MEPX
Chapter 9 of 10All chapters
  1. 1The age of revolutions
  2. 2Industrial society
  3. 3Empire and nationalism
  4. 4The First World War
  5. 5Between the wars
  6. 6The Second World War
  7. 7Building a new order
  8. 8The Cold War
  9. 9Decolonisation and civil rights
  10. 10Since 1991

Chapter 9 of 10

Decolonisation and civil rights

Who counts as a citizen.

Independence

India and Pakistan in 1947, Ghana in 1957, and most of Africa in the following decade. Partition and hurried border-drawing caused mass displacement and lasting conflict.

  • Algeria and Vietnam won independence after prolonged wars.
  • New states inherited borders and economies designed for extraction.

Rights movements

Civil rights in the United States, anti-apartheid in South Africa, and later movements for women's rights and gay rights reshaped domestic politics across many countries.