Download Chapter 31 Decolonization and Nation Building By Gabriel Jimenez

By:
Gabriel Jimenez
P-3
A.P. World History
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The first region to work towards its independence was India when it established the Indian National Congress in 1885 to increase the rights of
Indians under colonial rule. (Armstrong, 261)
In the 1920s Mohandas Gandhi began to work arduously for his country’s independence. For instance, he established certain ways for masses to
protest peacefully, united a very diverse country, and brought reassurance to those who followed him. (Spodek 695-699)
In 1947 the once British region of India divided itself into Pakistan in the northwestern portion and India, which maintained the rest of the
territory. (Bulliet, 830)
Thereafter India became a secular republic under Jawaharlal Nehru, keeping most of the industrial and educational resources which the British
had left. (Bulliet, 832)
Fighting broke out between India and Pakistan when the Muslim-populated area of Jammu and Kashmir decided to join with India, which was
90% Hindu. Although the fighting stopped in 1947, it began again in 1965 but only briefly. (Bulliet, 832)
In 1971, due to linguistic and ethnic differences, the Bengali-speaking section of Pakistan which was east from India separated to form
Bangladesh. From then on the three states, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, grew steadily apart.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/partition1947_05.shtml)
In contrast with other imperialist nations in the past, Japan encouraged anticolonialist trends in their previously owned countries (Bulliet, 832)
Achmad Sukarno, for example, cooperated with the Japanese in order to make sure the Dutch didn’t return to the Dutch East Indies; their
withdrawal was finally negotiated in 1949. However, a violent coup by a military group ended his dictatorship and eliminated Indonesia’s
powerful communist party. (Bulliet, 832)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/m
odern/images/partition_map.gif
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French policy towards its colonies of Vietnam and Algeria were completely opposite to that of Japan’s. (Bulliet, 832)
In 1954 a rising revolt was met with swift and effective, yet brutal, action. Despite being backed by Egypt and a series of Arab
countries, the French colonist were just as determined to keep their territory. (Bulliet, 832)
However, on 1962 Algeria was granted its independence and a surge of angry colonists migrated back to France. In the end
Algeria was still dependant on France and much of its work-force left in hopes of a better living in France. (Bulliet, 832)
In the 1950s and 1960s independence movements began to arise without regards to economic and environmental problems that
would come afterwards. In addition, there had been little investment in human “resources” during colonization, and thus the
African populace wasn’t very much prepared to rule itself efficiently. (Armstrong, 263)
A perfect example would be the Belgian Congo’s independence, when in 1959 it plunged itself into independence without any
graduates with degrees of higher education and no administrative cadres trained to run a modern nation. (Spodek, 753)
At the same time, Kwame Nkrumah, a young politician who led nationalist movements, became prime minister of Ghana in 1957.
However, once in power he proved incompetent for the job, even though he had spoken fiercely and well for independence since
1947. In 1966 a group of army officers ousted him. (Bulliet, 833)
Soon afterwards, Britain began to grant independence to many of its colonies. (Bulliet, 833)
Kenya, for instance, was granted independence in 1964 as the Republic of Kenya. Its first president was Jomo Kenyatta, who in
the end was an effective, though autocratic, leader. (Bulliet, 833)
Sub-Saharan African leaders in French colonies sought political changes from the promises made by General Charles de Gaulle
in 1944, during a conference in Brazzaville. Some of those promises include more democratic government and broader suffrage,
abolition of forced labor and imprisonment of Africans without charge, expansion of French education to the village level, the
improvement of health services, and the opening of administrative positions to Africans. (Bulliet, 834)
However, in the end all of France’s West African and Equatorial African Colonies became in dependent by 1960. (Bulliet, 834)
Portuguese rule was challenged in the 1960s at Angola and Mozambique, and was finally overthrown in 1974. (Bulliet, 834)
Southern Rhodesia became Zimbabwe in 1980, leaving only South Africa and Namibia in the hands of Europeans. (Bulliet, 834)
http://www.elizabethwatkinskenya
books.co.uk/nssfolder/siteimages/Jomo%2520Kenya
tta,%2520President%2520of%2520Ke
nya,%2520c%25201965.jpg
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In 1917, the Mexican revolution conjured the Mexican Constitution of 1917, which cause land reforms
and enforced restrictions on foreign economic control. (Spodek, 780-781)
As a result of the Mexican Constitution of 1917 there came about the expropriation of oil in 1938.
(Bulliet, 835)
In addition, their political group PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) had achieved political
stability. As a result the nation prospered, even if the gap between classes became wider. (Bulliet, 835)
In Guatemala, president Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán tried to confront powerful foreign interests by
pursuing actions like land reforming. As a result the foreign companies which had interest in the
country mobilized against him. In 1954 the CIA sponsored a military take over in Guatemala. (Bulliet,
835)
Prior to 1960 Cuba’s economy was overwhelmingly linked with that of the United States’. A treaty in
1934 gave Cuban sugar an exorbitant price in the American market as long as the Cuban market was
open to Americans. (Bulliet, 835)
In 1953, Fulgencio Batista returned to power through a coup, and quickly spread his government,
which brought corruption, repression, and foreign economic domination. (Bulliet, 838)
In 1959 Fidel Castro brought up a popular rebellion which forced Batista to flee the country. Castro
and his chief lieutenant, Ernesto “Che” Guevara, quickly reformed the military leadership and
redistributed wealth among the different economic classes. (Bulliet, 838)
As a result the Cuban Revolution was held as a victory against dictatorships and authoritarian
governments. However, they didn’t know what was to come. (Armstrong, 258)
Castro sought economic support from the Soviet Union, which resulted in angering the United States,
who suspended the sugar agreement seeking to destabilize the Cuban economy. (Bulliet, 838)
In 1961 the U.S. attempted the same strategy as they had in Guatemala and sent 1500 Cuban exiles
trained and armed by the CIA to the Bay of Pigs. However the operation failed miserably when John
F. Kennedy refused to send the planned air support. As a result the U.S.’s reputation was tarnished
and their defeat gave inspiration to revolutionaries throughout Latin America. (Bulliet, 838)
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Cracking the AP World History Exam, 2009 Edition. Princeton: Princeton Review,
2008.
Earth and It's People Advanced Placement Version Third Edition. 3rd ed. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin College Division, 2004.
Spodek, Howard. The World's History, Combined. Upper Saddle River: Pearson
Education, Limited, 2000.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/images/partition_map.gif
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/partition1947_05.shtml
http://www.independencewi.org/assets/Independence.jpg
http://www.elizabethwatkinskenyabooks.co.uk/nssfolder/siteimages/Jomo%2520Kenyatta,%2520President%2520of%2520Kenya,%25
20c%25201965.jpg