What are the factors which determined the form or methods of decolonization

The factors which determined the form or methods of decolonization

1. The nature of colonial economic structure

The type of colonial system established in the colony was the major reasons for difference in the struggle for independence e.g. peasant colonies like Ghana, Tanganyika and Nigeria, independence came through constitutional means. This is partly because the colonialist received little to exploit in these colonies.




In settler colonies such as Algeria, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Kenya, independence was achieved through armed struggle. These are because the settlers were not ready to leave the land or colony and grant independence.



2. Economic and political position of the colonizing power



Some of the colonial powers like the Portuguese were poor and their colonies were remedy for their poverty. Therefore granting independence to such colonies meant committing economic suicide. Therefore independence in the Portuguese colonies was to be achieved through the barrel of gun/armed struggle.


3. Attitude of the colonial masters.

Example, Kenya was regarded as a crown colony or crown land (land of the Queen of England) hence not easy for the colonial powers to grant independence. This necessitated armed struggle.




Angola and Mozambique were regarded as extension of Portuguese abroad (Portuguese provinces abroad). Therefore the long drawn on guerilla war in these colonies were invisible.


4. The nature or structure of the African societies.

This depended on the level of development reached by societies like whether they were collaborative, weak, strong etc. therefore the only solution was to attain independence through armed struggle.


5. Relationship between different ethnic groups and racial community within the colony.

The form of struggle was also influenced by the relation between ethnic group or racial segregation. Discrimination revealed bitterness and hatred among the colonial subject this complicated the struggle for independence. Example. Members of different ethnic groups failed to unite and form mass political parties.


In some cases the colonialists tended to favour minority against the majority to form the government of independent African states. This led to the revolution for the majority felt that they are not independent/free example in Zanzibar.

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Why Tanganyika got her independence earlier than her neighbours ?

Decolonization through Constitutional Means in Tanganyika.



The struggle for independence in Tanganyika took a peaceful means (Constitution means) the struggle was led by Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) as a mass political party after changing its name from Tanganyika African Association (TAA) and adopting new objective in 1954.




Objective of TANU

To prepare the people of Tanganyika for self-independent government

To destroy tribalism and develop national unity for the whole people of Tanganyika

To struggle for democratic government and to have representative in local districts and central government.

To break up racialism and discrimination among the people

To cooperate with other African nationalistic parties from other African colonies against colonialism.

To oppose the colonial government with its policies of land alienation policies and the entry of more settlers in Tanganyika.

To encourage the people to join trade unions and cooperative union to struggle for their rights.

To help the peasants press to colonial government in getting better to their products.

Problems that faced TANU



TANU faced many problems during the struggle for independence, such problems included,

i. The vastness of the country and lack of adequate transport and communication network. This hindered easy movement of the leaders to convince the people, it was difficult to go around the country to establish branches and coordinate the members to support the movement.

ii. Opposition from the colonial government. The colonial government prevented the civil servants from joining the party and thus diminishing the number of members, also burned the political party in Morogoro district, Kondoa and Iringa in 1956, Usambara in 1957. In same year the burning had been extended to eleven districts which had members who protested against oppressive government policies.

iii. Misunderstanding between the party members which erupted in 1958where by a group of members in the meeting held in Tabora did not agree with a moderate policies of the party, they were after a mole militant Africanist stand and eventually they broke away and formed African National Congress (ANC) under ZuberiMtemvu.

iv. Opposition from United Tanganyika Party (UTP) which formed in 1958 under Martin Kayamba. The party was sponsored by British government and had great supports from chiefs, white men that Tanganyika will proceed to be affiliated to colonialists. It made a lot of effort to transfer power to TANU.

v. Shortage of money. The party was made by members who had low income. Therefore it was not easy for them to finance party activities during the struggle for independence.

vi. The rise of all Muslim National Union of Tanganyika (AMNUT) as a opposition party. This was another party created by demanding that “Tanganyika will not be independent until the Muslims have equal education level with the non-Muslims population”. However under TANU, Tanganyika was able to attain her independence at an earliest stage as compared with the rest of African countries in the south of Sahara.




Factors that led Tanganyika to get her independence earlier.

• Good leadership of the party under the late J.K Nyerere. He united all people under the single political party to fight for independence. He discouraged and opposed racialist policies which could divide the people in the process of fighting for independence.

• The use of Swahili language with common word like “Uhuru”. This made the people to understand the mission/aims of the party hence many people ranging from the workers in towns to the peasant and the rural areas joined and supported the party.

• The role of the party links with international organization such as UNO. TANU leader J.K Nyerere sought support for his party by visiting the United Nation headquarters in New York. He presented the grievances which were accepted by the UNO. This made UNO to put more pressure to the British government to grant independence to the people.

• Effective means of communication, the Swahili language which was spoken by majority member of the people of Tanganyika helped to unite all the people in the country to fight for their independence. Example, Politicians could communicate with the colonial subjects directly.

• The nature of economic structure. Tanganyika unlike Zanzibar and Kenya lagged behind in terms of economy thus there was no strengthened settler economy and also strong resistance from the whites.

• TANU was mass political party hence many people regarding their ethnic groups joined and supported the party. This was centrally to the political parties of Kenya and Uganda which based on tribalism of region.

