Cookie Policy

Our website uses cookies to understand content and feature usage to drive site improvements over time. To learn more, review our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Decolonization

Driving Question: How were the Cold War and decolonization entangled?

As colonized nations fought for independence, Cold War politics influenced their paths. From Ghana to Vietnam, you'll compare struggles, examine women’s roles in decolonization, and connect local resistance to global power shifts.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Use the historical thinking practices of contextualization and causation to analyze connections between the Cold War and decolonization.
  2. Use evidence to compare the roles women played in anticolonial movements around the world.
  3. Create arguments using historical evidence to support claims, and communicate conclusions through informal writing.
STEP 1

Opener: Decolonization

STEP 2

Comparing Decolonization Struggles

By comparing cases like Ghana, India, Vietnam, Nigeria, and Algeria, you’ll uncover how the global struggle between the United States and Soviet Union influenced local fights for independence—bringing both support and conflict to anticolonial movements.

Resisting Colonialism: Through a Ghanaian Lens External link

In this video, we look at some episodes of resistance from Ghana—the British Gold Coast Colony—under the leadership of Yaa Asantewaa and later Kwame Nkrumah.

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.
STEP 3

Women and Decolonization

Discover the roles women played in challenging imperialism. These materials highlight how gender shaped both colonial rule and independence movements across the globe.

STEP 4

Closer: Decolonization

Use this informal writing opportunity to reflect on how local and global struggles for justice were connected and what those connections reveal about the world today.

Extension Materials
Checkmark Alert Banner
Take a closer look at how decolonization connected to other global struggles—from Cold War alliances to civil rights movements and communist revolutions.
...

Global Connections

These additional materials will expand your understanding of decolonization by exploring how it was shaped by Cold War politics, revolutionary ideologies, and global liberation movements. Through these sources, you’ll connect local independence efforts to broader global trends and examine how new nations tried to shape their futures.

Chinese Communist Revolution in a Global Perspective External link

This video looks at the Chinese Communist Revolution as a transformational event in both Chinese history and the global history of revolutions.

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.