not to alarm Arab Palestinians.
Pan-Arab Nationalism: Opposition to the Jewish state was a rallying point for the newly independent Arab states.
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Creation of the State of Israel Jewish and Arab pressure drove the British to hand Palestine
over to United Nations for a resolution to the growing crisis. U.N. develops a partition plan of 1947 divides Palestine into
two distinct states, but this is not acceptable to Arabs in and outside of Palestine, sparking a civil war.
May 1948: Jews declare independence of state of Israel while fighting Arabs and as British withdraw.
Sparks series of conflicts spanning five decades Arab-Israeli Wars in 1948-49, 1956, 1967, 1973, and 1982. Israel greatly expands territory beyond U.N. partition during wars. Intifada: A Palestinian mass movement against the Israeli presence
in Gaza and other occupied territories was sparked in 1987.
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The Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1949-1982
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Egypt and Arab Nationalism
Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egypt, 1918-1970) takes leadership position in Arab world
Gained power in a coup in 1952 that overthrew King Farouk; eschewed democratic principles in favor of a secular militarism and pan-Arab nationalism. Cracked down on communists and the Muslim brotherhood.
Nasser attempts to nationalize the Suez Canal (1956) British, French, and Israelis respond with an invasion, but they did not
alert the U.S. or U.N. ahead of time, so both condemn it. U.S. was concerned about driving oil-rich Arabs into Soviet hands. Nasser complicated bipolar cold war power politics, especially by
splitting Britain and France from the U.S.
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Decolonization in Africa
Legacy of Colonial Rule Different conditions in each nation led to different paces of
decolonization. African countries adopted non-European, pre-colonial names
upon independence: Ghana, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, etc.
Internal Divisions These complicated decolonization and the creation of a national
identity: tribal, ethnic, linguistic, religious, as well as arbitrary national boundaries.
In places were the colonial government had support of settlers—as in Algeria and Kenya— decolonization became violent.
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Decolonization in Africa
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France and North Africa
Abandonment of Most Territories In 1956, Morocco and Tunisia gain independence. Thirteen other colonies in West and Equatorial also declare
independence in 1960, “The Year of Africa”
But determination to retain Algeria Longer period of French colonization (since 1830) Two million French citizens born or settled in Algeria by
WWII: called “pied-noirs”
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Algerian War of Liberation
Front de Libération Nationale: In 1954, the FLN begins guerilla warfare against France Simmering anger since French massacre of peaceful
protesters in Sétif in May 1945 France deploys 500,000 French soldiers by 1958 War ends with Algerian independence in 1962 Frantz Fanon (1925-1961) who treated patients
during the war, published The Wretched of the Earth, a manifesto against colonial rule, in 1961.
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Frantz Fanon
Négritude and African Nationalism
Cultural and political movement in former French West African colonies.
Influence of “black is beautiful” from U.S. Revolt against white colonial values and
reaffirmation of African civilization Black elites organize protests Cold War complicated decolonization: authorities
could label nationalists as subversive communists
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Ghana
“Gold Coast” had been a British crown colony since 1874; exporting cacao was key to the economy.
First sub-Saharan colony to achieve independence in 1957; takes the pre-colonial name “Ghana”
Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972), leader of Ghana and advocate for Pan-African unity
Celebrated visit of Queen Elizabeth II in 1961, which affirmed Ghana’s independence and equality
Few transitions to independence went as smoothly as Ghana’s.
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Ghana
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President Nkrumah dancing with Queen Elizabeth during her 1961 visit
Kenya
Rebels from the Kikuyu ethnic group—one of the largest in Kenya—begins to attack on British settlers and “collaborationist” Africans in 1947.
British authorities declare a state of emergency in 1952, while settlers refused to see the revolt as an expression of discontent with colonial rule, but rather as communist subversives.
Arrested nationalist leader Jomo Kenyatta (1895-1978) in 1953, giving no room for dialogue
Overwhelming British military response crushes Kikuyu by 1956: 12,000 Africans killed vs. 100 Europeans
A bloody, but negotiated withdrawal, followed by independence is completed by Dec. 1963.
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South Africa “Internal Colonialism” in South Africa: Political system
set up to keep blacks in a state of economic and political subservience
Apartheid or “Separateness” Instituted by the Afrikaner National Party in 1948, which sought
to crush all black independence movements. 87 percent of territory for whites Division of Africans into tribes and settlement in “homelands”
African National Congress publishes Freedom Charter (1955), articulating a goal of a multiracial democracy
Repression of ANC causes worldwide ostracism of South Africa
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Dismantling of Apartheid
When F.W. de Klerk (1936-) became president of South Africa in 1989, he pushed the National Party to begin to dismantle apartheid and legalized the ANC.
De Klerk has Nelson Mandela (1918-) released from prison on Robben Island in 1990
Negotiations begin to end of white minority rule 1994 elections bring African National Congress (ANC) to
power and Mandela Relatively calm transition to democratic society Truth and reconciliation investigations used
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Nelson Mandela
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Chinese Communism Massive, pervasive policies of economic and cultural
engineering First Five-Year Plan (1955) Great Leap Forward (1958-1961) Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966-1976)
The first two are economic failures, leading to mass famine; the third persecutes the educated classes and pushes China’s development behind.
