Decolonisation: Africa Flashcards
French Algeria
French presence from 1830s, Algerian resistance throughout
Political parties in interwar period
1945: Setif Rising
Insurrection in 54: following Geneva conference
Setif Rising
1945
Led to the killing of 300 pieds noires, french responded with severe violence – execution of 20,000 algerians in revenge
Algerian War For independence
1954-62
French were particularly insistent on keeping Algeria due to its status as a province of France and the high population of pieds noires
Marked by cruelty and violence
500,000 french troops vs guerrillas
300,000 Algerian deaths vs 21,000 european
Suez Crisis
1956
Suez is nationalised by Nasser
Britain, France and Isrrael retaliate
European response angered the US as they had not been informed: opposed it, seen as an extension of imperialist operation
Cease fire later that year
Significance of Suez crisis
Demonsration of post-colonial European ignorance: instinctively retaliated against a former colony the second it did something to piss them off
Some also say it triggered African decolonisation
Domestic french perspective
5th republic:
- De gaule proclamation of support for pieds
noires in 58
- Negotiaitons w FLN (algeria)
Civil unrest in France against decolonisation
- Paris massacre of 61
- Terrorism – Organisation De l’Armee Secrete
French disengagement from africa
Moroccan and Tunisian independence in 56 – couldn’t handle 3 fronts again
Decolonisation of Africa
- 14 sub-Saharan states gain independence in 1960
- Algeria – Evian accords in 62
Decolonisation of Sub-Saharan Africa
Britain: first - Ghana in 57, Nigeria in 60, Tanganyika in 61
France: mostly peaceful
Belgium: swift
Portugal: last and violent
Portuguese disengagement
Wars between 61 and 74: most cruel in guinea Bissau
74: carnation revolution and decolonisation
Independence for guinea bissau in 74
Angola and Mozambique in 75
Many civil wars in the following decades, particularly in Angola
Kwame Nkrumah
Former president of Ghana (57-66)
Central figure of its independence movement
Advocate of pan-africanism
Participant in the non-aligned movement
Julius Nyerere
Tanganyika’s (Tanzania’s) central independence figure
Cofounder of the Tanganyika African National Movement
PM in 60 and president in 62 until death
Founder of an African socialist model
British hesitancy in Africa
Despite being the first to decolonise in africa, still had some colonies late into the century
Main wave of decolonisation from 1960-68, Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) not until 1980
British fuck ups
Debateably more democratic and humane than other colonisers
But left behind some fuck ups
- Palestine – 2nd Balfour dec
- Kashmir – partition
Post-independence secession movements
Nigeria: Biafra war (67-70) – Igbo nationalism
Sudan: civil war leading to creation of South Sudan
White settler colonies
Apartheid: 48-90
Namibia: SA occupation until 90
Kenya: Mau Mau uprising in 52-60, anti-colonial rebellion
- The most valuable and fertile land was owned by whites
- A violent guerilla war – 20,000 mau mau casualties and 1,000 executions
