GRC - Brief Overview of the Topics, Part III (Lesson)

Brief Overview of the Topics, Part III

The Rest of Africa

There are over 1,000 different languages and an extensive number of ethnic groups within the continent of Africa; therefore, it should come as no surprise that not all of the African nationalist movements emerged at exactly the same time or with the same goals. Plus, the experience of colonialism varied depending on which European nation wielded colonial power. The seven European nations of Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Great Britain carved out 48 separate colonies in Sub-Saharan Africa alone. Their policies on control ranged from the Portuguese policy of encouraging Portuguese settlers to intermarry with native Africans to the German policy of a genocide against a native African ethnic group. Although both of these policies were designed to control the colonial population, they would naturally have vastly different effects. Regardless of the difference in policies, though, the European nations with claims in Africa were all loath (unwilling or reluctant) to give up those claims. The colonial era probably would have continued on for much longer in Africa had it not been for World War II.

The European nations with colonies in Africa lost a great deal during World War II—no matter if they won, lost or were neutral during the war. Most of these nations were physically devastated and existed in a weakened condition unwilling to address the rising nationalism within Africa. This nationalism actually came to a peak following World War II when many of the African colonies experienced a time of colonial neglect while the powers that ruled over them were occupied elsewhere during the war years. Therefore, in many places, the time was ripe for nationalists to step up and lead, and the idea of securing independence for Africa found more and more supporters from within and without the African continent.

There were many reasons that nationalism peaked at this time within the continent—

• When the Africans who served in European armies returned home from World War II, they found that their rights and freedoms were just as restricted by the European colonial governments as they had been before the war. These men asked why they had fought for the freedom of people that refused to grant Africans freedom at home.
• In 1941, Great Britain signed the Atlantic Charter with the United States in order to define the Allied goals during the war. The third paragraph in the charter said that "all people have the right to self-determination." This meant that all people had the right to determine what type of government they wanted for their nation. Following World War II, Africans pushed Great Britain and other European nations to follow through on that statement found within the Atlantic Charter.
• Africans watched as Great Britain ended the British Raj in India and Pakistan in 1947. Seeing the release of another colonial nation inspired African leaders to push for the same at home.
• By the 1940s and 1950s, the nationalist political parties established by African intellectuals during the 1920s and 1930s were appealing to the masses. More of these political parties began forming in every African nation with the demand for the end to colonial rule.

Outside of the African continent, a world-wide movement known as Pan-Africanism existed. This was a campaign to unify people of African roots living around the globe. Their goal was to "unify and uplift" those people of African descent who had been scattered around the world during the African Diaspora caused by the slave trade and those people of Africa living under colonial rule. They hoped that by working together, Africans and those with African ancestors would be able to point out how they had suffered under governments that abused their rights and treated them as second-class citizens. The goal was to identify the problems of racism around the world in order to find a solution that would benefit everyone—and in Africa, that solution was decolonization.

Depending on the location and what European power was in charge, the African nationalist movements eventually succeeded. As you can see by the pie chart below, 1960 was the most active year of decolonization in Sub-Saharan Africa over a period that spanned more than a decade.

By 1968, most of the nations of Africa were sovereign nations. And most of these accomplished their sovereignty in an orderly and peaceful transition—but not all. And despite the introduction of decolonization, five nations of Africa were still ruled by their minority European settler communities—Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique. In these five nations, all located in the southern African region, the white minority of the populations set up oligarchic governments that prevented the black majority from voting. By disfranchising non-whites, the governments in these nations were able to pass laws that promoted the rights of the white minority populations while refusing political rights to black Africans. Thus, these "settler governments" were able to maintain the power of European descendants over Africans past the formal end of colonialism.

As African nationalist political parties in these nations pushed for "one man, one vote," the governments of Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique passed laws that prohibited political protests. With no vote and no freedom of speech, the political parties that pushed for native African equality found only one avenue open to them and they began forming armed liberation movements. These liberation movements found it difficult to arm themselves well enough to push against the government armies of their nations. Nationalists there sought support from European nations and the United States, but found their pleas for help ignored. But there were nations on the planet that did not turn a deaf ear. China, the Soviet Union and other communist nations of Europe were willing to help the majority native African populations overthrow the oligarchic minority governments running the nations.