• The role of Richard Turnbull since his appointment as the British governor in 1958 helped Tanganyika to get independence earlier. Turnbull soon won confidence of Africans people and Nyerere became his friend with whom he discussed on the future government eg. When the Nationalists leaders presented their demand to the government they were more considered than in other countries like Kenya and Uganda

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What were the Contribution of Ghana in Nationalistic Struggle in other African countries.

Decolonization through Constitutional Means in Ghana

• Ghana mass nationalism began in 1940’s with the formation of political parties which demanded political independence through peacefully means, the political parties which were formed include; 

The United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC)

• This was formed by J.B Ndaguah in 1947 and Dr. Kwame Nkrumah becomes the general secretary. The party was formed as the result of “Burns Constitution” which was introduced by Sir Allan Burns who was a governor by the time. In this constitution, it provided that the majority of members in the Legislative would be the Africans but the result was vice versa. This is because the Africans were not given the chances to make law and decisions matter in the Legislative council. For example, out of 18 seats were chiefs elected by their fellow chiefs (the support of British). Therefore the formation of UGCC was to oppose it and demand for independence. 

Convection People’s Party (CPP)

• This was formed by radical group which broke away from UGCC under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah in 1948. CPP become a popular party which was supported by people found in rural areas and town dwellers. Its struggle for independence was done through the following methods;

a. The use of youth as its political base to conduct a national wide strike against the constitution and the government.

b. The party had a newspaper called “The Accra Evening News” which spread the message that demanded independence of Ghana immediately.

c. It conducted mass rallies were by CPP use two powerful slogans such as “Seek first the political kingdom and all things shall be ended into it” and “Self-government Now”. However the Britain were threatened by the party hence they later imprison many of its leaders and burned its activities including the party news (Accra Evening News).



The Northern People’s Party (NPP)
This was formed in 1954 but it was a work party among all the parties which were formed.


Generally, the struggle between these political parties led to holding elections for independence, e.g. the Election took place in 1951 and CPP won 33 seats against 3 seats of UGCC. At this period Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was released from the jail to form a government in 1952, in the Gold Coast, in 1956 there were more election where CPP won 71 seats and 33 seats were won by the opposition. On 6th march 1957, Gold Coast became independent taking the name of the ancient Ghana Empire in 1960 Ghana became republic with Kwame Nkrumah being the president.




Reasons for the success of CPP

• Good leadership of Kwame Nkrumah as he managed to unite all people to struggle for independence.

• The party received much support from the peasants who comprised the big number of the population (The oppressed or exploited group)

• The use of slogan like “Self Government Now”. This was understood for all people as they knew that CPP was struggling for African government.

• Why Ghana achieved independence earlier.

• Good leadership. It had strong leadership such as CPP under Kwame Nkrumah.

• There was no tribalism from the CPP united all people in their struggle for independence.

• There were no settler in Ghana; therefore Ghana had no strong opposition from the white population hence it successfully gained her full independence in earlier 1957, thus being the first country in African to attain independence.

• The use of youth in nationalistic struggles of CPP, the youth were employed because had ability to walk for long time and distances in the process of spreading nationalistic ideas.

• The use of good slogan example “Self Government Now” and “Seek first the political kingdom and all things shall be ended into it”

• The CPP had clear policies and elaborative programs that promised to serve the people from the bitter price of cocoa, higher payment to workers and getting rid of colonialism.

Contribution of Ghana in Nationalistic Struggle in other African countries.

• The independence of Ghana was an inspiration to other African countries, example. Other African countries like Tanganyika and others nationalist used Kwame Nkrumah as their model to fight for independence.

• Ghana under Kwame Nkrumah strengthened Pan-Africanism movement which opposed colonialism. Example. In April 1958 all independent states like Libya, Ethiopia, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia etc. were invited to meet Accra to pay down plans which could be used to help other countries get their independence.

• Kwame Nkrumah was a person who advocated for the united states of Africa and African unity. These ideas led to the formation of OAU which later became an organization which opposed colonialism in many countries.

• Sometimes Ghana gave moral and material support to other non-independent states Ghana gave money to Malawi (Nyasaland) and Belgium Congo to fight for independence.

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Problems that faced Nigerian’s nationalist struggle, Decolonization through Constitutional Means in Nigeria

Decolonization through Constitutional Means in Nigeria


Decolonization process in Nigeria went together with the formation of political parties by Africans after the WWII. These political parties replaced the social and welfare Associations such the peoples union of 1908 which had protested against the water rate in Lagos and the Nigerian used movement which had earlier campaigned for bitter representation on the LEGCO, improved Africans living conditions and higher salaries for workers in 1934.



Mass Nationalism after WWII in Nigeria aimed at political independence through the use of peaceful method in which political parties held decisions with the colonialist and pressed the British government to provide independence to the Nigerians. There were a number of political parties that were formed almost after the WWII this included the following;



i. The National Council of Nigeria and Cameroon (NCNC)




This was formed in 1944 by Dr Nandi Azikiwe and Herbert Maculay. It was supported by the workers mainly from the Igbo in Eastern Nigeria since 1951 when the leaders of Igbo had quarrels with the Yoruba.



ii. The Northern People’s Party (NPP)




This was formed in 1951 by the Hausa-Fulani living on the north; many of its supporters were the Muslims who struggled for the domination of the well-developed Christians in the south. Its leader was Al-haji Sir Abubakar Tajawa Balewa.




iii. The Action Group (AG)




This was mainly supported by the Yoruba and represented the interests of the western Nigeria. The political party struggled for independence in order to liberate the westerners from colonial exploitation. The movement of all these political parties against the British led to the making of constructions which prepared Nigeria for independence.




