Blutiger Kampf: So endete die Kolonialzeit in Afrika

Have you ever heard of Weltkies Swahili Day? In fact, this memorial day, celebrated on July 7, has political significance. Kiswahili or Swahili is one of the most spoken languages ​​in Africa and, especially, in East Africa. In Kenya, for example, the debate on the weather in Parliament is done in Kiesbahidi, instead of in English as until now, in Kiesbahidi, which is also intended to show how, independently of the former colonial power Great Britain, this example clearly shows to what extent the colonial period on the African continent has directly or indirectly influenced up to the present day and to what extent this chapter has influenced it.

The story continues to worry people today, even in Europe. It is also because many African states only really became independent a few decades ago, but how exactly did the African population have to fight for their freedom or was it the Europeans who at some point took over the African colonies? Peacefully released towards independence, the most important information about this is now in this video. May 8, 1945 in Europe End of World War II Most people will remember this date as liberation day. What is less known about the German history lessons is that I also did it on the same day.

In several Algerian cities, crowds gather in the streets. streets not to celebrate but to protest against French colonial rule. When French security forces secretly shoot several protesters in the city, the protests intensify. Some of the insurgents kill European settlers and officials. Street fights break out. The French army, for its part, reacts with complete severity and even uses the air force, which destroys villages at random. In one month, thousands of Algerians die in reprisals. It is estimated that up to 30,000. This episode demonstrates that with the end of the Second World War, European colonial rule is increasingly in question and Europeans are not willing to abandon their colonies without resistance: in addition to Great Britain and the aforementioned France, among the colonial powers also There were Belgium, Portugal and Spain.

Others still ruled large areas of Africa. Only four African states were formally independent at the time: Liberia, Ethiopia, Egypt and South Africa. South Africa, however, plays a special role. The country is no longer a colony, but rather a racist country. The apartheid system greatly harms the black population. You can find out more about this in our video at the top of the i and it also covers the life of Mandela. From today's perspective, it is perhaps surprising that European dominance in Africa has not ended. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the colonies also contribute directly to World War II and not to the victory of the allies.

In return, France and Britain make successful commitments and promises. The so-called Atlantic map, which Great Britain published jointly with the USA in August 1941, highlights, for example, the right of peoples to self-determination. Behind it is also the idea that no people are superior. Another people should rule, but you have already guessed that the victorious European powers do not keep their promises after the war. The hopes of the African people for greater self-determination are bitterly disappointed. Even after World War II, there are still colonies everywhere on the African continent. In other areas of the world, anti-colonial movements are gaining ground. strength, but in particular Great Britain and France maintain their possessions;

This is, at least from their point of view, one of the reasons: Europe needs raw materials for reconstruction after the war and the colonies are rich in oil and copper in many places. In terms of gold and many other valuable resources, the The two largest colonial powers, France and Great Britain, now have two main objectives: on the one hand, they want to get the most economic benefit possible from it. new tram lines and aid. On the other hand, they want to curb the anti-colonial efforts of the local population as much as possible. They fear losing control of the colonies to take the wind out of the sails of the During the protests, they implement some political reforms.

To the outside world, these steps look like modernization, but in reality Europeans are intervening even more deeply than ever in Africa's social and economic structures. Previously, thousands of new administrative officials, settlers and experts now come to Africa, one can only say not only themselves but also experts, sometimes at the same time, moderate concessions allow independence movements to organize better, they can form parties, associations or unions, both together for resistance against Foreign rule aggravates the situation as in Kassel, where the pressure is constantly increasing and the lid remains closed. The pressure is especially violent in the British colony of Kenya.

We take a closer look at the events there, because Kenya represents a facet of the African struggle for independence, which is often forgotten today, the main figure of political protest in Kenya is Jomo Kenyata after studying in London , returns to his home country in 1946 and a year later becomes President of the Kenya African Union, he is elected, which is the most influential organization in Kenya. Kinata's fight for independence is particularly impressive due to his charismatic appearance. When asked in an interview when Kenya should become independent, he replies that there are similar personalities in many African colonies, quamen Chroma in Ghana, Patrice Mumba in the Congo, Leopol, many of them in Senegal Some enjoyed higher education, some also studied in European or American universities and recognizes that the Kenyan leaders are actively trying to obtain concessions from the British in peaceful negotiations, insist on the return of the fertile lands that the whites have taken from them for their farms and want them to occupy important administrative positions When the British They do not respond to these demands, more radical forces gain more and more influence.

Now they force their compatriots to take an oath of unity. This oath is intended to force them to rebel against colonial rule. From 1952 onwards, violence increased. African resistance fighters start a brutal guerrilla war and the British give them the name Mau-Mau, which is exactly where the name comes from. Even today it is not clear. The colonial administration arrested Domokinata, who as a political moderator actually distances himself from the violence. He is imprisoned for seven years. Both sides act ruthlessly, but with an unequal initial situation, the British are clearly in a difficult situation. superior position the insurgents prepare and kill European or Kenyan settlers who join forces with them the British in turn direct their countermeasures against the entire population for example more than 150,000 Africans are sent to internment camps many of them are tortured or victims of torture also include a man whose grandson will later be elected President of the US - Hussein and Jango Obama are Barack Obama's grandfather - as early as 1949 he was accused of having contacts with the Mau-Mau, the case files were subsequently destroyed by the British, so "The accusations cannot be verified.

