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3. Decolonisation in Asia 

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casahistoria home                              visit caféhistoria for updates and current topic news

4. Decolonisation in India 

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casahistoria home                              visit caféhistoria for updates and current topic news

 

5. Decolonisation in Africa 

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Click Imperialism for main imperialism site & links to the process of empire building

• Europeans in Africa: Anti-Colonialism & Reconstruction 19th to mid-20th centuries.  Set out in the form of a detailed timeline with links to articles
• Postwar Africa Lecture which gives a brief, but valuable overview of rise of nationalism andd the key events in the decolonisation process. By Professor Gerhard Rempel, Western New England College.
• Independence part of the BBC Story of Africa site this attempts to look at the nineteenth century in Africa from an African as well as European perspective. Sections include: 

• A Gazetteer of African Independence. Useful way of providing brief outlines of how every nation got its independence with links for further study
• Chronology - Independence of African colonies If you need a list of lists here it is...
• Europeans in Africa: Post-Independence Africa & Contemporary Trends mid- to late 20th century. Set out in the form of a detailed timeline with links to articles.
• Some different routes to independence in Africa Contains a brief overview of the different paths to independence in Africa, plus detailed information about four case studies: Algeria, Egypt, Gold Coast, and the Congo. Very useful comparative start.

• "Wind of Change" speech. Made by Harold Macmillan to the South African Parliament in 1960. Article in About.com by Alistair Boddy-Evans. Good links but try and ignore all the ads and other boxes!!
  • (Read also Henrik Verwoerd's response: Prime Minister Henrik Verwoerd responded to Harold Macmillan's "Wind of Change" speech by pushing forward the rights of white men in Africa and was met with applause from the members of South Africa's Parliament.

• From Gold Coast To Ghana Part of the BBC Story of Africa site Good outline introduction with links to context in general
• I Speak of Freedom (1961) Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972)
• Kwame Nkrumah Edited by Peter Halsall, Fordham University.
• Kwame Nkrumah's fight for independence Great Epic Books. Links to brief reviews and articles as well as images. Unfortunately extracts are not always credited. Slow to load. Be patient!  §
• Kwame Nkrumah's Vision of Africa BBC listeners in Africa voted Kwame Nkrumah, the first head of an independent Ghana their "Man of the Millennium". This BBC Omnibus audio programme and report explores what lay behind the coup that led to Nkrumah's untimely death.
• Kwame Nkrumah Information and Resource Site A growing site devoted to the theoretical aspect of Nkrumah

• Lt. Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu Biafran bank notes, stamps and the principles of revolution. Philip Emeagwali's personal site on Biafra.

• Case Study : Congo Part of the BBC Story of Africa site Good outline introduction with links to context in general
• Nationalist Awakenings & The Crisis of Decolonization  From the US library of Congress
• Leopoldville 1960 personal account of the evacuation of whites by Margaret Park, about the evacuation of Americans from the Congo during the upheaval of independence in 1960. §
• Two articles describing the work of UN forces in the Congo:
  • The Brazilian Air Force in Congo, 1960-1964 §
  • Canberras in the Congo, the Indian Air Force in the Congo

East Africa

        Tanganyika (Tanzania)

• Sakuma Home Page Home page of the Sakuma Museum in Kisesa, Tanzania. Narratives and photographs focus on the culture and history of Tanzania which remains despite colonisation. The history of the museum section tells the story of how the traditions were "rediscoverered"

       Kenya

• Case Study : Kenya Part of the BBC Story of Africa site Good outline introduction with links to context in general
• Kenya: Imperialism and decolonisation: detailed casahistoria netguide article (19 pages) based on a variety of web sources. For more casahistoria netguide revision go to IB/Alevel/K12 revision in the young casahistoria section.
• The Mau Mau Movement Concise, educational outline by Kenyaweb
• Histories of Kenya's Mau Mau uprising: How not to run an empire. Very good review article in The economist (Dec 29th 2004) which provides a clear examination of the unilateral actions of Britain during the Mau Mau period. Uses reviews of Histories of the Hanged: The Dirty War in Kenya and the End of Empire By David Anderson and Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of the End of Empire in Kenya By Caroline Elkins to do this.
• Jomo Kenyatta Information on the Kenyan Constitution, history and geography. Produced by R.C. Bowen.
• The Mau Mau Rebellion BBC audio report (about 10mins). Did Britain use torture in 1950s Kenya? British authorities are accused of widespread repression leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of detainees. Discussion with Harvard history professor, Caroline Elkins, author of Britain's Gulag.

