Lesson 2: Nationalism in Africa and Asia

Lesson Focus

This lesson explores the rise of nationalism in Africa and Asia after World War I. You will learn how new leaders challenged colonial rule and how Japan's ambitions grew, reshaping the global landscape.

People to Know

Mohandas Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Jomo Kenyatta, Ho Chi Minh

Learning Objectives

• Explain how foreign political control led to powerful nationalist movements.

After fighting for European empires in World War I, Africans were denied independence and their lands became mandates.

Inspired by Western ideals of liberty, a new generation organized protests. The Kikuyu Association sought land reform, while radicals like Harry Thuku challenged British taxes.

Pay special attention to new leaders like Jomo Kenyatta, who, influenced by Pan-Africanism, began demanding full independence, not just minor reforms from colonial powers, setting the stage for future movements.

The 1917 Russian Revolution proved that Marxist ideas could succeed even in less-industrialized nations.

Lenin then used the Comintern, an organization created in 1919, to spread revolution. Agents like Ho Chi Minh were trained in Moscow and returned to Asia during the 1920s to establish Communist parties.

These new parties allied with nationalist movements to fight imperialism, but their influence remained limited among the wider population through the 1930s.

British refusal to grant self-rule and violent acts like the 1919 Amritsar massacre pushed Indians to demand full independence.

Mohandas Gandhi organized mass protests using nonviolent civil disobedience. Note that his methods included boycotting British goods and taxes. The famous Salt March of 1930 directly challenged the British salt tax, inspiring thousands.

Gandhi’s actions pressured Britain, leading to his arrest but also the Government of India Act of 1935.

As the independence movement grew, different visions for India's future emerged among its leaders.
The movement split between two main paths:

• Gandhi’s path was religious, anti-Western, and traditional.
• Jawaharlal Nehru’s path was secular, pro-Western, and modern.

This created uncertainty, while hostility between Hindus and the Muslim League, led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah, resulted in calls for a separate Muslim state of Pakistan, further dividing the movement.

After World War I, Japan faced severe economic problems as wealth was concentrated in huge corporations called the zaibatsu.

This hardship fueled a rejection of Western ideas and a desire for Japanese dominance in Asia. Militant groups gained control of the government in the late 1920s.

In 1931, the army invaded Manchuria without approval, and the military soon dominated politics, putting Japan on a path toward wartime expansion and control.