The Cultural Revolution could not be sustained after Mao’s death
Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997) comes to power in 1981, moderates Maoism
Tiananmen Square pro-democracy rallies in 1989 are put down in a brutal fashion
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Indian Democracy
Indian democracy flourishes under Indira Gandhi (1917-1984) Daughter of Nehru, no relationship to Mohandas; takes over leadership
of Congress in 1966; served as prime minister from 1966 to 1977, and then from 1980 to 1984; overall a very controversial figure
Instituted the “Green revolution” that increased agricultural yields, benefitting wealthy peasants but ultimately increasing rural poverty
Declares a state of emergency from 1975-1977; institutes repressive policies to slow population growth, including forced sterilization for men with two or more children; program was very unpopular and failed
Assassinated by Sikh bodyguards after her government’s attack on Sikh extremists in Amritsar in 1984.
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Islamism Some Middle Eastern Muslims became increasingly wary
of secular foreign influences; often seeing them as yet another form of imperialism.
CIA support of Iranian Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (1919-1980), overthrown in Iranian Revolution of 1979 (the CIA had overthrown the democratically elected president of Iran in favor of the Shah in 1953) Coalition of religious people and political radicals who wished to throw
off the Shah’s oppression Led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1902-1989) Held U.S. diplomats hostage from the Teheran embassy for two years
(Nov. 4, 1979 to Jan. 20, 1981); Carter administration rescue effort fails on April 24, 1980, when two U.S. helicopters crash in the desert
Shut down U.S. facilities and confiscated U.S. businesses in Iran
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Iranian Revolution
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Ayatollah Ruhollah KhomeiniFirst Supreme Leader of Iran (1902-1989)
The Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)
Saddam Hussein (Iraq, 1937-2006) uses oil, U.S. support to build a huge military machine
Attacks Iran in 1980 Massive devastation for both sides; ends in stalemate: as
many as 800,000 Iranians soldiers killed and as many as 200,000 Iraqi soldiers killed
Hussein attacks Kuwait and provokes the Gulf War (1991)—Bush: “This aggression will not stand.”
U.S.-led coalition drives him out, creating further hardships for Iraqi people
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Colonial Legacies in Sub-Saharan Africa Organization of African Unity (OAU): Formed 1962 with
thirty-two member states, promoting Pan-Africanist goals Declared boundaries (often having been made by imperial
powers) permanent Despite arbitrary nature, necessary to forestall conflicts
New governments fail to prevent ethnic strife; even Nkrumah was deposed amidst ethnic conflict in 1966
Falling commodity prices increase poverty in the continent New International Economic Order (NIEO): Coalition of
developing nations proposing more equitable sharing of global wealth in the 1970s.
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Developments in Latin America Mexico: Failed land redistribution leads to
peasant unrest, economic crises and narco-trafficking destabilizes the state. Politics dominated by the PRI (Partido Revolucionario
Institucional); economic crises in teh 1970s and 1980s North American Free Trade Agreement signed with U.S.
and Canada in 1994, leading U.S. corporations to come south of the border for cheaper labor.
In 1994, Zapatista Army of National Liberation (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, or EZLN) in Chiapas goes public, resisting Mexican state through mostly nonviolent means; primary grievance is land reform
The Mexican state, largely passive against the drug cartels, launches a bloody war against them in 2006.
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Subcomandante Marcos of the EZLN
Developments in Latin America
Argentina: Military dominates politics Juan Perón (1895-1974) elected president in 1946 and becomes a dictator;
wife Eva (“Evita”) especially popular (1919-1952). Peron is overthrown in 1955 and is followed by a series of fragile elected
governments and frequent military interventions in the 1950s and 1960s. Peron returns briefly in the 1970s, but is replaced by a brutal military
regime that rules from from 1976 to 1983, and conducts a “Dirty War” against leftists: somewhere between 10,000 to 30,000 people were “disappeared” by the regime.
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Eva and Juan Peronin 1950
Poster of those having been “disappeared”
Developments in Latin America Guatemala and Nicaragua: U.S. intervention as local governments
attempt to control U.S. economic interests Guatemala
John Foster Dulles of the CIA secretly engineers a coup in 1954 against left-leaning elected government of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala.
Arbenz had planned to expropriate unused agricultural lands held by the United Fruit Company and other corporations for peasants use.
Guatemala devolves into a bloody civil war from 1960 to 1996.
Nicaragua Right-wing and highly corrupt Somoza family rules the country with U.S. support
until 1979. In 1979, the leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) overthrows the
Somoza regime, creating a revolutionary government. Reagan administration supports anti-communist Contra forces in Nicaragua,
funding them through an elaborate scheme to sell arms illegally to Iran.
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Revolutionary Ideologies
Liberation Theology: Mixture of Marxism and Catholicism that rises in popularity in Latin America
Agitation for women’s liberation, especially in Nicaragua
Search for economic equality Dependency theory: Argentine economist Raul Prebisch puts
forth the idea that developing countries needed to replace raw exports with domestic manufacturing and industrialization.
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