Topic 5 – Session 7 – Big Civilization

The scramble for Africa began in the late 1800’s. Before then, the European powers held colonies on the coasts. Africa had been the last large, accessible land in the world.

The world wars showed Europe’s decline in power. Europe was vulnerable. Moreover, the scramble had little basis but opportunism. Europe’s colonies had been acquired too recently to acquire the legitimacy conferred by the passage of time. “Easy come; easy go,” could describe the wave of independent movements after World War II.

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Boer War Mau Mau Rebellion Algerian War of Independence Portuguese Colonial Wars

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