The Causes Of Decolonization In Africa

Africa has had a long and tumultuous road of colonization and decolonization the rush to colonize Africa started in the 17th century with the discovery of the vast amounts of gold, diamonds, and rubber with colonization hitting a fever pitch during World War I. However, the repercussions of colonization have left deep wounds that still remain unhealed in the 21st century. Early on, European nations such as Britain, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany and Belgium scrambled for territories. Countries wanted land so they could harvest the resources, increase trade, and gain power. The European colonization of Africa brought racism, civil unrest, and insatiable greed; all of which have had lasting impacts on Africa.

Within Africa, nations were trying to achieve independence with some achieving it easially. Most of Africa's nations share a consequence: weakness. This weakness, before decolonization, Patrice Lumumba, who is the Prime Minster of Congo, believes that Congo was prematurealy mocked, weakened, and partially dominated. Patrice believes that just because of their skin color, that was not an reason to be treated like the way they are treated now (Doc 4). Nkrumah Kwame, who was the president of the first nation to be decolonized in Africa, assumes the fact that many other African nations were struggling, weak, and helpless. With the fragmentation continuing, the outcome of the nations would be disastrous. He sites that South Africa is very wealth, but South Africa is also weak. This shows that hope is currently not on thier side, as a whole (Doc 5). Nelson Mandela was one of the largest known people that made a difference in Africa. Nelson, who was later tried due to revolts, believes that what he did for his people was not wrong. Infact, he believes that the whites are causing the problems againsts the blacks. Nelson tries to stop using peaceful revolts, but was later accused of planning to sabotage. In the situation he is in, it was hard to gain decolonization, but it was later gained (Doc 6). Assia Djebar, who grew up in Algeria which was still trying to decolonize, figured that new pictures form while decolonization was in

Africa was a nation that was based off of selling slaves in which the Europeans were familiar with but by 1807, slavery was abolished which made King Leopold II move onto a different resource to line his pockets. The resource he started production on was rubber because of the widespread want for rubber for tires and other manufactured goods. Around the 19th century when Leopold acquired even more land and expanded his production on rubber and sometimes ivory his managers proceeded to force labor and strip away daily cleanliness which eventually led to the widespread disease of malaria which killed as many as 10,000,000 people. With a absolute infectious disease clouding Africa and the seemingly brutal army brought up by Leopold, what really was the driving force behind European Imperialism in Africa?

The weak always gets taken over. That pretty much explains imperialism. Imperialism was was in 1875-1914 in Africa. What was the driving force behind European imperialism in Africa? That is that question that I aim to answer in this essay. The term driving force means reasoning or push. The word imperialism is the act of fully taking over a country. I have three main reasons for the driving force behind European imperialism in Africa: get materials, national competition and to gain more power. The main reason was so that Europeans can gain more power.

By 1914, almost all of Africa had been carved up by European powers and became a prized colony because of cash crops and mines. After World War II, African nations began to assert their independence. Although

In the second half of the twentieth-century, African countries were able to gain their independence and strive to create unified countries. However, many countries were plagued with civil wars and the issues left behind the colonial era. The adversities faced by these new African nations are at the hands of their old colonial powers and the neo-colonialism that has taken place. These new independent countries were left to unify their people of different backgrounds, create a strong government and economy, and leave the post-colonial legacy behind.

After World War II had ended, colonial countries all over the world began to take advantage of the decline in power of the old European imperialist countries to invoke independent movements in order to gain their own independent from imperialism. Followed the wake of these movements, most colonial countries were able to gain their freedom. However, there is still a region where imperialist countries still managed to hold on to their power. This region is Africa. There seemed to be many issues that prevent the African countries from gaining their independence. One of these problems was the fact that most African people were denied the right to be educated as well as many other rights. Furthermore, Colonial government denied African people

The process of decolonization in Africa during the 1950’s through the 1970’s was a very smart yet risky idea. For some places independence was easily gained yet in other areas it was a battle. During the time periods where colonization existed, Africa was peaceful and kept things in order. People had control over their specific locations and there were no questions to be asked. Once it was decided to remove these rights, things got out of hand rather quickly. Violence was a main occurrence during the decolonization timeframe because rules, rights, leaderships, etc. got altered and drastically changed. Sometimes nonviolence was used but it usually wasn’t as effective. A major example of using nonviolence actions to gain independence is when

In the age of Imperialism, European countries sought to colonize the world. It all came crashing down as European countries became involved in conflicts and could not sustain this infrastructure. In South Africa, European ideals were held so strongly in the government that segregation was the norm long after Europe and North America had become desegregated. Africa was seen as a place to steal from, whether it was slaves, minerals, riches, or land. From the constant European intervention and inability of nations to function on their own and control their people, Africa has become a vacuum of centralized power with new puppet democracies controlled by dictators and warlords. European control was a very hands-on way of controlling every aspect of African life in the government, infrastructure, culture, technology, religion. When African countries became independent, it was a struggle to adopt their new identity Because of the overpowering European dominance in every aspect of live, Africa was deprived of the chance to learn and develop on its

Decolonization is the undoing of colonialism, where a nation establishes and maintains its domination over dependent territories. The word Decolonization has been defined variously. The Oxford English Dictionary defines decolonization as “the withdrawal from its colonies of a colonial power; the acquisition of political or economic independence by such colonies” (Wiki.). The term refers particularly to the dismantlement, in the years after World War II, of the colonial empires established prior to World War I throughout the world. However, decolonization not only refers to the complete "removal of the domination of non-indigenous forces" within the geographical space and different institutions of the colonized, but it also refers to the "decolonizing

During the decolonization movement, many imagined that their African colonies would prosper after independence. But in a short period after the colonizers left Africa, hopes of a better life within their nations were shattered by political, economic, and social instability. In Gerald A Danzer’s Atlas Of World History, he explains that the idea of development after decolonization did not seem impossible until the frailty of political structures within their societies became a reality:

Decolonization can be achieved by gaining independence, along with interaction of power also, it is a political process that causes violence in in a lot of circumstances and may sometimes be resolved by negotiating on peaceful terms. But can also lead to violent resistance and arm struggle by the native population. Eventually with World War coming to an end, it brought a revolution of decolonization in many countries. For many people, this was a positive thing as they were to obtain independence from colonies and empires. Decolonization was a long process to begin with, it took almost thirty years after World War II for some places. With colonial powers getting weaker, that was great chance for independence for Africa and Asia. Not only

Because it is a systematic negation of the other person and a furious determination to deny the other person all attributes of humanity, colonialism forces the people it dominates to ask themselves the question constantly: "In reality, who am I?" (The Wretched of the Earth 250)

What effect has decolonization brought? The decolonized nations cope with their own course of action on all fronts - economic, social, political and cultural. Even as they struggle to rid themselves of the shackles of the erstwhile influences, they try to regain touch with their ‘golden past’ and also believe in a brighter future. With centuries of economic exploitation to undo, it does seem to be a daunting task. However, colonial theorists like Frantz Fanon believe that the colony regaining its place in the order, returning to its hierarchic origin is but inevitable.

Modern African states have several problems ranging from corruption, to armed conflict, to stunted structural development. The effects of colonialism have been offered as a starting point for much of the analysis on African states, but the question of why African states are particularly dysfunctional needs to be examined, given the extent to which they have lagged behind other former European colonies in many aspects. In the first section, I will consider the problems with African states from the level of the state. That is, the nature of the states' inceptions and the underlying flaws may explain some of the issues that have been associated with African states today. Next I examine the development of, or lack of, civil