• The end of the Second World War witnessed a complete change in the international scenario.
• Not only did the globe witness a tussle between the capitalist world, led by the United States, and the communist bloc, led by the Soviet Union, but also there were major upheavals in the Third World.
• There was a continuous struggle for liberation from the colonial masters to seek political as well as economic independence from the European imperialist powers.
• By the end of the eighteenth century, the Third World struggle for independence became manifest in many countries.
• History provides numerous examples of such movements, for instance, the Tupac Amaru revolt in Bolivia and Peru, the Pontiac rebellion in North America, and the Great Slave Revolt in Haiti against the Spanish, British and French colonial powers.
• Among other examples, the Indian Sepoy Mutiny, the Save the Emperor Movement in Vietnam, the Boxer Rebellion in China and others show the growing resistance to the growing European incursions in the early nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
• Nationalist movements further matured between 1914 and 1945 as traditionalist leaders like chiefs or royal princes were replaced by nationalist leaders who were equipped with western education and ideology.
• Thus, the colonies, once the prized possession of the colonial masters, now became the real burden of White men.
• Such struggles for independence in the Third World, in principle, however, received support from both the Soviet Union and the United States.
• The Soviet perspective considered such struggle for national independence as progressive and constricted the field of operation of imperialism and monopoly capitalism.
• Thus, there was a growing support for national liberation movements in the Third World by the Soviet Union.
• The United States, in principle, opposed colonialism in the name of democracy and the right to self-determination.
• But the real intention was market driven.
• The colonies were part of the trading blocs, which hampered the progress of US trade and investment.
• Therefore, post-1945, the US position was tempered by strategies of tackling the ongoing weakness of their European allies, containment of communism and threats to the US interests.
• Post-war decolonization began in Asia and the Middle East and then spread to other parts of the world.
• The late 1940s saw a number of countries emerging, including the Phillipines (1946), India and Pakistan (1947), North and South Korea (1948), Myanmar (1948), Ceylon (1948) and Indonesia (1949).
• Indo-China (Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia) became independent from the French colonizers in the 1950s.
• The Middle East experienced struggle for independence with the expulsion of the French from Syria in 1946.
• North Africa, in the 1950s, witnessed a wave of political independence like Libya (1951), Sudan (1956) and the French colonies of Morocco and Tunisia (1956).
• Egypt remained a British protectorate until the overthrow of monarchy in 1952 and the proclamation of a Republic in 1953.
• Iraq could also free itself from the British masters only with the ouster of King Faisal II in a nationalist revolution of 1958.
• In sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana got its independence in 1957 and Guinea in 1958.
• By the late 1960s, almost all the colonies of Africa were successful in establishing their political independence.

Causes for Decolonization

1. Bankruptcy of the Imperial Powers: The First World War had already exhausted the imperial powers and the Second World War, fought in quick succession, left them bankrupt. Huge losses incurred in terms of military, human and material resources exhausted them economically and politically. Further, the growing resistance to their domination in the colonies also made them fatigued and it became almost impossible for them to retain the colonies in Asia, Africa and Latin America. They had to concentrate on their socio-economic reconstruction back home, which implied that they had to withdraw from the colonies.
2. United States and Decolonization: USA, as already pointed out, in principle, supported decolonization efforts in order to contain the spread of Communism in these colonies. It championed the principles of self-determination and efforts to establish democratic governments that gave further impetus to the struggle against colonial powers.
3. Rise of Communism: The Communist movement spearheaded by the Soviet Union gave an undeniable support to the people struggling for liberation in the colonies. The success of the Russian Revolution of 1917 resulting in the overthrow of the Tsarist autocracy and the rise of the USSR as a strong socialist state gave inspiration to the anti-colonial movements in Asia and Africa. The belief that ran high was that the imperialists were the exploiters and, therefore, should be ousted. This boosted the spirit of the nationalists, to fight against colonialism, with renewed vigour.
4. Rise of Nationalism and Nationalist Struggle and the Principle of Self-Determination: While the roots of European nationalism can be found in the European Renaissance, the emergence of Third World nationalism can be traced to the struggle of the Third World people against colonial powers. Imbued with the principle of self-determination, various nationalist struggles launched massive assault on their colonial masters. The struggle reached its peak in the aftermath of the Second World War, finally culminating in the withdrawal of the colonial powers and their subsequent independence.
5. Role of the United Nations: The Declaration regarding Non-Self-Governing Territories in the UN Charter imposed an obligation on the members regarding the administration of territories, whose people had not yet reached a full measure of self-government. The Declaration, contained in Article 73 of the Charter states, “Members of the United Nations which have to assume responsibilities for the administration of territories whose peoples have not yet attained a full measure of self-government recognize the principle that the interests of the inhabitants of these territories are paramount, and accept, as a sacred trust the obligation to promote to the utmost, within the system of international peace and security established by the present Charter, administration of territories whose people had not yet reached a full measure of self-Government”.Article 74 states that “Members of the United Nations also agree that their policy in respect of the territories to which this Chapter applies, no less than in respect of their metropolitan areas, must be based on the general principle of good-neighbourliness, due account being taken of the interests and well-being of the rest of the world, in social, economic, and commercial matters”. This would be done to:
   • (a) Ensure, with due respect for the culture of the peoples concerned, their political, economic, social, and educational advancement, their just treatment and their protection against abuses.
   • (b) Develop self-government, to take due account of the political aspirations of the people, and to assist them in the progressive development of their free political institutions, according to the particular circumstances of each territory and its people and their varying stages of advancement.
   • (c) Further international peace and security.
   • (d) Promote constructive measures of development, to encourage research, and to cooperate with one another and, when and where appropriate, with specialized international bodies with a view to the practical achievement of the social, economic and scientific purposes set forth in this Article.
   • (e) Transmit regularly to the Secretary-General for information purposes, subject to such limitation as security and constitutional considerations may require, statistical and other information of a technical nature relating to economic, social and educational conditions in the territories for which they are respectively responsible other than those territories to which Chapters XII and XIII apply.
   These provisions in the United Nations Charter gave an impetus to the movement for decolonization. There were long debates and tensions between the colonial and non-colonial powers regarding the granting of status of self-governing territory and, most often, the colonial powers deliberately kept the question of independence outside the United Nations as was done by France in the case of Indo-China, Morocco and Algeria. But still it is undeniable that the United Nations did play an important role in ending the colonial rule in certain African trust territories, such as Libya, Eritrea and Somaliland.