THE IMPACT OF WORLD WAR II ON DECOLONISATION OF AFRICA

Running Head: THE IMPACT OF WORLD WAR II ON DECOLONISATION OF AFRICA
The Impact of World War II on the Decolonisation of Africa
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1THE IMPACT OF WORLD WAR II ON DECOLONIALISM OF AFRICA
Introduction
The mid twentieth century was marked as the era of decolonisation of the Asian and
African nations which were under the rule of the Europeans. Africa had always been indebted
to three white men in the history, Hitler, Nietzsche and Karl Marx. It had been Karl Marx
who had instilled the knowledge of economic exploitation and also the awareness of being
oppressed in the minds of the African people. The main thesis argument that this essay aims
to argues is that the Second World War , in spite of having negative consequences, acted as a
catalyst for the political independence of Africa. The war had been a boon to the Africans
since it had been able to sow the seeds of nationalism in Africa and in turns acting as a
common goal for the native Africans to fight for their independence.
Discussion:
The Native Africans were under the British colonial power, they still retained certain
of their native beliefs. In both the World Wars, World War I and II, the Africans were
encouraged to fight against the imperialism and the colonisation forces1. They had been
fighting a war against Germany. The main motive was to gain freedom against the allied
powers. The time when they themselves were not civilized and free, they had been fighting to
set free the European nations. It has been claimed often that the Second World War had not
been a war of the Africans. However their involvement in the war itself helped them to gain
knowledge and lessons. The war had taught them different lessons of leadership skills and
knowledge of using military ammunitions. This was extremely beneficial for the Africans
since they could use the knowledge to their own benefits and fight to decolonize themselves.
1 Young, Crawford. "The African colonial state and its political legacy." In The Precarious
Balance, pp. 25-66. Routledge, 2019.

2THE IMPACT OF WORLD WAR II ON DECOLONIALISM OF AFRICA
The most important skill that the Africans needed was to work together with a strong
unity2. The World Wars taught the Africans how to communicate with one another and work
as a team since the goal of every African had been the same, to set themselves free from the
shackle of the colonial rule. The Africans were initially colonised by the whites because the
nation lacked unity and it had been easier for the Europeans to oppress them. The African
countries had been fighting within themselves when the Europeans came to colonize them.
The attention of the Africans were divided, which was a sharp contrast to the Europeans since
their prime focus was on the military expansion. World War II thus helped the Africans to get
united and the bondage between the people to fight collectively for independence. This
togetherness eventually strengthened the base of the Africans and the seeds of nationalism
started sprouting3. The Africans together formed a large group which made them easier to
raise their voice and they were being heard all over the world. Eventually this helped to break
the colonisation power in Africa. The behaviour of the Europeans actually was an impetus to
the Africans to raise for protest. The European soldiers and the militants used to be given
awards and they were praised for their bravery, along with a pompous celebration. On the
contrary the African militants were only provided with a ticket to travel home. They were not
receiving any gratitude from the Europeans even if they were working alongside the white
men. This made them angry and they rose to protest. The anger eventually bonded them
together and they became more determined to fight for their self-respect and their
independence from the European rule.
The impact of the Second World War had also brought changes psychologically
among the Africans. This helped them to fight for their decolonisation. Wars are influential in
the sense that they change the life of millions of people4. The Second World War helped to
2 Lyons, Michael J. World War II: A short history. Routledge, 2016..
3 Smith, Andrew WM, and Chris Jeppesen, eds. Britain, France and the Decolonization of
Africa: Future Imperfect?. UCL Press, 2017.
4 Juselius, Katarina, Niels Framroze Møller, and Finn Tarp. "The long‐run impact of foreign aid
in 36 African countries: Insights from multivariate time series analysis." Oxford Bulletin of Economics