       Northern Rhodesia (Zambia)

• Dr. Kenneth D. Kaunda Epic Book commercial listings site, but has links to brief reviews and articles as well as images. Unfortunately extracts are not always credited. Can be slow to load. Be patient!  §
• Zambia 40 years after independence, A Comparative Analysis of Economic Development During Colonial Office Rule (1924 – 1964) and Since Independence (1964 – 2004). Address by Chairman, National Economic Advisory Council of Zambia,At the Royal Commonwealth Society, 2004. Useful piece of comparative analysis which is relatively rare.

• Ngwazi Dr. H. Kamuzu Banda Epic Book commercial listings site, but has links to brief reviews and articles as well as images. Unfortunately extracts are not always credited. Can be slow to load. Be patient!  §

Portuguese Africa

• Rise of Angolan Nationalism This US Library of Congress site has a thorough outline of key phases and issues
• Angolan War of Independence 1961-1974 & Portugal -Mozambique Independence War 1962-1975 Accounts from Onwar.com
• The Portuguese in Africa, 1959-1975 Focus is on the Portuguese use of airpower to maintain control.
• Castro reveals role in Angola, Namibia independence Report on Castro's admission of Dec 2005.
• The Men Behind the Mozambique Independence Movement Useful, (but dated - 1975) article by Robin Wright of Christian Science Monitor
• Mozambique celebrates costly freedom By Alice Martin for the BBC. Michael Hlashwayo was 12 when the Portuguese secret police arrested him and his siblings as they helped their older brother recruit fighters into the anti-colonial movement. This looks at the personal cost of the conflict.

casahistoria home                              visit caféhistoria for updates and current topic news

 

6. Decolonisation in North Africa   

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Click Imperialism for main imperialism site & links to the process of empire building

 

• Arab Nationalism Lecture which gives a brief, but valuable overview of rise of Arab nationalism in north Africa and the middle east to 1990. By Professor Gerhard Rempel, Western New England College.

Suez & Egypt, 1956

• Suez Crisis Basic details, well supported with documents. From excellent Spartacus site
• The Suez crisis: An affair to remember a very clear special report from The Economist on the 50th anniversary. Good on background and diplomatic context, very good on the consequences for Middle East, UK, European integration.
• 1956: Suez and the end of empire By Derek Brown of the Guardian. Good article with useful links at the end.
• Timeline: The Suez Crisis Very thorough timeline from About.com
• Teacher Zone - Suez Crisis A useful resource, providing a basic account, but the real value comes in the links to background chapters that are hard to find elsewhere as they focus n the Arab dimension. Produced by the Alberta, Canada, Heritage Community Foundation
• The Tripartite Invasion Perhaps the single most important event in the history of African independence. The fallout from this unsuccessful attempt by Britain, France, and Israel to maintain an influence over the Suez Canal created a climate in Africa which both encouraged and escalated the struggle for independence.
• Suez 1956 online essay by Chris Leininger that discusses many of the key players and factors. §
• The 1956 Suez Crisis 30 page chapter from Risk-Taking in International Politics: Prospect Theory in American Foreign Policy" by R. McDermott (Univ of Michigan)
• Suez Crisis, 1956 From the Air Combat Information Group. as the name suggests this focuses on the air war, but despite being written in grim green neon, this is actually very thorough and highlights the international nature of the conflict very well
• When Capitalists Collide Business Conflict and the End of Empire in Egypt.  Very detailed look at the period 1935-55 published on the web by Robert Vitalis.
• The Guardian Special reports on the 50th anniversary of the crisis: "Suez, Britain's forgotten war":
  • Keith Kyle: The ghosts of Suez
  • How Suez debacle proved the tipping point in final retreat from empire
  • Secrets and lies at the heart of Britain's Middle Eastern folly
  • Alan Rusbridger on the Suez crisis
  • Jonathan Steele and Ian Black: An act of folly
  • 'Vile conspiracy' fuelled Nasser legacy
  • Lingering lessons from the Suez adventure

