State your opinion: The end of Second World War created an environment in which the process of decolonisation gained speed.

Answer: I agree with the statement.

• The Second World War left the colonial powers such as Britain, France and Holland economically and militarily exhausted; they could not maintain their colonies by force.
• Nationalist movements in Asia and Africa had grown strong, and soldiers from the colonies who fought in the war became aware of freedom.
• The new world powers, the USA and USSR, opposed old-style colonialism, and the United Nations Charter supported the right of peoples to self-determination.
• So India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and later most African nations became free within a few decades. In my opinion the end of the war greatly sped up decolonisation.