II, encouraged the decolonization of territories held by European countries, especially by the great cost that meant keeping such extensive domains, whose examples was the case of African countries. Those two countries had given money to the African colonies to build support for their respective political systems. Thus, some colonies had inclined by others with capitalism and communist ideology. The partition of Africa, including Europeans, had occurred between 1880 and the First World War. Only three African states enjoyed independence after the first world war: the South African Union, the predecessor of the Republic of South Africa, created on May 31, 1910, under British administration, Liberia, free from its founding by former American slaves in 1820, and Ethiopia was never colonized, only occupied by the Italians between 1936 and 1941. The rest was under French, British, Belgian, Portuguese, Italian, German or Spanish. Racism was the common feature of colonial rule, where blacks were considered by Europeans as an inferior race, starting to take shape among the black population wants independence, especially with the increasing degree of literacy that some of its members had reached , allowing them to learn of the liberation movements in the world. The French had been defeated in Indochina, which by the Geneva Accords of 1954, was divided into three states: Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. This encouraged the ideas of independence, like the independence of India from British hands. The French President Charles De Gaulle, the French Union tried to form, giving autonomy to its colonies and representation in the French Parliament. This was unsuccessful and the French Union was replaced by the French Community in 1958. That same year, Guinea became independent, a French colony since 1890. Then he tried to reach an agreement, which included the release of the French colonies of Morocco, Tunisia, West Africa and Madagascar. Morocco expressed its ideals of independence through the Independence Party, who wanted to bring to power the Sultan Mohammed Ben Youssef, who was deported by the French. However popular revolts forced to recognize the independence of the new state and its sovereign, who became Mohamed V, in 1956. In Tunisia, negotiation, including armed struggle, was in charge of Bourguiba, representative of the Neo-Destour party, meaning New Constitution. What was not in the plans was the emancipation of French Algeria, inhabited by 1,000,000 Frenchmen, 10% of the total population, where the National Liberation Front, whose leader was Ahmed Ben Bella, the government had brought against a guerrilla war since 1954. In Algeria, fought a battle between the revolutionaries and the government that lasted until 1959, leaving about 500,000 dead. In that year De Gaulle admitted free choice of the Algerians, reaching into such agreements of Evian in 1962, Algeria was recognized as a sovereign state, and the National Liberation Front took power. England signed with the United States the Atlantic Charter in 1941, which was committed by one of their points to promote the autonomy of their colonies. The British dominions in West Africa, Gold Coast (now Ghana) and Nigeria became independent in 1957 and 1960, respectively. This past year also reached the emancipation of East African states, Kenya and Tanganyika, later called Tanzania when it merged with Zanzibar. Nyasaland (now Malawi), Southern African state, its independence from the British in 1964 as a state of Malawi, the year in which he also did other Southern states: North Rhodesia, under the name of Zambia. In 1965, managed to free Rhodesia, Ian Smith taking power, who established a policy of racial segregation, similar to the South African model (apartheid). It was after defeating this government, which remained supported by the white population and Britain, in 1980, which the black majority won the recognition of their rights, restoring the state of Zimbabwe.
The Congo was the main Belgian colonies, exploited intensively by Belgium, particularly in the period under King Leopold II ruled, achieving independence in 1960. It is a country rich in minerals (diamonds, cobalt, uranium, zinc). In 1965, after long and bloody years of civil war, where at least two provinces were separated and required the intervention of UN troops and negotiating efforts, peace was achieved. In 1975 the state changed its name to Zaire. The Portuguese, who were missing their colonial rule in Africa, after the overthrow of dictator Antonio de Oliveira Salazar and his successor, April 25, 1974, unwilling to recognize their independence. The Republic of Guinea-Bissau (the name was given to distinguish it from the Republic of Guinea, which had been a French colony) was established in 1974 and Mozambique, Cape Verde and Angola in 1975. Angola and Mozambique had to withstand a guerrilla war, supported by foreign nations until 1988. The state of Namibia, southwest, appeared in 1990 as a result of the war in Angola. Namibia had been bequeathed to South Africa in temporary administration by the League of Nations after the Germans who held it from 1840, were defeated in the First World War. The South Africans imposed their system of apartheid there or racial segregation. In Angola, had emerged in 1961, two fronts for the liberation: the National Front for the Liberation of Angola and the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola, who were savagely repressed dissident members of the first group formed in 1964, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola. After achieving independence in 1975 occurred among the revolutionaries themselves a bloody civil war, where the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola received the support of Soviet communism and the National Front for the Liberation of Angola and the Popular Movement, were supported by the British, Americans and South Africa. In 1976, there was the triumph of the Popular Movement, but did not give the conquered territories of central and south. After the 1991 elections, where the winners were again members of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, the war resumed for being accused of electoral fraud. Peace came only with the treaties of Lusaka in 1994. in 1997 a national unity government, but fighting continued. Despite having formed in 1963, the Organization for African Unity (OAU) to avoid conflicts between the new African states on border issues, raising these often followed mainly by ethnic problems.