Chapter 36 Chapter 27 The End of the Empires (Part 1)

A major difference between World War I and World War II was the outcome of European colonies.Europe's grip on colonial empires had been weakened by World War I, but had not been completely destroyed; in fact, Europe had expanded its colonial reach by acquiring the Arab territories as mandates.Instead, after World War II.An inexorable wave of revolutions swept through the colonial empires, bringing the domination of Europe to an end very quickly. In 1939, only Liberia and South Africa were independent countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and their independence was due to their atypical historical background.One of the countries was inhabited by freed slaves in the early 19th century, and the other was controlled by the few Europeans who lived there. Twenty-five years later, the only remaining colonies in sub-Saharan Africa were Portuguese Angola and Mozambique and a few territories in South Africa: Southern Rhodesia, Southwest Africa, Bena, Swaziland, and Basutoland.Just as Europe rapidly gained most of its colonies in the last two decades of the nineteenth century, Europe lost most of its colonies in an equally short period after World War II. Between 1944 and 1970, a total of 63 countries won their independence.Home to more than one billion people, these countries represent roughly one-third of the world's population (see Table 1).After so many extraordinary victories and achievements overseas, Europeans seemed to be retreating by the middle of the 20th century to the tiny Eurasian peninsula from which they had expanded 500 years earlier.

Table 1 Process of Asian-African Independence *Malaya was united with Singapore, Sarawak and Basha (British North Borneo) in 1963 to form Malaysia with a population of 100 million. + Tanganyika and Zanzibar joined together in 1964 to form the United Nations of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, or Tanzania. The struggle between colonial subjects and imperial authorities went hand in hand with the Cold War between East and West.These two movements are interrelated and influence each other.The Soviet Union, and especially Communist China, supported colonial revolution as a means of undermining the prestige and power of the West.Conversely, the West supported each other on colonial issues for reasons of the Cold War, although they did so with reservations - thus the United States supported Britain on Cyprus and France on Indochina and Algeria.Likewise, due to the exigencies of the Cold War, East and West competed curiously for colonial and ex-colonial peoples.Colonial and ex-colonial peoples swiftly took advantage of the situation and managed to get maximum assistance not only from Washington, London and Paris, but also from Moscow and Peking.

Despite this interconnection, colonial revolutions were not a by-product of the Cold War.The awakening of the colonies far predated the Cold War, going back at least to the Russian Revolution of 1905 and the Russo-Japanese War (see Section 5 of Chapter 19).Moreover, while the Cold War did in some cases affect the pace and shape of colonial uprisings, colonial revolutions would undoubtedly have occurred without the Cold War. During World War II, the leaders of the empires stated their determination to hold on to the colonies. In 1942, Churchill made his oft-quoted statement that he "did not be the King's Prime Minister to watch the British Empire be swept away".Likewise, the Brazzaville Conference in 1944, convened under the auspices of the Free French government, declared: "Never, even in the remotest future, will the colonies be granted self-government."

During the years of the Great War, British and French actions were consistent with these declarations.Both of these great powers paid little attention to the wishes and interests of the colonial peoples.In the Atlantic Charter they pledged: "to respect the right of every people to choose its own form of government; . The principles are thought to apply only in Europe, not overseas. For example, the British dragged India into the Great War without consulting Congress leaders Nehru and Gandhi, and agreed with the Soviets to jointly occupy a nominally independent country, Iran.In Egypt, another ostensibly independent country, the British established their main Middle Eastern bases in Cairo and Alexandria, using the privileges granted by their treaties.The French decided the fate of their "natives" according to military necessity; the loyalty of each colony to the Vichy government or to de Gaulle depended not on the wishes of the local population, but on the decision of the French governor or military commander.Despite these unilateral actions, however, virtually all colonies in Asia became independent states within 10 years and all colonies in Africa became independent states within 20 years after the war.

