Week Three

THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE

A/ WHO BENEFITTED FROM COLONIZATION?

  1. The colonizers
  2. Africans–e.g., Lugan on Madagascar
  • Benefits did not extend to all Malagasy (and Africans)
  • Benefits unsustainable
  • Costs vs. Benefits?

B/  RESISTANCE, GRIEVANCES, CLAIMS

  1. Resistance

a. Spontaneous, sporadic, short-lived–ineffectual due to repression

(Aba Women’ War, 1929 + Madagascar Insurrection, 1947)

b. Well organized, violent, lengthy–effective

(Algerian War, 1954-62; the Second Boer War, 1899-1902; Mau-Mau Movement, 1950s)

2. What Africans Were Claiming

a. Political Claims: Inclusion, More Representation, Equality (Christianity tenet)

b. Economic Claims: Better work conditions; Better prices for agricultural products

C/ FACTORS LEADING TO INDEPENDENCE

a. Colonies = Expensive + Waning public support in home countries

b. International Context

  • WW II: Atlantic Charter, 1941;
  • United Nations and UN Charter, 1945;
  • India and Pakistan, 1947;
  • The Cold War + Communism

c. The Rise of Nationalism and African Nationalism

D/ THE FOUR WAVES OF DECOLONIZATION

First changes in the colonial “picture” after WWII: India, Egypt

The Process of Decolonization

  •            First Wave (1950s)
  •            Second Wave (1960s): Britain, France, Belgium
  •            Third Wave (1970s): Portugal (+France)

                    The case of Angola

  •            Fourth Wave (1980s-1990s)

Resistance to independence in Southern Africa

  •             1994: the end of decolonization

W3D1 Presentation

W3D2 Presentation

Week 3 Discussion Questions

The Aftermath of Independence 

When African countries became independent in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s some experienced political stability and peace, whereas others were thrown into deadly chaos.

  • Using Kapuscinski’s account, how do you describe the “problem” in Angola in 1974-1975? 

What were the principal actors in the political vacuum that plagued this country at independence? (see timeline at the end of Another Day of Life)

  • What was the international context in 1975? How does it explain chaotic developments in independent Africa?

    That is to say, who was backing the various political factions in Angola’s civil war?

  • Do you think that Kapuscinski does a good job getting us to understand what it was like to live in such a precarious situation?
  • Describe the evolution on Kwame Nkrumah’s outlook on Africa’s future from his 1957 independence speech (excerpts played in class here), “I Speak of Freedom” (1961), and “Neo-Colonialism, the Last State of Imperialism” (1965). What might explain Nkrumah’s evolution?

 The Challenges of Independent Rule

  • How does Herbst describe the general situation in Sub-Saharan Africa at independence?
  • What were the main challenges to ruling African territories and their people?