Reading Focus

• What ideas and actions led to independence for British and French colonies?

• Why did Portuguese and Belgian colonies have difficulty achieving independence?

• What effect did apartheid have on the lives of black South Africans?

Main Idea

After World War II, almost all countries in Africa gained independence from ruling European powers.

African Nations Gain Independence

After 1945 European colonial powers began a process of decolonization—the withdrawal of colonial powers from their colonies and areas of influence. Great Britain and France led the way.

• British colony of the Gold Coast, West Africa, first to achieve independence

• African leaders established convention to demand greater participation in government

Ghana

• Goal: to cooperate with British, gain influence peacefully

• Less cooperative movement also brewing

• 1947, Kwame Nkrumah became leader of Convention People’s Party (CCP)

Two Movements

• Nkrumah led strikes, demonstrations

• British jailed him

• Still transformed CCP into major political party

• 1951, British pressured into allowing national elections

National Elections

British and French Colonies

New NationCCP swept Gold Coast national elections

• Nkrumah continued to press for independence

– 1957, Britain granted Gold Coast full independence

– Nkrumah became first prime minister of new nation, Ghana

In the 1950s the Kenyan path to independence did not go as smoothly as it did in Ghana.

• Ownership of land, possibility of independence led to conflict between white Kenyan farmers, native Kikuyu people

• Farmers feared independence would cause them to lose large tracts of valuable cash crops in Kenyan highlands

• Kikuyu wanted these ancestral homelands back

Conflict • Leader of Kenya’s nationalist

movement, Jomo Kenyatta argued for Kikuyu’s right to land, its importance

• Many Kikuyu farmers formed violent movement, Mau Mau

• Group terrorized highlands, murdered anyone opposing them, including Africans who cooperated with white settlers

Mau Mau

Kenya

British Regain ControlBritish eventually regained control of colony

• British murdered, tortured members of Mau Mau movement

• Late 1950s, British convinced to accept decolonization

– 1963, Kenya became independent nation

– Jomo Kenyatta became first prime minister

Different Path

• French African colonies followed different path toward independence

• French goal had been to incorporate colonies into France itself

• Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle tried to pursue goal after World War II

French Community

• 1958, de Gaulle called for referendum on continued union

• Most colonies voted to join new organization, known as French Community

• France granted most colonies of Community independence a few years later

Benefits in Relationship

• African leaders believed they should have greater opportunities for self-rule

• However, rejected final break with France because they believed Africans could attain economic, cultural benefits from continued relationship

French Africa

Find the Main Idea

How did Britain grant independence to its African colonies?

Answer(s): Britain granted independence to its colonies after they began nationalist movements.

• After World War II, Belgian government agreed to prepare people of Belgian Congo for self-government

• 1950s, African nationalists in Congo demanded immediate self-government

• 1960, Belgians announced complete withdrawal; soon violence toward Belgian settlers, civil war erupted

Belgian Congo

• Transition to independence for Belgian, Portuguese colonies more difficult than for British, French

• Belgians, Portuguese held on to colonies longer than any other European nations

• Violence forced decolonization

Transition Difficult

Portuguese and Belgian Colonies

Bloody Warfare in Portuguese Colonies

• Long years of bloody warfare marked last decades of Portuguese rule

• War, military coup in Portugal drained Portuguese economy; made it impossible to continue support of colonies

• 1974, Portugal withdrew completely from Africa

Leaders Emerge in Portuguese Colonies

• Portugal continued to hold on to colonies

• Meanwhile, African leaders emerged in colonies of Angola, Portuguese Guinea, Mozambique

• Leaders organized armies to fight for independence

Summarize

How did Africans in the Portuguese colonies achieve independence?

Answer(s): African leaders organized armies to fight for independence; years of bloody warfare ended Portuguese rule.

Apartheid laws banned interracial marriages, and placed further restrictions on African ownership of land and businesses.

In the early 1900s South Africa was run by white Afrikaners—descendants of the original Dutch settlers. Even though South Africa had received independence from Great Britain in 1910, nonwhites in South Africa were not free under the Afrikaner government.

• 1948, racial discrimination heightened when Afrikaner-dominated National Party began to run South African government

• Instituted policy of apartheid, “apartness” in Afrikaner language

Apartheid

South Africa

• Apartheid policy divided into four racial groups: White, Black, Colored (mixed ancestry), Asian

• Attempted to create greater separation between whites, nonwhites, impose harsh controls

Racial Separation

• Under apartheid, only white South Africans could vote, hold political office

• Blacks made up nearly 75 percent of population, were denied South African citizenship

• Restricted to certain occupations, very little pay

Citizenship Denied

• Apartheid laws especially harsh on blacks in South Africa

• Required to carry passes, identity books

• Also faced imprisonment if police found them in an area for more than 72 hours without pass

Laws Harsh on Blacks

Apartheid Laws

Townships

• Apartheid placed limits on where blacks could live

• Required to live in impoverished areas of cities called townships

Citizenship

• Did not include good farmland, resources

• Used homelands as excuse for depriving blacks of citizenship

Further Segregation

• Restricted businesses allowed in townships, kept people poor

• 1950s, created rural “homelands” for tribes, groups

Aliens

• Men forced to migrate without families to work in mines, factories, farms

• Homeland policy made millions resident aliens in own country

Homelands

Find the Main Idea

What was apartheid, and how did it function?

