The End of Empires
FOCUS QUESTION What led to decolonization after World War II, and how did the Cold War influence the process?
In the postwar era, in one of world history’s great turning points, Europe’s long-standing overseas expansion was dramatically reversed. The retreat from imperial control — a process Europeans called decolonization — remade the world map. In just two decades, over fifty new nations in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East joined the global community (Map 28.3). In some cases, decolonization proceeded relatively smoothly, with an orderly transition and little violence. In others, the European powers were determined to preserve colonial rule — long a source of profit and national pride — and colonized peoples won independence only after long and bloody struggles.
Figure 28.3: MAP 28.3 Decolonization in Africa and Asia, 1947 to the Present Divided primarily along religious lines into two states, British India led the way to political independence in 1947. Most African territories achieved statehood by the mid-1960s as European empires passed away, unlamented.
The Cold War had a profound impact on decolonization. Independence movements often had to choose sides in the struggle between the superpowers. After independence was won, both the United States and the Soviet Union struggled to exert influence in the former colonies, and economic growth and political stability remained elusive in much of Europe’s former empire. Liberation from colonial domination was a proud achievement that brought fundamental gains in human freedom but left lasting problems for the former colonized and colonizers alike.