Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Nationalist movements in Africa began in the early 1900s, although the first
attempts at a unified nationalism movement were unsuccessful. These first gestures like
the formation of the African National Congress and people like Blaise Diagne fighting for
African’s role in politics were not hugely successful, but they were the beginnings for a
much larger movement. After the end of the Second World War the African people gained
a growing scene of hope that they would be freed due to their large role in the war.
Nationalist leaders like Kwame Nkrumah helped to spread these nationalist feelings
through educated approaches, taking advantage of the imperial systems to spread anti-
colonial feelings throughout Africa, and then gathering enough supporters and followers.
They eventually won their fight, beginning with the independence of Ghana in 1957.
Politicians like Kwame Nkrumah believed in black pride and independence and they
spread these ideas eagerly causing the massive nationalist movement in Africa after
World War II.
In the 1900s leaders like Blaise Diagne realized the reality of colonialism. There
were few Africans who were well educated like Diagne, and this led to a large ignorance
in the African people. They had grown up with colonialism and had known nothing else,
making it so that very few of them stood out to protest their position. Educated men like
Diagne were taught western values and theologies, and when they returned back to their
homeland they realized the startling contrast between their education and the reality of
African colonialism. They spoke out against this and movements like the African National
Congress were founded, but these early moves at African unity and nationalism failed
largely due to the uneducated population and the lack of a common cause or rallying.
This all changed in World War II.
During WW II the African were forced to provide for the British. Not only did they
provide the raw materials needed for the war, but they also provided troops, support,
anything else the British needed. The people of Africa did all this in hope that the
government would realize their vital role and in return they would grant them
independence. Also, as the Allies marched across Europe and liberated it, the Africans
gained the hope that they would too, soon be liberated. Support began to amass behind
the leaders like Blaise Diagne and the other educated Africans. New Nationalist
politicians began to also gather support and follows, preaching the importance of black
pride and independence. These leaders devoted their lives to ridding their homelands of
foreign occupation and imperialism. An example is Kwame Nkrumah, a well-educated
African politician who helped to spread the word of independence. Taking advantage of
the imperial institutions like the railroad, roads, and schools the nationalists were able to
further spread their ideas. They were also able to involuntarily take advantage of the
public health care system set up by the foreign countries. This helped to raise their
population, and led to a young generation who were hungry for independence. Frustrated
African scholars also joined the independence movement. They were angered and upset
by the obstacles placed in their paths by the imperialist countries and they realized self-
governing was the only solution. This nationalist movement was largely successful, and
in 1951 the British began taking steps to give independence to the first of the African
countries. In 1957 Ghana won their full independence as other countries soon followed
up after them, being released from their mother countries.
2. Describe the system of informal empire that the Europeans had in Latin
America. What was its purpose and how did it work? How did it differ from
more formal colonialism? How did it affect those colonized?
There were three big challenges that new countries faced after they won
independence from their European counterpart. They had to build a new government,
they had to rebuild their economic system, and they had somehow unified the people
again under a unified cause while reforming the education system.
The first step for these newly independent nations was implementing a new
government and law and order. They had to write a new constitution, decide what kind of
government was best, elect leaders, write laws and codes, and most importantly they had
to carry them out and enforce them. This was particularly difficult because they often had
conflicting views within the process and they had to very quickly establish some form of
government in order to win the people over. Often times people still loyal to the European
country debated and riled the people, because they wanted to remain under the same
government and political system, but other revolutionaries wanted to radically change the
government. Often times there were coups, revolts, and protests; very few countries were
able to form a democratic government because of this. People wanted a strong leader
after the chaos of a revolution, and a democracy could not offer that right away.
Another problem was the economy needing to be rebuilt. Often times when
foreign countries pulled out, they took their factories and business with them, leaving the
free country in an economically deprived state. Over-dependence on foreign imports left
some countries in huge amounts of debt, which is never a good thing when you trying to
build a new country. They also had to compete with foreign industries already in the
country, which had received European support, making them very hard to compete with.
The last problem was the biggest one. The new leaders of this free country had to
somehow unite their people under them and decide on their cultural choices. Do you
keep the old imperial government’s cultural influence intact or do you start from scratch?
The leaders had to reform education, choose a national language, and figure out how to
unite all of the different religious, ethnic, and cultural groups in their county. It was a huge
hurdle, and if the leaders could not do this, they were often overthrown.