Decolonization Of European Countries

After the Second World War

Reasons of the Decolonization in Europe

- The need for reconstruction in the post-war area. The European nations unable to wage military forces strong enough to be used to maintain colonies.

- Increasing tension between NATO and the USSR, along with the fact that the USSR had an army of overwhelming number forced the European nations to focus on self-defense. Thus it became impossible for European nations to draw spare forces to occupy the rest of the world.

- The destruction caused by WWII would have had severe impact on ordinary European citizens. The fear for the possibility of a nuclear war allowed pacifists to gain more recognition from the general public than ever. Old ideals such as building an empire so large upon which the sun never sets all day round now seemed hollow and impractical.

- By 1922, the British Empire held sway over a population of about 458 million more than 13,000,000 square miles (people, one-quarter of the world's population, and covered 33,670,000 km2): approximately a quarter of the Earth's total land area.

- Because of the Second World War saw Britain's colonies in North Africa and South-East Asia occupied by the Axis Powers, Germany and Japan, respectively, which damaged British prestige and accelerated the decline of the Empire. Within two years of the end of the war, Britain granted independence to its most populous and valuable colony, India.

- During the remainder of the 20th century, most of the territories of the Empire became independent as part of a larger global decolonisation movement by European powers, ending with the return of Hong Kong to the “People's Republic of China” in 1997. After independence, many former British colonies joined the “Commonwealth of Nations”, a free association of independent states. Sixteen Commonwealth nations share their head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, as Commonwealth realms. Fourteen territories remain under British sovereignty, the British overseas territories.

- British Empire

- British Empire

1945 // After the Second World War.

- British Empire

The Commonwealth of Nations (blue = present members, orange = former members, green = suspended members)

- Portuguese Empire

- In the 20th century the poorest and least developed of the western European powers, was the first nation (with Spain) to establish itself as a colonial power (when it captured Ceuta in 1415 ), and the last to give up its colonial possessions. In Portuguese Africa during the authoritarian regime of António de Oliveira Salazar, the settler population had grown to about 400,000.

- After 1961 pan-African pressures grew, and Portugal found itself mired in a series of colonial wars, while the development of mining in Angola and Mozambique revealed hitherto unknown economic assets.

- Portuguese Guinea (Guinea-Bissau) became independent in 1974. In June 1975 Mozambique achieved independence as a people’s republic; in July 1975 São Tomé and Príncipe became an independent republic; and in November of the same year Angola, involved in a civil war between three rival liberation movements, also received sovereignty.

• Red - actual possessions• Olive - explorations• Orange - areas of influence and trade• Pink - claims of sovereignty• Green - trading posts• Blue - main sea explorations, routes and areas of influence.

- Portuguese Empire

- Dutch Empire

- The Dutch followed Portugal and Spain in establishing an overseas colonialempire, aided by their skills in shipping and trade and the surge ofnationalism accompanying the struggle for independence from Spain.- The Dutch initially built up colonial possessions on the basis of indirect statecapitalist corporate colonialism, via the Dutch East and West IndiaCompanies. - The restored portions of the Dutch Empire, notably the Dutch East Indiesand Suriname, remained under Dutch control until the decline of Europeanimperialism following World War II.

- Today, the Netherlands are part of a federacy called the Kingdom of theNetherlands, along with its former colonies Aruba and the NetherlandsAntilles.

• Light green, the Dutch East India Company• Dark Green, the Dutch West India Company

- Dutch Empire

- Spanish Empire

- In 1973, Spain decided to introduce internal self-government,to deflect international pressure for decolonization. But by mid-1974,following the collapse of Portugal's Africa empire, Madrid promised toimplement United Nations calls for a referendum in the territory during thefirst half of 1975. - The final Spanish departure from its Saharan colony came on 26 February1975.- The movement toward independence began to take shape at the end of1967 in Spanish Guinea. Early the following year the Spanish governmentsuspended autonomous political control and proposed that a nationalreferendum be held to approve the new constitution. The constitution wasoverwhelmingly approved on August 11 and was followed by parliamentaryelections in September and by the proclamation of independence on Oct. 12,1968.

Map of the northernmost territories belonging to the Spanish Protectorate of Morocco (1912–56)

Spanish Guinea

- Spanish Empire

- Belgian Empire

- In the 1950s an independence movement arose in the Belgian Congo, andthe Belgians became convinced they could no longer control the territory. In1960, Ruanda-Urundi's larger neighbour gained its independence.

- The Congo Crisis (1960–1966) was a period of turmoil in the First Republic of the Congo that began with national independence from Belgium and ended with the seizing of power by Joseph Mobutu. At various points it had the characteristics of anti-colonial struggle, a secessionist war with the province of Katanga, a United Nations peacekeeping operation, and a Cold War proxy battle between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Crisis caused the death of some 100,000 people.

- Belgian Empire

The Belgian Congo

Belgian paracommandos preparing for a hostage rescue operation, November 1964

- Italian Empire

• Libya was lost as a colony in 1943 when it was occupied by the Allied powers in World War II.

• Also in the Peace Treaty of February 1947, Italy surrendered all her colonies, including Eritrea.

Libya

- Italian Empire

The Eritrean railway was built during Italian colonialism.

Eritrea

Decolonization

Decolonization

Results of Decolonization

- Elites gained power- Initial political parties reflected ethnic, regional,

or religious groups- Power was often gained by corrupt African

“strongmen”(dictators) who ignored the social needs of people

- Economic dependency continued

CountryCountry Colonial nameColonial nameColonial Colonial powerpower Independence dateIndependence date

South Africa South Africa Britain 31 May 1961

Libya Libya Italy December 24, 1951

Egypt Egypt Britain 1922/1936/1953

Sudan Sudan Britain January 1, 1956

Morocco Spanish Morocco Spain April 7, 1956

Ghana Gold Coast Britain March 6, 1957

Cameroon CamerounFrance, Britain January 1, 1960

DR Congo Belgian Congo Belgium June 30, 1960

Somalia Italian Somaliland, British Somaliland Italy, Britain July 1, 1960

Nigeria Nigeria Britain October 1, 1960

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone Britain April 27, 1961

Tanzania Tanganyika Britain December 9, 1964

Rwanda Ruanda-Urundi Belgium July 1, 1962

Burundi Ruanda-Urundi Belgium July 1, 1962

Uganda British East Africa Britain October 9, 1962

Kenya British East Africa Britain December 12, 1963

Malawi Nyasaland Britain July 6, 1964

Zambia Northern Rhodesia Britain October 24, 1964

The Gambia Gambia Britain February 18, 1965

Botswana Bechuanaland Britain September 30, 1966

CountryCountry Colonial nameColonial nameColonial Colonial powerpower Independence dateIndependence date

Lesotho Basutoland Britain October 4, 1966

Mauritius Britain March 12, 1968

Swaziland Swaziland Britain September 6, 1968

Equatorial Guinea Spanish Guinea Spain October 12, 1968

Guinea-Bissau Portuguese Guinea Portugal September 24, 1973

Mozambique Portuguese East Africa Portugal June 25, 1975

Cape Verde Portugal July 5, 1975

São Tomé and Príncipe Portugal July 12, 1975

AngolaAngola (also known as Portuguese West Africa) Portugal November 11, 1975

Seychelles Britain June 29, 1976

Zimbabwe Southern Rhodesia Britain April 18, 1980

Sahrawi Republic 1 Spanish Sahara / Moroccan Sahara SpainFebruary 27, 1976 / Currently