Theory question 108
Nationalism(a) Define nationalism.
(b) State any five external factors that aided the growth of nationalism in West Africa.
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(a) Nationalism is the feeling of oneness and loyalty among a people, and their organised effort to free themselves from foreign (colonial) rule and govern themselves.
(b) Any five:
1. The Second World War: African soldiers saw that Europeans were not invincible.
2. The Atlantic Charter (1941): the right of peoples to self-determination.
3. The United Nations' support for decolonisation.
4. Pan-African Congresses and leaders like Marcus Garvey and W. E. B. Du Bois.
5. The West African Students' Union (WASU) in London.
6. India's independence (1947) and other independences (e.g. Ghana's in 1957 for others).
7. The British Labour Party's support for self-rule.
8. Pressure from the USA and USSR against colonialism.
9. Africans educated abroad bringing back liberal ideas.
Part (b) asks for external factors only: events and influences from outside West Africa.