The constitutions that led to independence of Nigeria.



Generally, when Nigeria showed that it was struggling for independence on the basis of tribal misunderstanding, to bring unity between political parties there were the constitutional which were made;



a. THE RICHARD’S CONSTITUTION




It was made in 1946 by the British government after NCNC organized a strike against social hardship after the WWII. The constitution provided the following;

Election of central legislative for the North and South which were ruled separately before 1946.

Bringing changes to the majority of the members who were not in the government to be in the legislative council.

The legislative council to be able to make a law for the whole country which was divided in four regions, such as the North, South, West and East.

The executive council in the constitution which had effort to strive for total independence.

b. MACPHERSON’S CONSTITUTION

It was made by the new governor in 1951. This constitution brought about some changes on the former constitution.

c. LYTTELTON CONSTITUTION

It was made in 1954 following the conference held in London where the conference created a federal constitution which gave more powers to regional governments and their legislature.




Elections which led to the independence in Nigeria.



1. The first Federal Election on 1954




In this election NCNC made a coalition government where by Al-haji Sir Abubakar Tajawa Balewa, a leader of NPP became the prime minister of Federal Government of Nigeria. In 1957 he provided a chance to the Action Group (AG) in order to get the government of national unity.



2. The second Election of 1959




In this election ethnic division were much higher. NPP won in the North, Action Group (AG) in the west and NCNC in the east. This trend made Nigeria achieve her independence under ethnic division which led to violence and civil wars in the first ten years after independence. On 1st October 1960 Nigeria got full independence from British where by Dr. Nandi Azikiwe of NCNC became the first president while Tajawa Balewa of NPP was the first Prime minister.




Problems that faced Nigerian’s nationalist struggle.

• Tribalism. The political parties which were formed, struggled for independence along the tribal lines, Example. NPP struggled for the Northerners while AG struggled for the westerners on the Yoruba.

• Vastness of the country. Nigeria was big in size and had diverse settlements of its people. It was not easy for the nationalist to move around the country.

• Religious conflicts. The people of the north were mainly Muslims who did not like to join with the south Christians who developed more than Muslims.

• Opposition from the colonial government. Since the British wanted to exploit raw materials, markets, cheap labour etc. they obviously put obstacles which would provide long time for Nigerians to achieve independence.

• Shortage of money, the nationalists had no enough money because they came from a poor class of people e.g. They could not be able to afford payments for the transport to the rallies against colonial government.

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Why Portuguese colonies achieved Independence through armed struggle?

DECOLONIZATION THROUGH ARMED STRUGGLE


Armed struggle is the struggle for freedom through the use of arms and is based on the struggle for political independence in Africa countries. In Africa armed struggle was employed by many of the settler and the former Portuguese colonies.


Why Portuguese colonies achieved Independence through armed struggle?

• Portugal had three colonies in Africa namely, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau and Angola and these entire colonies attained independence through armed struggle due to the following reasons;

• Denial of the basic social services such as health and education to Africans. Many people in Portuguese colonies had no education and access to other social services. Example Out of 7827 school learners only 636 was Africans. Also out of 321 students in Universities only 4 were Africans. Therefore it was estimated that more than 85% of Africans were illiterate. This also made Africans to resort to the use of armed struggle in order to remove the exploiter in their land.

• Disunity among the Africans in the sense that nationalistic leaders as in case of Angola where MPLA led by Augustino Netto, UNITA by Jonas Savimbi and FNLA of Holden Roberto were all fighting for nationalism.

• Portuguese was a semi- colony of British. The Portuguese being poor were under the control of British who had asked on exploiting of agricultural and minerals raw materials. The imperialist’s manpower supported the Portuguese to strengthen their root in the colonies hence to uproot them was only through armed struggle.

• The colonial economic grievances. African was against land alienation, forced labour, racial discrimination etc. so they wanted to send back Portuguese to their home.

• Assassination of the nationalistic leaders such as Eduardo Mondlane in Mozambique. This also catalyzed the fighting against the Portuguese.

• Presence of many settlers, Portuguese colonies had so many settlers who controlled the sphere of life of Africans. This created difficult condition for peaceful means to take place.

Decolonization through Armed struggle in Mozambique

• Mozambique like any other African countries began the struggle for justice in 1920's and they started with Elite Associations. In 1920's the Gremio Africanas Association for Secondary School Students and African Association were founded which faced strong resistance from the Portuguese power. It was not until 1960's that the Africans in Mozambique under Portuguese rule managed to form nationalistic political organization including;

• National Democratic Union of Mozambique (UDENAMO) formed in 1960 in Southern Rhodesia.

• The Mozambique African National Union (MANU) formed in Kenya in 1961, and

• African Union of Independent Mozambique (UNAMI) formed in 1961 in Nyasaland (Malawi)

• These all parties operated outside Mozambique because it was been banned and there was no way out and in 1961 they shifted their headquarter to Dar es Salaam. In 1962, a group of exile Mozambicans met in Dar es Salaam and merged their parties to form one party called Front for Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) under Eduardo Mondlane who was assassinated in 1969 with a Parcel bombs while in Da es Salaam.

