Effects of the Second World War on Asia and Africa - Essay Example

?Effects of the Second World War on Asia and Africa Term Paper March 16, Introduction In the last century among events that changed the world forever, World War 2 can be considered the most potent. It changed the course of human history and gave the whole world a new geopolitical direction. Super powers emerged as a result and the world became clearly divided in different groups. Also the horrors of the war alone played a great role in international politics as United Nations was created to solve international disputes. But the greatest long term effect of the Second World War was seen in Asia and Africa where a new breed of countries developed and a ‘third world’ came into being. In this paper we will talk about decolonisation in great detail. We will discuss how the end of Second World War paved the way for independence of the colonised countries in Africa and Asia. We will also talk about the after-effects of decolonisation on Asian and African continents. Second World War and Decolonisation  The Second World War ended in a disaster. Japan was facing severe problems due to atomic bomb. Europe was completely destroyed as millions were affected from the war. Great Britain, France, Netherland, Spain, United States, and Soviet Union all had colonies all over the world at the time. It can be said that there was no ‘third world’ in pre Second World War scene and most of the world was controlled by the above mentioned colonisers. The effect of the damages of Second World War was great. Economically almost all the countries were suffering including the colonies themselves. The situation of the natives of colonies was not economically healthy since The Great Depression as prices of raw materials were falling constantly. Almost all colonies did not have an industrial base therefore they were mainly dependent on export of raw materials and agricultural items to their colonial masters. When the demand in the home country decreased, natives of the colonies had to suffer. Also when Second World War started again colonies had to bear the military costs through increased taxation. The situation of all colonial powers especially the British Empire was not good as they could no longer remain self dependent. Economists for this reason argue that decolonisation occurred due to economic reasons as colonial powers came to enjoy all the benefits of colonies without bearing heavy costs of ruling over them1. There were also movements of independence springing is different parts of Africa. Asian decolonisation may be due to economic reasons but this allowed other colonies to struggle for their freedom too. After the Second World War the hold of colonial powers started to slip as countries started to demand rights. It was also no longer feasible to control so many geographical regions both economically and politically. The feeling of being ‘used’ as a tool in the Second World War also played a role in springing independence movements. All in all decolonisation was the most significant after effect of the Second World War. Without the war it would have been difficult for Asian and African colonies to gain independence. Now we will discuss how decolonisation affected Asia and Africa. Effects on Asia People of Asia were involved in directly in the Second World War. British India participated in the war by lending soldiers as well as raw materials to the British Empire. Initially it was difficult for the British Empire to get the support of the Indian people but with the promise of independence Indian people were taken on board for the Second World War. Netherland, Spain, Portugal, and France also had colonies in Asia but due to their weak economic situation they had to draw out of their colonies. The first country to decolonise after Second World War was Indonesia which was under Dutch control. Spain too drew out of territories they controlled. This was all because of the effects of Second World War. The war weakened all the countries to great extent and therefore they had to pull out of their colonies in Asia. But soon after independence of Indonesia and other Asian countries, feeling of independence spread in other colonies as well. We cannot say that decolonisation occurred totally as a result of economic degradation of the colonial powers. An example would be of France which did not want to pull out of their colony. They lost territories in the Second World War and therefore wanted to hold their colonies. But the desire for independence spread like wild fire and all countries under colonial rules started to demand freedom. Another effect of Second World War on Asian people was that they became conscious about their identity. Most Asian colonies took part in the war but they received no credit and therefore Asian population was in general angry. After the Second World War they were neither rewarded nor thanked for their role in the war. This created hostilities in the hearts and minds of people of Asian colonies. Following decolonisation everything about Asia changed drastically. The newly created states started to develop their nationalism and their own political ideology. This was the first time when they could themselves administer their own lands and this bolstered their nationalistic fervour. New countries emerged on the map of the world and both economic and political dominance of the colonial powers like France, UK, and USA was challenged to a certain extent given that previously these powers were practically ruling the whole world. Decolonisation created new worlds but these