How Britain and France lost their colonial rule

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. After World War II the biggest fight for the freedom was battled out and both countries lost all their colonial rule.

One reason France lost it’s colony in Africa was because of the combination of  tortures going on their were publicly shared and the military training of ex-veterans. When Henri Alleg wrote about his torture and the rest of the world read about it others had to step in such as the UN.   In the Impact of World War II: how the nature of political quest for independence in Africa the back store helps to show that the Africans that served in WWII wanted their freedom. “Africa’s involvement in these two wars helped fuel the struggle for independence from colonial rule.” In Colonialism and Neocolonialism by Jean-Paul Sartre talks a lot about Henri Allgri who was held and tortured until he escaped. Every country was using torture but once it became a public issue it could no longer be ignored. This gave the people of Algeria another reason to revolt and get the French out. Jean Paul Sartre stated “the Algerians have won their freedom, the French have lost theirs.” (page 73) In Elizabeth Schmidt Popular Resistance and Anti colonial Mobilization the War Effort in French Guinea is another paper displaying how awful the French were to their colonial territory of Guinea.  Schmidt also stated that “military veterans who returned home with a new sense of confidence and entitlement.” (page 444)

The European countries were awful to their colonies. Jean Paul Sartre after 1945 the Algerians social class had to be recreated. (Page 72) Frederick Cooper wrote in Reconstructing Empire in British and French Africa “every African politician was or should have been claiming the right to have an independent nation-state.” He proves that even through Africa was a very divided country everyone had a common goal; they wanted the colonial power out. The laws that colonial powers but in place such as Labor Code of 1952 (Cooper page 207) and Equality Law (Schmidt 444) made their subjects more upset and wanted their mother country out.  Nkwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana, the former Gold Coast, changed that slogan to ‘independence now’.

Upon getting involved in the war colonies sided with the country that they believed would free them. That means some people did side with the Axis power. (Schmidt 441) While war was going on those in colonial territories were dealing with unfair taxes, labor and military recruitment.  Africans were often drafted more, placed on the front line more often. The Guineas felt if they had to sacrifice so much then they should be able to rule their country.

The British and French wanted to hold onto their colonial territory as long as possible which lead to famines, starvation, and unnecessary deaths between World War I World War II, putting down political and civil unrest and fighting to end revolts. They still lost their territory.