In any case, the family says that you are their Obama, a man who broke in after imprisonment and torture. Only after 4 years, in October 1956 , the so-called Mau Mau war ended. The British knew how to prevail and advance. The locals paid a high price: it is estimated that between 20,000 and 100,000 people died, in addition 95 Europeans lost their lives. After all, the colonial masters are now making at least some concessions. They allow, among other things, the adoption of a national constitution. Demands for independence do not abate as the conflict in Kenya intensifies, colonial rule begins to crumble in other African countries in March 1957, the Gold Coast, later Ghana, becomes one of the first African colonies to become independent.

The transition is largely non-violent, which also shows that peaceful change is possible, but life is not possible in all parts of Ghana. Furthermore, there are far fewer European settlers than in Kenya, for example. and the level of prosperity and education in the country is higher. In February 1960, British Prime Minister Harald McMillen gave a highly respected speech in Cape Town, signaling that the winds of change were blowing on this continent. It may sound familiar to your parents or grandparents when, decades later, the Cold War ends and the wall falls in Germany, the group Scorpions releases the song Wind of change, which takes up the lyrics with a whistle at the beginning.

From then on we have probably heard this before. This statement makes it clear that the European colonial powers have recognized that decolonization can no longer be stopped. This word is now used to describe the collapse of European empires and the consequent end of colonial rule in 1960, which means that Africa will go down in history, 17 African states gain their independence and people celebrate here in Nigeria, for example, but why suddenly so quickly? Three points influence: firstly, the rethinking of colonial powers in Europe, there were more and more Throughout the 50s and 60s, more critical voices were heard speaking out against colonialism also for economic reasons: the war in Kenya alone cost Great Britain more than 55 million pounds - its current value would be much more than a billion pounds - and pressures are also increasing internationally, which is why the United Nations passed a very notorious resolution against it in 1960.

Colonialism, European imperialism seems a relic of past times; secondly, the anti-colonial movements, the independence movements that have become too large and too influential after the two world wars must be permanently quelled and, thirdly, the Cold War, two new superpowers, the USA and the Soviet Union, determined the world order after 1945 and were not necessarily interested in maintaining colonial empires. of the world into western and eastern blocs is more important. What matters most is keeping the influence of the other superpower as small as possible and less than the one that actually rules the country. However, after 1960, it would still take some time until all African countries were able to overcome foreign rule.

It was not until 1963, for example, that an independent nation-state was created in Kenya and the first prime minister, as you may have guessed, was also coined around this time by the form of "join", which can still be found today in the Coat of arms of Kenya. As I said, the end of the colonial period in Africa is very different and of course we can only shed light on a small excerpt in this short video. There is no such thing. Like colonization in Kenya, the transition to independence was associated with a lot of violence and that was more or less the case in Madagascar, in Cameroon, Mozambique, Angola or Algeria and the so-called Algerian War, by the way, you can find more information in this video here.

In other parts of Africa, the Europeans left largely peacefully, as already mentioned, to Ghana, to Sierra Leone, to the Gambia or to Tanzania, and in general, the colonization of Africa, at least compared to Asia, for example , was never completely non-existent. -violent but peaceful relatively very important wars, so brutal colonial wars are often forgotten or even repressed. Yes, they are consciously not mentioned, but the colonial legacy has an effect that is already noticeable in the first years after independence, because when the Europeans left the African countries, many places not only lacked state structures, but also lacked people with appropriate training.

To build these structures in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which was formerly a Belgian colony, when it gained independence in 1960, only 16 people had a university degree - 16 people in the entire country with a population of 15 million - that is just one example of the challenges facing African states. The decolonization that followed independence is still visible today. In some areas of Africa it was associated with violent conflicts, the processing of which has only just begun. The legal and financial consequences also influence the lawsuit in 2009 by five former Mau-Mau citizens of Great Britain over what was done to them in internment camps.

In July 2011, the British Supreme Court recognized the claim. The British government then offered financial compensation to more than 5,000 Kenyans. Other compensation claims remain open today, especially young people from former colonial powers who are now looking more critically at the past, including the Black Lives Matter movement in the US, with concrete consequences: in 2020, a crowd in Bristol He sank the statue of Edward Carsten in the harbor basin. He was a politician and businessman and made a fortune from the slave trade. Behind the campaign is the idea that the colonial era does not end with theindependence of African states, but the patterns of thought and traditions associated with it still persist.

We must overcome, especially racism, what do you think? How widespread is this thought? Do you still have examples today or do you think it's all exaggerated, for example the sinking of statues in the port? By the way, these types of conflicts do not exist in Africa, there were also colonies in other parts of the world after 1945 If you want to see a video about the general end of the colonial period in Asia, write it in the comments below. We'll see what we can do. You can do it by making two more videos. One is the video about the crimes in the German colonies and Here is a film about the Kenya Crisis, an incredibly fantastic country.

I have been there several times and I can only recommend that you take a look. See it up close, even if you are far away, and with the video you will be able to understand the difficult situation in Kenya. Thanks for watching and until next time.