28b: A Farewell To EmpiresIn World War Two, the German, Japanese, and Italian empires were defeated, never to rise again. The newly founded United Nations called outright for the dissolution of all empires; like its predecessor, the League of Nations, the UN considered empires basically exploitative. Realistically, world power was divided between two nations - the United States and the Soviet Union. Both preached anti-imperialism, but their practice was something different. As the former European powers lost their imperial holdings, both of the superpowers added eagerly to their spheres of influence.
Britain, France, and the other European powers certainly didn't want to give up their empires. Churchill in particular hated to write off the British Empire, but Britain had been bled to death by the war, both physically and economically. The British empire still exists on paper to this day. The monarch of England, currently Queen Elizabeth II, serves as head of the British Commonwealth, which includes nations such as Canada, Australia, South Africa, India, Pakistan, and (of course) Great Britain. After the Second World War, "white" territories such as Canada and Australia presented no problem to the British, since they had been virtually independent for decades. Were it not for the American Revolution, Britain's 13 American colonies might have become part of this commonwealth too.
In the Commonwealth's "non-white" territories, directly ruled by the British, trouble was brewing. India was the first part of the British Empire to fall apart. The Congress Party, led by Mohandas K. "Mahatma" Gandhi, led India's drive for freedom, Gandhi displayed far more concern for his fellow Hindus than he did the Muslims. Although India's Muslims were a distinct minority, their rights had to be assured too. Hence, in 1947 the Indian subcontinent was divided into the Hindu-dominated nation of India, flanked on either side by the Muslim-dominated nations of East and West Pakistan. The arbitrary boundaries separating Hindu from Muslim states did not end their ancient religious warfare. Religious warfare also continued in Palestine, where the Arab nations of Egypt and Jordan gained their independence and became sovereign states. In 1947, the United Nations divided Great Britain's Palestine mandate into separate Jewish and Arab portions with yet another set of arbitrary boundaries. The Jewish portion became the republic of Israel in 1948, while the Palestinian portion sank into a political limbo, where it dwells to this day.
The French hoped to reclaim their empire for economic reasons and to salvage their national pride. They were driven from Palestine by nationalist forces in 1946, but managed to hold on to Algeria until 1962. Although France's Central African colonies have long since been independent, France still maintains a "sphere of influence" to this day in countries such as Chad. Most important for our purpose is the fall of France's empire in Southeast Asia, or Indochina. Conquered in the middle 1800s and ruled by French viceroys, French Indochina was captured by Japan during the Second World War. The main obstacle to French control was the Viet Minh movement, founded in 1930 by the French-educated Communist Ho Chi Minh. The Viet Minh had gained military experience fighting the Japanese, and in 1947 they began fighting the French. In keeping with the Truman Doctrine, the United States helped France by sending money and materials. After Mao's Communists took over China in 1949, America stepped up the aid. But the French were doomed to lose: their resources were limited and their line of supply was too long. Worse, they were up against a skilled and brave enemy fighting on its on land. In 1954 the French bailed ou. The former French Indochina was divided up by the Geneva Accord into North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The United States was effectively left with the mess.
The changeover from imperial colony to new sovereign country was not always smooth. Israel, for example, was forced to choose almost immediately between allying with the Western Allies or the Soviets. Nor did the old imperial powers let their colonies go completely. In July 1956, the Egyptians nationalized the Suez Canal. Not only was the Suez Canal crucial to the British and French economies, it affected the entire Western world's oil supply. Britain, France and Israel determined to strike back, and attacked in October. While Israel quickly captured the Sinai Peninsula, British and French special forces secured the canal. The Soviets began making noises about assisting Egypt. The UN, however, sent in peacekeeping troops and President Eisenhower personally forced Britain and France to agree to a ceasefire. That was it for Britain and France as first-rank world powers. Even for those "Third World" nations which remained politically independent, economic independence from Europe and America was a completely different matter. More often than not, they found themselves sucked into either the Eastern or Western bloc. Nations such as Indonesia (a former Dutch colony) and Mozambique (a former Portuguese colony) were often the sites of bloody guerrilla wars egged on by the United States, the USSR, or both.
28a: Introduction
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28c: The Iron Curtain Descends
28d: Proxy Wars and the Arms Race
28e: Conclusions
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