Second half of the 19th century – beginning. XX century brought dramatic changes to the historical destinies of Asian and African countries. The development of China, India, Japan and other Asian societies was marked by important shifts in socio-economic and political life, which ultimately entailed a formational and civilizational breakdown. The national liberation movement is becoming the most important factor in the historical development of Afro-Asian countries. In the beginning XX century The East was shaken by the first bourgeois revolutions.
China.
First decade of the 20th century. was marked by the rapid growth of anti-Manchurian and national liberation sentiments. In the summer of 1905, under the leadership of Sun Yat-sen, various Chinese bourgeois-democratic and bourgeois-landowner organizations united, with the goal of overthrowing the Qing monarchy and establishing a republic. The Chinese Revolutionary United Alliance was created in Tokyo. The United Union program was based on the “three principles of the people” formulated by Sun Yat-sen in November 1905—nationalism, democracy and people's welfare. The principle of nationalism meant the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty, democracy meant the elimination of the monarchical system and the establishment of a republic, and the principle of people's welfare reflected the requirement for the gradual nationalization of the land.
1906–1911 marked by an increase in anti-government armed protests in various provinces of Southern, Central and Eastern China. The largest uprisings of miners were in Pingxiang in 1906 and in 1911 in Guangzhou. The movement of general discontent also gripped the army. In January 1910, there was an uprising of the garrison in Guangzhou.
The Xinhai Revolution (the Wuchang uprising and the abdication of the Qing dynasty occurred in the Xinhai year according to the Chinese lunar calendar - January 30, 1911 - February 17, 1912) began with a soldier uprising on October 10, 1910 in Wuchang. A military government was created in the city, proclaiming the overthrow of the Qing monarchy and the establishment of a republic. During October-November 1911, 14 provinces of the Qing Empire announced the overthrow of Manchu power. By the end of 1911, only three of the eighteen provinces officially recognized the authority of the Qing government. Having failed to suppress the revolutionary movement, the Qing handed over real power to General Yuan Shikai. He received the post of commander-in-chief of the Pinsk armed forces and then the post of prime minister. Yuan Shikai began secret negotiations with certain factions in the Republican south.
On December 29, 1911, in Nanjing, deputies of independent provinces elected Sun Yat-sen as provisional president of the Republic of China. In a short time, a provisional government was formed and a bourgeois-democratic constitution was adopted.
During the confrontation between North and South, Sun Yat-sen was forced to resign as interim president in favor of Yuan Shikai, in exchange for the abdication of the Qing dynasty. On February 12, 1912, the last emperor, Pu Yi, abdicated the throne.
In July-September 1913, Yuan Shikai suppressed armed uprisings against him in the central and southern provinces. These events went down in Chinese history under the name of the “second revolution.” The military dictatorship of Yuan Shikai was established in the country. Sun Yat-sen and other leaders of the radical wing of the Chinese bourgeoisie were forced to emigrate abroad.
During the revolution, the Qing dynasty was overthrown and a republic was established for the first time in Asia. The power of the Manchu aristocracy was eliminated.
India.
At the beginning of the 20th century. In the socio-economic and political life of India, the trends that emerged in the second half intensified. XIX century The development of capitalism has not led to a significant change in the overall structure of the country's economy. India still remained a backward agrarian country. Nevertheless, the process of drawing India into the system of the world capitalist economy led to a further intensification of new economic phenomena. The exploitation of India as an agrarian and raw material appendage of the metropolis began. English capital was directed to the construction and operation of railway lines and communications, irrigation, plantation farming, mining, textile and food industries. British investments in India in 1896–1910. increased from 4-5 to 6-7 billion rupees. National capitalist entrepreneurship has developed. Most of the enterprises owned by Indian capital were small and medium-sized. Attempts were made to establish heavy industry in India. A metallurgical plant was built in 1911, and a hydroelectric power station was launched in 1915.
