Transcript Indian, African, and Middle Eastern Independence Movements

Indian, African, and Middle Eastern
Independence Movements
WHII.13 The student will demonstrate knowledge of political, economic, social, and
cultural aspects of independence movements and development efforts by
a.
describing the struggles for self-rule, including Gandhi’s leadership in India;
b.
describing Africa’s achievement of independence, including Kenyatta’s
leadership of Kenya;
c.
describing the end of the mandate system and the creation of states in the
Middle East.
Indian Independence
Movements
British Imperialism in India
• During the 1800’s, the British East India Tea Company
controlled large areas of India and treated it like a private
colony. In fact, GB controlled about 3/5 of the “colony” with
the remaining subcontinent being divided into more than
550 states headed by Indian Princes.
• GB used the “old Roman Method” of divide and rule by
granting favors to those princes who cooperated with them
and by dealing harshly with those who did not.
• By the 1900’s, British and Indians lived side by side but the
two groups had little contact with each other. The British felt
like they were the superior race.
Indian Nationalism
• A movement for Indian nationalism began in
the 1800’s.
• During WWI, India gave troops and money to
help GB and, in return, they promised the
Indians more self-government. After the war,
however, many British disagreed on whether
or not to grant self-rule to the Indians.
Mohandas Gandhi
• The leader of the Indian nationalist movement was
Mohandas Gandhi. He was a spiritual and a political leader
who opposed violence.
– He urged people to support non violence by not cooperating with the
government. This form of civil disobedience was called passive
resistance.
– “I believe in the doctrine of nonviolence as a weapon of the strongest.
I believe that a man is the strongest soldier for daring to die unarmed
with his breast bare before the enemy.”
• Gandhi led a movement to boycott British goods and to
refuse to pay taxes. The British, in return, restricted civil
liberties and violently broke up political gatherings. This
turned many Indians against British rule. By WWII, India had
beeen allowed to elect some representatives but the British
still controlled much of their public policies like defense,
revenue, and foreign issues.
WWII and India
• Indian nationalists continued to work for self rule throughout WWII.
Many refused to back GB during the war.
• GB needed India as a base to help fight Japan and they sent someone to
negotiate independence in 1942. The Indian National Congress rejected
this plan, along with the Muslim league, a group of Muslim leaders
formed to protect the rights of Indian Muslims.
• Gandhi, meanwhile, continued to advocate that complete seperation
from GB was the only answer. This was called the “Quit India”
movement.
• The Muslim league, led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah wanted a Muslim state
that was separate from India. This new state was to be called Pakistan.
• Jinnah and Gandhi held talks to resolve their differences but they failed.
In 1946 bloody riots were taking place between Muslims and Hindus.
• On August 15, 1947, India and Pakistan were formed. Six months later,
Gandhi was assassinated because a Hindu extremist resented his tolerant
attitude towards Muslims.
African Independence
Movements
African Nationalism
• The 1930’s had many Africans demanding
independence from European colonial powers.
• WWII became a turning point during African history
because many promises of self-rule were made as a
result of Africa’s willingness to provide and open
routes for supplies.
• The Pan Africanism movement was one that
promoted the cultural unity of people of African
heritage in their struggle for freedom.
British Colonies
• One nationalist leader was Kwame
Nkrumah. He organized a campaign of civil
disobedience against the British in 1948.
• This led to increased pressure on the British to
allow for national elections. In 1951,
Nkrumah’s party won and by 1957, the “Gold
Coast” of Africa achieved full independence.
It was renamed Ghana.
British Colonies (continued)
• Ghana’s example was an example to many nationalists. By
the 1950’s for example, Kenya was given a greater political
role in East Africa.
• The Kikuya, Kenya’s largest ethnic group was led by Jomo
Kenyatta. They were excluded from large political roles,
however and in the early 1950’s, a terror group called the
Mau Mau brought destruction along the African highlands.
The British eventually put down this rebellion but not
Kenya’s desire for independence.
• Kenyatta was jailed as a suspected Mau Mau leader and,
then, released in 1961. He won an easy victory in national
elections in 1963 and, later that year, they voted to gain
independence from Great Britain.
French Colonies in Africa
• France’s goal was to incorporate African colonies into France
itself. Many Africans decided after WWII however that they
wanted independence.
• In 1958, Charles de Gaulle, the French President, gave African
colonies a choice. They could be members of the French
community and accept control of foreign affairs or they
could become independent and lose all French aid.
