Decolonization Mini-DBQ:

PROMPT: Evaluate to the extent that nationalist leaders attempted to create strong states inspired by European
influence.

DOCUMENT ONE:

Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972), negotiated with Great Britain to win Ghana’s independence in 1957, the
first black African country to win independence. He was elected Ghana’s first president as he promoted
pan-African unity and played a leading role in African international relations during decolonization. He
was overthrown in a coup in 1966. Note: Ghana was called the Gold Coast prior to 1957.

“Independence for the Gold Coast was my aim. It was a colony and I have always regarded colonialism as the
policy by which a foreign power binds territories to herself by political ties, with the primary object of
promoting her own economic advantage . . . Thus we have witnessed the greatest awakening ever seen on this
earth of suppressed and exploited peoples against the powers that have kept them in subjection. This, without a
doubt, is the most significant happening of the twentieth century.”

DOCUMENT TWO:

Frantz Fanon, Algerian radical revolutionary, from his 1961 book, “The Wretched of the Earth.” Born
in the French West Indies, he joined the Algerian National Liberation Front, a revolutionary guerilla
group against French colonial rule. He called for pan-African unity and his writings inspired national
liberation movements and radical political organizations. He died at age 36 in 1961.

“So, comrades, let us not pay tribute to Europe by creating states, institutions and societies which draw their
inspiration from her. Humanity is waiting for something other from us than such an imitation, which would be
almost an obscene caricature. If we want to turn Africa into a new Europe, and America into a new Europe, then
let us leave the destiny of our countries to Europeans. They will know how to do it better than the most gifted
among us. But if we want humanity to advance a step farther, if we want to bring it up to a different level than
that which Europe has shown it, then we must invent and we must make discoveries. . . . For Europe, for
ourselves and for humanity, comrades, we must turn over a new leaf, we must work out new concepts, and try
to set afoot a new man.”

DOCUMENT THREE:

“Address,” 1956 by Jawaharlal Nehru, Indian Prime Minister (1947-1964) Nehru was a strong believer
in industrialization and modernization of India, and he guided the new nation-state of India to develop
along those lines. He adapted socialist ideas of a planned economy because he thought this would develop
India faster.
“Many other countries in Asia tell the same story, for Asia today is resurgent, and these countries which long
lay under foreign yoke have won back their independence and are fired by a new spirit and strive toward new
ideals. To them, as to us, independence is as vital as the breath they take to sustain life, and colonialism, in any
form, or anywhere, is abhorrent. . . . The preservation of peace forms the central aim of India's policy. It is in
the pursuit of this policy that we have chosen the path of nonalignment in any military or like pact or alliance.
Nonalignment does not mean passivity of mind or action, lack of faith or conviction. It does not mean
submission to what we consider evil. It is a positive and dynamic approach to such problems that confront us.
We believe that each country has not only the right to freedom but also to decide its own policy and way of life.
Only thus can true freedom flourish and a people grow according to their own genius. We believe, therefore, in
nonaggression and non-interference by one country in the affairs of another and the growth of tolerance
between them and the capacity for peaceful coexistence.”

DOCUMENT FOUR:
Gamal Abdel Nasser, “Speech at Alexandria,” 1956. In 1952 he led the overthrow of the monarchy of
Egypt and instituted land reforms. He called for pan-Arab unity and served as president of Egypt from
1956 to 1970. He was seen as a hero in the Arab world for standing up against imperialism but his critics
saw him as an authoritarian who violated human rights.
“We shall build up industry in Egypt and compete with them. They do not want us to become an industrial
country so that they can promote the sale of their products and market them in Egypt. I never saw any
American aid directed towards industrialization as this would cause us to compete with them. American aid is
everywhere directed towards exploitation. We shall march forward united…one nation confident in itself, its
motherland and its power, one nation relying on itself in work and in the sacred march towards construction,
industrialization and creation…one nation…a solid bloc to hold out treason and aggression and resist
imperialism and agents of imperialism. In this manner, we shall accomplish much and feel dignity and pride
and feel that we are building up our country to suit ourselves… We build what we want and do what we want
with nobody to account to.”

DOCUMENT FIVE:
Jules Nyere, the first president of Tanzania, from 1961-1985, here he sets out the basis for the country’s
economic and social development soon after independence in 1962. He called his program Ujamaa which
means “family” in Swahili.
“We don’t need to read Karl Marx or Adam Smith to find out that neither the Land nor the Tool actually produces
Wealth…. But we do know, still without degrees in Economics, that the axe and the plough were produced by the
worker…. In traditional African society everybody was a worker… the capitalist, or the landed exploiter, was
unknown to traditional African society… Our first step, therefore, must be to re-educate ourselves; to regain our
former attitude of mind. In our traditional African society we were individuals within a community. We took
care of the community, and the community took care of us. We neither needed nor wished to exploit our fellow
men. And in rejecting the capitalist attitude of mind which colonialism brought into Africa, we must reject also
the capitalist methods which go with it… We, in Africa, have no more need of being ‘converted’ to socialism
than we have of being ‘taught’ democracy. Both are rooted in our own past – in the traditional society which
produced us.”