Answer(s): policy of separating whites and nonwhites and placing restrictions upon nonwhites; enforced by police, laws

Reading Focus

• What political challenges did Africans face after independence?

• What economic and environmental challenges did Africans face after independence?

• How did Africans revive their culture after independence?

Main Idea

Newly independent African nations struggled with poverty, conflict and ineffective governments. In recent years, some countries sought better government by holding democratic elections.

Post-Colonial Africa

The Sharpeville Massacre was a turning point in the anti-apartheid movement.

• 1950s–1960s, many former European colonies ruled by dictators• Some nations fell into civil war• 1990s brought renewed hope with the return of democracy; end of the

apartheid system in South Africa

• Early 1900s, African National Congress formed in South Africa

• ANC petitioned government, held peaceful protests against apartheid

• 1940s, younger, radical members joined, including Nelson Mandela

Protesting Apartheid

Political Challenges

• 1952, Mandela organized campaign urging blacks in South Africa to break apartheid laws

• 1960, changed from peaceful philosophy after police killed demonstrators in Sharpeville

Change of Philosophy

Meeting Violence with Violence

• Mandela, other ANC leaders decided to meet violence with violence

• Government banned ANC, jailed Mandela

• 1976, major student protest movement in township of Soweto

Trade Sanctions

• Police crushed uprising, but over 600 killed, 4,000 wounded

• ANC fought to end apartheid; violence erupted in many black townships

• International community imposed trade sanctions on South Africa

Soweto Uprising

• Soweto Uprising set off by decree for black schools to teach Afrikaans—language of white South Africans

• Police killed protesting student; peaceful march turned into revolt

Protesting Apartheid

Democracy in South Africa• 1990, President F.W. de Klerk legalized ANC, began

negotiations to enact new constitution, end apartheid

– Released Mandela from prison

– Lifted long-standing ban on African National Congress

• De Klerk also abolished homelands, held South Africa’s first democratic elections

– ANC swept elections

– Mandela became first black president of a democratic South Africa

• Some corrupt officials required bribes for government contracts, licenses

• Also ran government enterprises for personal profit

• New generation of dictators robbed countries of wealth

– Mobutu Sese Seko, dictator of Congo, amassed personal fortune of about $5 billion, while his people fell into poverty

Bribery and Corruption

• End of 1960s, nearly all newly independent African nations adopted one-party system

• Single political party controls government

– Elections rarely competitive– Opposition parties outlawed in

many countries

• Dictators ruled many nations, maintained power through patronage, giving loyal followers well-paid positions in government

One–Party System

Military Dictatorships

When the European powers divided Africa into colonies, preexisting political units were not maintained.

• After independence, rival ethnic groups competed for control, some by destructive civil wars

• 1967, Igbo-speaking group of eastern Nigeria proclaimed independent state of Biafra

• Bloody civil war erupted; 2 million died from fighting, another 2 million from starvation

Ethnic Conflicts• 1992, civil war, drought led to

suffering in Somalia

• Hundreds of thousands of Somalis died when warring militias stole food sent from international relief agencies

• 1990s, tensions between Hutu, Tutsi erupted in violence

• 1994, 1 million Tutsi, moderate Hutus massacred in Hutu-led government genocide

Civil Wars

Ethnic Conflicts and Civil War

• Despite conflicts, war throughout late 1900s, many African countries still dictatorships

• Cold War: U.S., Soviets gave large amounts of money to dictators friendly to their side

• Cold War ended, money dried up; weakened some dictators’ governments

• Many Africans saw weakness as opportunity to create democratic governments, demanded elections

• By 2005, more than 30 African countries had abandoned one-party systems, held elections

Elections • Election results mixed

• Some former dictators resorted to fraud, intimidation to win elections

• Others elected because people preferred them to alternatives

Results

Democracy for Some

Draw Conclusions

Why did most African states adopt a one-party system?

Answer(s): U.S. and Soviet Union each provided large amounts of money to dictators friendly to their side.

After achieving independence, many African nations faced economic challenges that came with their new status. In addition, Africans had to combat the spread of disease and environmental problems.

• After independence most African nations’ economies fragile

• Depended on only one, two exports for support

Struggling Economies

• African nations not industrialized, depended on farming, mining raw materials

• Example: Ghana depended on cocoa; Nigeria, oil

Farming, Mining

• For loans, turned to international organizations, like World Bank; bad planning, corrupt leaders left nations with huge debts, no infrastructure

Development Loans

Economic and Environmental Challenges

AIDS

• HIV virus that causes AIDS weakens body’s immune system, results in death

• Social costs in sub-Saharan Africa staggering; millions of orphaned children because parents died from AIDS

• Only small percentage of infected Africans receiving AIDS treatment

Disease

• African nations also challenged by management of deadly diseases

• Malaria continues to be one of most common causes of death today

• 1980s, new disease, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) spread rapidly throughout Africa

• Result: soil in these areas dries out, natural grasses cannot grow

• Sahara, Sahel deserts expanding due to desertification, spread of desertlike conditions

• Desertification contributes to cycles of drought, famine that plague many African countries today

Desertlike Conditions

• Scarcity of fertile farmland, pastures for livestock challenge for many Africans today

• Farmers must plant crops in poor soil

• Herders have to graze animals in extremely dry regions

Environmental Challenges

Desertification

Identify Cause and Effect

What causes desertification in Africa?

