Decolonisation of Africa

European control in 1939, the year the Second World War began

During the world wars, African soldiers were conscripted into imperial militaries.[11] Some African soldiers also volunteered.[12][13] Veterans from over 1.3 million African troops participated in World War II and fought in both European and Asian theatres of war.[14] This led to a deeper political awareness and the expectation of greater respect and self-determination, which was left largely unfulfilled.[15] During the 1941 Atlantic Conference, the British and the US leaders met to discuss ideas for the post-war world. One of the provisions added by President Roosevelt was that all people had the right to self-determination, inspiring hope in British colonies.[10]

On February 12, 1941, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met to discuss the post war world. The result was the Atlantic Charter.[16] It was not a treaty and was not submitted to the British Parliament or the Senate of the United States for ratification, but it turned out to be a widely acclaimed document.[17] One of the clauses, Clause Three, referred to the right to decide what form of government people wanted, and to the restoration of self-government.

Prime Minister Churchill argued in the British Parliament that the document referred to "the States and nations of Europe now under the Nazi yoke".[18] President Roosevelt regarded it as applicable across the world.[19] Anticolonial politicians immediately saw it as relevant to colonial empires.[20]  The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, three years after the end of World War II, recognised all people as being born free and equal.[21]

After World War II, the US and the African colonies put pressure on Britain to abide by the terms of the Atlantic Charter. After the war, some Britons considered African colonies to be childish and immature; British colonisers introduced democratic government at local levels in the colonies. Britain was forced to agree but Churchill rejected universal applicability of self-determination for subject nations.

Italy, a colonial power, lost its African Empire, Italian East Africa, Italian Ethiopia, Italian Eritrea, Italian Somalia and Italian Libya, as a result of World War II.[22] Furthermore, colonies such as Nigeria, Senegal and Ghana pushed for self-governance as colonial powers were exhausted by war efforts.[23]

The United Nations 1960 Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples stated that colonial exploitation is a denial of human rights and that power should be transferred back to the countries or territories concerned.[24]

Colonial economic exploitation involved the siphoning off of resource extraction (such as mining) profits to European shareholders at the expense of internal development, causing major local socioeconomic grievances.[25] For early African nationalists, decolonisation was a moral imperative around which a political movement could be assembled.[26][27]

In the 1930s, the colonial powers had cultivated, sometimes inadvertently, a small elite of local African leaders educated in Western universities, where they became familiar with and fluent in ideas such as self-determination. Although independence was not encouraged, arrangements between these leaders and the colonial powers developed,[9] and such figures as Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya), Kwame Nkrumah (Gold Coast, now Ghana), Julius Nyerere (Tanganyika, now Tanzania), Léopold Sédar Senghor (Senegal), Nnamdi Azikiwe (Nigeria), and Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Côte d'Ivoire) came to lead the struggles for African nationalism.

During the second world war, some local African industry and towns expanded when U-boats patrolling the Atlantic Ocean reduced raw material transportation to Europe.[10]

Over time, urban communities, industries and trade unions grew, improving literacy and education, leading to pro-independence newspaper establishments.[10]

By 1945 the Fifth Pan-African Congress demanded the end of colonialism, and delegates included future presidents of Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and national activists.[28]

Scholars including Dellal (2013), Miraftab (2012) and Bamgbose (2011) have argued that Africa's linguistic diversity has been eroded. Language has been used by western colonial powers to divide territories and create new identities which has led to conflicts and tensions between African nations.[32]

In the immediate post-independence period, African countries largely retained colonial legislation. However, by 2015 much colonial legislation had been replaced by laws that were written locally.[33]

On 6 March 1957, Ghana (formerly the Gold Coast) became the first sub-Saharan African country to gain its independence from European colonisation.[35] Starting with the 1945 Pan-African Congress, the Gold Coast's (modern-day Ghana's) independence leader Kwame Nkrumah made his focus clear. In the conference's declaration, he wrote, "we believe in the rights of all peoples to govern themselves. We affirm the right of all colonial peoples to control their own destiny. All colonies must be free from foreign imperialist control, whether political or economic."[36]

British decolonisation in Africa. By 1970 all were decolonised.

