NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA.pptx

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1. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA Reading Materials: Chapter 3, “Nationalism and the Transfer of Power” in Tordoff William (2002), Government and Politics in Africa , 4 th Edition, New York, Palgrave Macmillan. Chapter 1, “Introduction: African Politics Since Independence” in Tordoff William (2002), Government and Politics in Africa , 4 th Edition, New York, Palgrave Macmillan.

2. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA 3) Keller Edmond J (1995), “Decolonization and the Failure of Politics” in Martin Phyllis M & O’Meara Patrick ( Eds ), Africa , Indianapolis, Indiana University Press (Book chapter attached) 4) Mazrui Ali A & Tidy Micheal (1984), Nationalism and New States in Africa , Nairobi, Heinemann Educational Books (Available in Adit Bookshop, Adit House, Mbarara Town)

3. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA 5) Chapter 1, “The Development Paradigm and its Politics” in Ake Claude (1996), Democracy and Development in Africa , Washington, The Brookings Institution.

4. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA The term nationalism is used to describe the consciousness of a group of people belonging to one body politic called a Nation who are united by such factors as race, religion, language, tradition or common ancestor who wish to advance the ideals of Liberty, Prosperity or Political development of a Nation.

5. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA Nationalism can be described as an act of political consciousness concerned primarily with achieving independence for the different African colonies from foreign rule. Nationalism is also taken to mean self-assertion against the humiliating and exploitative tendencies of colonialism .

6. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA For our purpose, we can define nationalism as the patriotic sentiment or activities on the part of groups of people held together by the bonds of common experience and their assertion of their inalienable right to be free to determine their common desires. So a person who supports the objectives of nationalism is called a Nationalist.

7. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA Decolonization is the process of ending colonialism or colonial rule and this was the objective of African nationalism. The process of decolonization can be carried out either through peaceful means e.g. where nationalists negotiate with the colonial rulers and request them to end colonial rule.

8. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA Or it can be carried out through armed struggle whereby the nationalists wage war against the colonial rulers in order to force them to evacuate their territories. Africa had two forms of nationalism during the period of colonial rule. There was nationalism of the inter war period or inter war years i.e. African nationalism which developed between WWI and WWII.

9. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA There was nationalism of Post WWII. The first form of nationalism of the inter war period was parochial in the sense that it was limited to protests by certain groups of people against the injustices of the colonial system and this nationalism appeared in the form of protest movements.

10. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA It was spearheaded by the mission educated Africans and these Africans demanded reforms within the colonial system so that they could have a share in the colonial government and its hierarchy e.g. by getting better paying jobs, representation in the legislative councils, better social amenities e.g. good hospitals and schools.

11. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA So the nationalism of the inter war period in Africa did not call for the dismantling of colonial rule. They rather wanted reforms within the colonial system and this type of nationalism was passive and one wonders why during this period, Africans wanted reforms rather than dismantling the whole system.

12. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA This was due to the colonial education that these African educated elite had received which made them appreciate western culture and values. They wanted to be treated with equal footing. This nationalism was generally localized and it wasn’t nationwide nationalism in the whole colony or African state.

13. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA It involved a few African educated elite in a particular district, province or town who fought separately to remove grievances of colonial rule but not to achieve the overthrow of the colonial system. This parochial nationalism was also due to the colonial policy of “divide and rule” where people developed small scale (separate) nationalism.

14. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA This did not involve the African masses and so the African peasants who were illiterate did not participate in this nationalism of the inter war period because it was Elitist nationalism developed and spearheaded by the educated African elite. Even in cases where the African educated elite from various African states combined their efforts,

15. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA they did not involve the African masses and activities could not go beyond a few towns, districts in each country. For example in 1920, representatives of the African educated elite from the four British West African colonies of Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast and the Gambia met in Accra in Gold Coast and founded the National Congress of British West Africa (NCBWA)

16. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA This was founded as a protest movement and it was founded under the leadership of Joseph Caseley Hayford -a distinguished Gold Coast Lawyer. The members of NCBWA were mainly graduates of Farou Bay College in Freetown Sierra Leone and Yaba College in Lagos Nigeria. These had proceeded to Europe and USA for further studies.

17. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA So the members of NCBWA were professional men, many of them Lawyers, Doctors, Teachers and others were merchants. Peasants and other workers were not members of this organization and this did not tackle their grievances. So the NCBWA was formed to address problems of its members only. From the kind of demands that this organization made to the British colonial rulers,

18. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA we can clearly notice that this was a kind of nationalism that demanded reforms in the colonial system but not dismantling the whole system. At its inception in Accra, the NCBWA made the following demands: It opposed the exclusion of its members from the administration of their countries and demanded that this should be stopped.

19. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA It demanded that half of the members of the Legislative Council in each of the 4 British colonies in West Africa should be elected by the Africans and they expected to be elected to the Legco. It demanded that the elected Africans should control finances in each of the 4 British colonies in West Africa.

20. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA It opposed discrimination against Africans in the civil service and demanded that this practice should be stopped and the members were to be given jobs in the colonial civil service. It demanded the formation of a West African University-they expected their children to study from here.

21. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA It also wanted a very strict immigration system to exclude the “undesirable” Lebanese and Syrians who dominated the wholesale and retail trade in West Africa. Some of the members of NCBWA were professional merchants. In all its demands, the NCBWA did not ask for the dismantling of colonialism. Instead it demanded reforms of the colonial system

22. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA in order to enable its members share the benefits of colonialism. In Tanganyika, Martin Kayamba , a mission educated African founded the Tanganyika Territory African Civil Service Association (TTACSA) and this was founded in March 1922 in the town of Tanga along the coast of mainland Tanzania

23. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA where Kayamba was working as a chief clerk in the Tanga Provincial office. TTACSA was not a mass nationalist movement. It was a club for clerks and teachers educated Africans and this association aimed at improving the welfare of its members. It demanded higher pay and better working conditions for its members and also demanded better schools and hospitals for Africans.

24. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA In Zambia (Northern Rhodesia), David Kaunda, the father of Kenneth Kaunda and his colleagues founded the MWENZO Association in N.E part of the country in the early 1920s. David Kaunda had been educated by the Livingstonia Missionaries just like many of his colleagues. His association demanded higher pay for African workers, better schools for Africans and more representation on Legco.

25. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA This association was limited to N.E Zambia and was also limited to the educated African elite. It demanded reforms within the colonial system but not the dismantling of the colonial system. However, from the 1940s there was a change. Nationalistic movements supporting a different form of nationalism appeared on the African political scene.

26. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA This kind of nationalism that developed was no longer the passive and parochial nationalism of the inter war period. It was no longer Elitist Nationalism limited to a few mission educated Africans. It was massive i.e. mass nationalism involving Africans from all sorts of life and it was militant nationalism based on the demand for the dismantling of the colonial system.

27. NATIONALISM AND DECOLONIZATION IN AFRICA African nationalists wanted complete independence. A number of factors brought about this change and encouraged Africans to demand independence. These factors were both external and internal as shown below:

28. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s 1) The Effects of World War 2. This broke out in 1939 and went on until 1945. This was essentially a European war. There were 2 camps-the Allied Powers that consisted of Britain, France, Russia, USA and their associates and the opponents of the Axis powers that had Germany, Japan and Italy.

29. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s When WW2 broke out, the British recruited African soldiers and auxiliary staff from their colonies in Africa e.g. Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria e.t.c and sent these to participate in the fighting in Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea to fight the Italians who the British feared that could attack Kenya from the north. Some Africans were sent to Burma and India to fight the Japanese.

30. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s The French also recruited African soldiers and auxiliary staff and sent them to participate in Europe and North Africa. During the war African, Asian and European soldiers lived together, shared meals and fought together. During the actual fighting, African soldiers realized that their white counter parts were scared of death just like them.

31. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s They also saw that the white soldiers could be fought and killed in war. In Africa, the whites had been greatly respected and had created an impression among Africans that they could not be fought and defeated. But with this experience of the WW2, Africans saw that white soldiers were not a superior race like they had claimed.

32. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s The Africans realized that the whites were normal human beings. The WW2 therefore ended the myth of white supremacy in the minds of the Africans. So when the African ex-servicemen returned to their home countries at the end of the war, they were no longer ready to accept the white man as their boss. They struggled to drive the whites off their motherland.

33. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s In addition, during the war, Africans shared with the Americans and Europeans on different political views. For example, they met the American soldiers who told them how they fought for their independence from Britain and this encouraged African soldiers when they returned to their respective countries.

34. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s In addition, during the war, propaganda was used to encourage African soldiers to fight bravely. These African soldiers were told that they were fighting the war in order to contain the dictatorship of Hitler and Mussolini and establish democracy in the world. These African soldiers became enlightened about democracy.

35. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s When they returned home, they wanted to enjoy democracy they had been fighting for. They were therefore not ready to allow the whites to continue controlling them against their will. Lastly the WW2 also significantly weakened European economies and made it difficult for them to sustain their empires.

36. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s 2) Atlantic Charter. At the peak of World War II in 1941, the Atlantic Charter which provided under Article 3 for the principle of self-determination of all peoples was signed between US’s F.D. Roosevelt and UK’s Winston Churchill. African nationalists employed the charter as an additional weapon to intensify nationalist struggle, and rejected Churchill’s belated remark that the charter was a guide and not a rule.

37. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s In frustration Churchill later retorted: “I have not become the Queen’s chief minister to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire”.

38. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s 3) The Formation of the United Nations. The UN was created in 1945 and it endorsed the doctrine of self-determination and included it in its own charter-the UN Charter. The African nationalists presented an argument that the doctrine of self-determination applied to their countries and wanted independence.

39. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s They were encouraged with their struggle for independence after knowing that the world body (the UN) recognized their cause. In addition, the UN General Assembly provided forum through which representatives from the third world countries articulated their demands for the colonized countries to be granted independence.

40. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s 4) The Influence of USA and USSR. Both the USA and USSR emerged as superpowers at the end of the WW2 and these two countries were anti-colonial powers. They opposed colonialism and put pressure on Britain and requested her to grant independence to her colonies.

41. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s During the WW2, the government of USA was as concerned with the abolition of the British empire as the defeat of Axis powers. When President Roosevelt of USA, Prime Minister Churchill of Britain and Stalin of USSR met at the Yalta Conference in February 1945 in Russia to decide what to do with the Axis powers at the end of WW2,

42. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s both the USA and USSR leaders put pressure on Churchill and told him that Britain must liquidate her empire and grant independence to her colonies. Although Churchill replied that “never, never, never…”, Britain later on had to give in to the wishes of the 2 super powers and it started responding favorably to the demands of African nationalists for independence.

43. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s 5) The Role of the British Labor Party Churchill led Britain to victory in World War II but his party lost the first post war General elections to the Labor Party, led by Clement Atlee. The Labor Party therefore promptly translated its known programme of rejection and repudiation of colonialism to the official policy of the British government.

44. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s The Atlee government speedily enacted the Development and Welfare Act for the colonies in 1948, which accelerated the pace of constitutional reforms; leading to the grant of early self-government in British colonies.

45. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s 6) Granting of Independence to India in 1947 For many years, India had been a colony of the British. In August 1947, Britain granted independence to the Indian sub-continent. The African nationalists in the British colonies argued that if Britain granted independence to India, why couldn’t she do the same thing to Africa?

46. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s The African nationalists realized that the Indians had struggled for their independence and in the end achieved it. So the success of the Indian nationalists encouraged the African nationalists to struggle for their own independence hoping that they too could be successful like the Indians.

47. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s After achieving independence, India became a member of UN and the Indian representative in the UN General Assembly championed the cause of the third world countries which were still colonized and demanded that they too should be granted independence.

48. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s The fact that this struggle of Africa was discussed in an international General Assembly further encouraged African nationalists to intensify their nationalistic struggle. In addition India advised African nationalists on the best way of conducting their campaign of independence.

49. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s For example in 1948, the Indian government appointed Mr. Apa B. Pant as its representative in East Africa based in Nairobi. His appointment contributed to the growth of African nationalism in East Africa in general and Kenya in particular.

50. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s Mr. Pant developed close ties with the East African nationalists especially the leaders of KANU, one of the political parties that had been formed in Kenya. The KANU leaders were encouraged to visit India and learn from the experience of Indian nationalists .

51. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s For example, in 1949, Mr. Mbiyu Koinange , a member of the KANU Executive Committee went to India and spent 3 months learning how to organize an effective nationalist movement.

52. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s 7) The Pan African Movement The pan-African movement exploded the fallacy that Africa unity is not possible because the continent lacks a common race, culture and language. From the first pan African Congress held in Paris in 1919; the second in London in 1921, the third in London in 1923; the fourth in New York in 1927,

53. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s and the fifth in Manchester in 1945, the flame of African nationalism was spread across the globe. The Manchester congress attended by over 200 delegates called on African elites to be awake to their responsibilities to their people, and made definite demands for constitutional changes and for universal adult suffrage (Nkrumah 1963:134).

54. External Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s It also demanded for the end of racial discrimination, stopping economic exploitation in Africa and above all it demanded independence for colonized states in Africa. The Pan African Movement gave encouragement to the African nationalists like Nkwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya among others.

55. Internal Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s 1) The rise of the educated class. Those that had gone to missionaries schools and went abroad for further studies. The educated class became leaders of the nationalist movements after completing their studies. Examples include: Nkrumah in Ghana, Kenyatta in Kenya, Nyerere in Tanganyika.

56. Internal Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s 2) Emergence of Political Parties The emergence of political parties especially in the post war II era gave added impetus to nationalism. The activities of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) in Nigeria, the Convention People's Party (C.P.P) in Gold Coast, for example, transformed the agitation for independence into a mass movement in these countries.

57. Internal Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s The motto of the C.P.P was particularly deviant when it announced that Ghanaians would “prefer self-government in danger to servitude in tranquility”. Other examples of the first political parties include KANU in Kenya, TANU in Tanganyika, UNC in Uganda.

58. Internal Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s 3) The Role of the Mass Media The print media in their attacks on colonialism added fuel to the fire of nationalism already burning in most African colonies. In the old Gold Coast, the African Morning Post was in the vanguard of this struggle, and its motto, which proclaimed its neutrality on every issue except Africa’s set the stage for the media in the nationalist struggle.

59. Internal Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s In its famous articles “Do Europeans have a God” for which its editor, Dr. Azikiwe was charged for sedition, the medium eloquently demonstrated the pivotal role played by the press. In Nigeria, Dr. Azikiwe used the medium of the powerful West African Pilot to show the Nigerian youths the way which they eagerly followed.

60. Internal Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s 4) The Economic Factor Colonialism encouraged the transformation of Africa from subsistence to a money-based economy. This change led to the introduction of currency, which was consciously encouraged by the colonial government in order to increase the export of primary produce. This created one of the first economic sources of problems to colonial rule.

61. Internal Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s The cash nexus linked the colonial territories to the mother country in four ways. First, it led to the growth of a wage-labor force. This resulted in considerable proletarization among substantial number of Africans, living on the fringes of newly emergent cities.

62. Internal Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s Second, colonial rule contributed to the rise of a new middle class in and around most urban centers. The middle class, which had different values and orientation, used their vanguard intermediate position of influence to spread nationalist sentiments.

63. Internal Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s Third, with urbanization went the second phenomenon of social mobility. The new immigrants to the cities felt they could make demand on colonial government for better condition of services, the right to be promoted in the civil service, and the right to better life.

64. Internal Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s The last sociological factor was western education. It provided for a common lingua franca-English in British colonies, and French in French colonies. This afforded the colonies an opportunity for diverse colonial peoples to communicate and plan together in a common language.

65. Internal Factors for the Rise of Mass Nationalism in the 1940s Although originally intended to help service colonial rule, a common language provided one of the powerful factors that helped dig colonial grave in Africa.