This period is associated with the growth of national self-awareness in the most diverse classes and social groups of Indian society. The policies of the colonial authorities contributed to the growth of discontent and the development of the national liberation movement in India. In 1883–1884 The first attempts were made to create an all-Indian organization. In 1885, the first congress of the Indian National Congress, the first all-Indian political organization, took place in Bombay. The emergence of the radical left wing of the Indian national liberation movement is associated with the name of the outstanding democrat Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856–1920).
The partition of Bengal in 1905 led to the beginning of a massive all-India national movement. The swadeshi movement (boycott of foreign goods and encouragement of domestic production) spread beyond Bengal in the fall of 1905. Shops selling Indian goods and industrial enterprises appeared, and stores selling foreign goods were boycotted. Mass rallies and demonstrations were complemented by the strike struggle of Indian workers. The strike movement in the summer-autumn of 1906 differed from previous years in that, along with economic demands, the workers began to put forward some political slogans.
In the autumn of 1906, at a session of the National Congress, the demand for “swaraj” - self-government within the British Empire - was formulated. Since 1907, the “swadeshi” movement began to develop into a movement for the implementation of “swaraj” (self-government). The mass protests reached their greatest scale in the spring of 1907 in Punjab.
As the national liberation struggle grew, disagreements between moderate and radical (extreme) movements worsened. The moderates demanded protectionist policies, restrictions on foreign capital, expanded self-government, etc. The extremes advocated the complete independence of India on the basis of a federal republic. The result of these differences was the split of Congress in 1907.
The British colonial authorities began to suppress national-patriotic forces. In 1907, a law on riotous gatherings was issued, according to which rallies and demonstrations were dispersed, and in 1908, a law on newspapers, on the basis of which any press organ could be closed. Tilak's arrest and trial followed in July 1908. He was sentenced to a heavy fine and six years in prison. In protest, a general political strike began in Bombay on July 23, 1908. It ended after six days.
The rise of the national movement in 1905–1908 marked the onset of a period of mass struggle for independence.
The peoples of the colonial and dependent countries of Asia and Africa involved in the war found it much more difficult to determine their attitude to the world conflict than the peoples of Europe. Only after the entry of the Soviet Union into the war and the creation of an anti-fascist coalition did the alignment of social forces in the colonial world begin to become clearer. The peoples of the colonies gradually began to link the prospects of the national liberation movement with the outcome of the war and to realize their interest in defeating the aggressor bloc. Japan captured vast territories in China, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean with a population of about 400 million people. The Japanese occupation convincingly showed the peoples of Asian countries that “yellow” imperialism is no better than “white” imperialism, that it is no less a cruel exploiter.
The Asian peoples did not receive the promised political independence. In Malaya and Indonesia, all power was concentrated in the hands of the Japanese command. Local “self-government” in Burma and the Philippines was in all respects subordinate to the military administration of the invaders, and the puppet governments of occupied China (the government of Manchukuo, the Nanjing “government” of Wang Ching-wei, the “autonomous” government of Inner Mongolia) were strictly controlled by the Japanese militarists. Political parties, with the exception of some collaborationist ones, were dissolved. In a number of countries, new colonialists used the previous colonial administration to govern. Thus, the Vichy authorities continued to operate in Vietnam. Those dissatisfied with the occupation regime were subjected to brutal terror and repression.
At the same time, the political regime in the countries of South-East Asia was characterized by some concessions to nationalist forces from the privileged classes; emphasis was placed on the feudal elite - the sultans and the big bourgeoisie. Taking advantage of national contradictions, the Japanese authorities formed police forces from representatives of certain nationalities to fight the partisans.
The occupation regime was aimed at maximum economic exploitation of the occupied territories, their raw materials and labor force. In a short time, the Japanese monopolies took control of the most important mines, enterprises, railways and ports. The peasants were forced to hand over up to 60-70 percent of the harvest to the authorities, receiving in return banknotes hastily printed by the invaders that had no real value. The population was virtually doomed to starvation. During the construction of military facilities in the jungles of Burma, Thailand, and New Guinea, hundreds of thousands of forcedly mobilized workers died from overwork and disease.
