Ministers

How orderly was the aftermath of decolonisation in the 1960s and 1970s Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Somalia?

C aim – to assess how orderly the aftermath of decolonisation in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Somalia and Zimbabwe

B aim – to assess whether the aftermath of decolonisation was more orderly in East or West AfricaA/A* aim – to assess how orderly the aftermath of decolonisation was and identify any trends

• How orderly was the process of decolonisation in particular countries? Use these key words as clues.

• Why is Zimbabwe not in its title? How orderly was its aftermath?

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Ministers

Regions Violence

Settlers

Common Misconceptions

• Did Wilson’s 14 points mean that America told Britain to decolonise? – 1941 Atlantic Charter – aim of WWII that there

should be no territorial changes against the people’s will

• Did Britain decolonise because they couldn’t afford it anymore?

• Did America want Britain to decolonise?

Country What were the key events that happened in the aftermath of decolonisation?

Ways that the aftermath of decolonisation was orderly

Ways that the aftermath of decolonisation was disorderly

How orderly was the aftermath of decolonisation after this?

Ghana 1. In 1956 the British agreed to give Ghana independence as long as the CPP a ‘reasonable’ majority – they won

72 out of 104 seats so independence was given. Nkrumah became PM, joined the Commonwealth and the Queen was the monarch.

2. 1957 – the deportation act said that any non-Ghananian who was not in the interest of the public good could be deported, ethnic/religious/regional parties banned

3. 1958 – Preventive Detention Act gave power to the PM to detain individuals up to 5 years without trial. This helped to silence their opponents.

4. 1960 – Ghana became a republic and Nkrumah became president. Nkrumah then proclaimed himself president for life and the CPP as the sole party.

5. 1961 – between 400 and 2000 of Nkrumah’s opponents had been detained 6. Nkrumah spent lots of money on hosting pan-African conferences. Nkrumah justified the restricted freedoms

by spending lots of money on road building, mass education health services and constructing the Akosombo Dam. This was very expensive. By 1961 cuts were made in spending and taxes raised. Protests began to emerge from farmers and within his own party.

7. 1962 – an assassination plot was discovered and the plotters were sentences harshly by an unfair court. 8. 1964 – Ghana officially became an single-party state with one candidate for the presidency. 9. 1966 – the National Liberation Council overthrew the CPP in a military coup saying the CPP and Nkrumah were

abusive and corrupt. They made arrangements for democracy to return. 10. 1968 – different political parties allowed 11. 1969 – free elections held.

Nigeria1. Nigeria gained independence in 1960 as a coalition of the

Islamic Northern parties and Southern Christian parties with a PM and the Queen as the head of state

2. 1961 – a southern region called Southern Cameroon opted to join the Republic of Cameroon which made the Northern part of the country much larger than the South

3. 1963 – Nigeria became a republic 4. 1966 – disequilibrium and the perceived corruption of the

electoral and political process led to several back to back military coups. Eventually the Northern Muslims won their military coup. Many of the Southern Christians were killed – especially those of Igbo descent.

5. 1967 – The Igbo declared themselves as independent as the Republic of Biafra as they hated the violence they had experienced. The Northerners and some of the other southerners attacked them. The Nigerian Civil War started.

6. 1970 –Nigerian Civil War ended – 1-3 million died from the war and related problems. Various powers were involved helping different groups. Biafra stayed with Nigeria.

7. 1975 – the Northern Muslims who won the military coup were overthrown by a bloodless coup

8. 1976 – another coup succeeded 9. 1979 – the previous coup gave power to an elected group

Kenya1. 1963 – Kenya becomes independent under Kenyatta,

despite the British hoping for a ‘moderate’ leader. KANU and KADU political parties.

2. 1964 – Kenyatta’s KANU party was the only political party as KADU voluntarily dissolved itself.

3. 1966 – KPU broke away from KANU. KPU were mainly Luo people.

4. 1969 – Member of government assassinated which led to hostility between Kikuyu and Luo ethnic groups. Riots then broke out in Luo areas and KPU was banned. One party state again.

5. In 1963 the Kenyans were fighting a war against Somalians living in Kenya who wanted to unite a part of Northern Kenya with Somalia.

6. 1967 – Ceasefire reached with Somalians living in Northern Kenya

In the 1960s and 1970s Kenyans seized back land from white settlers and was given to mainly the Kikuyu, Embu and Meru ethnic groups – only 30% of the population – as they were the ones with most of the political power.

7. 1978 – Kenyatta died and the deputy leader of KANU became president.

Somalia • 1960 – Somalia became independent with various elected leading

representatives. • 1961 – popular referendum ratified the new constitution • 1967 – New PM appointed by the previous PM • 1969 – the new PM was shot dead by his own bodyguard and a

military coup d’etat followed. The Somalian army took power under their leader Major General Barre. They faced no opposition. Barre soon after became the leader of the whole country. They put into place public works programmes, improved education and nationalised industry and land. It was a one party state. They introduced more Islamic ideas into ruling the country.

• 1977 – The Somalians invaded a part of Ethiopia which was very valuable. The Russians and Cubans came to help Ethiopia’s Communist regime and pushed the Somalians out by 1978. The Somalians now joined with the USA.

• 1979 – new constitution made and new elections help but Barres government still continued to rule as a one party state.

• Was Britain right to support Nkrumah?• What do we mean by increased political instability?

Coups, limited democracy, changes

• Was there increased political instability? • Why was there increased political instability

or why was Africa more politically stable? • Could this have been avoided?

• Draw an opinion line for each area of your aim. Justify your crosses.

• Explain how orderly the process of decolonisation was and the political aftermath of decolonisation in the 1960s and 1970s was in a case study to someone else.

How orderly was the aftermath of decolonisation in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Somalia and Zimbabwe? C aim – to assess how orderly the aftermath of decolonisation in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Somalia and

ZimbabweB aim – to assess whether the aftermath of decolonisation was more orderly in East or West Africa

A/A* aim – to assess how orderly the aftermath of decolonisation was and identify any trends

• How accurate is it to say that the transition to independence led to increased political instability in east and west Africa in the 1960s and 1970s?

• Unpick the question • Planning

Homework – Due Thursday

• Revise colonisation and decolonisation. Learn content, write essays and plan past exam questions.