Strategies used by Portuguese colonial state to weaken the FRELIMO struggle.
a) They terrorized villages hoping that they would stop supporting guerrilla fighters, Villagers were evicted from villages and concentrated into camps.

b) Destruction of farms and crops.

c) Burning of houses in villages

d) Massacre of people.

e) Assassination of key leaders of the struggle for independence i.e Eduardo Mondlane




Even though the Portuguese weakened FRELIMO but the party concentrated its attacks in strategic areas like in settler farms, railways lines, power installations and Portuguese military posts. By 1974 FRELIMO already had one-third control of Mozambique; this declined Portuguese morale to fight as FRELIMO proved its strength toward them.




Challenges that faced FRELIMO during the independence struggle.

• Internal division within the movement. Some members at a certain point thought that it was better to compromise with the Portuguese i.e. Vice president of FRELIMO, Urina Simango and Lazaro Korindame who joined the Portuguese government.

• The biggest church in Mozambique, the Catholic church supported the Portuguese and condemned FRELIMO

• Opposition from the Revolutionary Committee of Mozambique (COREMO). This part broke away from FRELIMO because FRELIMO growing socialist learning.

• Assassination of Eduardo Mondlane weakened the FRELIMO.

• In 15th June 1975 Mozambique became independent under President SamoraMachel due to peace talk held in Lusaka Zambia in 1974.

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Reasons for armed struggle in Zimbabwe and Factors which contributed to the attainment of Zimbabwe independence

Armed Struggle

Actual armed struggle in Zimbabwe began in 1960 and it was facilitated by the military living of ZAPU and ZANU which were known as ZIPRA and ZANLA respectively. The movement of these military livings took the form of Guerilla warfare by using neighboring land such as Zambia, Mozambique and Angola. The struggle was intensified from 1976 following the alliance between ZAPU and ZANU which formed the Patriotic Front (P.F).




Reasons for armed struggle in Zimbabwe

• Zimbabwe had a lot of settlers who occupied large areas of fertile land. These settlers were not ready to leave the land and grant independence. This situation led the black people to engage in armed struggle in order to gain their national independence.

• The peaceful means or constitutional methods failed to work in Zimbabwe, hence it was necessary to use armed struggle in order to regain true political independence.

• Economically, Zimbabwe was a rich colony; hence the colonizers didn’t easily surrender.Ian Smith, UDI (Unilateral Declaration of Independence) government created in 1965 made the situation more difficult for African majority to gain their independence.

• The “State of Emergency” in Zimbabwe banned all African political movement like ZANU, ZAPU, ANC and NDP.

• African nationalist leaders like Joshua Inkomo and others were imprisoned or detained. They were banned to operate political movements peacefully.

• There was disunity among the African leaders e.g. Bitter tribalistic differences which existed among Bishop Abel Muzolewa, Rev. Ndabaningi, Sithole, Joshua Inkomo and Robert Mugabe.

Factors which contributed to the attainment of Zimbabwe independence.

• The bodied leadership of Robert Mugabe and Ndabaningi Sithiole. These leaders used effective methods such as negotiation and warfare which led Zimbabwe to attain her independence.

• Contribution of Mass media such as magazine and newspapers which were used to expose the evils of the colonialists. These Mass Media also educated Africans on the need of majority rule.

• The contribution made by ZIPRA and ZANLA. These freedom fighters directed their assault on the government. This really shocked the settler and their government as a result they arose peaceful negotiation with African.

• The release of Joshua Nkomo and Ndabaningi Sithole from the prison. They invigorated the people with new morale to fight for their independence.

• The role played by organization of African Union (OAU). OAU members fought in supporting Zimbabwe nationalists, e.g. Kenya, Zambia and Tanzania were used as the home of liberation movements of Zimbabwean.

• The independence of Angola and Mozambique in 1975 rejuvenated the morale of the freedom fighter of Zimbabwe. Angola and Mozambique were used as the base for organizing the attacks.

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Ways in which the Zanzibar Revolution brought about positive changes in the living conditions of the people of Isles.

Ways in which the Zanzibar Revolution brought about positive changes in the living conditions of the people of Isles.

• Increased access to education. The revolutionary government built schools and colleges for the people of Zanzibar and provided free education to college level.

• Restoration of land to the services of Africans. The government nationalized most plantations that were owned by Arabs and restored to indigenous people.

• Promotion of Africans participation in politics and governance. The revolutionary government ensured peoples participation in political and governance responsibilities.

• Improved housing. The revolutionary government took the drastic measures to improve the living conditions of the people of Zanzibar by building good houses for workers and other people, i.e houses built in Michenzani, Kilimani, Kikwajuni etc.

• Improvement of means of infrastructure. The revolution government constructed roads and bought ships to facilitate marine transport from Zanzibar to Tanganyika and other destination.

• Improved health services. Hospital and dispensaries were built across Zanzibar and to this date the campaign for improving the health standards of the people of Zanzibar is ongoing.

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Reasons as why colonialists introduced different administrative systems after the establishment colonial rule.

Reasons as why colonialists introduced different administrative systems after the establishment colonial rule.

• To change the form or tradition of the African system of administration.

• To maintain or ensure effective occupation control of the colony socially, politically and economically.

• Maximization of profit through colonial exploitation by setting up a system of administration which favored colonialists.

• To ensure peace and harmony in colonies after faced reactions resistances during the establishment of colonial rule.

• To prepare the suitable and conducive environment for establishment of colonial economy.

• To fulfill the agreement reached during the Berlin conference of 1884-1885 on effective occupation of colonies.

