POST-WW II DE-COLONIZATION

THE ALLURE OF COLONIES MINERAL RESOURCES RAW MATERIALS AGRIGULTURAL PRODUCTS

THE ALLURE OF COLONIES CHEAP LABOR MARKETS FOR GOODS MILITARY & NAVAL BASES

THE ALLURE OF COLONIES THE BRITISH IN INDIA FOR CENTURIES THE EUROPEAN POWERS, THE U.S., AND JAPAN HAD EXPLOITED FOREIGN LANDS FOR THEIR OWN BENEFIT. THE BRITISH IN INDIA

THE FRENCH IN INDOCHINA

THE DUTCH IN INDONESIA

THE JAPANESE IN MANCHURIA

JUST ABOUT EVERYBODY IN AFRICA!

WORLD WAR II LED TO GREAT CHANGES DEFEAT OF DICTATORSHIPS THE DECLINE OF COLONIAL POWERS UNPARALLELED DESTRUCTION THE RISE OF SUPERPOWERS AND THE COLD WAR

DEFEAT OF DICTATORSHIPS GERMANY, JAPAN, & ITALY WERE DEFEATED AND HAD TO GIVE UP THEIR COLONIES.

THE DECLINE OF THE COLONIAL POWERS BRITAIN, FRANCE, BELGIUM, AND THE NETHERLANDS WERE WEAKENED BY WW II: ECONOMICALLY POLITICALLY MILITARILY THESE COUNTRIES WERE NO LONGER CAPABLE OF WIELDING THE POWER NECESSARY TO CONTROL FAR-FLUNG EMPIRES

BRITISH COLONIES WERE SOME OF THE FIRST TO SEEK INDEPENDENCE BRITAIN FELT HYPOCRITICAL ABOUT COLONIALISM WAR LEFT HER WEAK AND UNABLE TO AFFORD COLONIES

UNPARALLELED DESTRUCTION MUCH OF EUROPE LAY IN RUINS THE COLONIAL POWERS NEEDED TO CONCENTRATE ON REBUILDING THEIR OWN NATIONS RATHER THAN CONTROLLING COLONIES

THE RISE OF THE SUPERPOWERS

AND THE COLD WAR . . .

LED TO THE 2 SUPERPOWERS COURTING PEOPLES AND NATIONS TO JOIN THEIR SIDE

In Southeast Asia, the French had control of Indochina since the 1880’s After WW II, the people of Indochina wanted their independence from France as was stated in the Atlantic Charter After 8 years of fighting, Indochina broke up into three independent nations – Vietnam, Laos, & Cambodia

ALL OF THESE FACTORS LED TO THE DE-COLONIZATION OF ASIA & AFRICA FOLLOWING WW II

THESE NEW NATIONS OFTEN FOUND THEMSELVES CAUGHT IN A BATTLE BETWEEN THE TWO SUPERPOWERS