Africa from 1945 to Today

Crucial Decades

Large battles also took place in Africa, although the entire continent suffered less from the damage than from the consequences. The European states, still represented on the continent as colonial powers, used the resources of their colonies to revive their economies. The desire for independence of the African states was suppressed for a long time and deliberately ignored. It was only when the first ethnic groups significantly increased the pressure on the colonial powers that they finally gained a hearing.

The Goal of Independence

For more than 500 years, many African states were under the leadership of the colonial powers. They were arbitrarily subjected to the power of the rulers, who drew new borders and reshaped the map of Africa. They gave today's Africa its current face. Among the African population, there was a strong desire to act independently and break free from the shackles of the leading powers. With the economic boom in Europe in the 1950s, this desire became a reality for more and more countries. Although there were already some independent states at that time, they were clearly in the minority. The British were the first colonial power to grant states independence.

Struggle for Freedom

The independence of the states developed into a bloody affair in many colonies. In the 1950s and 1960s, there were fights in many countries that were often suppressed. In Kenya, the Mau Mau uprising took place in 1956, and in the independence war in Algeria, French and Algerian troops faced each other for eight years, from 1954 to 1962. The goal of most colonial powers to hand over their power to democratic leadership was only moderately successful. Up until the 1990s, the last states were under foreign rule before they gained their independence.

A Long Way to Go

Today, most African states are governed by democratically elected governments, although this is often only the case on paper. Conflicts between ethnic groups and tribes continue to be responsible for the fact that there are repeated conflicts throughout the continent. For the African states, it is still a long way to go before political and economic goals are achieved.
Even half a century after the first colonies became independent, the old powers still shape the image of many states. In the former German colony Namibia, there are still regions where German is spoken today. Some coastal areas or islands are still under the leadership of European states.