Answer(s): planting crops in poor soil and grazing animals in dry areas, causing soil to dry out even more

Meanwhile a new type of African literature developed in the French-speaking colonies of West Africa.

• In spite of the challenges African countries have faced since independence, Africans have experienced a cultural revival.

• A new generation of African writers, artists, and musicians has emerged to establish a powerful African identity.

• During colonial rule Africans preserved culture, used as means of expressing dissatisfaction with colonial rule

• Many East Africans continued to study Swahili language

Language and Literature

Revival of African Culture

• Early 1960s, after independence, Swahili became national language in Kenya, Tanzania

• Swahili writers maintained strong tradition of poetry, plays, novels

Change of Philosophy

• Many writers faced censorship, harassment by African governments they ridiculed

• Writers like Wole Soyinka spent time in prison for opposing Nigerian government

• Other African writers fled Africa to escape possible imprisonment

Censorship, Harassment

• 1930s, group of African, Caribbean students living in Paris founded negritude movement

• Writings rejected European culture, focused on African culture, identity

• After independence, African writers shifted from criticism of European colonialism to criticism of African leaders

Changes in Literature

Revival of African Culture

• Traditional arts like sculpture, music, dance also became new means of expressing African identity

• Artists began to produce traditional pieces like masks, musical instruments, sculptures carved from wood, cast in bronze

• Artists incorporated new ideas, materials into work, revival of African art with new vitality, creativity—highly valued on world market today

• Musicians traditionally played to honor history, mark special occasions

• Traditional dances performed to celebrate specific events, special ceremonies

Tradition • 1960s, began to blend traditional

African with Western music styles

• Used common Western instruments in addition to African

• 1980s, Afro-Pop music became popular; many African musicians internationally known today

Blending Styles

Art, Music, and Dance

Find the Main Idea

What subject did many African writers focus on after independence?

Answer(s): criticism of African leaders

Reading Focus

• How did independence come to French North Africa?

• What events led to the creation of Israel?

• How did nationalism cause changes in Egypt and Iran?

Main Idea

The rise of nationalism in North Africa and the Middle East led to independence for some countries and to conflicts with the West.

Nationalism in North Africa and the Middle East

After World War II, France faced growing nationalist movements in its North African protectorates of Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria.

• Nationalist campaigns for independence began to grow in early, mid-1900s in both countries

• Attempts by France to crack down on movements led to increasing unrest, demonstrations, guerrilla wars

• Meanwhile Algeria also struggling for independence

Morocco and Tunisia• Algeria home to large French

settler population, was more important to the French

• French government concluded it could not fight guerrilla wars in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia at same time

• Negotiated with nationalist leaders in Morocco, Tunisia

• 1956, both countries granted independence

Independence

French North Africa

Algeria

• 1830, France first took control of some areas in Algeria

• 1950s, more than 1 million European settlers in area, owned best land, dominated economy, had grip on political power

Attacks on Settlers, Reprisals

• Next year FLN directly targeted French settlers; attacks killed more than 100 people in one city

• French forces, groups of settlers responded by attacking Muslims; between 1,200 and 12,000 Muslims killed in reprisal attacks

National Liberation Front

• 1954, group of Algerian nationalists formed National Liberation Front (FLN)

• FLN began campaign of armed attacks against French targets

• French responded with mass arrests, raids on Muslim towns

Algeria

• French settlers in Algiers increasingly angry over perceived lack of support from French government

• May 1958, French troops, mob of settlers seized control in Algiers, demanded change of government in Paris

• Demands met; Charles de Gaulle appointed prime minister in June 1958

• De Gaulle seen as strong supporter of settlers of Algeria

Change in Government• Attacks set pattern for deadly war

in Algeria—FLN targeted French civilians, French attacked Muslim population

• FLN launched campaign of bombings, assassinations at civilians, military in Algiers

• French responded with harsh counterterrorism campaign, torturing suspected FLN members

• Summer 1957, FLN largely defeated, but war not over

Battle of Algiers

French Responses

De GaulleDe Gaulle hoped to satisfy both French settlers,

Algerian nationalists

• Wanted to give Algeria limited degree of self-government

– Faced violent reaction from French settlers, who did not want France to give up any control

– Violent reaction also from nationalists, wanted full independence

• De Gaulle decided French rule could not be maintained in Algeria

– February 1961, opened peace talks with FLN

– 1962, signed agreement granting Algeria independence

Contrast

How was the struggle for independence in Algeria different from the struggle in

Morocco and Tunisia?

Answer(s): The French government negotiated with nationalist leaders in Morocco and Tunisia and allowed them independence, but fought the FLN to keep control of Algeria.