Decolonisation
Seventeen countries become independent in one year
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The process was driven by nationalist movements with roots in the interwar years, by colonial powers impoverished by the war, and by both the US and the USSR opposing European empire for their own reasons. Outcomes varied widely: peaceful transitions in some places, prolonged wars of liberation in Algeria, Vietnam and the Portuguese colonies. Inherited borders, single-commodity export economies and weak institutions gave many new states a difficult start. UN membership went from 51 in 1945 to 193 today.
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After the Second World War, people across Asia and Africa demanded to govern themselves. India became free in 1947, and in 1960 alone seventeen African countries gained independence. In twenty years the world map was completely redrawn.
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Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org