• Only Guinea accepted this proposal to become independent
but they were isolated politically and economically. The
Soviet Union, however, was willing to provide assistance,
forcing de Gaulle to reverse his position. Two years later, all
who accepted membership into the French community were
granted independence without losing close French ties.
Belgian Colonies
• Belgium and Portugal at first opposed any self-rule
in their African colonies. As a result, independence in
their colonies was more difficult.
• Belgium opposed independence because of the
great wealth of timber and mineral resources in its
colonies. IN the 1950s, neighboring British and
French colonies introduced nationalistic ideas into
the Congo. Belgium resisted and proposed a 30
year timetable to prepare for independence. IKN
1959, violent protests erupted in Leopoldville, the
capital city. This so alarmed Belgium that they
gave Congo its independence on June 30, 1960.
Portuguese Colonies
• Portugal opposed independence despite the success
of many surrounding independence movements in
Africa.
• African leaders formed “liberation armies and long
bloody wars followed. Eventually nationalists
gained control of much of the Portuguese territory.
• In 1974, the Portuguese military staged a coup and
announced that it would withdraw from Africa.
• Guinea-Bissau, Angola, and Mozambique became
independent nations, as a result. Portugal was the
first to establish colonies in Africa and the last to
give them up.
South Africa
• The only part of Africa that was not independence now was
South Africa. It was created in 1910 with the union of two
British and two Boer (Dutch) territories. It was ruled by
whites who had dominant status and only linked itself to
Great Britain in foreign affairs.
• By custom, whites and non-whites were segregated socially.
Non whites were given less educational opportunities and
could, by law, only get low-paying manual work.
• In 1948 the National Party came to power. These were
African speaking Dutch descendents. They established
segregation and economic exploitation as government policy.
This was known as apartheid (“apartness”).
South Africa
•
•
•
•
•
The African National Congress (ANC) joined to fight apartheid by openly fighting
these laws. Some of the members, including a black lawyer named Nelson
Mandela, felt they should confront the violent responses of the South African
government against the protestors. In 1960, police fired on a peaceful
demonstration, killing 60 and wounding 180. The ANC was banned as a
response to these demonstrations.
In 1960 Hendrik Verwoerd, the Prime Minister, declared South Africa a republic
and withdrew from Great Britain. He, then, arrested Mandela, accused him of
treason, and sentenced him to life in jail. Meanwhile, Desmond Tutu and Steven
Biko still protested apartheid. Biko was, eventually killed, but many joined the
anti-apartheid movement. They continued to pass laws that re-affirmed
apartheid.
Finally, in the 1980’s the government began to retreat from their strict policies.
Nations around the world imposed economic sanctions to try and force South
Africa to further eliminate racist policies.
In September 1989, F.W. de Klerk was elected President of South Africa. He lifted
a 30-year ban on antiapartheid rallied and legalized the ANC. He, also, ordered
the release of Nelson Mandela. Violence still persisted, as fights for leadership
among the Black population persisted between the ANC and the Zulus.
Thousands died over the next 15 months.
In 1994, South Africa held its first all-races elections and Nelson Mandela was
elected President. He served until 1999.
Middle Eastern Independence
Movements
Egypt and Great Britain
• After WWII, Great Britain faced demands for
independence for true independence.
Between 1945 and 1952 negotiations to grant
independence failed.
• King Farouk of Egypt headed a corrupt
government and in 1952 a group of army
leaders toppled the king and declared Egypt
a republic. Soon, they declared their
independence from Great Britain.
• Gamal Abdel Nasser became the new leader of Egypt and one of his first
acts was to nationalize the Suez Canal .
• Great Britain, France, and Israel felt threatened by this move because
they wanted their ships to have free passage through the canal. They
devised a plan that Israel should launch an attack across the canal and
into Egypt. The British and French, meanwhile, would pretend to
intervene and, then, destroy Egyptian armed forces in the process.
• The plan almost went into effect but Egypt refused intervention. Both
sides sank each other ships until the US threatened to stop giving aid to
Britain if the fighting did not stop. They were worried that the Soviet
Union would intervene and did not want to start a larger conflict.
• The Suez crisis, however, was seen as a final defeat for European
imperialism because Nasser became the most popular leader in the
region and an inspiration to other Middle Eastern nations who wished to
be politically free.
• Later, Iran and Turkey declared their independence from Great Britain
and their influence was, largely, gone by this point.