Explain the following statement with reasons: After the Second World War, the independence movements in Africa intensified.

Answer:

The statement is true because:

• The war weakened Britain, France and other colonial powers economically and militarily, so they could not hold their colonies by force.
• Lakhs of Africans fought in the war for ‘freedom and democracy’; on return they demanded the same freedom for themselves.
• The Atlantic Charter and the UN Charter accepted the right of people to self-determination.
• The Pan-African Congress at Manchester (1945) demanded independence; India’s independence in 1947 inspired Africans.
• Educated leaders like Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta and Nelson Mandela led mass movements; Ghana became free in 1957 and most of Africa by the 1960s.