The Charter of the United Nations officially adopted in June 1945 stipulated the colonial trusteeship system, which replaced the entrusted management method of the League of Nations. Article 76 of the "Charter" stipulates that "the trustee powers shall promote the political, economic, social and educational progress of the inhabitants of the trustee territories, and shall promote their development in the direction of self-government or independence, which may be suitable for each of the trustee territories. The special circumstances and nationalities of the trustee areas and the wishes freely expressed by the various nationalities concerned.  …”

The pre-war mandates were now transformed into trusteeships, and the United Nations made preparations for its member states to place their colonies under trusteeship.As it turned out, no country was willing to place its colonies under trusteeship - the South African Union was adamant that South West Africa be administered as a "tertiary" trusteeship.Not surprisingly, the impetus for the great colonial revolution did not come from the United Nations, although it did contribute considerably to the independence of some colonies, such as the Dutch East Indies.Rather, it was a product of the extremely favorable international situation at the end of the Second World War, of certain historic forces that had grown stronger in the colonial world over the past few decades.

During World War II, the original colonial powers were in unprecedented decline; France and the Netherlands were invaded, and Great Britain was weakened economically and militarily.Equally important was the development of anti-imperialist democratic sentiment within the empires.Gone are the days when white people in the colonies confidently asserted earlier that "we are here because we are better than other people."Their existence is not only doubted by their subjects, but also by their own countrymen. Mussolini's attack on Ethiopia in 1935 was widely regarded in Western Europe as a reprehensible perversion, while the British and French attack on Suez in 1956 aroused popular opposition in both countries.The end of Western global hegemony was due to the West's lack of power to rule, as well as its lack of will to rule.

In addition, the fact that the United States and the Soviet Union, the two leading postwar powers, were not interested in acquiring overseas colonies at the expense of defeated enemies and weakened allies also contributed to the colonial revolution.The United States and the Soviet Union did control, directly or indirectly, strategic islands and satellite states in the Pacific and Eastern Europe, but they did not follow the example of Britain and France, which were eagerly divided up after World War I colonies of Germany and Turkey.Yet, very strangely, the opposite happened here: the colonies used the Cold War to drive a wedge between the Soviet Union and the United States, and used both powers to win independence and economic aid.

The short-lived Japanese Empire in Asia also contributed significantly to colonial revolutions.Western military prestige suffered as the Japanese easily drove the British out of Malaya and Burma, the French out of Indochina, the Dutch out of Indonesia, and the Americans out of the Philippines. utter devastation.The political foundation of Western imperialism was also undermined by Japanese propaganda under the slogan "Asia for the Asians."When the Japanese were finally forced to surrender their territories, they deliberately left their arms to local nationalist groups, recognizing them as independent governments - such as Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh in Indochina and Sukarno's in Indonesia Indonesian party, thereby making recovery of Western rule as difficult as possible.

It should be noted, however, that Africans who had not been invaded by the Japanese also won their freedom along with the Asians, thus eloquently illustrating the fact that, while important, the Japanese influence only deepened the An increasingly violent upheaval and a wider awakening.A series of colonial uprisings after World War I reflected this burgeoning movement (see Chapter 21).In the interwar years, this movement gained strength and fulfilled its purpose with the growth of Western-educated indigenous intellectuals.Successful nationalist leaders are not staunch Malayan sultans, Nigerian sheiks or Indian maharajas, but those who have studied in Western universities and noticed the current system in the West - like Gandhi, Nehru, Sukarno , Nkrumah, Azikiwe and Bourguiba, this is no accident.