In 1948, three Ghanaian veterans were killed by the colonial police which on a protest march. Riots broke out in Accra and though Nkrumah and other Ghanaian leaders were temporarily imprisoned, the event became a catalyst for the independence movement. After being released from prison, Nkrumah founded the Convention People's Party (CPP), which launched a wide-scale campaign in support of independence with the slogan "Self Government Now!"[37] Heightened nationalism within the country grew their power and the political party widely expanded. In February 1951, the CPP gained political power by winning 34 of 38 elected seats, including one for Nkrumah who was imprisoned at the time. The British government revised the Gold Coast Constitution to give Ghanaians a majority in the legislature in 1951. In 1956, Ghana requested independence inside the Commonwealth, which was granted peacefully in 1957 with Nkrumah as prime minister and Queen Elizabeth II as sovereign.[38]

Prime Minister Harold Macmillan gave the famous "Wind of Change" speech in South Africa in February 1960, where he spoke of "the wind of change blowing through this continent".[39] Macmillan urgently wanted to avoid the same kind of colonial war that France was fighting in Algeria. Under his premiership decolonisation proceeded rapidly.[40]

Britain's remaining colonies in Africa, except for Southern Rhodesia, were all granted independence by 1968. British withdrawal from the southern and eastern parts of Africa was not a peaceful process. Kenyan independence was preceded by the eight-year Mau Mau Uprising. In Rhodesia, the 1965 Unilateral Declaration of Independence by the white minority resulted in a civil war that lasted until the Lancaster House Agreement of 1979, which set the terms for recognised independence in 1980, as the new nation of Zimbabwe.[41]

After the war ended, France was immediately confronted with the beginnings of the decolonisation movement. In Algeria demonstrations in May 1945 were repressed with an estimated 6,000 Algerians killed.[47] Unrest in Haiphong, Indochina, in November 1945 was met by a warship bombarding the city.[48] Paul Ramadier's (SFIO) cabinet repressed the Malagasy Uprising in Madagascar in 1947. French officials estimated the number of Malagasy killed from as low as 11,000 to a French Army estimate of 89,000.[49]

In Cameroun, the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon's insurrection which began in 1955 headed by Ruben Um Nyobé, was violently repressed over a two-year period, with perhaps as many as 100 people killed.[50]

French involvement in Algeria stretched back a century. Ferhat Abbas and Messali Hadj's movements had marked the period between the two wars, but both sides radicalised after the Second World War. In 1945, the Sétif massacre was carried out by the French army. The Algerian War started in 1954. Atrocities characterized both sides, and the number killed became highly controversial estimates that were made for propaganda purposes.[51] Algeria was a three-way conflict due to the large number of "pieds-noirs" (Europeans who had settled there in the 125 years of French rule). The political crisis in France caused the collapse of the Fourth Republic, as Charles de Gaulle returned to power in 1958 and finally pulled the French soldiers and settlers out of Algeria by 1962.[52][53] Lasting more than eight years, the estimated death toll typically falls between 300,000 and 400,000 people.[54] By 1962, the National Liberation Front was able to negotiate a peace accord with French President Charles de Gaulle, the Évian Accords[55] in which Europeans would be able to return to their native countries, remain in Algeria as foreigners, or take Algerian citizenship. Most of the one million Europeans in Algeria poured out of the country.[56]

The special territories of the European Union c. 2011

The French Union was replaced in the new 1958 Constitution of 1958 by the French Community. Only Guinea refused by referendum to take part in the new colonial organisation. However, the French Community dissolved itself in the midst of the Algerian War; almost all of the other African colonies were granted independence in 1960, following local referendums. Some few colonies chose instead to remain part of France, under the status of overseas départements (territories). Critics of neocolonialism claimed that the Françafrique had replaced formal direct rule. They argued that while de Gaulle was granting independence on one hand, he was creating new ties with the help of Jacques Foccart, his counsellor for African matters. Foccart supported in particular the Nigerian Civil War during the late 1960s.[57]

Robert Aldrich argues that with Algerian independence in 1962, it appeared that the Empire practically had come to an end, as the remaining colonies were quite small and lacked active nationalist movements. However, there was trouble in French Somaliland (Djibouti), which became independent in 1977. There also were complications and delays in the New Hebrides Vanuatu, which was the last to gain independence in 1980. New Caledonia remains a special case under French suzerainty.[58] The Indian Ocean island of Mayotte voted in referendum in 1974 to retain its link with France and forgo independence.[59]

Nigeria was granted independence from the British Empire on 1 October 1960. Prior to this, various forms and demonstrations against colonial rule took place. Women in Nigeria played a significant role during the movement for national independence. Prior to independence, women organized through movements like the Abeokuta Women's Revolt and the Women's War.

Margaret Ekpo was one of the most important female independence leaders in Nigeria. She worked toward more equitable civil rights and Nigerian independence.

Margaret Ekpo was a chief, a politician, and a nationalist independence leader. In 1945, Ekpo became involved in politics after her husband, Dr. John Udo Ekpo, became dissatisfied with the colonial administration's treatment of indigenous Nigerian doctors.[61] In British-ruled Nigeria, colonial rulers had concentrated the power on male chiefs. After the Women's War, she and other women were appointed to replace warrant chiefs. Ekpo was later appointed to the Eastern House of Chiefs in 1954. As a chief, she rallied women of different ethnic identities to demand women's rights and independence. She was arrested multiple times for instigating these rallies against British colonization. As a warrant chief, Ekpo passed a law that required police to employ more women in Enugu and Lagos.