Exploitation, ignorance of the economic interests of the population of the subject territories, and the ruthless punitive policy of the Japanese authorities led to the fact that initial optimism or indifference towards the new enslavers in a number of countries in Southeast Asia was replaced by hatred and the desire to fight against them.
This is exactly how events developed in Burma. The Japanese, having captured the country with the support of the Burma Independence Army (BIA), created by the petty-bourgeois People's Revolutionary Party (CHP), refused to fulfill the promise given to this party to grant the country independence. In June 1942, the Free Burma Committees, the central and local bodies of self-government that had arisen everywhere after the flight of British colonial officials, were dissolved. The NSA, which numbered up to 23 thousand soldiers and officers, was also dissolved, propaganda of independence was declared a crime, and all power was concentrated in the hands of the Japanese military administration 1.
The leaders of the CHP did not immediately break with the Japanese. Many of them joined the puppet government created in August, headed by a representative of the right, bourgeois-nationalist wing of the Ba Mo liberation movement. Former NSA commanders Aung San and Ne Win, having led the Burma Defense Force (BDA), formed by the Japanese to provide garrison and border services, decided to use their position to gather forces and create a national Burmese army to fight the occupiers.
The armed struggle against the Japanese invaders was led by the Burmese communists. Since September, partisan detachments led by them began to operate in the Irrawaddy River delta and in the north of the country. An important step towards the creation of a united anti-fascist front of patriotic forces was the establishment at the end of the year of contacts between the Burmese communists and the command of the Burma Defense Army, as a result of which a decision was made to prepare army units to fight the Japanese.
The national liberation movement in Asian countries has acquired a variety of forms. In general, the summer and autumn of 1942 were characterized by its further deepening and development. The number of actions to disrupt the activities of the occupiers grew, and new illegal anti-Japanese organizations were created. In Korea there were more than 180 of them. 2. In the industrial areas of the north of the country, large strikes took place, escalating into armed clashes with the police. In the spring, rebel workers at a Japanese air force base on Jeju Island destroyed about 70 aircraft 3. In rural areas, the number of rent conflicts increased, rice deliveries were not fulfilled, etc.
Gradually, the armed struggle of partisan formations became the main form of resistance to the Japanese occupiers. In March, under the leadership of the Communist Party in the Philippines, the formation of the anti-Japanese guerrilla army "Hukbalahap" was completed. It consisted of workers, peasants, and representatives of the petty-bourgeois strata, united by a patriotic desire to repel the Japanese invaders. In its activities, this army was guided by the program document of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, “Basic principles of the people’s anti-Japanese army,” published in August 1942, and the charter “Iron discipline.”
1 South East Asia in World War II. Four Essays. Jale, 1966, p. 62.
2 Lenin and the national liberation movement in the countries of the East. M., 1970, p. 264.
3 F. Shabshina. Essays on the modern history of Korea. 1918-1945. M., 1959, PAGE. 233.
The army consisted of 35 companies (with a total number of about 3.5 thousand people), grouped into five territorial districts, located. located in the central part of the island of Luzon. Its actions were directed by the military committee (from November called the general staff), and political and educational work was carried out by the political department.
The Hukbalahap detachments carried out active guerrilla operations against Japanese troops and the puppet gendarmerie created by the colonialists. In September, they repelled the first punitive expedition, which involved up to 4 thousand Japanese soldiers, supported by aviation and artillery.
The successful actions of the Philippine partisans were facilitated by the support of their democratic bodies of the elected peasant self-government “Santanbay”. They supplied the rebels with food, carried out reconnaissance and communications, replenished partisan detachments, and participated in economic sabotage. In the central and southern islands (Leyte, Mindanao, Panay), guerrilla detachments began to operate, led by representatives of bourgeois-nationalist circles, mainly former officers of the Philippine army. Their actions were facilitated by the fact that the Japanese garrisons on these islands were extremely small in number.
