Ch. 22: End of Empire: The Global South on the Global Stage

What distinguished the end of the colonial empires in the second half of the twentieth century from other cases of imperial disintegration?

• The absorption of colonial subjects into the countries that had ruled them

• The mobilization of the masses around a nationalist ideology

• The wholesale adoption of Western culture by former colonies

• The almost complete absence of violence in the struggle for independence

In contrast to the first decolonization of the Americas in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the struggles for independence in Africa, Asia, and Oceania in the second half of the twentieth century

• occurred through peaceful negotiations.

• resulted in political independence.

• excluded women from participation.

• affirmed the vitality of precolonial cultures.

Which of the following represented a fundamental contradiction that undermined the colonial enterprise in the second half of the twentieth century?

• The ideal of national self-determination was at odds with the denial of independence to colonies.

• The prestige of scientific racism and beliefs in European uniqueness challenged colonial exploitation and poverty.

• The authoritarian tendencies of European states ran counter to the democratization of colonial society.

• The decline of colonies as trade partners and sources of raw materials ran counter to the original logic of colonization.

Which of the following was a social or economic circumstance within the European colonies that contributed to anticolonial movements?

• Rapid industrialization within colonies, which created a working class that took a leadership role in the independence movement

• The spread of a militant anticolonial version of Christianity that combined with traditional modes of resistance

• The rising prosperity of most colonies, which left their populations richer than the populations of their colonial overlords

• The growing number of Western-educated colonial elites who no longer viewed colonial rule as a vehicle for their people’s progress

Which of the following was an initial goal of the Indian National Congress (INC)?

• Gaining positions of influence in order to protect Indian interests

• Organizing the masses for violent revolution against British rule

• Promoting a separate state for the Muslim minority population

• Writing a Hindu constitution for a newly independent India

In contrast to Indians’ struggle for independence in the twentieth century, black South Africans’ struggle for control of their country was

• characterized by common interests, shared beliefs, and political unity among a homogenous population.

• waged against an internal community of permanent white settlers who controlled the country.

• plagued by religious conflicts and handicapped by the lack of infrastructure for industrialization.

• successfully completed when Britain handed control to the African National Congress in 1910.

How did the system of apartheid in South Africa come to an end?

• Through negotiations between the white South African government and black South African nationalist leaders

• As a result of a military coup organized and led by the Black Consciousness movement

• As a result of a decade-long racially divided civil war between white and black South Africans

• Through the mass exodus of white South Africans as racial violence escalated after the Soweto rebellion

In Africa in the early 1980s, what happened to the political parties that had led the movements for independence from colonial rule?

• Most controlled the government for decades.

• Most splintered into different factions.

• Most became personal dictatorships.

• Most were soon swept away by military coups.

What accounts for the resurgence of democracy in many developing countries in the decades since the 1980s?

• The preparation by European powers for the peaceful handover of sovereignty

• The failure of authoritarian governments to address economic and social problems

• The failure of authoritarian governments to address economic and social problems

• The association of democracy with the uniqueness of Western civilization

Which of the following characterizes the economic strategy of most countries in the developing world since the late twentieth century?

• Dependence on the market to generate economic growth

• Role of the state in protecting the economy from capitalism

• Preference for the Soviet model of state-directed industrialization

• Movement toward economic isolationism and self-sufficiency