The End of Empires

In 1945 European countries still ruled a third of the world. Within thirty years almost all of it was free.

India led the way in 1947. In Asia, Indonesia and Vietnam fought the Dutch and French; in Africa, Ghana became independent in 1957 and seventeen nations followed in 1960. Some, like Kenya and Algeria, won freedom only after bitter wars.

The new states inherited borders drawn by Europeans, little industry and few trained officials. Many fell to dictators or civil war, but they changed the United Nations from a club of a few dozen nations into a world body.