Indonesian patriots tried to establish an organized struggle against the occupiers. In the summer and autumn of 1942, the activities of the underground militant organization GERAF (Anti-Fascist People's Movement), led by A. Sharifuddin, one of the leaders of the illegal communist party, intensified. This organization was created even before the start of the war from workers and progressive intelligentsia. It was assumed that it would become the core of a united national front. The bourgeois-nationalist group of S. Sharir also began to create an underground militant organization, but this group avoided active struggle against the invaders. She intended to raise an uprising for independence only in the event of a military defeat of Japan 2.
In the region of Aceh, in northern Sumatra, a guerrilla detachment of a young Muslim preacher, Abdul Jamil, operated, who put forward the slogan of “holy war” against the invaders 3.
In Vietnam, the national liberation movement against the Japanese occupiers and French colonialists continued to be led by the Vietnam Independence League (Viet Minh), created on the initiative of the Indochina Communist Party. Its activities covered certain areas of Tonkin and Annam, but it was most successful in the mountainous forest region of Viet Bac, in the north of the country. The number of partisan bases continued to grow. The mass political basis of the Viet Minh was strengthened, and revolutionary armed forces were created. At the end of the year, a temporary Viet Minh committee was formed for three provinces: Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Lang Son. This was the core of the new revolutionary power4. To spread the influence of the Viet Monya in the lowland areas of the Mekong Delta, the “Vanguard Detachment for the March to the South” was formed under the command of Vo Nguyen Giap 5.
1 Reports of General MacArthur. Vol. I. Campaigns of MacArthur in the Pacific Washington, 1966, p. 308, 315-316; M. Cannon. Leyte: The Return to the Philippines. Washington, 1969, p. 14.
2 H. Jones. Indonesia. The Possible Dream. New York, 1971, p. 93.
3 National liberation movement in Indonesia (1942-1965). M., 1970, p. 52.
4 History of Vietnam in modern times (1917-1965). M.. 1970, p. 189.
5 D. Weidemann, R. Wiinsche. Vietnam 1945-1970. Der nationals und soziale Befreiungskampf des vietnamischen Volkes. Berlin, 1971, S. 19.
However, in general, the movement has not yet gone beyond individual local actions, mainly in the mountain jungle. The social base of the liberation movement, which developed mainly in peasant areas, was also limited. Anti-Japanese protests by workers in Saigon, Da Nang, and Hanoi were sporadic.
The Anti-Japanese Army of the Peoples of Malaya was created in Malaya. It was based on four partisan detachments (regiments), formed by the Communists mainly from Chinese workers. They operated in the western and southwestern parts of the Malay Peninsula. The partisans disrupted the collection of taxes and food supplies, attacked small garrisons, and carried out sabotage on the railways. Despite the introduction of martial law in a number of areas, the Japanese authorities actually controlled only large cities. In August-September, they attacked the CPM governing bodies in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, which were in hiding, which for some time slowed down the development of armed resistance to the occupiers 1.
A difficult situation has developed for the national liberation movement in the occupied regions of China. The actual rupture of the united national front, which was a consequence of both the anti-communist policy of Chiang Kai-shek and the isolationism of the CPC leadership, violated the basis necessary for the successful conduct of the anti-Japanese struggle, as a result of which it weakened somewhat. Large partisan zones continued to exist in Northern and Central China, and the South Chinese partisan column operated in the south. But, following the policy of curtailing hostilities adopted in December 1941, the Lebanese leadership of the CPC refused to conduct extensive guerrilla operations.
The enemy took advantage of this: he tightened the blockade of the partisan zones and temporarily interrupted communications between the Shengang region and the bases of the liberation forces in Northern and Central China. The influx of new forces into the partisan regions of Northern China during this period decreased to a minimum. 2. The supply of weapons, food, and industrial goods decreased sharply.
Isolationism and passivity of the CPC leadership in the current situation led to growing discontent in the party and army. A significant number of army and partisan commanders believed that it was necessary to take the initiative in military operations into their own hands, take advantage of differences in the Kuomintang troops and organize a joint effective fight against the occupiers.