As for the other nations, the next step following independence was not always an easy one. Many African borders had been in place for decades that were established by outsiders with little regard for the different ethnic populations who lived within—yet those borders did not change just because the people who drew them left. Upon independence, local African leaders had to learn how to govern the diverse people within their borders and to do so in a very short period of time. Add to this the fact that the European colonial governments had spent little to no effort in building those institutions—infrastructure, education, industrialization...—needed to compete in an industrialized world in their African colonies. Many African nations literally started from scratch in establishing their place on the globalized planet. Now add yet another fact to this equation—many local African rulers from during the colonial period, who had prior experience in politics and government (as well as outside connections,) were seen as collaborators with the previous colonial governments and were distrusted. Therefore, many of them were replaced randomly with whomever could or would take the job—sometimes the new leaders were good and sometimes they were not. Naturally, as a result of these conditions, the nations of Africa experienced growing pains (as we saw in the earlier histories of other continents) as they reconstructed themselves—and in some cases, severe growing pains. And keep in mind that, unlike in earlier histories of other continents, these nations were starting from scratch in an already industrialized world. Let's learn what caused, and continues to cause, these pains.

Despite the many difficulties faced in Africa during post-colonialism, there have been many success stories as well. According to the RAND Corporation (an American based, non-profit think tank that focuses on research and development with the goal of improving policies and decision-making,) there are certain steps that all nations must take in order to build a peaceful and prosperous future—and these steps fall under four categories.

Nation Building Categories:

1. Military
2. Political
3. Humanitarian
4. Economic

 

Military

Considering what you've read about military coups overthrowing governments and historic and ongoing wars raging around Sub-Saharan Africa, you might think this is an odd category for nation-building. However, if used properly, a nation's military can help build up the security and safety of a nation. But this requires political leaders with a goal towards building a safer continent. In the meantime, it is important to note that the four strongest militaries in Sub-Saharan Africa have been actively involved in peace-keeping missions for international agencies throughout the continent and, in some cases, the world. The militaries of Ethiopia, South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya have been employed by African and United Nations organizations to instill or maintain peace in various nations. Look at the map below- the light blue countries show past peace keeping mission sites, while the darker blue countries reflect current sites.

 

Political

In many contexts, the term "nation-building" refers to the creation of a national identity. But with the diverse populations and histories of conflict that one finds in many Sub-Saharan African countries, forcing people to become unified as one national identity has not worked. Naturally then, forcing people to support one government that might only reflect one part of the population has really not worked either. Take Sierra Leone, for example. Sierra Leone has sixteen major ethnic groups—each speaking a different language. In 1972, Sierra Leone abolished all of its elected governments and formed a unitary government based in Freetown—decisions for all sixteen ethnic groups were handed down from this one government. After decades of mismanagement, neglect of areas and people outside of Freetown, and corruption, the nation burst into a civil war that lasted from 1991 to 2002. At the end of the war, the political party that rose to power passed the Local Government Act of 2004. This law transformed Sierra Leone's government. It decentralized the government—spreading political power throughout the nation to local communities. Just three years later, Sierra Leone experienced its first peaceful transfer of power during an election at the national level. With peace came a rise in the number of primary schools, health clinics and access to clean water.

 

International Politics

It's not just the political systems of the individual nations that will lead Sub-Saharan Africa into the future. Over the decades, many confederations have formed between the African nations for various reasons. You can see a diagram of these confederations below illustrating their overlap of national participations—notice that the African Union is the most inclusive of the confederations. Its motto is to create a "united and strong Africa."

Humanitarian

Within the category of humanitarian steps towards building a new nation, there are literally thousands of stories.

The stories are already impacting the rest of the continent of Africa. Leymah Gbowee's story of stopping a civil war was made into a documentary— "Pray the Devil Back to Hell"—that is shown in war-torn nations around Africa as inspiration for others to follow her example. Dozens of new non-government organizations (NGOs) have formed with the purposes of addressing AIDS, malaria, education, refugee camps, and hunger (issues that strongly impact the continent) in Sub-Saharan Africa. And private businesses are introducing new technology to customers in Sub-Saharan Africa that will improve their quality of life in an ever-changing world.

 

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