7-6.2 Nationalist Movements in India and Africa

Standard Compare features of nationalist and independence movements in different regions in the post–World War II period, including Mohandas Gandhi’s role in the non-violence movement for India’s independence, the emergence of nationalist movements in African and Asian countries, and the collapse of the apartheid system in South Africa.

1. India After World War I, the fighting between Hindus and Muslims created a problem for Indian independence from Britain. The Indian National Congress was made mostly of Hindus, while the Muslims had their own organization, the Muslim league. Muslims were afraid the Hindus would dominate the new India when they received independence.

2. Gandhi Mohandas Gandhi was the leader of the independence movement He believed in non-violence, or civil disobedience. He called for boycotts of British goods, including clothing and salt. Gandhi organized the ‘Salt March’ in which the Indians collected salt from the sea to make their own salt, rather than buying expensive British salt. Gandhi also fasted to protest In 1935, partially due to his efforts, Britain gave India self rule

Gandhi on the Salt March

3. Pakistan Fearing the anger between Hindus and Muslims, Britain split India into India (Hindu) and Pakistan (Muslim) This split caused people to move to their religions region and resulted in many fights. Over 1 million people were killed. There was fighting over a region called Kashmir, the United Nations ended the fighting and gave Pakistan 1/3rd of Kashmir. Pakistan also had problems within it, East Pakistan felt ignored by the west. They declared independence in 1971 and formed Bangladesh. A civil war followed, India helped Bangladesh and Bangladesh won.

India and Pakistan Split

4. Southeast Asia After World War II countries in Southeast Asia also achieved independence after WWII. The Philippines became independent of the U.S British colonies of Sri Lanka, Burma, Malaysia and Singapore became independent. Indonesia received its independence from the Dutch.

5. Africa Like Asia, nationalist movements gained momentum after WWII. With the support of Kwame Nkrumah, a Gandhi follower, Ghana was first African country to become independent in 1957. Algeria gained its independence from France violently in 1962. In Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta was wrongfully imprisoned for attacks against the British. After Kenya received its independence in 1963 Kenyatta became the first president of Kenya. Angola fought to free itself of Portuguese rule. The Congo became free, and then experienced civil war. The Africans were not used to self rule, rival ethnicities couldn’t get along and a dictatorship was established.

6. South Africa In 1910 South Africa gained its independence from Britain. To keep power the white population (descendants of Europeans) created a social and political system that shut out the black majority. The Black population in South Africa was constitutionally denied rights in the mid 1930s, in 1948 Apartheid began. In 1959 the homelands for black South Africans were created, forcing a majority of people to live on a small percentage of inferior land. People who spoke out against these practices were imprisoned, including African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela. F.W. DeKlerk was elected president of South Africa in 1989, he freed Mandela and in the first free elections in 1994 Mandela was elected president