Category: #9 Imperial Displacements
Do I Stay or Do I Go?
France’s colonialism spanned nearly every continent, and its population in Africa provided essential relief for the empire’s survival, both during and after World War II. The experience of the Africans conscripted into the French army to help save France from Nazi Germany, prompted them after their return home to change the direction of independence movementsContinue reading “Do I Stay or Do I Go?”
Reframing Africa
Like much of the study of history, a study of colonialism in Africa in the postwar period is incredibly complicated. Over the years, we have been given many different, and yet predominantly monolithic, lenses with which to view this phenomenon. … Continue reading →
Relationships not Politics as the Driving Factor for Civil Rights.
Michael Kilmartin, (pictured from left to right:) Lou Fumbanks, Bess, Michael Kilmartin, Chuck Kickbusch, 1954-1955, photograph, Wakkanai, Japan The inclusion of African Americans within the United States military marked a critical point for the advancement of Civil Rights movement. However, there was a split in opinion in terms of whether this was progress or not. […]
WWII and Decolonization
During WWII, soldiers from European colonies, from the Dutch East indies to French West Africa, fought for their “mother countries” with the hope of gaining independence after conclusion of the war. However, upon returning home soldiers from colonies almost universally had their hopes dashed. Many of these veterans became politically active and pushed the European …
Imperial Displacements
The end of World War II resulted in unfamiliarity for many citizens across the globe. There were many senses of loss. Where would people turn? Where would their national identity lie? Throughout these readings, we learn that the conversation of creating your own nation state did not only lie within the Israeli-Palestine conflict. With …
How Britain and France lost their colonial rule
Battle of El Alamein – World War II during the North Africa Campaign The colonial lands of both Britain and France had been fighting for independence for as long as the countries had owned them. The colonial people had to give up so much in life especially during world war and they wanted their freedom. […]
Contributions and Compensation for Colonial Labors and Veterans
The Forgotten Veterans The role that colonial subjects in Africa played in World War II was critical. Preceding World War Two “Africans’ claims to citizenship were rejected” and would continue to struggle against the powers they themselves fought for for decades to come (Cooper 197). Cooper highlights the fact that Britain and France both recognized […]
Colonies after the War
The picture above is of three Moroccan soldiers in the French colonial forces. Thousands of men like them served and fought in the French military during the war and continued to do so even after France’s surrender to Germany. Once the war was over many colonies within the old European powers sought more autonomy and …
Hypocrisy in Africa
One of the biggest atrocities of World War II was the semi colonization of Europe by Germany. Prior to this time period Europeans had always been the colonists. However, this shift from colonizers to colonized was, baffling enough, not enough to convince European powers that colonial rule was in fact cruel and oppressive. European powers […]
Hard-Fought Algerian Independence
After World War II, European powers were not only left to deal with rebuilding their infrastructures and economies, they were also being challenged abroad by their colonies, places that they had held power for sometimes hundreds of years. With the end of the war came ideological changes across the globe, including changes of how colonies […]
