Shortly after the end of the Second World War, many former colonies achieved independence. This wave of decolonization began quickly and spread rapidly. In this article, we will look at the independence movements in India (1947), Vietnam (1954), Nigeria (1960), and Algeria (1962).

Nationalism and other ideologies of unity

Decolonization in India, Vietnam, Nigeria, and Algeria only succeeded because people in each colony worked together to reject their colonial rulers. Unity was necessary because each colony contained different ethnic groups, political formations, and religious identities. For decades, colonial rulers pushed these groups to be rivals, as divided people were much easier to rule. Anti-colonial leaders understood that they had to unite these various groups against the colonizers.

Successful decolonization efforts required a powerful ideology, or set of ideas and beliefs. The most common ideology was nationalism, which emphasizes loyalty and devotion to the nation, as opposed to an attachment to a local community. Nationalism encouraged different communities to think of themselves as a single “nation” with a shared history, culture, and struggle. But nationalism wasn’t the only ideology used. Several independence movements combined nationalism with socialism or communism. Leaders encouraged colonized people to think of themselves as a unified “class” of peasants and workers. Other ideologies included Pan-Islamism, which allowed Muslims in one colony to create unity and gain the support of Muslims in other former colonies. There was also Pan-Africanism, which tied together people across the continent of Africa.

In Nigeria, India, Vietnam, and Algeria, nationalism played a key role. Nigerian leaders came together in the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) and the Action Group. They sought to overcome the many ethnic differences in Nigeria by stressing people’s shared ties to the land of Nigeria. In India, the Indian National Congress Movement sought to unify people across religious divides.

In both Algeria and Vietnam, socialism played a leading role in nationalist movements. In Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh and his Viet Minh movement embraced communism. This helped them gain allies in China and the Soviet Union. Communism also addressed the economic inequalities within Vietnam, which attracted poor peasants to the movement. In Algeria, the main liberation movement—the Front de Libération National (FLN)—used socialism to convince poorly paid city workers and rural peasants to unite as one class of people with a shared goal of independence.

Changing attitudes of the colonizers

At the end of the Second World War, neither Britain nor France expected to surrender their colonies. But after the war, the British quickly realized they were no longer strong enough to rule in the face of a determined nationalist movement. In 1945, the British Labour Party came to power. They hoped that granting Indian independence would allow Britain to retain its influence in the region. In the decades that followed, Britain’s government generally agreed to demands for colonial independence in other regions as well. Yet, they weren’t willing to accept just any decolonization leader. Instead, they tried to ensure the new rulers would be useful to them and to the West. This was the case in Nigeria, for example. The exception to this rule was where there were large numbers of white settlers. Britain tended to hold on to these colonies—such as Kenya and Rhodesia—longer.

The French were less willing to give in to nationalist movements, and this influenced the course of decolonization in Algeria and Vietnam. At first, the French government refused to even consider independence. For example, they rejected Ho Chi Minh’s demand for independence for Vietnam in 1945. Then, once they realized the independence movement was strong, the French offered limited self-rule as a way to keep Vietnam attached to France. In both Vietnam and Algeria, France’s unwillingness to give up control resulted in bloody decolonizing conflicts.

Violent or peaceful movement

French unwillingness to grant independence to their colonies meant that anti-colonial movements often turned to violent struggle. In Algeria, nationalists began carrying out repeated attacks against French settlers. The French responded with brutal tactics, including torture. This angered the local population and united support behind the FLN. France’s harsh tactics also turned the French public against the occupation, and in 1962, French voters voted to end French rule in Algeria. However, the many French settlers in Algeria didn’t like this idea. They tried to stop independence from happening and attempted to overthrow France’s own government—but were unsuccessful in both cases.

In Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh’s supporters managed to gain control by 1946. French forces attacked the city of Haiphong and then reoccupied Vietnam, launching a war that would last decades. As they began to lose this war, the French tried to install a friendly government under a ruler named Bao Dai, but few Vietnamese recognized his authority. After the Vietnamese defeated a French force at the battle of Dien Bien Phu, the French retreated to south Vietnam and called for help from their ally, the United States. After a war that lasted until 1975, Vietnamese forces finally freed the entire country.

By contrast, both India and Nigeria decolonized largely through peaceful means. While India had its share of military resistance to colonialism, by the 1940s, Mohandas K. Gandhi’s principle of nonviolent resistance dominated the decolonization movement. Nonviolent tactics included boycotts (a boycott is a refusal to buy certain goods), strikes, and peaceful marches. Gandhi’s strategy turned public opinion against the British and threatened British economic interests. By 1947, the Indian National Congress achieved success.

It took the independence movement in Nigeria longer to get going. But by the time it reached its height, the British recognized that they could no longer control this large country. Nigeria’s leaders led strikes and boycotts and used newspapers to spread their message. These tactics led the British government to agree to transition power to Nigerian leaders who they thought would remain friendly to Britain.

Post-independence unity?

Three of the colonies described in this article ended decolonization as unified countries. Successful decolonization had depended on a wide range of different groups remaining united. But after independence was achieved, many of these groups became rivals again. In Nigeria, nationalist leaders struggled to balance the interests of the many different ethnic groups, and in 1967, a civil war broke out. This war led to immense suffering among the Igbo-speaking community. Three years later, the Nigerian government reunited the state. In Vietnam, many Catholics and ethnic minorities who supported the French and the United States fled the country. In Algeria, French and other European settlers also left. Still, those two former French colonies remained fairly unified and stable after decolonization.

India was a unique case. The unity of all Indians, so desired by Gandhi and many others, did not hold for long. In fact, in giving independence to India as a Hindu-majority state, the British also created the new Muslim-majority country of Pakistan. As these two countries became independent, the religious minority in each country faced oppression and violence. Almost 2 million people were killed. Huge numbers of Muslims fled India for Pakistan, while Hindus and Sikhs fled Pakistan for India.

Conclusion

In this article, you've looked at four examples of decolonization. Each of these stories played out in its own unique way, but there are important similarities. In each case, ideologies such as nationalism and socialism provided a basis for unifying different groups behind the goal of independence. You’ve seen that the way in which colonizers reacted to decolonization efforts determined whether the road to independence was peaceful or bloody. Finally, you’ve learned that, in the absence of a unifying enemy, some nationalist movements faced internal divisions after winning independence.