The Cold War and decolonisation
After 1945, the world split into rival blocs led by the United States and the Soviet Union, while colonised peoples across Asia and Africa won independence.
A divided world
The US and its allies (the 'First World') and the Soviet Union and its allies (the 'Second World') competed for influence. Europe was divided by the 'iron curtain'; Germany split into West and East in 1949. NATO (1949) and the Warsaw Pact (1955) faced each other, and both sides built huge nuclear arsenals.
The Chinese Revolution
After years of civil war, Mao Zedong's Communist Party won control of mainland China in 1949, founding the People's Republic; the Nationalists retreated to Taiwan. Mao's Great Leap Forward (1958-1962) caused a famine that killed tens of millions, and the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) brought upheaval and persecution.
Indian independence
Mohandas Gandhi led a mass nonviolent independence movement, including the Salt March of 1930. In 1947, British India became independent but was partitioned into India and Pakistan. Partition brought mass migration of perhaps 10-20 million people and communal violence that killed hundreds of thousands, possibly up to a million or more.
Independence in Africa and Asia
Between 1945 and 1975, most colonies won independence. Indonesia became independent from the Netherlands after a war (1945-1949). Ghana, under Kwame Nkrumah, became the first sub-Saharan African colony to gain independence in 1957. 1960 alone saw 17 African countries become independent. Some independence struggles, such as in Algeria (1954-1962) and Kenya, involved bitter wars.
The Cold War in the developing world
Many newly independent nations became battlegrounds of superpower rivalry, with wars in Korea and Vietnam, coups, and interventions in countries such as Iran (1953), Guatemala (1954), Congo, and Chile (1973). The Non-Aligned Movement, founded in 1961 by leaders including Nehru of India, Nasser of Egypt, and Tito of Yugoslavia, sought independence from both blocs.
Israel and the Middle East
In 1948, the State of Israel was proclaimed, followed by war with neighbouring Arab states; about 700,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled, an event Palestinians call the Nakba. Further wars followed in 1956, 1967, and 1973. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains one of the world's most persistent.
Apartheid
In South Africa, the National Party introduced apartheid in 1948, a system of legal racial segregation and white minority rule. Resistance led by the African National Congress and figures such as Nelson Mandela, imprisoned for 27 years, together with international sanctions, ended apartheid. Mandela became president after the first multiracial elections in 1994.
Worked example
Ghana's independence in 1957 shows both the hopes and challenges of decolonisation. Nkrumah's leadership inspired independence movements across Africa and promoted Pan-Africanism. But Ghana inherited an economy dependent on cocoa exports and borders drawn by colonisers; Nkrumah's government became increasingly authoritarian, and he was overthrown in a coup in 1966. Many new states faced similar struggles.
Key takeaways
The Cold War divided the world into US-led and Soviet-led blocs. Mao's communists won China in 1949; later campaigns caused famine and upheaval. Gandhi's movement won Indian independence in 1947, with a violent partition. Most of Asia and Africa became independent between 1945 and 1975, sometimes through war. Superpower rivalry shaped developing nations; the Non-Aligned Movement sought another path. Israel's founding in 1948 began a lasting conflict. Apartheid ended in 1994 with Mandela's election.
Flashcard
US-led and Soviet-led blocs
Check your understanding
What was the Non-Aligned Movement?