However, the Maoist leadership of the CCP acted contrary to the advice of the Comintern and the wishes of the communists. Instead of intensifying military operations against the invaders, it launched and intensified the factional struggle against the communist internationalists.
The liaison officer of the Comintern under the leadership of the Central Committee of the CPC, P.P. Vladimirov, wrote in his diary in October 1942: “The leadership of the CPC is not taking any effective measures to bind the Japanese expeditionary forces in the north of the country. This is an indisputable fact. All Moscow’s requests to the leadership of the CPC to prevent the Japanese from preparing for war against the USSR in any way remained without consequences... From Yan’an, the personnel of the 8th NRA were ordered to be preserved at all costs, and the army is retreating, although the forces of the advancing enemy are insignificant.
1 H. Miller. Menace in Malaya. London, 1954, p. 39. Stg, 6
2 Shoemakers. Chinese front in the Second World War. M., 1971, pp. 147-148.
Mao Tse-tung's doctrine: a war to preserve one's own manpower, not to exterminate an invader. This is accomplished by weakening resistance to the enemy and surrendering new territories" 1.
The growth of anti-Japanese sentiment led to the activation of bourgeois-patriotic organizations in a number of countries in East and Southeast Asia. Under these conditions, the communists, following the tactics developed by the 7th Congress of the Comintern, continued to consistently advocate for the unification of all forces of the liberation movement into a united front of the struggle against the Japanese occupiers. In Korea, the Korean Independence League, created in June, became the organization of the united national front. In Malaya, a mass organization was created, the People's Anti-Japanese Alliance, which served as the support of the partisan army. It included representatives of all segments of the population: workers, peasants, bourgeoisie, as well as the main nationalities - Malays, Chinese, Indians 2.
Vietnamese petty-bourgeois nationalist groups formed the emigrant organization Vietnamese Revolutionary League (Dong Minh Hui) in the Chinese province of Guangxi in October. This organization acted from anti-French and anti-French positions. In an effort to expand the united national liberation front, the Indochina Communist Party agreed to establish an alliance between the Viet Minh and the Vietnamese Revolutionary League. But the league remained only a small military group.
In the Philippines, the Communist Party and the Hukbalahap tried to establish political and military ties with the anti-Japanese underground organizations of bourgeois nationalists - Free Philippines, Blue Eagle, National Liberation League - and with non-communist guerrilla groups. However, the expansion of these ties and the creation of a united anti-Japanese front were hampered by the diversity and fragmentation of the national liberation movement, as well as the active opposition of the American intelligence service, which sought to subordinate the partisan movement to its influence, especially on the southern islands of the archipelago. The unification of the liberation forces into a united anti-Japanese front was hindered by the collaborators, who in the summer and autumn of 1942 still had a certain authority and used it to split the national liberation movement. In the Philippines, these were figures of the bourgeois-landlord Nationalist Party, who held responsible positions in the puppet administration, the gendarmerie and in the Association of Districts and Neighbors created by the occupiers, in Indonesia - the right-wing elements of the bourgeois Greater Indonesia Party.
The rallying of anti-Japanese forces was also hampered by the policies of the colonial powers - opponents of Japan, primarily Great Britain, which refused to extend to the colonies the provisions of the Atlantic Charter on the rights of peoples to choose a form of government of their own free will. Churchill stated that the Atlantic Charter did not affect relations within the British Empire, thereby posing an open challenge to the national liberation forces.
