Figure 6.15 Independence from European colonial or white minority rule spread rapidly through Africa in the 1950s and 1960s. Prior to the 1950s, there were only three independent countries in Africa. Between 1951 and 1968, most attained self-rule. The remaining few gained freedom over the next three decades. By 1994 independence had spread from the Mediterranean to the Cape of Good Hope. Many of the ideas about national liberation were spread by African leaders educated in Europe. Why do you think it took a few countries so much longer than most to gain independence?