Decolonization and the Cold War

As European empires came to an end, independent nations emerged in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Two superpowers, the US and the Soviet Union,¹ competed against each other to influence these new nations. Their conflict was called the Cold War.

The US and the USSR intervened in nations in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa. The US was concerned with protecting its trade interests and stopping the spread of communism. In a communist country, the government controls everything. The USSR was a communist nation and challenged the US for political influence in new nations. These nations had just freed themselves from European control, but now they had to face American and Soviet intruders.

The Cold War in Asia

In South Asia, Mohandas Gandhi led a peaceful independence movement against British control. However, British rule pitted religious groups against each other and civil war broke out between Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs. These groups fought each other for power, resulting in more than a million deaths. To put an end to the civil war, British India was divided into new nations. India was created for the Hindu-majority while East and West Pakistan were created for the Muslim-majority.

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. There, they 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.

In the 1970s, a civil war broke out between East and West Pakistan. Most Pakistanis were Muslim but did not speak the same language. West Pakistan controlled resources and the military, and forced its language, Urdu, on Bangla² speaking East Pakistanis. The US supported West Pakistan, while India and the USSR supported East Pakistan. East Pakistan gained its independence in 1971 and become the country of Bangladesh.

The Cold War was just as chilly in central Asia. The British Empire gave up its control of Afghanistan in 1919, but certain ethnic groups were already divided on the southern border. Peoples like the Pashtuns and Uzbeks felt more loyalty to their tribes than a national identity. 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. The US plan left the Soviets in debt and contributed to the fall of the USSR. However, it also brought power to violent Islamic groups.

The Cold War in Latin America and the Caribbean

In Latin America, Spanish colonial rule left communities divided by social class and ethnicity. In Guatemala, the wealthy European minority owned most of the farmland. This group invited foreign business into Guatemala, hurting the native communities. The American United Fruit Company took over much Guatemalan land, hurting local banana farmers. In the 1940s, Guatemalans elected socialist leaders. Socialism is similar to communism, but people can own private property. In the 1950s, these leaders gave land back to the poor Guatemalan communities. American businesspeople feared they would lose land and communist ideas would spread. They asked the government to get involved.

With the help of the C.I.A.,³ Guatemalan rebels took over the socialist government. They put an anti-communist in charge. This leader returned land to the United Fruit Company, continuing social divisions in Guatemala.

The US could not stop communism in Cuba. The USSR supported Fidel Castro’s communist government. Meanwhile, the C.I.A. tried and failed to remove him from power. Some of the tensest days of the Cold War occurred during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Then, it was discovered that Cuba was keeping Soviet nuclear missiles. No missiles were launched in the end, but many believe we barely avoided nuclear war.

Some Cubans disagreed with Castro’s policies and fled to the US. Cuba is still a communist country today.

American and Soviet involvement changed the course of Latin American history. Some countries have had to address the painful effects of their Cold War dictatorships. Meanwhile, countries like Honduras live in extreme poverty and are dependent on the US.⁴

The Cold War in Africa

As in Latin America and Asia, Africans turned to communist and socialist ideas after colonization ended. Anti- imperial and pan-African⁵ feeling was strong after World War Two. Pan-Africanists felt a strong cultural pride in their African heritage. In the US, many African Americans began wearing traditional African clothing.

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. He turned to the Soviet Union. With the help of the US and Belgium, anti-communist members of the Congolese government executed Lumumba in 1961. Congolese military leaders took over and cut all ties to the USSR. This period of Cold War dramatically changed life in the Congo. Most European settlers fled and the strong military dictatorship emerged in 1965. This resulted in anti-communism beliefs, corruption, and authoritarian rule.

In summary, decolonization and the Cold War were connected in many ways. New nations emerged after European imperialism. These nations often had to side with the Americans or the Soviets when they needed help. Both superpowers influenced 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, making less than US$1.90 per day. This is 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.