The End of Empire Chapter 39

The End of Empire

Chapter 39

The End of EmpireBefore we get started

This chapter requires you to consolidate the thinking you have done about comparisons and contrasts and continuities and changes-0ver-time regarding Asia, Africa, and Latin America throughout this book.

Do something with this material as you read that will force you to think continuity and change-over-time as well as comparison and contrast since this chapter will figure prominently on the national exam.

Independence in AsiaDecolonization, like the Cold War, transformed the

world after World War II.It sometimes brought newly independent states

autonomy and self-determination; sometimes, however, pressures from cold war superpowers challenged these new nations to choose sides by aligning themselves with either capitalism or communism, often at the expense of their own independence.

Achieving national unity, social stability, and economic prosperity would prove a challenging, lengthy, uncertain, and dangerous process

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Decolonization in Asia

Independence in AsiaIndia’s Partitioned Independence

Throughout the 1930s, relentless pressure from the Indian national Congress Party and Mohandas Gandhi, along with the Muslim league lead by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, compelled Great Britain to move gradually toward self-rule for its Indian domain.

Constant conflict between Muslims and Hindus hampered India.

Muslims feared being the minority Lead Muslims to flee to Pakistan and Hindus to stay in India. Conflict lead to war in the late 1940s resulting in over 1 million

deaths. India continued to struggle as they attempted to stay neutral

throughout the Cold War.

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Muslims leave India, 1947

Independence in AsiaNationalist Struggles in Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh – Wanted Vietnamese independence since before WWI Made little progress in the 20s and 30s, but helped to oust Japan during

WWIIAfter WWII France regained control of much of South Vietnam.Vietnamese War for independence broke out between South

Vietnam and France.Geneva Accords – 1954, France sued for peace after several

humiliating defeats and Vietnam was split into a Communist North Vietnam and Non-Communist South Vietnam along the 17th parallel Ngo Dinh Diem came to power in South Vietnam Vietnam war ensued. 1973 Paris Peace Accords – U.S. withdrew from Vietnam 1976 – North Vietnam wins war

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Vietnamese Protest French Occupation

Independence in AsiaArab National States and the Problem of Palestine

Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan gained complete independence after the war.

Palestine, however, proved to be a difficult problem Great Britain had controlled Palestine and made conflicting

promises to Palestinian Arabs seeking a nation and to Jews emigrating to Palestine hoping to establish a homeland where they could escape persecution.

In seeking to fulfill both conflicting promises, the British government allowed limited Jewish immigration to Palestine while simultaneously promising to protect the Palestinian Arabs’ civil and economic rights.

Independence in AsiaThe Problem of Palestine

WWII made the problem more complex.The Holocaust increased the pressure on the British

government and the free world to make good on a promise of a secure homeland for the Jews.

Britain turned the problem over to the United Nations UN decided that two states, one Arab and one Jewish, would

be created. Civil War broke out as a result and the Jews announced the

creation of an independent state… Israel. Jews were able to maintain their independent state with the

support of the U.S. (partly due to oil interests), in spite of constant Arab opposition. Southwest Asia … aka The Middle East continues to be a

point of confrontation.

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Demonstration against the Balfour Declaration

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The Arab-Israeli conflict, 1949-1982

Decolonization in AfricaThe Cold War also affected decolonization in

Africa, a process already complicated by reluctant colonial powers and internal tribal conflicts.

Forcing the French out of North AfricaFrench resisted decolonization in North Africa,

especially in Algeria.Algerian War of Independence – (1954-1962)

Pitted the National Liberation Front (revolutionaries) against more than half a million French Soldiers. Very violent conflict.

Decolonization in AfricaBlack African Nationalism and Independence

Black Nationalism celebrated Africa’s great poets, writers, traditions, and cultures.

Cold war complicated the matter of African independence

Ghana was the first sub-Saharan African nation to become independent in March 1957.

Nations like Rwanda, Burundi, and Angola would become independent much later, which much violence and bloodshed.

Decolonization of AfricaFreedom and Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa

Not all decolonization was peaceful as it had been in Ghana.

Example… Kenya Prolonged violence between the British military and

Kenyans lasted from 1947 through 1959. After the death of almost twelve thousand Kenyans,

Kenya gained its independence in 1963.