Algeria

• Case Study : Algeria Part of the BBC Story of Africa site Good outline introduction with links to context in general
• Algeria Independence War, 1954-1962 detailed outline from Armed Conflict Events Database
• From the US Library of Congress:
  • Polarization and Politicization
  • War of Independence
  • FLN
  • Philippeville
  • Conduct of the War
  • Committee of Public Safety
  • De GaulleThe Generals' Putsch
  • Independent Algeria, 1962-92

• History of Algerian Independence from Marxists.org. Left wing focus on the role of the Algerian independence fighters. Good links to documentary materials, but beware of bias.
• Algerian National Liberation (1954-1962) Detailed account from GlobalSecurity.org
• War in Algeria: the French experience Article in the Military Review,  2005  by Gilles Martin
• The Algerian War and French television Very good resource. Shows TV excerpts from the war (click on the small TV to start the extract - it is not really clear that you should do this...)
• Massacre in Algeria As France celebrated victory in Europe on 8 May 1945, its army was massacring thousands of civilians in Sétif and Guelma - events that were the real beginning of Algeria’s war of independence. By Mohammed Harbi. From Le Monde diplomatique.
• Torture in the Algerian war (1954-62) Looks at the role of the French army-then and now. From the World Socilaist website. By Marianne Arens and Françoise Thull
• Politics of Frenchness in Colonial Algeria, 1930-1954/A Diplomatic Revolution: Algeria's Fight for the Independence and the Origins of the Post-Cold War Era Useful, but involved review article by Matthew Houngnikpo from the African Studies Review, Sep 2003 
• Algeria then and now - Was de Gaulle pushed?  Review article looking at the US context of the War. From the Economist
• The Battle Of Algiers Go here for a trailer to one of the most influential political films in history, Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers (La bataille d’Alger)

Iraq

The British in Iraq Go to the casahistoria site

 

Palestine

The British Mandate in Palestine: see the The British Mandate in Palestine site

casahistoria home                              visit caféhistoria for updates and current topic news

 

7. Decolonisation in the Americas 

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Click Imperialism for main imperialism site & links to the process of empire building

 

go to the casahistoria Independence from Spain & Brazilian Independence sites   Cuba Castro's Cuba go to the casahistoria page to see links to the breaking away from US influence.

 

Falklands/Malvinas

Malvinas/Falklands go to the casahistoria site

 

 

casahistoria home                              visit caféhistoria for updates and current topic news

 

8. Aftermath 

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Click Imperialism for main imperialism site & links to the process of empire building

 

• Timeline: From Empire to Commwealth. Concise but clear outline from the BBC for the Open University shows the transition to a less formal imperialism by the UK.
• Nigeria: Chronology Of The Struggle For Stability And Democracy A good case study showing in clear chronological form the difficulty many ex-colonies had in achieving stability after independence. Africa Policy Information Center.
• Into Africa  Two generations after Britain beat a hasty retreat from its colonies in Africa, the British government is showing renewed interest in the place. An article from the Economist, February, 2001
• Britain: imperial nostalgia "Britain not only conveniently still forgets the crimes of its imperial past, but it has also again begun to romanticise its colonial achievements and declare them a proper source of pride". By Seumas Milne. From Le Monde diplomatique.
• China’s trade safari in Africa looks at Chinese informal involvement in Africa. By Jean-Christophe Servant. From Le Monde diplomatique
• For a very personal view of post imperialist issues visit the Anup Shah site which includes essays on: Free Trade & Globalization; Conflicts in Africa

Immigration from the old empires to Europe

• Moving Here. A database of digitised photos, maps, objects, documents and audio items recording migration experiences of the past 200 years
• Windrush - the Passengers By Mike Phillips BBC article on the first Carribbean immigrants to Britain on board the Windrush in 1948
• The plight of the island children Being absorbed into the "mother" country did not remove imperial attitudes. Articles on the position of Réunion children sent to France with promises of a better life in the 1960's. The 'deportees' now demand an apology. Guardian, 2005