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The Second World War and its impact on African Nationalism
During the WW2 West Africa mostly sided with France as she had several colonies there, but Nigeria and Liberia, Sierra Leone etc supported Britain, North Africa was part of the French Empire. But the British controlled East, Central and South African colonies. After 1945 the colonial powers came up with policies to support elections and economic development in their colonies to prepare the colonies for independence.
African politics - post 1945 developments
The WW2 helped to focus African politics in the direction of territorial nationalism. Nationalism in Africa was the desire to create nation states like those in Europe and American. Nationalists had acquire state power and also form the people into a nation that in Africa a common language seldom existed.
The war contributed to African nationalism by recruiting African soldiers who gained sharper political awareness. There was increased awareness of world events during wartime. In 1943, a lawyer from Ghana JB Danquah wrote that all blacks including Negroes should unite and Ghana people gained majority in the Legco. Danquah and his friends launched the colony’s first nationalist party, the United Gold Coast Convention to contest the elections, hiring a young pan-Africanist, Kwame Nkrumah to organize it. Later Nkrumah formed the radical Convention People’s Party. In 1944 educated Africans formed a K.A.U. to support Kenyans, but radical and less educated formed Mau Mau rebellion movement. In central Africa, the British in 1953 formed a federation of Northern and Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
Socially
After 1945 colonial change penetrated the family life e.g. education gave the youth access to a larger world than their parents which enabled them to escape the harsh discipline of initiation systems. Youthful self-assertion found new expression in Christian churches, dance societies, football clubs and political associations like the Nigerian Youth Movement. Labour migration and wage employment gave young a new economic freedom and access to accelerated seniority as they could pay their own bride wealth or then father’s taxes. Education, labour migration and inflated bride wealth raised the average age of men at first marriage (J. Iliffe 1995).
Urbanization
In order to pay taxes and improve social life, some Africans went to towns to seek for employment, more towns were built, people from various ethnic groups mingled and increased nationalist consciousness. Urbanization uprooted workers from their culture, a sense of a new life was created hence nationalism was a product of urbanization.
Infrastructure - After 1945, there was building of more roads and railways, agricultural reforms to enhance economic exploitation. Africans were made to build roads, markets, the railway connected the productive rural areas to urban areas, the Africans used roads and railways to go to towns to seek employment and visit relatives.
Social services
Cultural governments enhanced the provision of social services like hospitals and social halls, provision of more clinics and medical treatment.
jerop5614 answered the question on January 15, 2019 at 06:35
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