Breaking up Empires (Decolonization)

The Twentieth Century saw the destruction of many of the long lasting Colonial empires.

Major Declining Empires Ottoman – Destroyed Austrian-Hungarian- Destroyed Japanese- Destroyed English – Declined French- Declined United States - Declined

Before WWII 1919 End of the protectorate over Afghanistan, when Britain accepts the presence of a Soviet ambassador in Kabul. 1919protectorateAfghanistanBritain 1922 Ireland, separates from the United Kingdom as the Irish Free State, 1922IrelandIrish Free State Northern Ireland, the northeast area of the island, remains within the United Kingdom.Northern Ireland 1931 The Statute of Westminster grants virtually full independence to Canada, New Zealand, Newfoundland, the Irish Free State, the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Union of South Africa, 1931Statute of WestminsterCanadaNew ZealandNewfoundland Irish Free StateAustralia Union of South Africa

1932United Kingdom Ends League of Nations Mandate over Iraq. 1932United KingdomLeague of NationsMandateIraq 1934 United States Makes the Philippine Islands a Commonwealth. Direct authority to intervene in Cuba. 1934United StatesPhilippine IslandsCommonwealthCuba

Africa 1956 Anglo-Egyptian Sudan becomes independent. Tunisia and Morocco achieve independence. 1956SudanTunisiaMorocco 1957 Ghana becomes independent, initiating the decolonization of sub- Saharan Africa. The Federation of Malaya becomes independent. 1957Ghanasub- Saharan AfricaFederation of Malaya 1958 Guinea on the coast of West-Africa is granted independence. 1958Guinea

1960 Nigeria, Somalia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Mali and Senegal), Niger, Togo and the Central African Republic, Madagascar, Zaire, Sierra Leone, and British Cameroon become independent. South Africa declares independence. South Africa 1962 Uganda, Algeria Rwanda and Burundi gain independence 1962UgandaAlgeriaRwandaBurundi

1963Kenya becomes independent. 1963Kenya 1964 Northern Rhodesia, Zambia, Malawi, declare independence 1964RhodesiaZambiaMalawi 1965 Southern Rhodesia (the present Zimbabwe) declares independence 1965Rhodesia Zimbabwe Gambia is recognized as independent. Gambia 1966 Botswana and Lesotho become independent. 1966BotswanaLesotho 1968 Mauritius and Swaziland achieve independence. 1968MauritiusSwaziland

1974 Angola, Mozambique 1974AngolaMozambique 1977 Djibouti, is granted independence. 1977Djibouti 1980 Zimbabwe (then [Southern] Rhodesia),becomes formally independent. 1980Zimbabwe 1984: Famine in Ethiopia 1990 Namibia becomes independent from South Africa Apartheid ends in South Africa

The Middle East 1948: Israel becomes independentIsrael The remainder of Palestine becomes part of the Arab states of Egypt and Transjordan.Egypt Transjordan The United Kingdom withdraws from the last part of Egypt it controls: the Suez Canal zone.EgyptSuez Canal

1958: Britain withdraws from Iraq,BritainIraq 1961 Kuwait becomes independent. 1961Kuwait 1967 Aden colony becomes independent as South Yemen, to be united with formerly Ottoman North Yemen in AdenSouth Yemen 1971: Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates become independent Arab monarchies in the Persian GulfBahrainQatarOman United Arab Emirates

Asia 1945 Korea is independent after 40 years of Japanese rule, but then splits into communist North Korea and capitalist South Korea. 1945KoreaNorth Korea South Korea Taiwan returns to the rule under Republic of China. TaiwanRepublic of China 1946 Philippines granted independence by the United States, 1946PhilippinesUnited States 1947 India and Pakistan (including Bangladesh) achieve independence in an attempt to separate the predominantly Hindu and Muslim parts of former British India. 1947IndiaPakistanBangladesh HinduMuslimBritish India 1948 In the Far East, Burma and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) become independent. 1948BurmaCeylon

1953 France recognizes Cambodia's independence. 1953FranceCambodia 1954 Vietnam's independence recognized, though the nation is partitioned. 1954Vietnam 1997 The sovereignty of Hong Kong is returned to China. 1997Hong KongChina

Central and South America 1952 Puerto Rico in the Antilles becomes a self governing Commonwealth associated to the US. 1952Puerto RicoCommonwealth UN trustee Britain withdraws from Iraq, which becomes an independent Hashemite KingdomBritainIraq