Colonization In Africa

Europeans effectively partitioned the colonies which became the African states which exist today while comparing and contrasting the experiences of both French and British decolonisation in one French-controlled and one British-controlled African country. This essay will explore the experience of colonisation and the subsequent decolonisation in Algeria by the French and the Gold Coast by the British. There were notable similarities and differences in the French and British colonisation and decolonisation experience which will be illustrated in this essay. The process of colonisation in Africa by Europeans began as early as the 1430s. At first European nations began trading links with Africa, which was focused on the African coastlines at this time “Inland Africa was largely unknown”. As a consequence of a drive for European expansion, which then became a widespread competition for imperial power, Europeans explored inland Africa. The driving force was greed for financial gain and power that led them to further infiltrate and exploit Africa. They were aided in their conquest for colonisation by their military superiority, advancements in technology which made the

Similar to the partition of Ireland by England, tensions were created by these unnatural borders, dividing and causing conflict between the colonised native inhabitants. Algeria finally gained their independence from French colonial rule in 1962. While the Gold Coast had a different process of decolonisation as Britain had hoped to use the Gold Coast as an example, to show off to the rest of the world that they could make the country independent while following British example, and British politics, basically Britain wanted to mimic their own government in the Gold Coast and were unhappy when their plan did not work out. Decolonisation had been decided upon after demonstrations and rioting by native ex-soldiers who had served in the European armies. This prompted an accelerated process of decolonisation in the region. As seen in both the decolonisation of Algeria and the Gold Coast, the effect of decolonisation as argued by Westad, claimed that “instead of reducing tensions in society decolonisation- for formally colonized- often increased them and gave rise to state administrations that were, for the peasants, more intrusive and more exploitative than the colonial authorities had been.” This can be seen in both Algeria and the Gold Coast. In the Gold Coast their new leader, Prime Minister