Decolonizing Africa Notes

African Decolonization

Europe controlled most of Africa since the late 1800s.
Africa was very diverse in culture, language, and ethnicity.
Many African groups were unwilling to return to colonial rule after WWII.
Negritude Movement (1930s-1960s):
- A cultural and political movement.
- Goal: raising and cultivating "black consciousness."
- Focused on African culture/language, not the colonizers'.

Africans fought with European colonizers to defend freedom during WWII.
However, they were not granted freedom upon returning home.
Indirect & direct rule systems present in Africa changed the ways people fought for freedom.

Formation of political organizations.
Alliance between traditional leaders & European-educated Africans to show unity.
Created United Gold Coast Congress.
Boycott of foreign-owned cocoa companies.
Practiced nonviolence & civil disobedience, including strikes & demonstrations (Convention People’s Party).

Fought for their freedom with violent resistance.
Created political organizations in opposition to British rule.
Mau Mau Revolt (1952-1960):
- Secret society made up of Kenyan farmers forced off their land by the British.
- Uprising using homemade guns, spears, bows, & swords to defeat British.
- Later negotiated independence with the British.

Received independence in 1963 after years of negotiations.
President: Jomo Kenyatta (r. 1963-1978).
- Strong leader, imprisoned under the British.
- Alleged leader of Mau Mau Revolt.
- Worked to unite the country's ethnic/language groups.
Successor: Daniel arap Moi (r. 1978-2002).
- Less successful than Kenyatta.
- Faced opposition to strict rule and corruption in government.
- Ethnic conflicts: hundreds dead & thousands homeless.
- Moi stepped down in 2002, and Kenya held free elections.

Formation of resistance groups.
Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) led by Ahmed Ben Bella.
Fight for Algerian independence through violent uprisings, nationalist groups, & demonstrations.
Algerian War (1954-1960): France vs. FLN.
Evian Accords, 1960: Treaty ending the Algerian War; Algerian sources say 1.5 million people killed.

Gained independence in July 1962.
President: Ahmed Ben Bella (r. 1962-1965).
Overthrown for trying to make Algeria socialist.
Unsuccessful modernization & industrialization led to unemployment & unhappiness with the government.
Rise of Religious fundamentalist groups like the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS).
- Wanted to make Algeria an Islamic state, protecting Muslim interests.
- Won elections in 1990 & 1991, but the ruling party refused to accept election results.
Algerian Civil War (1991-2002):
- War broke out between the Algerian government & Islamic militants and continued for another 10 years.
- Anti-government demonstrations continue to this day.

1652: Dutch East India Company (DEIC) colony at Cape of Good Hope.
1879: British defeat the Zulu Kingdom.
1899–1902: Boer War - Great Britain wins.
1910: Union of South Africa is formed, semi-independent with Apartheid.
- Power given to the white minority who had the best land.
- Black South Africans (75% of the population) lived on 13% of the land.

1912: African National Congress (ANC) formed.
- Engaged in strikes, boycotts, and protests; members were imprisoned.
1961: South Africa becomes a republic after a referendum (only whites could vote).

Leader of the ANC.
1962: Arrested for leaving the country illegally and inciting a strike.
1964: Rivonia Trial: sentenced to life imprisonment for sabotage and plotting to overthrow the government (partially true, but the trial was unfair).
1970s: Protestor Stephen Biko beaten to death in jail, sparking national/international outrage.
Released from prison on February 11, 1990.
1994: First multiracial elections held, and Mandela becomes South Africa's first Black president.

Congo was the most exploited colony (rubber, copper, harsh rule).
Cold War lens: the U.S. viewed Congo as strategically vital due to its mineral wealth (uranium) & central African location.
Patrice Lumumba: Nationalist, First Prime Minister.
- Sought help from the UN & US but was denied/delayed.
- Asked the Soviet Union for help, which alarmed the US.
- The CIA worked to remove Lumumba through an assassination plot.
- Lumumba was transferred to Katanga, tortured, and executed — with U.S. knowledge & indirect complicity.
1960: Granted independence, but a civil war broke out.
New leader: Mobutu Sese Seko (Warlord).
- Ruled harshly and kept power for 30 years.
- Overthrown in 1997 after another civil war.
Now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
New leader: Laurent Kabila.
- Promised democracy and free elections but did not uphold them.

The road to stability was difficult for many African nations.
Europeans drew artificial borders for their own interests.
- Borders disregarded the areas where ethnic groups lived and grouped similar cultures but also trapped traditional enemies together, which led to fighting after Europeans left.
Had to deal with new government structures and developing a post-colonial industrialized economy after being economically suppressed for 300 years.
The colonial era reduced our understanding of the world & its people to a European worldview.
It is our responsibility to learn the history of the world so as to understand its complexities today.