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External Websites
- The University of Edinburgh - Decolonization is not a metaphor
- UCLA International Institute - Decolonization: A Postcolonial Perspective
- Academia - Decolonization
- Humanities LibreTexts - Decolonization
- LOUIS Pressbooks - Decolonization
- U.S. Department of State - Office of the Historian - Decolonization of Asia and Africa, 1945–1960
- United Nations - Decolonization
- Khan Academy - Political Decolonization, c.1945–1997
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies.Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Thank you for your feedback
Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.
External Websites
- The University of Edinburgh - Decolonization is not a metaphor
- UCLA International Institute - Decolonization: A Postcolonial Perspective
- Academia - Decolonization
- Humanities LibreTexts - Decolonization
- LOUIS Pressbooks - Decolonization
- U.S. Department of State - Office of the Historian - Decolonization of Asia and Africa, 1945–1960
- United Nations - Decolonization
- Khan Academy - Political Decolonization, c.1945–1997
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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: •Article History
decolonization, process by which colonies become independent of the colonizing country. Decolonization was gradual and peaceful for some British colonies largely settled by expatriates but violent for others, where native rebellions were energized by nationalism. After World War II, European countries generally lacked the wealth and political support necessary to suppress faraway revolts; they also faced opposition from the new superpowers, the U.S. and the Soviet Union, both of which had taken positions against colonialism. Korea was freed in 1945 by Japan’s defeat in the war. The U.S. relinquished the Philippines in 1946. Britain left India in 1947, Palestine in 1948, and Egypt in 1956; it withdrew from Africa in the 1950s and ’60s, from various island protectorates in the 1970s and ’80s, and from Hong Kong in 1997. The French left Vietnam in 1954 and gave up its North African colonies by 1962. Portugal gave up its African colonies in the 1970s; Macau was returned to the Chinese in 1999.