• Therefore; the reasons behind the establishment of different colonial administrative system in Africa after colonialists managed to defeat Africans, was due to many resistances colonialists faced while they were trying to introduce colonial rule in Africa.

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what were the effects or impact of Second World war ( ww ii) to Africa and Europe

Effects of the Second World War in the World.

The Second World War left many impacts on the global scale. These were social, economic and political effects. Some of these effects were;

Collapse of European Capitalism. Where by various sectors of their economy badly affected. eg. Industries, Agriculture, commerce, they were in deep debts.

Emergence of USA dominance. After the Second World War the USA emerged as the leading imperialist power since her economy was ever not badly affected by the war.

Formation of United Nation Organization (UNO). It was formed so as to maintain peace and security in the World it was formed on 24th October 1945 to replace League of Nations.

Formation of Multilateral Financial Institution such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IFM).

Massive killing of people from soldiers to Civilians. The killings were more intensified than it was in the First World War. Example. German 3.25 million, USSR 3 million, Japan 1.5 million etc.

Devastation and Massive destruction of Economic Infrastructure, eg. Industries, enterprises, firms, banks, roads, markets, warehousing all these were badly destructed something which caused the collapse of European economy.

Influx and spread of Refugees in various parts in the World, about 21 million people were displaced from their homes.

 Division of the World into two main Camps, i.e Capitalist competition under USA and socialist camps under USSR.

Spread and Strengthening of Socialism (communism) in the world because ideology seemed to be more acceptable due to constant capitalist contradictions, socialism spread to the whole world of Eastern Europe.

Destruction of buildings in Hiroshima after Atomic bombing


Effects of the Second World War to Africa.

During the Second World War Africa was part and parcel of European metropolis through colonialism. Thus an crisis in European capitalism would affect Africa, thus the effects of the WWII to Africa include;

1. Intensification of exploitation in African colonies in orders to recover the destroyed European economies and occurred through intensification of development schemes such as terracing in highland, destocking, etc.

2. Intensification of African Nationalism. After the Second World War almost all African nations were characterized by mass nationalism due to intensification of exploitation through heavy taxation, low wages, low prices of cash crops etc.

3. Formation of UNO and Trusteeship council. After the formation of UNO in 1945 all mandate territories which were under the League on Nations, were transformed to trusteeship colonies to be ensured of granted independence on behalf of the United Nations.

4. Increase in the number of settlers,

5. Establishment of import substitution industries. Industries were established in the colonies to produce goods which were formally imported.

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Discuss and explain the meaning and causes of Second world war (ww ii) of 1939 - 1945

       THE SECOND WORLD WAR (1939-1945)

The Second World War was the second imperialist war fought between the axis powers, which comprised of German, Italy, Japan and Austria against the Allies or democratic forces which consisted of Britain, USA, Russia, France, Belgium and China. The war fought from 1939 to 1945. The Second World War was the complex, widespread and deadly war in history, because it involved a wide range of advanced scientific weapons, rockets, parachute, troops, sonar and suicide aeroplanes.

Background of Second World War

The WWII can be traced back by the development of dictatorship regime in Europe i.e Fascism and Nazism in Italy and German respectively. Nazism under Adolph Hitler, who wanted to unite all German-speaking people, dominates the whole Europe and the world at large. In order to implement his mission he involved himself in armament which was against Versailles peace treaty also he withdrew Germany from League of Nations and disarmament conference in 1934. This marked increasing hostility, suspicion and fear among the European powers.


Causes of the Second World War

There are number of factors that can be used to explain the occurrence of the great World War two in 1939. Those factors were;

1.      Economic rivalry of the imperialist nations.
Imperialist nation struggled the raw materials, markets and colonies for the growing population. German was frustrated by the distribution of her territories after the First World War. It was these common economic factors that brought Germany, Italy and Japan together and embark upon the aggression which ultimately led to global war in 1939.

2.      Weakness of Versailles Treaty
Under this treaty Germany lost all her colonies including Tanganyika which was given to Britain. Worse enough the important raw materials producing areas of Germany were awarded to Poland and France for exploitation. Thus without areas for exploitation Germany capitalism would collapse. Versailles Treaty therefore failed to understand that at the highest stage of capitalist countries engaged themselves in expansionism so as to get areas for raw materials, markets, cheap labour and areas for investment. There was therefore a need for Germany to demand for the lost colonies through the war, hence the outbreak of the Second World War.

3.      Failure of the League of Nations.
The League of Nations had failed to maintain the World peace as its primary objective. The League failed to stop aggressions made by fascist states, for example it failed to prevent the Italian conquest of Ethiopia in 1935 and Japanese conquest of Manchuria also failed to stop German rearmament policy which made her violate world peace. All these situations cemented the conditions for the outbreak of Second World War.

4.      The failure of the disarmament efforts.
The League of Nations failed to achieve the disarmament policy of the peace settlement 1919. The allied powers pledged themselves to apply the same measure to them.  The refusal of the Allied power to disarm gave Hitler the opportunity to arouse the national sentiment of his country by asserting that rearmament was the only way back to power.

5.      Hitler's aggressive policies
In the 1930's Hitler began his scheme of defying Versailles peace treaty terms one by one. Hitler withdrew Germany from the League of Nations in 1933. Also he denounced the disarmament program and started rearmament and militarization. Finally with military superiority he began his campaign to create close development scheme by annexing Austria Hungary in 1938. In September 3rd 1939 he occupied Czechoslovakia and Poland a phenomena which led to immediate outbreak of the Second World War.

