African independence
Continent's sovereign awakening
African independence refers to the period from the late 1950s through the 1970s when most African nations gained sovereignty from European colonial powers.
The movement peaked in 1960, sometimes called the "Year of Africa," when seventeen countries achieved independence.
The term encompasses both the historical process and the political ideals of self-determination that drove it: African independence movements reshaped the continent's political map.
- Mau Mau UprisingKenyan anticolonial insurgency, 1950s
- freedom fightersArmed opponents of oppression
- Pan-AfricanismContinental and diaspora solidarity ideology
- wind of changeSign of impending transformation
- Bandung Conference1955 Afro-Asian diplomatic gathering
Decolonization · liberation struggle · land redistribution · Nelson Mandela · education reform · cultural renaissance · foreign aid · health infrastructure · one-party state · colonial borders · urbanization · Haile Selassie · Uhuru · national anthem · migration patterns
- Cold WarBerlin Wall, Iron Curtain, arms race, Warsaw Pact, Cuban Missile Crisis
- British AfricaGold Coast, Rhodesia, Uganda, Nigeria, Gambia
African independencecolonialism
Domination through foreign settlement
colonial rule · imperialism · foreign domination · apartheid · white minority rule
African independenceScramble for Africa
Rapid European colonization period
colonial era · colonial period · Berlin Conference · colonization · imperial expansion
African independencecolonial exploitation
Extracting wealth from conquered territories
neocolonialism · resource extraction · economic dependency · colonial economy · mercantilism
African, Africa, Africans, Africanization, independence, independent, independently, independents, depend