This worldwide colonial awakening was further facilitated during World War II as millions of colonists served in Allied and Japanese armies and labor camps.Many Africans fought under the banners of Britain, France, and Italy, while more than 2 million Indians volunteered for the British Army, and an additional 40,000 Indian captives captured in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Burma signed up to join the Japanese-funded Indian National Army.When all these men returned home, they necessarily saw the local colonial officials and national leaders with new eyes.At that time, as during the First World War, the common people were affected not only by the poverty and misery caused by the war in some areas, but also by the Allied propaganda of freedom and self-determination. One of the most significant events in the colonial revolution was the independence of India and Pakistan.Because of its huge human and material resources, the Indian subcontinent has been a part of the British Empire and the epitome of European imperial power from the beginning.More than a century of British rule prepared India for self-government better than other colonies.The executive branch has largely been filled by Indians; the universities have produced generations of Western-educated leaders; Chapter 4-6). When Britain declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939, the Governor-General, the Marquess of Linlithgow, announced on the same day that India would also enter the war.Congress leader Nehru complained: "One man, and a foreigner and a representative of a hated system, can get 400 million people into war without the minimum consultation. . . . In the Commonwealth of Dominions , such decisions are fully discussed and accepted by popular representatives. . . . In India, this is not the case, which is painful.” The protests of the Congress Party were rudely rejected by London, until the French When the fall and outbreak of the Battle of Britain created a state of national emergency.At this time, the Viceroy announced that fundamental changes would not be possible during the war, but that after the war India would be granted dominion status.The Congress Party rejected the proposal outright, and the impasse continued. The sudden Japanese conquest of Southeast Asia in early 1942 fundamentally changed the situation in India.As Japanese troops approached the Bangladeshi border, India transformed from a reluctant ally on a peaceful back road to one directly in the path of a rapidly advancing enemy.Churchill responded by sending a cabinet member, Sir Stafford Cripps, to India on 22 March.Cripps' opinion was that no major reforms could be made throughout the war, but that once the war was over India would be fully self-governing and entitled to secede from the Commonwealth.The Congress Party rejected Cripps' proposal and passed the "Withdrawal from India Resolution" on August 7, 1942, demanding immediate independence "for the sake of India and the success of the cause of the United Nations".The Congress Party has further threatened to engage in "non-violent mass struggle" if its demands are not met.Britain responded with a massive crackdown: more than 60,000 people were arrested, including all the leaders of the Congress Party; 14,000 people were detained without questioning; 940 people were killed; injured in the conflict. This is a critical moment not only for India, but also for the allies.The Germans had now reached the Volga, only thirty miles from Alexandria, and the Japanese had invaded Burma.The great pincer offensive of the Germans and Japanese was only interrupted by India and the Arab countries; India was now turbulent with discontent, and the Arab countries were not so much on the side of the allies as on the axis country side.The Germans and Japanese would have penetrated deep into these countries without much effort, and set the smoldering fire aflame.If they did, they would be able to completely blockade Eurasia, which would have immeasurable effects. The West was spared this imminent catastrophe only because Hitler decided to throw his divisions into the Russian plains and only because the Japanese, despite their threats and maneuvers, never really intended to invade India.Even so, if it were not improbable, Britain's position on the subcontinent would have been far less secure had the Congress party been prepared for an armed uprising.However, under Gandhi's influence, India engaged in only non-violent resistance.However, despite the lack of militant leaders in this resistance, the arrest of Congress leaders prompted strikes and riots in cities and villages; Can destroy one riot center after another. For the remaining years of the war, the British steadfastly refused to release the Congress leaders unless they changed their "Quit India" demands.The Congress leaders refused to do so, and they were imprisoned for several years.At that time, Jinnah, the leader of the Muslim League, took advantage of the difficulties of the Congress Party and persuaded Muslims in India to join his organization, thus preparing the conditions for an independent Muslim country after the war.He tirelessly and