Decolonization in the 20th century

Africa and parts of Asia experienced major colonization movements during the 19^th century. The European powers formed great empires, which helped them grow richer. During the 20^th century, a wave of decolonization began.

Following involvement in both world wars on behalf of their mother countries (the country to whom the colonies belonged), a large number of colonies began to demand their independence. A large number of countries gained their sovereignty between the 1950s and the 1970s. 

Colonies wanted their own identities. They wanted to be able to control the exploitation of resources on their territory themselves, rather than having the mother country do it. These demands were mainly made by the colonies’ upper class who were educated. Members of the colonies’ upper class wanted to develop the territory, especially economically, by regaining control of the resources. 

During the 20^th century, people began denouncing the abuses of colonialism, such as:

• a mother country taking land for its own benefit

• the exploitation of local labour

• cultural assimilation, meaning the local culture is replaced with European culture

• lack of political autonomy

For example, in several colonies, administrators who came from the mother country eradicated local agriculture and replaced it with export crops such as coffee or rubber. These new crops were intended to meet the mother country’s needs, but did not benefit the local people, who lost the crops they needed for food. This caused colonies to become dependent on their mother country for food. Colonies began to protest their unfair situation. 

Independence movements also criticized social inequalities and laws that favoured certain groups at the expense of others.

European ideas about freedom and human rights were also gaining ground among the colonies’ educated social classes. Entire populations began to question why European nations were allowed to control African and Asian nations.

The League of Nations, created after World War I and replaced by the United Nations (UN) after World War II, seriously challenged colonialism. This advanced the claims of several colonized peoples.

The decolonization movement first began after World War I, but really took hold after World War II. 

The great colonial empires of the 19^th century lost a lot of their power. This movement was also supported by the UN, which adopted the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples in 1960. The UN’s actions caused the European powers to lose their influence, which paved the way for further decolonization around the world.

However, mother countries did not want to give up their colonies because with these acquired territories, colonial powers had access to large quantities of raw materials to run their industries (for more information on this subject, see the concept sheet on colonization). To keep their wealth and power, mother countries tried to maintain control over their colonies.

There are two types of decolonization: 

• violent decolonization

• negotiated decolonization

In the first case, decolonization is achieved after many protests, riots or wars. In the second case, independence is gained through negotiations between the mother country and the colony. 

Some colonized peoples use boycotting and passive resistance to make their voices heard. In the 1920s and 1930s, Gandhi  encouraged the Indian people to boycott products from the mother country (the United Kingdom) and not to pay their taxes. Some colonies gained their independence using these peaceful means.

However, negotiation does not work for all colonies: some have to resort to violence. This was the case in Indochina, which fought violently for its independence from France. Indochina was then split into 3 independent states: 

• Cambodia

• Vietnam

• Laos

Decolonization changed international geopolitics in the 20^th century. The accession to independence also had a number of impacts on the new states.

The new states faced two major economic challenges:

• restructuring their economy

• finding sufficient capital (financial resources) to achieve this restructuring

The economic structure of the former colonies was designed to meet the mother country’s needs. When the colonies became independent states, their economic structure had to change in order to meet their needs. For example, some of the land used to grow cotton for the mother country could be converted to grow fruit and vegetables to feed the local population. 

New states developed new industries to diversify their economy and create wealth. India leaned heavily into the service industry. A significant part of India’s population speaks English, so it was easy to set up call centres for international companies.

However, new states often lacked sufficient capital to restructure their economies, forcing them to borrow capital from other countries, which increased their debt. The new states could not afford to exploit their own natural resources, so they would transfer exploitation rights to foreign companies in return for royalties.

Many new states relied heavily on their former mother country or other industrialized countries for funding. This foreign capital was then used to develop their economy.  However, the capital generated little wealth for these states, as the infrastructure it helped build and the activities it supported continued to benefit foreign companies. 

See the concept sheet on neocolonialism for more information on this topic.

When creating borders for their colonies in Africa in the 19^th century, the European powers did not consider the people who already inhabited the territory. As a result, some populations were separated from each other because of new imposed geographical borders, while some enemies were forced to live within the same borders. This led to several tensions over the years.

During decolonization, the new states used the same borders drawn by the European powers during the creation of their colonies decades earlier. 

After the colonies gained independence, ethnic and religious conflicts broke out in several new states. Some of these conflicts dated back to the colonial period. 

Other conflicts were caused by political instability due to tensions between several groups who wanted to take power in the new state. These groups competed to control the government and resources. The former mother countries continued to play a role in the politics of these states. Former colonial powers often supported regimes that were favourable to them and brought down regimes that opposed them through different tactics such as: 

• using financial schemes

• corrupting new leaders

• recruiting mercenaries

• influencing rebellions to bring down regimes that opposed the mother country

It can be very challenging for colonies to gain independence. Having been governed  previously by a mother country, it can be difficult to find people with enough experience and qualifications to organize a new government.

Most of these newly independent states emerged when tensions were high between the United States and the USSR (see the concept sheet on the Cold War). At the time, countries that did not align with the Western bloc or the Eastern bloc were called third-world countries. The term is often used more commonly to describe developing countries. 

By not aligning with either side, these countries attempted to avoid the kind of domination they experienced as colonies. They also wanted the rest of the world to recognize their economic and demographic status. A large percentage of the world’s population lives in these countries, but they have very little say in international decision-making.