African Nationalist Movements



African Nationalist MovementsBy the early 20th century, European countries had colonized almost all of Africa. Some believed that Europe “civilized” Africa, but colonialism actually had a negative effect on Africa. Politically, European governments ignored traditional African leaders and provided authoritarian models of government. When creating colonial borders, the European rulers only took into account their military and economic power and ignored traditional African ethnic borders. Colonial rule in Africa disrupted social systems and governments, and robbed Africa of resources. Many Africans objected, but they did not have enough power to act. They wanted to control their own governments and the continent’s natural resources. The only independent countries left were Liberia and Ethiopia. Liberia was founded in 1822, mostly by black American former slaves. During the 1920s and 1930s, colonial rulers sent a few Africans to attend universities in Europe and the United States. These educated young people started to dream of independence and worked to increase nationalism among the peoples of Africa. In the second part of the 20th century as nationalism grew, African nations began working to free themselves from European control. Nationalist movements are movements that seek independence for the people living in a country that is controlled by another power.When World War II ended in 1945, there were only 4 independent nations in Africa. By 1960 Africa had 27 independent states. By 1975, the number of independent states had increased to 47. For the most part, the transfer of power in the 1950s and 1960s went smoothly. Major exceptions included: Algeria, where a war of liberation raged against France; the Belgian Congo, where a civil war was made worse by Belgian involvement; and Portuguese Africa where Portugal refused to give up its holdings. Below, the independence movements of Kenya, Nigeria, and the Belgian Congo are discussed.South AfricaThe colony of South Africa was founded in the mid-1600s by the Dutch from the Netherlands, who used the colony for trade around the tip of the African continent. Many Dutch settlers came there, and they were eventually called the Boers. They had little to do with the native Africans, other than to consider them as servants or working people. When the British took over the colony in the early 1800s, many of the descendants of the Dutch settlers moved north into land occupied by the native Zulus. This move led to warfare with the Zulus, a tribe that later fought the British as well. The Dutch descendants set up two new states in South Africa, Transvaal and Orange Free State. In the early 1900s, these states were eventually merged with British South Africa to form the Union of South Africa, a state that by this time had discovered vast deposits of gold and diamonds. Because native Africans were considered second-class citizens in the Union of South Africa, they formed the African National Congress (ANC) to work for equal treatment of the nonwhite population.South Africa set up a strict system of separation of the races, the apartheid system. The African National Congress worked for many years to end this system, eventually getting the international community to help by imposing embargos on the Union of South Africa. An embargo meant countries refused to trade with the Union of South Africa until they changed their discriminatory policies. By 1985, pressure from the embargo and continuing resistance led by the African National Congress and the Pan African Congress forced the South African government to begin making changes. Apartheid began to come apart, and in 1994 South Africa held its first multiracial elections and chose Nelson Mandela as the country’s first black president. KenyaMany Kenyans thought the British had taken their land unfairly. A group of Kenyans started the Mau Mau, which operated from 1952 to 1960. The Mau Mau was a secret society that believed force was the only way to win Kenyan rights and independence. The Mau Mau rebelled against the British.The British Army mostly defeated the Mau Mau by 1954, although violence continued until 1960. Thousands of people were killed in the fighting, although only about 100 were European. However, the Mau Mau movement still had a great deal of support among Kenyans. Eventually, Kenyan support of the Mau Mau and their nationalist ideas convinced the British they would have to grant independence to Kenya. The British helped Kenyans hold democratic elections. Kenya became independent of British rule in 1964, under the leadership of Joseph Kenyatta, a leader of the Kenyan African National Union (KNAU or KAU)). While Kenya was glad to be free of British rule, the government of Kenyatta was not open or free. Under Kenyatta and his successor, Daniel arap Moi, the KNAU(KAU) ran almost unopposed in every national election until the 1990s. At that time, the international community told Moi that unless Kenya improved their civil rights record, economic assistance from abroad would be cut off. There has been some improvement in the political rights of Kenya’s people, but more is needed. Some argue that a western style democracy does not fit Kenya’s past or traditions. The country remains a multi-party state on the books, but the reality is that the KNAU(KAU) still controls much of the government.NigeriaThere were many different ethnic groups in the region now called Nigeria. At the Berlin Conference in 1884-1885, Britain was given control of the region. Nigeria was then divided into two colonies, one in the north and one in the south. Many of the ethnic groups that lived in the region did not want to be part of the same country. These divisions among the Africans led the British to treat the ethnic groups differently. The British spent more money building schools and roads in the south than in the north.By the 1940s, Nigerians had started many groups to fight against British rule. Some groups shared ethnicity. Some were youth and student groups. Some were made up of people who worked in the same type of job. Many people in these groups had gone to school in Europe. They admired European culture, but they believed that the only way for Nigerians to have their rights was to be free of European rule. These groups became political parties that worked for Nigerian independence.In the late 1940s and 1950s, the British let Nigerians elect their own people into government. Abubakar Tafawa Balewa became prime minister in 1957. Nigeria gained independence from Britain in 1960, and most people expected the new state to be stable and calm. Within a few months, however, war broke out between the Christian south and the Muslim north. The religious war left many thousands dead or injured. The country tried to reorganize as 12 different regions, even the oil rich province in the eastern part of the country declared itself to be the Independent State of Biafra.Military coups and outbreaks of violence marked the years that followed. Elections were held in 1999 that seemed more free and open than what had gone on before, but the government still remains unstable.Nigeria has the potential to have great wealth from their oil supplies. However, because of corruption in the government this resource has not been developed. As a result, Nigeria must rely on foreign aid and foreign supplies for their people.The Belgian CongoFrom 1885 to 1908, King Leopold II of Belgium treated the Congo as his own private colony. The Congo Free State, had many natural resources. Although slavery had been ended in 1885 at the Berlin Conference, Africans were forced to work in mines and plantations and were treated with cruelty and were even tortured. As a result, many Congolese died. Under King Leopold II, the population of the Congo Free State went from about 25 million down to about 8 million people.Other countries complained about the working conditions in the Congo Free State. In 1908, the government of Belgium took the land from their king and renamed it the Belgian Congo. Conditions improved, but the Congolese were not allowed to run their own government. The Belgian Congo was finally granted independence in 1960, during the same year in which many other African nations won their independence. ................
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