6.      Spanish civil war of 1939
The Second World War was also partly attributed by the Spanish civil war in which both Italy under Benito Mussolini and Germany under Adolph Hitler intervened by sending troops to assist General Franco who wanted to take power from Republicans while Russia sided with the Republicans. The war helped the fascist to test their new war equipment’s like air crafts and tankers and finally form an alliance called Rome Berlin axis between Germany and Italy in 1936. It also helped them to test hostility towards communist states especially USSR which was siding with Republicans.

7.      Appeasement policy
This was the policy adopted by France and Britain towards Germany. The two countries gave in to Hitler's demands instead of opposing him. So, while Hitler’s invaded Poland in 1939, France and Britain found it difficult to allow Germany to annex Poland. Thus on 3rd September 1939, France and Britain declared war to Germany.

8.      Effects of Great Economic Depression
The effects of the Great Economic Depression also contributed to the outbreak of WWII as during the depression, Japan, German and Italy considered they economically handicapped in trying to compete with other nations for markets, raw materials and colonies. When the economic problems increased Germany for example, could not pay for the war damages, also Britain and France could not pay the war debts to USA which caused mistrust and aggression among themselves.

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What are the Measures taken by Colonial Powers to Alleviate the Impacts of the Great Depression

Measures taken by Colonial Powers to Alleviate the Impacts of the Great Depression

Several measures were taken by the colonial powers to revamp the impacts of the great depression on the metropolitan economies. This includes the following;

The expansion and consolidations of peasant’s cooperation. For this in 1930’s the colonial states allowed generation of cooperatives by encouraging the formation and training of their leaders. This aimed at eliminating the middlemen who discouraged the producer’s prices with high prices. This move motivated peasants to increase production. The colonial state also feared that preventing peasant cooperative would increase peasant agitation.

The initiation of growing more cash crops in the colonies. Colonialists introduced steps which were to be undertaken in order to transform the “Native” from scattered settlement and practicing of shifting cultivation of large areas under cash crops. Example, In Tanganyika the 1930’s and 1940’s land utilization schemes included the Uluguru land usage scheme, Mlalo rehabilitation scheme e.t.c.

The colonial states allowed peasants to grow the prohibited crops in settler colonies. In Kenya for example peasants were allowed to grow coffee.

African educational curriculum was reviewed to give more emphasis to hand crafts and agricultural education, e.g. Nyakato in Tanganyika was transformed from secondary school into agricultural school in 1930 a response to service the Metropolitan economies.

Intensification of labour recruitment particularly migrant labour was intensified to meet extra labour free demand in the newly opened up plantation and mining activities.

The institutionalization of imperial preferential system. This helped the Metropolitan powers to cling more and more on their colonies was encouraged.

Increased taxation. Taxes of various kinds were introduced after depression in order to expand sources of income for the colonial state. These taxes involved livestock, hut and poll tax etc.

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The meaning, features and effects of Great Economy Depression of 1929 - 1933

 THE GREAT ECONOMIC DEPRESSION (1929-1933)



The economic depression was the great failure of the capitalist economy or total economic slump that occurred firstly in USA and then hit the global capitalist economy. It was characterized by stagnation of the production, unemployment, low purchasing power, inflation and general social miseries to the people. The depression started in USA due to overproduction against under consumption and then spread to Europe and other parts of the capitalist world with exception of Russia.



Background of the Great Depression

The origin of the great depression was situated in the development of capitalism especially in USA and occurrence of the First World War. The First World War ended on 11th November 1920’s and during the next ten years USA became one of the strongest economic powers in the world. The war had a great effect to America, whose economy had improved as they need for food, raw materials and manufactured goods of all kinds increased. The USA made loans of US$ 10.3 billion during the war to its allies and 90% of this money had been used to buy American goods.



Features of the Great Economic Depression

During the decade of depression a large number of people lived in poor conditions, desperately in need of more food, clothing, and shelter. Yet the resources that could produce that food, clothing, shelter and other basic needs were not utilized effectively or rather at all.

Closure of many enterprises in the world

Unemployment, due to many enterprises being closed

Lowering of goods prices, and increase of food prices, running of unprofitable trade

Suspension of many banks and many banks was closed

Reduction of government expenditures and great inflation raised in the world


Causes of the Great Economic Depression

Many factors are regarded to have caused the great economic depression in the USA and the world at large; such factors can be seen in the following aspects;

The improper competition of the US capitalist production which led to overproduction visa versa under consumption.

The effects of the first world war, that the war destructed all economic infrastructure hence stagnation of production and reduced the purchasing power of many capitalist nations in Europe.

Collapse of stock exchange i.e. London stock exchange market, Thus the world became less powerful in purchasing the products from USA due to impacts of the WWI, hence failure of the economy.

US depended mainly on external market, so the world became less powerful to purchase the products form US due to First World War, which caused economic stagnation.

Foreign trade was in decline, other countries reacted to the policies of the USA government by placing high tariffs on USA goods. Therefore business in the USA could not sell effectively abroad.

Industries and business began to run off buyers. They could not export abroad and they could not sell to their people in the USA who were already suffering from economic hardship. As a result business began to cut back such that only few families could afford to buy consumer goods, so very few goods needed to be produced. Industries reacted by making movement back to the workforce. This seems like a vicious circle from which it was impossible to break through.

