S0605 The Struggle for Decolonization in Africa

The Decolonization process in Black Africa began in earnest in the wake of the World War II, which was, for the two major colonial powers, Britain and France, a veritable watershed regarding their respective international standing. We shall use, in analyzing the decolonization process a paradigm of conflict resolution elaborated specifically for this subject. This paradigm will assist us in understanding the motivations of the sides involved in the process and the interactions between the various actors therein, be they local, regional or international. These two colonial powers were the main actors in the first phase of decolonization which culminated in the mid-1960s. This phase of decolonization was on the whole political and peaceful. There was, however, a marked difference between the process of decolonization in the French and the British respective colonial realms. This difference resulted from two distinct political cultures and colonial experiences.\r\n

The second phase of decolonization took place in 1974-5 in the Portuguese colonies. The decolonization process in these colonies was characterized by colonial oppression and anti-colonial guerilla struggle which climaxed in the collapse not only of the Portuguese colonial empire but also of the Portuguese Fascist state. This will be accounted for by the authoritarian nature of the Portuguese regime which precluded any avenues for political protest. This phase of decolonization was also marked by the increasing involvement of regional and international players in the anti-colonial struggle.

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The third wave of decolonization included Zimbabwe and Namibia. The Africans of these colonies gained their freedom in 1979 and 1989 respectively. These colonies were not ruled by overseas colonial powers. Zimbabwe was effectively ruled by its white-settler minority while Namibia was essentially governed as a province of apartheid South Africa. Consequently the struggle for decolonization was more violent with greater involvement of external players. The process of decolonization in these colonies included a mixture of guerilla war and political negotiations.

\r\nThe process of decolonization was completed with the democratic transformation of South Africa. South Africa is markedly difference in the nature of its colonialism and its road to liberation. South African colonialism was a domestic one and so was in the main its decolonization process.