worlds were moulded in the shape of colonial powers. The culture of their masters was adopted by the colonial people and therefore even after decolonisation native cultures remained inspired by colonial masters as the way of dressing of elites became similar to western cultures2. This seems to be an example of how decolonisation left behind traces of colonial culture and way of thinking. People even today in Asia generally see white foreigners with an eye of respect. Another effect of decolonisation of Asia was the new role of this continent in politics. Newly created countries were although recent but they immediately started to play their roles in world politics. During the colonial rule these people were not allowed to develop their own foreign policy therefore this was the first time they developed international relations. It can be safely said that immediately after decolonisation the newly created countries started to part with one of the two super powers of the world3. This is how Asia was affected as a result of Second World War and decolonisation. Now we will discuss how the African continent changed due to the war and after that due to the process of decolonisation. We will attempt to highlight major differences between the African decolonisation and Asian decolonisation. Effects on Africa African continent also took part in war against the enemies of the colonial masters but again their contributions weren’t noticed. African continent was considered inferior by most colonial powers. During the 19th and early 20th century African people were kept as slaves in many parts of the world and therefore the perception of the world regarding African was not good. They were considered inferior slave like people who were barbaric and it was the job of colonial masters to educate and civilise them. Because of this inferior perception of African people, the struggles of African population went unnoticed. Overall the situation of Africa was different from that of Asia. The effects of Second World War were not that bad for the continent economically. It was difficult for European powers to conduct trade between Europe and Africa and this is why local industries in Africa started to develop4. Previously colonial powers used to take out precious minerals and raw materials from Africa and these were later on processed back in Europe. This could not continue with the German navy attacking European ships. This left African colonies to develop their own industry which was something quite different from Asia as Asia suffered economically during the war. This development of local industries can be considered a land mark because it raised the living standards of the local people. Life styles improved and economical situation of the natives improved greatly. This in turn fuelled literacy on the continent as people started to become more aware of the world around them. All this progress led African people to demand their own separate homelands from colonial power. An African national character came into existence as a result independence movements fuelled. It was because of these independence movements that Africa finally was able to get rid of their colonial masters. There was no set plan followed by the colonial powers when it came to decolonisation. There was not set formula for getting out of colonies and therefore different forms of colonisation took place in Africa and Asia. In Asia the process of decolonisation was mostly peaceful as states were formed without bloody wars. This was not the case in Africa and bloody battles were fought to get freedom5. It is true that colonial powers were losing their hands on their colonies but they did not want to give up Africa as it was rich with minerals. Also France did not want to give away its African colonies because the country suffered greatly during the war. The French nationalism required uplifting and therefore the French Empire was not willing to give away their colonies easily. The effects of decolonisation on Africa were also not good because colonial powers divided the land without thinking about the local demographics. African countries continued to fight wars for a long time and still today rebel groups exist in many African countries. African countries that came into existence after decolonisation were also not able to develop like Asian countries. They regularly face famines and are plagued with issues like AIDS and corruption. All these problems are hindering the development of African countries. Conclusion The long term effects of Second World War were great on Africa and Asia as new countries came into existence and new forms of nationalism were founded. New countries played an active role in international politics as well as in trade. Today Asian countries are growing at a great pace and the once ‘third world’ is now powering up to gain economic supremacy over western countries. All this began with the end of Second World War and decolonisation. Bibliography Chafer T, The end of empire in French West Africa: France's successful decolonization? Berg, London, 2002. Galbraith JK, A Journey through Economic Time: a firsthand view, Houghton Mifflin, New York, 1994. Hack K, ‘Theories and Approaches to British Decolonization in South East Asia’ in M Frey, RW Pruessen, and TY Tan (ed.), The transformation of Southeast Asia: international perspectives on decolonization, M.E. Sharp, London, 2003. OECD, Towards a Better Regional Approach to Development in West Africa, OECD Publishing, New York, 2004. Rothermund D, The Routledge companion to decolonization, Routledge, London, 2006. Read More