African Independence Africa 1945- present

Decolonization South Sudan Why did mass decolonization occur after 1945? WWII ended in 1945 and the war torn imperial powers were exhausted and weak from the war. They did not want to fight to hold on to their colonies. How many new nations have been created since 1945 around the world? Over 100, and the NEWEST nation is …. South Sudan 9:18-11:10

African decolonization Since 1945 over 50 new nations out of Africa alone.

Challenges The new nations all shared common goals: Independence, modernize and improve the quality of life But there were big obstacles: -lack of technology/ industry -Drought -Lack of Education -Political instability -Ethnic rivalries

Independence Each nations’ road to independence was different, here are three examples: -Ghana--1 -Kenya--2 -Algeria--3 3 1 2

Ghana British Colony- named Gold Coast After WWII Britain agreed to give ALL African colonies GRADUAL independence over many years The Gold Coast nationalists, led by Kwame Nkrumah, were not happy with “gradual”

Positive Action Nkrumah was influenced by Pan-Africanists and Gandhi and adopted non violent resistance He organized strikes and boycotts of British Goods In 1957 Britain granted the Gold Coast independence Nkrumah was elected President and renamed the Gold Coast- Ghana- after an ancient and powerful African Empire

Kenya British controlled colony; British settlers displaced Africans and took their farm land The displaced Africans were called Kikuyu Two movements for independence: -Jomo Kenyatta- non-violence -Armed Guerrillas

Kenya 1952- Guerillas were armed with swords and began to burn British Farms and kill livestock Soon escalated to attacking British settlers Britain responded by bombing Kenyan Kikuyu strongholds and arresting Kenyatta 1963- Britain finally grants independence to Kenya Kenyans elect Kenyatta to prime minister

Algeria French colony with over 1 million French settlers Nationalist movement led by Algerian Muslims and the National Liberation Front (FLN) Despite many peaceful requests for independence, France refused to allow the Muslim Algerians to take power

Algeria The French were upset over losing Vietnam, didn’t want to lose Algeria too The FLN turned to Guerilla warfare to defeat the French Led to a long war 1954-1962 with hundreds of thousands of deaths France finally granted independence in 1962

Review Compare and Contrast the independence struggles of Gold Coast (Ghana), Kenya and Algeria

Africa Today What do you think about Africa? Africa today has come a long way. Much of Africa has growing economies, better education and improving healthcare. Example: Average life expectancy was 43 now over 60 in Kenya 11:10- end

Africa Today Read Newsweek/ Upfront articles- Partner read and worksheet