Transitions to Independence After the African Partition

After the African Partition took place during the Berlin Congress in 1884, Africa was dived into territories by countries such as Britain, France, and Portugal. These countries divided the continent without regard to the tribal and natural barriers of the area, and invaded their territories, taking over their government, their land, and taking control of their daily lives. During World War I, the territories suffered greatly through taxation, drafts to war, and famine.

Then during World War II, while the Africans were fighting for the British, French, and other countries that had taken over their land, they were able to see the world. They began to see the mistreatment of the African people in a new light.

When President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill wrote the Atlantic Charter, they promised that all countries would have the power to choose their own government. This gave the African soldiers hope that they too would be able to choose their own government, but in 1945 when World War II ended, there was not relief in sight for the suppressed areas in Africa. The African soldiers came home and spread the word that things would be changing. They believed that they would be freed from their oppressors and be able live as they once did, in peace and harmony with their land and with each other.

Unfortunately, Britain had other plans. They did not see the need to free their territories and did not make any moves to release their control. In 1952, Kenya, which was controlled by Britain, declared a state of emergency. After the riots in the Gold Coast, a party was formed to overthrow the government. This spurred Kenya on and resulted in riots against the colony. The government not only deported 100,000 people to the countryside, but they also took up arms against the 20,000 people living in the forests. In all, 9,000 African were killed during the Kenya incident, but only 50 Europeans.

The Britain government even reduced themselves to taking many prisoners and detaining them in camps. They were forced to perform manual labor and were often times beaten and forced to run for hours if they were found to be doing something unsatisfactory.

Finally Britain realized that the Kenyan people would not give up their dream of freedom and their resistance to their captivity, the British government withdrew. This decision was made almost 10 years after the end of World War II.

The French colony of Algeria also took up arms against their captor and launched into a war for independence. The Algerians, with their guerilla army, took on the 700,000 troops the French sent in. 1,000,000 Algerians lost their lives to that war, some from the battles and others through starvation and abuse in the camps that the French set up. Confined in electric fences around the camps, the captured Algerians did not stand a chance against the powerful French army.

Fortunately, Algeria gained the support of General Charles de Gaulle and was granted freedom. Due to the oppression by the French for such an extended period of time, the Algerians were forced to rely on the French and even adopted their government.

Portugal, holding on tightly to their colonies, fought strongly against resistance and guerilla armies. Cabral let these guerillas in Guinea Bassau. While he saw his movement as a group of citizens fighting for their freedom, the Portuguese government viewed them as an army and responded as such. The group set up a presidency, but was quickly trumped when their president was killed only a few months later. The guerillas, outmaneuvering the Portuguese, went around their armies, through a neighboring country, and were able to stop their supplies.

Eventually, the Portuguese army was reduced to bombings and revolutionaries. This resulted in many of the Mozambique people being killed, but also many of their own settlers. Portugal did lose the war and many of their settlers were forced to leave the country.

The British, also not successful in Rhodesia, lost another of their territories. At first, the British removed the Africans' right to vote cutting out their political involvement. The Rhodesian people saw that war was their only hope after the United Nations could not even intervene on their behalf. The guerrilla armies worked tirelessly and improved their tactics until they were able to conquer their independence.

While the powerhouses of Europe were quick to divide and conquer the continent of Africa, they were not as enthusiastic about returning the freedom to these countries. The long term effects of this era are evident in the divisions in the continent that still follow the lines of division from the African Partition. It has taken significant effort for the African people to begin to rebuild and unite as a nation after the imposed segregation by the European countries. They are still striving today to rebuild what once was.