International History

(1945-1990)
Jan Nikka Estefani
Kathleen Dorosan
Vargas
 KEY POINTS
• Different Europeans powers had different attitudes to
decolonization after 1945 some, such as the British,
decided to leave while others wished to preserve their
Empires, in part (the French) or whole (the Portuguese).
• European powers adopted different attitudes to different
regions/countries e.g. British withdrawal from Asia
came much more quickly after 1945 than from Africa.
• The process of decolonization was relatively peaceful
in many cases; it led to revolutionary wars in others
(Algeria, Malaya, and Angola), depending on the
attitudes of the colonial power and the nationalist
movements.
• The struggle for independence/national
liberation became embroiled in cold war
conflicts when the superpowers and/or
their allies became involved, e.g.
Vietnam.
• Whether decolonization was judged
successful depend, in part, on whose
perspective you adopt—that of the
European power or the independence
movement.
 Introduction
• The Second World War was global in scope and total
in nature.
• The war bought the Soviets and the Americans
military and politically deep into Europe, and helped
transform their relations with each other.
• Like the Second World War the Cold War had its
origin in Europe, but quickly spread, with enormous
consequences for countries and peoples around the
world.
• After 1945, European power was increasingly in
eclipse, although this was not always apparent to
those who held power or to their supporters.
• United States and the Soviet Union. Both countries
emerged as “SUPERPOWERS”, combining global
political objectives with military capabilities that
included weapons of mass destruction and the means
to deliver them over intercontinental distances.
• The onset of the cold war in Europe marked the
collapse of the wartime alliance between the UK, the
USSR, and the USA.
 Three (3) Principles that changes reflected
politics, technological, and ideological
developments.
• The End of Empire: the withdrawal of
European countries from their empires in
Africa and Asia;
• The Cold War: the political and military
confrontation between the United States and
the Soviet Union;
• The Bomb: the development of the atomic
bomb and the hydrogen bomb, and the means
of their delivery.
 End of Empire
• The collapse of imperialism in the twentieth
century was a fundamental change in world
politics.
• The belief of self-determination should be a
guiding principle in international politics
marked a transformation of attitudes and
values.
• After 1945 imperialism was viewed with
growing international hostility.
• Colonialism and the United Nations Charter
were increasingly recognized as incompatible,
though independence was often slow and
sometimes marked by prolonged conflict and
war.
• The cold war often complicated and hindered
the transition to independence.
 Factors that influenced the process
of decolonization
• The attitude of the colonial power
• The ideology and strategy of the anti-
imperialist forces
• The role of external powers
• Political, Economic, and Military factors
played various roles in shaping the timing and
nature of the transfer of power.
 Three (3) principal European
experiences of withdrawal from
empire
BRITAIN
• In 1945 the British empire extended across the globe.
• Between 1947 to 1980, forty-nine (49) territories were
granted their independence.
• But after 1945 growing recognition of the justice of
“Self-determination” brought a reappraisal of policy.
• Withdrawal from India, also known as the “Jewel in the
Crown” of the empire, in 1947 was the most dramatic,
and in (most) British eyes, successful, act of
decolonization, and one which paved the way for the
creation of the world’ largest democracy.
• What is clear is that India was something of an
exception in the early post-war years, and that
successive British governments were reluctant to rush
toward decolonization.
• The key period of British empire in Africa came
during the 1950’s and early 1960’s.
• The transition from empire was on the whole
peaceful, and led to the creation of democratic and
stable states.
• After 1948, the South Africans engaged in what many
saw as the racial equivalent of imperialism.
FRANCE
• British experience of decolonization stood in contrast
to that of the French.
• France had been occupied during the Second World
War, and successive governments sought to preserve
French prestige in international affairs by maintaining
her imperial status.
• France withdraw from empire, while
attempting to preserve its influence by means
of the French Union and later the French
Community.
PORTUGAL
• The last European empire in Africa that withdraw
from the empire.
• But in Mozambique and Angola the anti-colonial
struggle was already giving way to conflict
among the different anti-colonial groups.
• United States provided various types of assistance
including, Sophisticated Weapons, to the anti-
communist UNITA.
 Legacies and Consequences:
Nationalism or Communism?
• Pattern of Decolonization in Africa was thus
diverse, reflecting the attitudes of the colonial
powers, the nature of the local nationalist or
revolutionary movements, and in some cases the
involvement of external states, including the main
cold war protagonists.
• In Asia, the relationship between nationalism and
revolutionary Marxism was a potent force.
• The global trend towards decolonization has been a key
development since 1945, but one frequently offset by
local circumstances.
COUNTRIES THAT LOST THEIR INDEPENDENCE
SINCE 1945
 Tibet invaded by China in 1950
 East Timor invaded by Indonesia in 1975.

• While imperialism has generally withered, other forms of

domination or hegemony have arisen.
• The notion of Hegemony has been used as criticism of the
behavior of the superpowers, most notably with Soviet
hegemony in Eastern Europe, and American hegemony in
Central America.
• European retreat from empire did not result in
Isolationism.