Free Nationalism Or Pan Africanism In Africa Critical Thinking Example

Nationalism gave birth to Pan Africanism and Pan Africanism in turn radicalized nationalism. The integration of both resulted in the downfall of the European empires in the African continent. In the twentieth century, nationalism merged with Pan Africanism to create colonial domination to media opposition. Political associations also influenced nationalism. The initial expression of nationalism included the rise of Ethiopia, resistance to the devastation of African culture and the establishment of independent churches. One of the most important factors that motivated the nationalist phase and intensified the circulation of ideas includes western education. Western education and other changes that occurred in Africa in the early twentieth century offered an opportunity for the Africans to travel abroad and ensure the formulation of new ideas constructed around the new nations. As the number of graduates started to increase in Africa, it turned out to stress the equality of races and people.
Colonial governments employed the policy of divide and rule and provoked anti-colonial reactions, which failed to influence the Africans as they were in unity through institutions, such as railways, army, civil services and police. The trend of religion influenced through religion stared to produce events of combative resistance, such as the militant movement led by John Chilembwe, which was unsuccessful in dislodging the British. In the 1920’s various Africans in the Congo region believed that the Americans would save them from the British and start a new administrative system that would bring prosperity. The Prophet Kimbangu movement that took place in the 1920s in the Belgian Congo is an example of nationalist movement towards independence. New cities, better infrastructure and improved communication systems brought Africans together through political and cultural associations that emerged to promote nationalism.
The ultimate victory for nationalism occurred in four major waves. In the first wave that occurred in the 1950s, Libya became an independent nation in the year 1951, followed by Egypt in 1952, Sudan, Tunisia and Morocco in 1956. The first wave also resulted in the freedom of Ghana in 1957 and Guinea in 1958. During the second wave that took place in the 1960s, 32 countries achieved independence between 1960 and 1968. The third wave nationalism that took place in the late 1970s led to the independence of the Lusophone countries from the rule of Portugal, Comoros from the French rule and Seychelles from the rule of Britain. The fourth wave of 1980s led to the independence of Zimbabwe in 1980 followed by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in 1982 and finally the independence of Namibia in the year 1990. Each wave of independence brought the joy of nationalism to its peak.
Pan Africanism led to the increase of economy, emergence of entrepreneurs, establishment of banks to finance loans, and opportunities to form partnership with the foreign investors. The governments of the independent African countries took the radical change as an opportunity to initiate new projects, grant access to jobs, negotiate economic deals and expand the access to resources. Nationalism also brought various social and cultural gains to the Africans, including the popularity of African literature. It expanded the medical and educational facilities across the continent, paying greater attention to women education. It established indigenous institutions reflecting African traditions. Nationalism led to a gain in power, letting the Africans replace the Europeans and bring development to the continent. It was a splendid era in both the African as well as World history. African nationalism forcefully moved from anti-colonialism to nation building.
The phase of nationalism was so painful that the intellectuals had to attack both the Africans as well as the Europeans. Africans began to use the idea of anti-imperialism to claim the creation of new African countries, which were not only small in size, but also had a population of less than a million. Moreover, there are over a dozen landlocked countries that rely on their neighbors for carrying out trade. Though nationalism succeeded in transferring power from the Europeans, it failed to prevent the transition from colonial rule to neocolonial control, in which the Europeans were able to cast their dominant influence on the politics and the economy. Nationalism also failed to prevent the past legacies. The independence of Africa became meaningless as the European countries started to impose unequal conventions in terms of military, economy and technology. Many countries of Africa declined to a pre-independent level begging their former masters to do everything possible to sustain their lives.
The decline of nationalism was a result of the limitations of nationalism during the colonial rule as well the resurgence of identities post independence. The competition between ethnicity and nationalism led to a delay in the independence of countries, such as Nigeria. A cumulative loss of economic transformation as a result of nationalism dampened the optimism and enthusiasm of the Africans. Martin Luther King Jr, who visited Ghana upon the invitation of Kwame Nkrumah on the eve of independent celebrations shocked to witness the poverty of Nigeria during his return journey to the US. He took a keen interest in the affairs of Africa and felt that the segregation in America and African colonialism were both a result of white supremacy. It was in the early nineteenth century that another famous personality Toussaint L’ouverture proposed to arrive on the African continent with thousands of soldiers in order to abolish slavery on the continent and make the continent free from the colonial rule. However, it was too late that the proposal came into light in one of the publications in the year 1899. Thus, though nationalism and Pan Africanism were successful in bringing independence to the African nations from the colonial rule, the nations lost legitimacy and virtually all the governments became inefficient to maintain their economy.