Since the Scramble for Africa, European countries had continued to take land in Africa. Western powers had taken over the vast majority of Africa by the 20th century. These powers would take over countries for the express purpose of taking their natural resources so that they could make money off these countries. Unfortunately for the Africans, this system would cripple African economies over time and lead them to be more dependant on European countries over time. The 20th century would be the time period in which the revolts against this system would grow exponentially though. Ethnic leaders and the educated elite would often lead the charge in these movements, but be denounced by the Europeans as “chiefs” and “tribes” instead of kings and ethnic groups.The major turning point in the fight for freedom would be found in World War II, which would feature some harsh fighting in North Africa between the US forces and one of Hitler’s best generals in Rommell. Africansoldiers wereused to fight many battles during this war and it led them to expect a higher degree of freedom for their actions. This feeling was furthered by a philosophical document called the Atlantic Charter (1941). This charter would be signed by Roosevelt (US) and Churchill (UK) claiming that both countries would “respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live; and they wish to see sovereign rights and self government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them.” While this wasn’t a legal treaty or a document that was supported by the rest of the governments of these two men, it was a document the leaders tried to hold each other to moving forward. This would have been a tougher thing to ask had it not been for the fact that Europe was in shambles after the war and many of the countries with colonies were in desperate need of money to rebuild their own cities. This need would make it extremely unlikely that the countries could afford to keep these overseas colonies, so there was a wave of colonies attaining independence directly after the war was over (Source: Dunningsclass).
Revolt Against American Imperialism
