Decolonization and the Cold War

The US-USSR Cold War rivalry began just as traditional European empires came to an end. New, independent nations and governments emerged in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Two superpowers with very different types of governments, the US and the Soviet Union,¹ competed against each other to influence these new nations.

In Southeast Asia, the two superpowers got involved in civil conflicts. In Latin America, American companies influenced government and economic affairs, even as Soviet movements emerged in the same places. The US military became involved with secret operations to protect American interests. They wanted to stop socialist or communist governments from reclaiming land in Latin America owned by American companies. Over in Africa, the US and the USSR fought for economic and political influence in newly independent countries. As in Latin America, the US wanted to prevent African governments from handing control of privately-owned industries—like mining companies—to the state. These nations had just freed themselves from European control, but now they had to face the intrusion of American and Soviet interests.

The Cold War in Asia

Mohandas Gandhi led a mostly peaceful independence movement against British control in South Asia. Civil war broke out between different religious groups such as Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs who were pitted against each other under British rule. These groups competed for power, killing more than a million people. In an effort to end the civil war, British India was separated into a Hindu-majority India, as well as Muslim-majority East and West Pakistan.

Pakistan joined an alliance with the US and other nations in 1954 to stop the spread of communism. Meanwhile, in 1955, India attended the Bandung Conference in Indonesia and urged other nations to avoid taking sides with the US or the USSR. In 1965, the Cold War heated up in South Asia due to a disagreement over territory in the region of Kashmir. When the US stopped providing weapons to the area, India finally took control of Kashmir from Pakistan. The region remains in dispute to this day.

A civil war between East and West Pakistan in the early 1970s also involved India, the US, and the USSR. Most Pakistanis were Muslim, but did not share a language. West Pakistan controlled resources and the military, and forced its language, Urdu, on Bangla² speaking East Pakistanis. The US supported West Pakistan in the conflict, while India and the USSR supported East Pakistan. East Pakistan gained its independence in 1971 and become the country of Bangladesh. The violent conflict between Muslims and Hindus left behind scars that still impact South Asia today.

And if you’re thinking we forgot Central Asia, the Cold War was just as chilly there. The British Empire gave up full control of Afghanistan in 1919, but they had already divided certain ethnic groups on the southern border. Peoples like the Pashtuns and Uzbeks felt more loyalty to their tribal identities than a national identity. Their rough terrain and remote locations made it easy to resist foreign influence. In the late 1970s, the USSR invaded Afghanistan. The US feared the spread of Soviet influence, so they funded Islamic fighters who would attack the Soviets. This conflict lasted almost a decade and left the Soviets bankrupt, eventually contributing to the collapse of the USSR. Unfortunately, this also brought power to violent Islamic groups.

The Cold War in Latin America and the Caribbean

In Latin America, 300 years of Spanish colonial rule left communities divided along ethnic and economic lines. In Guatemala, only two percent of people owned three-fourths of the farm land. This wealthy European minority invited foreign countries to do business in Guatemala, hurting the indigenous Maya people. The American-based United Fruit Company became the largest single land-owner in the country, hurting local banana farmers. In the 1940s, discontent led to socialist victories in elections. Then in the 1950s Guatemalan leaders gave farmland back to half a million poor workers and allowed people to organize for better wages. Fearing the loss of land and spread of communist ideas, powerful American businessmen convinced the US to work with opposition leaders in Guatemala to overthrow the socialist government.

With the help of the C.I.A.,³ Guatemalan rebels overthrew the socialist government in 1954 and put an anti- communist in charge. This leader returned land to the United Fruit Company, continuing social divisions in Guatemala. The US then launched similar interventions in Costa Rica and Honduras.

Cuba was another story, since the US failed to prevent communism there. The USSR supported Fidel Castro’s communist government, which took power in 1959. Meanwhile, the C.I.A. began working with rebel groups to overthrow Castro. In 1961, Castro escaped an attempt to overthrow him called the “Bay of Pigs,” which was an embarrassing failure for the US. Outside of China and the USSR, Cuba was perhaps the most influential communist nation during the Cold War. In 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis created 13 of the tensest days of the Cold War when it was discovered that Cuba was keeping Soviet nuclear missiles. Although no missiles were launched in the end, many believe nuclear war was narrowly avoided.

Not all of Castro’s policies were popular with Cubans, and many fled to the US as Castro’s powers seized the property of wealthy citizens. Under Communism, many Cubans have lived in poverty without access to many modern technologies, but the state does promote education and health care. It remains a communist country today.

American and Soviet involvement changed the course of Latin American history through several destabilizing interventions. Countries like Colombia and Argentina have had to address the painful effects of their Cold War dictatorships, while countries like Honduras must deal with extreme poverty and economic dependence on the US.⁴

The Cold War in Africa

As in Latin America and Asia, communist and socialist ideas were attractive to Africans after colonization ended. Anti-imperial and pan-African⁵ feeling strengthened immediately following World War Two. Pan-Africanists felt a strong cultural pride in their African heritage after much of it was taken during colonization. This thinking reached all the way to the US, where many African Americans began wearing traditional African clothing and growing out their natural hair instead of straightening it to appear more European. International conferences allowed Pan- Africans to connect and exchange cultural and political ideas.

The Belgian Congo in central Africa witnessed some of the greatest Cold War competition. A pan-Africanist named Patrice Lumumba led a movement against Belgian rule. Lumumba identified with communism and became independent Congo’s first Prime Minister in 1960. Immediately, he faced a chaotic situation. The US and Belgium wanted to keep their business ties in resource-rich places like Katanga. But Katanga also wanted to leave the Congo. The result was a series of violent conflicts. Some Congolese soldiers carried out atrocities against certain ethnic groups and also against Belgians.

No one would help Lumumba put down the rebellion in Katanga, so he turned to the Soviet Union. Anti-communist members of the Congolese government were so upset by this that they executed Lumumba in 1961, with the help of Belgium and the US. Congolese military leaders took over and cut all ties to the USSR. The Soviet Union created the Patrice Lumumba University after Lumumba’s death to educate students of Third World countries and attract them to communism.

This period of Cold War tensions and targeted attacks dramatically altered life in the Congo. Most European settlers fled, and out of the chaos of independence a strong military dictatorship emerged in 1965. This left a legacy of anti-communism, corruption, and authoritarian rule.

Other African nations like Egypt ended their alliances with Western powers like Britain and France in the 1950s and 1960s. Egyptian leaders engaged in socialist projects, but they did not really take sides with the US or the Soviet Union. They were mostly neutral in the Cold War until the 1970s, when Egypt began to strengthen ties to the US.

In summary, decolonization and the Cold War were connected in many ways. As new nations emerged after European imperialism, they often had to side with the Americans or the Soviets when they needed help. Both superpowers intervened often, influencing politics in decolonizing nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Cold War rivalries often produced instability, corruption, and authoritarian rule.

1 Soviet Union is an abbreviated way to say Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
2 Bangla (also called Bengali) is widely spoken in India, while Urdu is mostly limited to Pakistan. However, Urdu is spoken in some parts of India.
3 The C.I.A. (Central Intelligence Agency) is run by the federal government of the US It gathers global intelligence and information in the interest of US national security.
4 Two thirds of Hondurans live in extreme poverty (less than US$1.90 per day) according to a report from the World Bank in 2018.
5 Pan-Africanism generally refers to the belief in a more socialist Africa as well as a rejection of non-African political and economic influences.