passionately preached his teachings of a self-contained Pakistan. "Muslim India cannot accept any constitution that would necessarily lead to a Hindu majority government...Muslims are not a minority as we all know....By any definition of nation. Muslims can be said to be a nation and they should have their own their homeland, their own territory and their own country." The victory of the Labor Party in the British general election in July 1945 was a new and decisive turning point in Indian affairs.The Labor Party had always stood for Indian independence, and at this time, Prime Minister Attlee took immediate action to achieve this goal.Regardless of the promises and sympathies of his party, the fact is that he has little choice but to recognize Indian independence.Purely external forces could no longer restrain Indian nationalism, which had grown stronger from wartime experience, as became apparent when the government tried some officers of the Japanese-funded Indian National Army in late 1945.These men became instant national heroes, not because they had cooperated with the Japanese, but because their goal was to drive out the hated British.The sentiment was so strong throughout the country at the time that the trial had to be stopped midway.In fact, Britain can no longer rule this country regardless of the wishes of its people, nor does it intend to do so.During the war, the Indian administration had been increasingly staffed by Indians, while British investment in India had declined considerably; the British public had grown weary of the endless Indian problems.Thus, Attlee was now able to sever the link between the Empire and its former treasure without too much domestic opposition. In March 1946, a three-member cabinet delegation traveled to India to undertake preparations for self-government.They unveiled a plan two months later that failed to win over the feuding Congress party and the Muslim League.The Labor government then appointed Admiral Lord Mountbatten as the new Governor.After a hasty discussion, Mountbatten concluded that any plan to maintain India's political unity would not work. He suggested partitioning India and Pakistan so that both the Indian and Pakistani governments could enjoy the status of an autonomous dominion.By this time, Congress leaders had realized that partition was inevitable and therefore accepted the plan. In July 1947, the British Parliament passed the "Indian Independence Act", and on August 15, Pakistan and the Commonwealth of India became two independent countries in the Commonwealth.The flexibility of the Commonwealth was further extended to allow the two new nations to share as republics a system which necessarily maintained a monarch as their symbolic head. In contrast to India, Southeast Asia was occupied by the Japanese during the war.A common pattern can be seen across Southeast Asia during the brief occupation period of 1942-1945.In almost every country, widespread dissatisfaction with Western rule had contributed greatly to the rapid conquest of the Japanese (see Chapter XXV, Section 2).At the time, the Japanese, like the Germans, declared their conquest to be the beginning of a "new order."The slogans of this "new order" are "Asia for Asians", "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" and "No Conquest, No Oppression, No Exploitation". Had the Japanese practiced these principles, they would have enjoyed strong popular support throughout much of Southeast Asia, especially since the local population generally welcomed them as liberators.The Japanese military, however, had other ideas, so these principles remain propaganda slogans that quickly come across as hollow and implausible.These military leaders see Greater East Asia not as a "co-prosperity sphere" but as a region of satellite states under varying degrees of control.Japanese armies everywhere lived on local supplies as much as possible, often causing severe local food and material shortages; they ruthlessly expropriated all food and industrial materials needed in the home islands.The Japanese, in turn, had very little to offer, as their economy was not strong enough to produce war materiel and consumer goods. It goes without saying that relations between the Japanese and local nationalists deteriorated rapidly after the initial honeymoon period.Had the Japanese extended their occupation, they would no doubt have encountered serious uprisings.Fortunately for the Japanese, they had to retreat in 1945.As they retreated, they did everything possible to place obstacles in the way of the West's restoration of its rule.In Indochina, they overthrew the Vichy regime and recognized Ho Chi Minh's provisional government; in Indonesia, they handed over government to the nationalist leader Sukarno; in many areas, they distributed arms to local revolutionary groups. Not surprisingly, within 10 years of the Japanese retreat all countries in Southeast Asia had won their independence.Countries won independence in different ways, depending on the imperial rulers involved.The British were the most realistic in dealing with the problem of nationalism in Southeast Asia after being forced to face up to the