Exceptional Italy? The Many Ends of the Italian Colonial Empire

Both the history of Italian colonialismand its end have often been seen as exceptional. Depending on the opinions of different historians, the Italian colonial empire was either built too late or remained too small to be compared to the large overseas possessions of other European imperial powers, such as Portugal, Spain, France, and the United Kingdom. Focusing on the particularities of an Italian Empire built in East Africa and in Libya, this chapter surveys the motivating factors of, the geopolitical obstacles to, and popular cultural engagement with colonial expansion in Italy before, during, and after the country’s turn to fascism.

Rethinking Decolonization

The book’s Introduction reflects on precisely what we understand by decolonization and considers its relevance in light of the more recent and growing interest in global history, as well as the history of globalization. The Introduction explains how the history of decolonization is being rethought as a result of the rise of the ‘new’ imperial history, and this history’s emphasis on race, gender and culture. It also discusses the more recent growth of interest in the histories of globalization and transnational history, as well as in the histories of migration and diaspora, humanitarianism and development, and human rights.

Global Wars and Decolonization in East and South-East Asia (1937–1954)

This chapter discusses how, between 1937 and 1954, two global conflicts combined to affect the course of East and South-East Asian decolonization profoundly—the Second World War and the Cold War. It covers how the Americans gained the upper hand in the region from 1945 by occupying Japan alone (unlike in Germany) and how the Chinese communist victory in 1949 and Mao’s alliance with Stalin a few months later readjusted the balance. It explains how the Americans responded to the Chinese–Moscow alliance, and how the Americans and Chinese engaged each other, both directly in the Korean War and indirectly via the French and the Vietnamese in Indochina. It then explains how the Indochina conflict (1945–1954), as a case study, can help to better understand how and why the Cold War and decolonization intersected in such complex and violent ways.

France

This chapter reviews the course of French decolonization by taking a long view of the central ideological tenets of French colonialism and the cultural ideas that underpinned governmental practice. The chapter also explores ideas of imperial structure, constitutional structures, and the basic architectures of French colonial rule. It looks at specific examples of French colonial areas, including Algeria, Indochina, and the Caribbean, as well as the various laws and constitutions enacted across the French Republics, exploring their connections with France’s process of decolonization. Finally, the chapter revisits ideas of decolonization and the ways in which the process unfolded for the peoples caught up in the ends of French empire.

Unravelling the Relationships between Humanitarianism, Human Rights, and Decolonization

Humanitarianism, human rights, and decolonization have each generated their own historiography. This chapter demonstrates how their histories were so closely entangled that they are barely comprehensible when studied in isolation. The central argument is that the post-colonial world was forged at the intersection of these three post-war geopolitical forces, and that the study of human rights and humanitarianism enable us to see decolonization in a much more dynamic way than state-centric approaches. Human rights activists and humanitarians hoped to change the face of a decolonizing world, but that decolonizing world profoundly affected what they were able to do and what they eventually became. Decolonization is revealed for what it actually was: an untidy, indefinite, and possibly even unfinishable process, the consequences of which are still very much with us today.

1918 and the End of Europe’s Land Empires

This, the first of two complementary chapters on the First World War and its colonial aftermaths, focuses on the collapse of ‘compact’ empires in Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Europe. It conceptualizes the reconfiguration of Europe and its eastern borderlands after the collapse of Imperial Russia, Austria-Hungary and Imperial Germany as a form of decolonization internal to Europe during a ‘Greater War’ that, broadly speaking, continued until 1923. The global ramifications of this particularly European struggle became evident in new repressive techniques by colonial states and the widespread turn towards political violence to achieve the overthrow of imperial regimes.

The First Postcolonial Nation in Europe? The End of the German Empire

Contrasting the ‘early’ decolonization imposed on defeated Germany after World War I with the subsequent creation of a Nazi Empire, dismantled after years of war and occupation, this chapter examines what made Germany’s twentieth century colonialism and its aftermath so different. It briefly points out why historians and politicians have ignored or downplayed Germany’s colonial past. It then looks at the variety of ways in which colonialism shaped interwar Germany and also discusses to what extent the Nazi Empire needs to be placed within the history of German colonialism, broadly defined. It also analyses how Germany shaped and was shaped by the end of the other European empires and the emergence of the ‘Third World’. In addition to the obvious consideration of ideological motivation, it also investigates the depth of popular support for imperial expansion and the ways in which Germany’s loss of empire has been articulated and understood.

Apologies, Restitutions, and Compensation

Coming to terms with an imperial past has involved difficult and often divisive questions of how far the inhabitants of former imperial powers should accept responsibility for the deeds of their predecessors, how far back into the past one might go to remedy such injustices, and what happens when the reparative demands of injured parties conflict with the security and well-being of others. This chapter looks at a range of cases and claims for restitution, reparation, and apologies in order to consider how the imperial past has entered into the public domain, the selectivity of imperial memories, and processes of reconciliation. After discussing the historical conjuncture in which demands have arisen, this chapter explores three types of ‘reparative politics’: apologies and expressions of regret for colonial-era actions, restitution of heritage objects in metropolitan collections, and monetary compensation for the perceived crimes of colonialism.

Decolonization in Tropical Africa

The end of empire in Africa was not a single moment separating independence from colonial rule, but a prolonged time of uncertainty extending from the immediate aftermath of World War II through 1994’s end of white rule in South Africa. Colonial empire was a moving target, adjusting to new situations and pressures. African political activists were not limited to creating independent states as expressions of a particular national sentiment. Some sought a pan-African nation embracing all oppressed people of colour; others saw colonial rule becoming a Euro-African community stripped of inequality and exploitation. Instead of a stolid colonialism leaving determinant ‘legacies’ to today’s Africa divided into nation-states, we should recall the possibilities, hopes, struggles, and disappointments that Africans experienced along the way. This chapter brings out alternative routes out of empire that were in play in different parts of Africa and how they expanded, contracted, and at times expanded again.

Nationalism, Development, and Welfare Colonialism

Much has been written on multiple aspects of gender and empire since the 1980s, but its importance in the ending of empires has, however, been accorded less attention, although gender continued to be highly significant in understanding the dynamics of decolonization. Decolonization was, and still is, represented as a process where the key actors were male development experts, politicians, and colonial officials who negotiated the post-colonial future with male nationalist leaders. This resulted in policies to shore up masculine authority and exclude women from the public realm obscuring their active agency in nationalist protest and politics. This chapter focuses on the relationship between gender, welfare, and colonial modernization as fundemental to managing and containing nationalism, i.e., the potential of development ‘to serve purposes of control’. A gender perspective enhances understanding of decolonization via three key themes: welfare colonialism, nationalism and resistance, and gendered initiatives to ensure a smooth transition to independence.