International trade tariff walls. After the First World War Europeans restructured their economies through USA particularly food were prevented from entering Europe. Due to this lack of external market the first sign of a great depression was seen in USA where they had already cultivated a lot of food crops to feed Europeans during and after the war.

Unequal distribution of national wealth. During the period around 1929, 5% of Americans owned 32% of national wealth. Thus prosperity of Americans depended on this 5% for buying and producing goods. T his group lost its income in the New York stock exchange due to fall in prices of shares. Due to workers who were the majority lacked the purchasing power hence lack of market which resulted to a great depression.



THE CAPITALIST ECONOMIC CYCLE

1. BOOM STAGE (PEAK)

This is a period when the economy is at the highest level. During this period the economy has the following characteristics;

i. High level of investment

ii. Lowest level of unemployment

iii. Income to both individuals and companies are high

iv. Stable prices of commodities

v. High and effective demands

vi. High standard of living

vii. Social and political stability

viii. Expansion of trade



2. RECESSION STAGE (DOWN TURN OR CRISIS)

This is a temporary decline in economic activities and it has the following characteristics;

i. Decrease in investment

ii. Decrease in employment

iii. Decrease in incomes

iv. Decrease in effective demand

v. Decrease of commodity price

vi. Profitless trade


3. SLUMP STAGE (DEPRESSION)

This is the period of total decline in the economy or stagnation of the economy. It has the following characteristics;

i. Lowest level of investment

ii. Highest level of unemployment

iii. Lowest level of income as many investment died

iv. Lowest level of consumption as purchasing power declined

v. Prolonged accumulation of unsellable commodities

vi. People losing confidence of their government

vii. Lowest standard of living

viii. Rising of food prices

ix. Social and political unrest

x. Total closure of enterprises and investment


4. RECOVERY STAGE (EXPANSION)

This is the period when the economy started to improve and expand follows after the Depression or recession. It has the following characteristics;

i. Investment start to expand

ii. Employment start to increase

iii. Income increases

iv. Prices start to rise

v. Effective demand increase

vi. Standard of living starts to rise


Effects of Great Depression in the World

The Great Depression affected almost all the capitalist nations worldwide and the other small states either directly or indirectly;

It led to bankrupt of the capitalists due to failure of business and the closure of enterprises

Social miseries e.g. Famine and shortage of food

Led to the rise of dictatorship regime in Europe i.e. Nazism in Germany, Japan and Spain also Fascism in Italy.

The great depression led to withdraw of Us loans to the European countries

It led to the collapse of League of Nations

It facilitated the exploitation of most African resources

Brought much suffering to normal people due to famine, hunger and general social miseries.

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The meaning, causes and effects or impact of first world war

 THE FIRST WORLD WAR

Meaning of the concepts


War refers to any conflict between two or more people or group of people where various weapons are used to fight against each other. It can also be defined as any armed conflict between two or more people or group of people.


First World war was the greatest capitalist/imperialist war which was fought between two military camps, Triple Entente (Britain, France, Russia) with full support from their allies i.e. USA, Japan, Rumania, Serbia, Belgium, Montenegro against Central Powers or Triple Alliance (German, Austria Hungary, Italy and Turkey) from 1914 to 1918.


Background of the First World War

The World War One had its roots in many political and economic tendencies of the big Capitalists nations. The glorious age of science, democracy and social reforms ended in one of the fatal wars that had not yet occurred in the history of the world.


Military and naval activities were likewise enormously increased. Until 1914 in particular, each continent of the great powers had not only a huge standing army but also millions of trained reserves among the civilians population. This sensation marked the beginning of the Great War to be inevitable.

Factors that led to the occurrence of First World War

There were many direct and indirect factors which contributed to the occurrence of the First World War. Some of the remote or underlying causes of the world war one can be traced far back into the history of Europe for more than the century from about 1870.

A. Long Term Causes of the First World War

Long-term causes are traced back in the 19th century mainly in the development of capitalism in Europe. Some of the underlying factors (causes) of the First World War are summarized below;


1. Economic motives of the Capitalist nations.

Since the rise and development of capitalism through various stages, Capitalists had been struggling to get four main capitalist demands i.e. raw materials, areas for investment, market and cheap labour. The struggle for these demands gave rise to various means of struggle which led to fear, suspicion, collision, conflicts and eventually the world War One.


Also due to industrial revolution competition was intensified in all capitalist nations, raw materials became the crucial need of them and market became the reason for expansionism, thus the struggle led to conflict which resulted into war.


2. Political reasons

Political aspect of the occurrence of the First World War was;

Nationalism of German in 1870. After completion of unification of German, intensified her military hence posing strong challenge to other capitalist nations in Europe especially Britain. This led her capability to expand and acquire more colonies in the world which led to conflict between her and other imperialist power which were also intensified in potential areas.

Pan-Germanism in 1895. This was the movement of German people (Pan-Germany League) which advocated to the expansion of Germany to incorporate all Teutonic people of central Europe. The boundaries of the empire had to be extended lie Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Austria, Poland as far as East Warsaw. This German expansionism brought about conflicts with other big imperialist nations and later led into the First World War.


3. French revenge movement

This was the movement of the French men who wanted to revenge and take back the two rich provinces of Alsace and Lorraine which were annexed by German during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871; the provinces were very rich in coal and iron which were very crucial minerals for industrialization. The demand of French cultivated a lot of hatred between the two nations, which resulted into conflicts eventually war.