realities of India. In January 1918, they recognized Burma as an independent republic outside the Commonwealth, and the following month granted Ceylon full dominion status within the Commonwealth.However, Malaya's independence was delayed until February 1957, partly because of the country's mixed ethnic composition, where Malayans and Chinese each made up a little over 40 percent of the population, in addition to Indians , Pakistanis and a few Europeans.The Chinese were behind a Communist uprising that began in 1948; the jungle warfare that ensued was very costly and dragged on until 1955. In 1963, Malaya joined with Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah (British North Borneo) to form a new country - Malaysia.Tensions between Malaya and Chinese-dominated Singapore led to Singapore's withdrawal from Malaysia in 1965 to become an independent country within the Commonwealth of Nations. The subjects of the French and Dutch also demanded independence; the French and the Dutch proved to be less flexible and thus far worse off.The Japanese continued to occupy Indonesia even after the surrender in September 1945, as the Netherlands did not have the strength to replace the Japanese.Sukarno's nationalist government had been proclaimed on August 17, and the task of dealing with it fell to Admiral Mountbatten.When the Dutch returned the following year, they were willing to give Indonesia some degree of autonomy, but it was still not enough to satisfy the nationalists.Negotiations between the two sides broke down, and the Dutch relied on force to reassert their power.The war dragged on until 1947, when finally the Dutch recognized the independent Federation of Indonesia.The legacy of the armed conflict soured relations between the two countries, and although the Dutch-Indonesian federation survived for several years under the same king, it was dissolved after Sukarno's withdrawal in 1954.In the following years, relations between the two countries were further strained by the Dutch refusal to surrender Dutch New Guinea to the new republic. In 1957, in retaliation, Indonesia confiscated assets worth more than US$1 billion from the Dutch. In 1960, it severed diplomatic relations with The Hague.Three years later, Sukarno took control of West Irian, thus clearing the last remnants of an empire older than most of the British Empire. The French fought longer and more tenaciously to keep their colony in Indochina, but in the end, they too were forced to retreat.Indochina consists of three countries, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.The Viet Minh, the Viet Nam Independence League, led the resistance movement against France's return to its rule.Although the Viet Minh was made up of many elements, it was led by Ho Chi Minh, a communist who had lived in Paris, Moscow, and China.As in Indonesia, Ho Chi Minh was able to declare the provisional Republic of Vietnam in 1945 because of delays in deporting the Japanese after the war ended. The French refused to recognize the new regime, and war ensued.The French easily recaptured Laos and Cambodia, but in Vietnam a war of attrition dragged on. When China became a communist state and supported Ho Chi Minh, France's chances of winning were no longer there.With the onset of the Cold War, the United States supported the French financially as part of a policy of "containment".By 1954, most of North Vietnam was in the hands of the Viet Minh, the same year the French suffered a crushing defeat at Dien Bien Phu.The ensuing Geneva Reconciliation Conference recognized the independence of Vietnam as a whole, stipulated that Vietnam was temporarily divided into two parts at 17 degrees north latitude, and called for elections under international supervision in 1956 to reunite the country.This settlement effectively gave Ho Chi Minh half of the country and made him expect the other half within two years, since his experience of resistance had made him a national hero. To avoid this outcome, the United States backed the anti-communist Catholic leader Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam.Diem's ​​policies sparked a backlash from farmers and powerful Buddhists, leading to his regime's overthrow in 1963, followed by a series of coups until Washington-backed Nguyen Cao Ky and then Nguyen Van Thieu took power.They were able to hold out in Saigon only because of escalating US intervention: first aid with money and arms, then progressed to sending "advisors" and combat troops, and after the Gulf of Tonkin incident (August 1964), bombing of North Vietnam .The purpose of this bombing was to force Hanoi, which had earlier sent troops to attack South Vietnam, to abandon South Vietnam and recognize it as an independent country.Although this bombing far exceeded the level of the Second World War and the Korean War, and although more than 500,000 American troops were put into the battle, the victory was not sustainable, as the enemy's Tet Offensive in January 1968 painfully demonstrated. a little.As a result, President Johnson decided to stop the bombing of North Vietnam and begin peace talks in Paris, which were to be continued by his successor, President Nixon.