Colonialism and imperialism have been clear phenomenon since the rise of the Europeans. As the European powers rose, other regions fell in their power. However, nationalistic movements all over the world eventually occurred, in order to battle imperialism. In the 20th century, East Asia and Africa had similar causes for the rise of nationalistic movements and their political outcomes, but differed in the ideologies that accompanied these movements.
Nationalistic movements arose in both East Asia and Africa because of the disillusionment of WWI, as European powers fought for democracy but maintained their imperialistic tendencies and imperialism by other nations also increased. After fighting along the allied powers in WWI, China became…show more content… This is similar to how the Bolsheviks gained favor in Russia, only that instead of winning a war, they surrendered from a war. The Bolsheviks’ national movement was accepted because of the political decisions they made in WI. Similarly, the CCP and its nationalistic movements were accepted in China due to its success in defeating the Japanese. The results of WWI greatly affected African individuals in European colonies as well. The fact that other colonies gained their independence because of their white population generated a sense on injustice and controversy. During WWI, 100,000 East Africans and 65,000 Africans from French North and West Africa died in combat or due to disease. The Europeans had promised independence, but, in the Treaty of Versailles, Africans weren’t allowed to attend. In Kenya, for example, protests immediately began after African soldiers came back from WWI, due to the disillusionment of continuing being a colony. Nationalistic movements in countries in East Asia and Africa were influenced by the outcomes of WWI because they remained as colonies under unfair circumstances. Neither region…show more content… China’s national movement was officially communist, with a charismatic leader called Mao Zedong that led the CCP. In addition, the Ho Chin Minh led communist nationalistic movements in Vietnam to gain independence from France. However, neither nation had a cultural tendency with the political movement; they only had socioeconomic nationalistic tendencies. African nationalistic movements, on the other hand, were largely influenced by pan Africanism. African nationalists tried to encourage Black culture and pride, promoting African music, rituals and traditions to unify African nations. Thus, East Asian nationalistic movements were largely based on socioeconomic tendencies, while African nationalistic movements had a touch of Pan Africanism, a cultural movement. This is because Africans didn’t consider themselves Africans, or as nations, such as Angolan or Algerian, they considered themselves as distinct tribal groups. Africa’s cultural and ethnic diversity created barriers and made independence harder to achieve. Therefore, pan Africanism was a necessary movement to unite Africans and decolonize them. China and Vietnam didn’t need a cultural movement because they were already more or less united and homogenous. Another reason for this cultural difference is that in order