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Decolonization in Africa (date is year of independence)

After Independence: Long-Term Struggles in the Postcolonial EraPolitical and economic stability was elusive in

developing nations seeking to avoid domination by more powerful nations.

Continued interference by surrounding or superpower nations, local elites trying to maintain their status through imperial ties, or internal divisions prevented development of a clear national identity, caused revolution or war in almost all these postcolonial nations.

After Independence: Long-term Struggles in the Postcolonial Era Communism and Democracy in Asia

China Mao Zedong – United China under Communism following WWII

Envisioned a “Great Leap Forward” for China from 1958-1961 to push industrial and agricultural production by abolishing all private property and by communalizing all farming and industry. Ended in disaster as 20 million Chinese starved to death. Cultural Revolution sought to oust communist opposition

following the Great Leap Forward and resulted in the death of millions more

Deng Xiaoping Mao’s successor

Attempted to modernize China by sending students to western universities.

Led to a pro-democracy youth movement in China that was bloodily crushed in Tiananmen square in 1989.

After Independence: Long-term Struggles in the Postcolonial Era Communism and Democracy in Asia

India Attempted to maintain political responsibility and

democracy. Plagued by problems like extreme population

growth and food shortages, brutal assassinations and continued quests for peace and religious tolerance seem to be the the pattern in modern India

After Independence: Long-term Struggles in the Postcolonial EraIslamic Resurgence in Southwest Asia and North Africa

The Arab and Muslim worlds geographically converged in southwest Asia and in north Africa where Arab nationalism became intermingled with the religious force of Islam to provide a model for those nations that wished to fend off U.S. or European influence.

The continuing animosity toward Israel provided another linking factor between these Arab nations. 1979 Iranian Revolution and ensuing Iranian Hostage Crisis Iran – Iraq War (1980-1988) Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 by Saddam Hussein and ensuing

Gulf War of 1991. 2004 U.S. invasion of Iraq

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Movements toward Peace in the Middle EastIsraeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (1922-

1995) signs peace accord with Palestinian Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat (1929-2004)Yitzhak Rabin assassinated by Jewish extremist

Creation of Palestine Authority in West Bank and Gaza

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IslamismMuslims increasingly regard America in

negative terms, move towards radicalismJihad: holy warCIA support of Iranian Shah Mohammed Reza

Pahlavi (1919-1980), overthrown in Iranian Revolution of 1979Led by Ayatollah Ruhollah KhomeiniHeld U.S. diplomats hostage for two yearsShut down US facilities, confiscated economic

ventures

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Blindfolded U.S. Diplomats

U.S. diplomats were held hostage for two years

After Independence: Long Term Struggles in the Postcolonial EraPolitics and Economics in Latin America

Nations in Central and South America grappled with the conservative legacies of Spanish and Portuguese colonialism as well as neocolonialism as the U.S. intervened militarily and economically to “protect its interests.”

After Independence: Long Term Struggles in the Postcolonial EraPolitics and Economics in Latin America

Though the U.S. may have been a model in the nineteenth-century dreams of liberal democracy, by WWI and after, the U.S. was increasingly viewed as negative and interfering. CIA intervened on numerous occasions in Latin

America throughout the Cold War to prevent communism.

Latest incident being the Contra aid in Nicaragua

After Independence: Long-term Struggles in the Postcolonial EraWar and Peace in Sub-Saharan Africa

The impact of colonialism in Africa lingered after independence as the African borders drawn by Europeans did not match up with the traditional Africa ethnic boundaries.

South Africa Became the model for multiethnic African

transformation after electing the first black president, Nelson Mandela, in 1994 and throwing off the 50+ year old apartheid system.

Violence and Struggle Most African nations still struggle as developing

nations. Internal conflict, violence (child soldiers), poverty, and

Disease are common place in many African nations.

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South AfricaApartheid (1948)

87% of territory for whitesDivision of Africans into tribes, settlement in

“homelands”African National Congress publishes

Freedom Charter (1955)Repression of ANC causes worldwide

ostracism of South Africa

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Nelson Mandela

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Dismantling of ApartheidRelease of Nelson Mandela, 1990Negotiation of end of white minority rule1994 elections bring African National

Congress to powerRelatively calm transition to democratic

society