4. Dissatisfaction of Territorial arrangement

By the 19th century almost all part of the world was under big capitalists powers with exception of Africa which came to be colonized at the end of 19th century after Berlin conference. The colonialists were never satisfied with their political and territorial boundaries; hence they started eying other territories with the aim of annexing them. Example;

British were interested in Mesopotamia, Iraq and Palestine which were the colonies of Turkey so as to secure Egypt.

Russia was interested in the partitioning of Turkey and Constantinople (present day Ukraine)

Japan was interested in expanding to China, Korea and other parts of Far East.


5. Moroccan Crisis (Crash over Morocco) in 1904 and 1911

The first and the second Moroccan crises of 1905 and 1911 respectively intensified the old hostile relation between Germany and France that was planted by the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871. Germany was attempting not primarily to keep French out of Morocco nor even to reserve Morocco to itself, but to break up the new understanding between France and England. The conference of 1906 supported the French claims in Morocco. The Germans government had thus created an incident and been rebuffed. British were disturbed by German diplomatic tactics but she stood by the French all the more firmly.

6. Formation of Entangling Military Alliances.

Military Alliance was the military union of the big capitalist nations formed for mutual benefits, like fighting together against common enemies. The military alliance formed were the Dual Alliance (1879) created between Austria Hungary and Germany but it changed to Triple Alliance after the joining of Italy to the alliance. On the other hand, France and Russia began political friendship which moved to Alliance in 1890, later on Britain join the Alliance in 1907 and came to be known as Triple Entente.

These alliances were accompanies with militarization which intensified fear and suspicion which stimulated aggression among the conflicting nations.


B. Immediate Causes of the First World War

These were the reasons that sparked off the outbreak/occurrence of First World War in 1914. There was only one factor that triggered off the outbreak of the First World War which was;


7. The Assassination of Ferdinand Archduke in Sarajevo the capital city of Bosnia.

On June 28, 1914, the Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated in the empire. Archduke who would soon become the emperor of Austrian throne. For this Austria Hungary accused directly the Serbia government to have fully involved itself in the murder.

General impacts of the First World War

By the end of 1918 the European communities and the surrounding land witnessed death by tens of thousands; no one could have predicted the horrifying consequences of modern weapon being used together with out-of date’s tactics. People were affected directly and some indirectly. The effects are summarized here under;


Destruction of the economic infrastructure i.e. banks, industries, factories and roads and railways which were badly damaged by the war.

Many people were killed, it is estimated that in one hour (60 minutes) more than 3 millions of people were killed in the 2nd year of the war. This led to highly depopulation in Europe.

Failure of the economy and inflation of many European countries currencies.

Formation of dictatorship regime in Europe, i.e. NAZISM of Hitler in Germany and FASCISM of Mussolini in Italy.

The birth of League of nations in 1919

The occurrence of Great depression (economic slump), which invaded Europe and the global community at large, resulted from this great war of the 1914.

Dispossession of Germany colonies because she was accused of mobilizing the war.

It was the initial stage of the rise USA as giant capitalist nations in the world.

Effects of First World War on Africa

As matter of fact, the world war one didn’t originated in Africa, but still Africans were badly affected by the war, just because of being a colony of big power. Such effects included;

Intensification of exploitation of Africa aimed at recovery the war ruined European economies.

Cut down the colonial expenditure so as to reduce expenses and raise income.

Launching of different schemes in Africa i.e. land rehabilitation schemes and crops schemes.

Change of colonial master, i.e. Rwanda, Burundi and Tanganyika fall under Britain. These were formerly Germany colonies.

Prices of crops were lowered so as to maximize profits.

Forced labour was more intensified in colonies especially in Africa.

Depopulation, as many soldiers who went to battle field some of them died, while some came back with new nationalist ideas.

Economic stagnation

Famine and social miseries

Post War Settlement


This was the period after the war, whereby the international community led by the big nations summoned a meeting to evaluate the magnitude of the war, the causal, effects and nations involved in that war and to propose strategies that could be used to restore and maintain peace and order in the world. It aimed at preventing the occurrence of another world war.

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What are the ffects of the discovery of iron technology in African societies?

Effects of the discovery of iron technology in African societies?

Iron technology refers to technical innovation of iron tools that revolutionized human life and culture. By 200 B.C. Meroe area on the Upper Nile was a great iron smelting centre. In East Africa, it is believed that man started using iron tools from 1000 A.D. The discovery of iron technology in African societies had the following effects:-

(i) Improved production: It led to the improvement of productive forces like the use of hoes and axes which were better than stone tools and increased production.

(ii) Population growth: The improved tools of production led to the increase in food production which in turn led to population increase. Hence people could produce surplus thus ensuring food security. Also with iron technology man increased security against wild animals and enemies through the use of iron weapons.

(iii) Emergence of specialization: With iron technology there was an increase in division of labour leading to specialization, and thus increase in production of surplus.


(iv) Emergence of classes: With increased production some people became richer and for that they began exploiting the poor, there fore society became divided into classes of the  exploited or the oppressor and the oppressed.

(v) It led to development of trade: The exchange and manufactured iron tools between different areas tremendously. Iron tools made man to engage in and exchange relations.

(vi) It led to permanent settlements as man was able/began cultivating permanent crops leading to development of complex commodities. This also marked the beginning of political institutions such as kinships and state organizations.

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Scheme of work all levels download for free

follow the link below to get your free copy today. they are both science subjects and art subjects, from form one to form six
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