New York State Curriculum Notes

Collapse of European Imperialism

1.  Human and physical geography

2.  India—independence and partition

   a Political system

   b Muslim/Hindu conflicts

   c Status of the caste system

   d Roles of Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru

   e Nonalignment

   f .Kashmir and Punjab

3. African independence movements and Pan Africanism

   a Changing political boundaries in Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya )

   b Roles of Jomo Kenyatta and Kwame Nkrumah 

   c. Continuance of economic linkages with former colonial powers

   d. Ethnic tensions versus nationalism: Nigeria and civil war

   e. Apartheid—policy of racial separation and segregation

   1. Historical circumstances

   2. African National Congress

   3. Leadership—Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, F. W. de Klerk

f. Political and economic instability— Congo (Zaire) or any other examples

g. Ethnic tensions: Rwanda— Hutu-Tutsi

3. Southeast Asia

   a . Vietnam/Ho Chi Minh

   b . Cambodia/Pol Pot/Khmer Rouge

   c. Aung San Suu Kyi—Myanmar

• Why did the colonial empires collapse after World War II?

• What role does the caste system play in India today?

Suggested Documents: Maps, memoirs, speeches of Gandhi, Nehru, and others; videotapes

• What forces brought about the collapse of European imperialism in the post-World War II world?

• What role did non-Western nationalism play in the collapse?

• To what extent have all ties between imperialistic nations and former colonies been completely broken?

• Suggested Documents: Nelson Mandela, The Rivonia Trial Speech to the Court; Kwame Nkrumah, I Speak of Freedom: A Statement of African Ideology

• TEACHER’S NOTE: Students should have the opportunity to examine the multiple perspectives at play in Southeast Asia.

• To what extent can the war in Vietnam be seen as an anti-imperialist revolt?

Suggested Documents: Maps, speeches, and memoirs of Ho Chi Minh, Pol Pot, Aung San Suu Kyi, and others