Chapter 23:First Half

At the beginning of the 20th century the European colonial empires in Africa and Asia seemed very strong but in a short time these empires began to fall apart. For example, even though the United States did not occupy Mexico it had a lot of control over it until the Mexican revolution of 1910 and then the taking back by Mexico of its oil industry. The biggest fights against colonialism however happened in Africa and Asia. The European colonial powers were weakened by fighting two world wars and as the United States and the Soviet Union became the new super powers they did not support the older European colonial Empires. The founding of the United Nations also gave the colonized countries a sense of having their own voice. The strongest force in ending colonialism was the rise of nationalist movements to throw off the colonial rulers. In India, the British themselves had promised more independent institutions in exchange for Indian support for the world wars. But the British violently put down Indian expressions of independence. Mahatma Gandhi rose to leadership in the Indian National Congress and attracted wide support for Indian Independence through his non violent approach. He reached out to the untouchables with the caste system and Muslims as well as Hindus. Gandhi inspired later fighter for equality such as Martin Luther King Jr. The biggest problem in achieving independence was the split between the Muslims and Hindus. When the British decided to give up their Indian empire in 1947 India split into Muslim Pakistan and a mostly Hindu India. This resulted in terrible violence. Although India did throw off their English colonial masters. In South Africa the freedom struggle was against a white settler minority who controlled the countries  black African majority completely. South Africa had a mature economy and great natural resources such as gold and diamonds. The ruling whites created the apartheid system to control every aspect of the lives of the black population. There was extreme segregation in urban areas and reservations called Bantu Stans that were impoverished areas that were divided along tribal lines. The African National Congress (ANC) like the Indian National Congress was started by elites but then became a powerful popular movement with leaders such as Nelson Mandela. The ANC used some of the non violent tactics like Gandhi used earlier in the century. Armed conflict and violent demonstrations made the struggle against apartheid known all over the world and supported by people of many nations. Finally apartheid was overthrown and Nelson Mandela was released from prison. National elections were held. The struggle against apartheid was very important to my parents. When my mother was in law school she organized a teach-in against apartheid and brought ANC leaders to San Francisco. Over the last few days there have been bulletins about the health of Nelson Mandela who is still admired throughout the world for his courage and leadership in ending South African settler colonialism. It will be a sad day when he is gone.