Africa from mid-to-late-20th Century

By wtrask
  • 1939-1945

    1939-1945

    World War II was causing chaos in the European nation and the Northern territories of Africa. Africa was a shatterbelt as different countries had control over it. Africa wanted to become independent from Europe and get rid of its colonialism and the emergent of Neo-Colonialism.
  • 1947

    1947

    Decolonization movements intensify with independence of India and Pakistan from the British
  • 1950s

    1950s

    Jomo Kenyatta led the people of Kenya into independent movement. It was a lengthy campaign of terror and guerrilla warfare against the British, who label the rebels "Mau Mau." Despite British victory in 1956, thousands of lives are lost and negotiations finally forced preparations for Kenyan independence.
  • 1951

    Libya becomes the first African nation to gain independence, they gain their independence from Italy.
  • 1956

    Morocco and Tunisia gained independence from France
  • 1957

    Ghana is the first British colony to gain independence
  • 1960

    1960

    In 1960,17 countries, 14 under French rule, all gained there independence. These states are all multinational states as they have different cultures.
  • 1962

    1962

    The Algerian War was a major armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria winning its independence from France. An important decolonization war, it was a complex conflict characterized by guerrilla warfare and war crimes. The conflict also became a civil war between the different communities and within the communities. Uganda also gained its independence.
  • 1963

    1963

    Kenya finally gained its independence from Great Britain after years of fighting like through the Mau Mau fights. In May, 32 Heads of independent African States met in Addis Ababa Ethiopia to sign the Charter creating Africa's first post-independence continental institution, The Organization of African Unity
  • 1964-1968

    1964-1968

    Malawi, Zambia, Gambia, Botswana, Lesotho all gain there independence from Great Britain.
  • 1975

    1975

    Angola and Mozambique become independent from Portugal. Immediately following Angola Independence they went into a civil war, beginning in 1975 and until 2002. It was a power struggle between two former anti-colonial guerrilla movements, the communist People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola and the anti-communist National Union for the Total Independence of Angola.
  • 1980

    1980

    Zimbabwe becomes independent Great Britain
  • 1990

    1990

    Namibia-the last colony in Africa-achieved independence, and in South Africa Nelson Mandela was freed and a dialogue between the South African Government and the antiapartheid force commenced.
  • 1998-2003

    1998-2003

    The Second Congo War, began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1998, little more than a year after the First Congo War, and involved some of the same issues. Eventually involving belligerents from across the African continent, the war officially ended in 2003 when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power.