1. JANUARY 20, 2017 Get out stuff for notes and highlighter
Decolonization & Nationalism in Africa
Rwanda Background Info

2. Complete on a separate sheet of paper
Get out notes from yesterday
Explain the reasons for Imperialism
Explain the impact of Imperialism on the people of Africa

3. Road towards independence
Post-WWII - a focus on self-determination in Europe
Colonialism seemed to contradict what WWII fought for
Colonial powers are weak and poor, can’t afford colonies
Many Africans returned home to find they had only fought for the European’s

4. End of an Empire?
“The wind of change is blowing through this continent, and whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact. We must all accept it, and our national policies must take account of it.”
- British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1960 to the South African Parliament
What is the significance of this statement to the British Empire?

5. Independence Three major routes: Peaceful / Negotiated independence
Typically achieved in non-settler colonies ex = Ghana
Violent
Typically occurred in settler colonies
ex = Kenya, Algeria
Incomplete
White settler minority population given political power in decolonization, ex = S. Africa

7. 1994

8. Results of Decolonization

9. External Challenges Western investments remain
Impact?
Economic dependence on former colonial powers
Cold War (USSR v. US) struggle to spread influence

10. Internal Challenges Tribal allegiances
Illiteracy / under developed education system
No tradition of ongoing political leadership in modern times
Religious differences
Diverse geography and climate
Established social hierarchies

11. Results of Decolonization
Nationalist parties & African elites gain power
Use anti-colonial legacy to maintain power & cloud ineptitude & favoritism
Economic dependence on West coupled with political corruption cripples attempts to diversify economy
Stuck in cash crop ag & extraction of resources
The same pattern being a dependence on a cash crop or western control of the extraction of a resource (gold, diamonds, etc.)

12. Results of Decolonization
Initial political parties reflected ethnic, regional, or religious groups - few true national parties
Power often gained by corrupt African “strongmen” (dictators) who ignored the social needs of people
Large loans to modernize economies squandered by those in power - leave little progress, lots of debt
The same pattern being a dependence on a cash crop or western control of the extraction of a resource (gold, diamonds, etc.)

13. Mobutu in Congo and his palaces