Prior to WWII, Ekpo led the Aba Market Women Association in mobilizing women against colonial rule and patriarchal oppression. Following WWII, Ekpo and the Aba Market Women Association continued to mobilize using tactics such as buying up large quantities of scarce commodities and selling them only to registered members of the association who attended meetings regularly. She used this as an opportunity to educate women on the importance of independence and decolonization.[62]

I would tell the women, do you know that your daughter can be the matron of that hospital? Do you know that your husband can be a District Officer (D.O.) or Resident? Do you know that if you join hands with us in the current political activities, your children could one day live in European quarters? I used to tell them these things every time and so they became interested…[63]

After being granted independence in 1960, Ekpo participated in the Constitutional Conferences in Lagos and London. Ekpo would also serve as a member of parliament in Nigeria from 1960 to 1966.[62] Ekpo’s work also transcended national politics. She traveled out of Nigeria to represent Nigerian women at several international conferences such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference (1964) and the World Women’s International Domestic Federation Conference (1963).[62]

Along with her work in advocating civil and political rights, Ekpo left a legacy that notably lacked ethnic bias in a country where many forms of ethnicism and nepotism existed in politics.[64]

Late in 1961, the predecessor state of Tanganyika was established through the Tanganyika Independence Act of 1961. This act ended British rule and established self-government.[65] A new republican constitution was adopted one year later, in December of 1962. This abolished the remaining role of the British monarchy in Tanganyika. A union with the neighboring state of Zanzibar in 1964 led to the formation of the Republic of Tanzania.[66]

Popularly known as Bibi Titi, Bibi Titi Mohamed was a prominent figure among African women politics and the independence movement in Tanganyika, mobilizing women to join the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) political party.[65]

Born in Dar es Salaam, Bibi Titi rose to prominence unexpectedly. Having only four years of primary school education before her political career, she was a housewife and lead singer in a “Bamba'' group.[67] However, as the struggle for freedom amplified, Bibi Titi found a more active role in politics. She joined the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) in 1954.[65] Doing so, Bibi Titi became TANU’s first female member.[67] She advocated for political freedom as well as the autonomy of women. By the end of the 1950s, Bibi Titi had become a prominent and powerful voice in politics, campaigning on behalf of freedom and development.[65] After gaining popularity, her voice became a powerful source of African feminist and anti-colonial sentiment.

After the establishment of the Republic of Tanzania in 1964, she represented the constituency of Rufiji in Parliament. She also served as a member of TANU’s Central Committee and Executive Committee.[65] There, she continued to advocate for greater freedom and women’s rights.

Bibi Titi left a legacy that calls on women to have a greater self-respect and encourages women to strive for more education and equal treatment.[67] In a speech, Bibi Titi implored women to take advantage of their latent political influence saying:

I told you [women] that we want independence. And we can’t get independence if you don’t want to join the party. We have given birth to all these men. Women are the power in this world. We are the ones who give birth to the world…[67]

After almost 10 years of fighting, Mozambique became independent from Portugal in 1975. FRELIMO, the Frente de Libertação de Moçambique or  the Mozambique Liberation Front, was created in 1962 to liberate Mozambique from Portugal’s colonial rule. FRELIMO actively recruited women and young girls to join the battle for independence.[68] Female members of FRELIMO were either trained to be guerilla soldiers or part of the nonmilitary wing.[69]

Josina Machel was a prominent leader in FRELIMO and a freedom fighter for Mozambique. She was born to a family that was considered to be “assimilados” which gave them a status of whiteness and privilege.[70] Due to her status, Machel was allowed to receive an education until secondary school.[70] At 18 years old, she attempted to flee the country and join FRELIMO in Tanzania. She was subsequently caught and imprisoned for six months.[70] Machel fled successfully after a second attempt.

After joining FRELIMO, Machel soon became the leader of the women’s wing, Destacamento Feminino.[69] This wing of FRELIMO provided women with political education and military training.[70] Destacamento Feminino also mobilized young women to join FRELIMO.

As a leader, Machel created health centers, schools, and daycare facilities to help people in the liberated zones of Mozambique.[71] She was also nominated to be a delegate in FRELIMO’s second congress, where she staunchly fought for women to be allowed to fully participate in the liberation movement.[71] As a delegate, Machel passed a resolution allowing girls to receive an education.

In 1971, Machel died due to unspecified health problems at the age of 25. She never got to see Mozambique as an independent state. But, she is memorialized in Mozambican history: April 7, the date of her death, is Mozambican Woman’s Day.[69]