The independence movement in India lasted an astounding 190 years. First, revolutionaries
had to free themselves from the powerful East India Company, then take on the British Empire.
After making massive contributions to the British victories in both World Wars, the
Indian people were growing increasingly frustrated at their second-class status. By 1920 a lawyer
named Mahatma Gandhi had emerged as one of the most influential leaders in the history
of the world. He energized and inspired the Indian people with his nonviolent non-cooperation
movement, which included a spectacular 3 ½ week protest march to the sea, and multiple
imprisonments for acts of civil disobedience. Decades passed, but after the Labour Party
was victorious in the 1945 British parliamentary elections, a new stance toward India was adopted,
allowing for India to negotiate its independence in the summer of 1947. This was a bitter-sweet
moment for Gandhi, for self-government came at a high price: instead of remaining unified,
British India was partitioned into two nations, India and Pakistan.
The 1949 Revolution was the culmination of the 28-year rise of the Chinese Communist
Party. During World War II the communists formed an alliance with their rivals, the
Chinese Nationalist Party, in order to defeat Japan. When the Japanese surrendered to end
the war, the Communists and Nationalists rushed to take over territory and assets, and before
long, they were fighting one another. Since the Nationalists controlled the government,
they had superior numbers and commanded the air force, but the Communists - led by their
Chairman Mao Zedong - were better organized. Before long, the Communists began piling up
military victories, bringing more and more cities under their control. By August 1948
inflation had reached extreme levels, and soon the cities of Suzhou, Tianjin, Beijing,
and the then-capital, Nanjing, all fell into communist hands. Defeated, the Nationalists
took the air force, navy, and most of the government’s gold reserves, and reestablished
itself on the island of Taiwan. In control of the mainland, Mao declared Beijing the
capital of the newly established People’s Republic of China, which he ruled for 27 years
as an autocrat until his death in 1976.
There were two Vietnams in 1946: a communist north and a noncommunist south. After fighting
an eight year war of independence with the French, the cease-fire terms awarded freedom
for the North, the communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam territory only as far south as
the 17th parallel.
Egypt’s monarchy was overthrown in 1952 in favor of a Republic led by the charismatic
army officer Gamal Abdel Nasser. The revolution was committed to the establishment of a single
Arab state, which achieved some success by briefly merging with Syria into one country,
but that joint state and that idea ultimately failed.
Fidel Castro and his brother Raul led an armed revolt against the dictatorship of President
Fulgencio Batista, who they eventually ousted in 1959. The Castros replaced Batista’s
pro-American government with a communist regime that’s still in power today.
After the movement for Algerian independence began during the first world war, France promised
to eventually grant the north African nation its independence. The Algerians were patient,
and tried to win their freedom through peaceful means. However, when they protested they were
met with violence and endured massacres that killed as many as 40,000 people. In October
1954, an uprising spread quickly throughout the country. The French reaction was forceful
and extreme. It poured more than two million troops into the eight year war, including
a one-time installation of 500,000 soldiers in the capital. But the effective use of guerrilla
warfare, outbreaks of terrorism, and sustained rebel control of mountainous areas wore the
French down. Charles de Gaulle, the President of France, eventually allowed Algerians to
vote on their independence. The referendum passed with over 99.7 percent support. The
Algerian Revolution was an important decolonization war and led to the loss of French prestige
abroad.
The Derg is the short name for the military council that took power in Ethiopia after
the fall of Emperor Haile Selassie. To impose its will, the communist Derg executed and
imprisoned tens of thousands of opponents without trial.