When Africa broke free: many of the continent's successes and struggles today can be traced to one momentous year, when 17 African nations gained independence from European colonial rule.

AuthorWines, Michael
PositionTIMES PAST 1960

When British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan took the podium in Cape Town, in February 1960, to address South Africa's parliament, he knew how unstoppable Africans' longing for freedom was.

Macmillan had spent the previous month trekking through Africa to talk to leaders about the future of the continent, which had been kept under European rule for nearly a century. Now, he was sending a message to the world: The days of Britain's empire--and those of France, Belgium, and other European nations--were numbered.

"The wind of change is blowing through this continent," he said. "This growth of national consciousness is a political fact."

It turned out to be not a wind but a hurricane. In 1950, only four nations in Africa were independent, but by the end of 1960, 27 were. In that single year, 17 nations--which accounted for 198 million Africans, or 70 percent of the continent--suddenly gained control of their destinies. It was a time of wild celebration and boundless hope.

"My major life's work is done," said Nnamdi Azikiwe, an American-educated journalist and politician who became Nigeria's first president, as his nation gained independence that October. "My country is now free."

But many of the hopes of leaders like Azikiwe--for stable, prosperous societies, honest governments, and peace--proved elusive in the succeeding decades. The social and political structures that European colonizers left behind made it difficult for newly independent nations to thrive: stunted economies limited to raw-material and crop exports; roads that led only to mines and farms, not to villages; and governments designed to keep the state secure rather than improve people's lives.

"All of those were built to serve colonial interests, not the interests of African citizens," says Jennifer G. Cooke, who heads the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. "So many of today's problems were embedded and created during the colonial era."

'Scramble for Africa'

European involvement in Africa began in the mid-15th century when Portuguese traders arrived on the continent looking for gold. By the end of the 16th century, they were trading in African slaves (with many sent to America), but colonization on a large scale didn't occur until much later. In the late 1800s, when explorers uncovered the riches of the continent's interior, including diamonds, rubber, and iron ore, the "scramble for Africa" began. In 1884, the European powers gathered for a conference in Berlin to carve up the continent: Britain, Germany, and Portugal would be primarily in southern and eastern Africa, with France in the west and north, and Belgium in the Congo. By 1900, 90 percent of Africa was under European control (see map).

Colonial rule brought some benefits: roads, railroads, and educational and governmental models that still survive. But it was riddled with abuses. Africans hired to oversee the colonies often ruled cruelly, and direct European control could be even worse: Congo's first ruler, Belgium's King Leopold II, boosted production at rubber plantations and mines by ordering managers to hack off the hands of laggard workers.

In addition, the territorial borders created by Europeans--often arbitrarily and without regard to tribal relationships or geographic considerations--are responsible for a good deal of the ethnic turmoil and fighting Africa still endures today.

Fights for Independence

After World War II, a broke and ravaged Europe faced demands for freedom from its colonial subjects across the globe, including those in Africa. In some cases, independence movements turned violent, as guerrilla fighters attacked colonial governments; in others, African leaders championed self-determination and rallied support with relatively little bloodshed.

For Nigeria, freedom came gradually: In 1946, Britain acceded to Nigerians' demands for representation in the colonial government; eight years later, it granted regional assemblies more power, which led ultimately to the end of colonial rule. In 1960, Britain granted independence to Somalia as well; in the next five years, eight more British...

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