A particularly tense situation developed by the summer of 1942 in India, which had turned into a front-line state. After the English right-wing forces broke down the negotiations on the future of the country that S. Krinps conducted in the spring with representatives of Indian political parties, only the leaders continued to cooperate with the British authorities
1 P. Vladimirov. Special Region of China 1942-1945. M., 1973, p. 94.
2 V. Rudnev. Malaysia. Political development (1963-1968). M., 1969, p. 13; Awakening the oppressed. M., 1968, p. 449.
Muslim League and some local feudal lords. Public circles in India understood the liberating nature of the war against fascism and sympathized with the heroic struggle of the Soviet people against the aggressor. The Communist Party of India vigorously advocated the unification of national forces on an anti-fascist basis and support for the war efforts of the anti-fascist coalition. The position of the communists found understanding in the All-India Trade Union Congress and the All-India Peasant Committee. The session of the latter in June expressed the opinion that the war with the entry of the Soviet Union into it acquired a just character and that in these conditions the organized peasant movement was called upon to assist in the defeat of the aggressors.
The leadership of the largest party of the national bourgeoisie, the Indian National Congress (INC), which consisted mainly of anti-fascists, did not trust Japanese demagogic propaganda. Outstanding party leader J. Nehru wrote to F. Roosevelt in April 1942: “We have no right to choose, but we will do everything in our power not to submit to Japanese or any other aggression. We have fought for freedom against previous aggression for so long that we would prefer to disappear from the face of the earth rather than submit to a new invader.” 1. J. Nehru and the Chairman of the INC, Abul Kalam Azad, advocated that in the event of a Japanese invasion of India, the people would resist them with all available means. However, the British government flatly refused to give Indians the opportunity to create a civilian militia or local defense units, unwilling to entrust weapons to those who were not in the ranks of the regular army.
Many leaders of the INC, led by M. Gandhi, believed that under British rule, India would not be able to resist the Japanese invasion. Gandhi was convinced that the only way to consolidate the situation in the country, reach an agreement with the Muslim League and organize resistance to the Japanese aggressors was the immediate political withdrawal of England and the formation of a national government. At the same time, the Indian government could invite British troops to remain in the country until the end of the war. 2. On August 8, 1942, the INC working committee adopted a resolution, which later became known as “Get Out of India!” It demanded that India be granted independence and the formation of a national government to organize the defense of India jointly with the allied powers. At the same time, Gandhi was counting on negotiations, but Great Britain, with the consent of the United States, resorted to measures to suppress the liberation movement 3. On the morning of August 9, the leaders of the Indian National Congress - Gandhi, Nehru and others were arrested, and the activities of the INC were banned.
In response to the repressive actions of the British authorities, strikes and unrest began, which were brutally suppressed by the British police and troops. A spontaneous anti-British uprising broke out in the country. In Bihar, Bengal and Assam, clashes between the population and the troops became particularly violent.
1 V. Pandeu. The Breakup of British India. London, 1969, p. 165.
2 M. Gandhi. My life. Translation from English. M., 1969, pp. 513-514;
3 itaramayya. The History of the Indian National Congress. Vol. II (1935- lb47) - Delhi, 1969, p. 789. C. Cross. The Fall of British Empire. 1918-1968. London, 1969, p. 236.
The Axis powers tried to use events in India to their advantage. In September 1942, the Japanese formed from prisoners of war and Indians living abroad the first division of the so-called Indian National Army, numbering 16.3 thousand soldiers and officers. 1 However, the Japanese did not trust the personnel of the division and did not dare to use it in combat.
In the tense situation of the summer and autumn of 1942, the Allied powers, and primarily the United States, took steps to achieve mutual understanding with certain circles of the national liberation movement. In June, US President F. Roosevelt, in a conversation with the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR V. M. Molotov, for the first time announced projects for the abolition of mandates and the establishment of international trusteeship over the British, French and Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia 2. In contrast, In contrast to the slogan of Japanese imperialism “Asia for Asians,” which in reality meant the establishment of Japanese control over Asia, the American government on October 9 declared its readiness to fight for “full equality” of Asian peoples and on October 24 began negotiations with China on the abolition of extraterritoriality 3. On the other hand The USA and Great Britain took measures to bring the struggle against the Japanese occupiers under their control and deprive it of an anti-colonial orientation. For this purpose, special services and detachments were created to introduce them into the partisan movement of various countries.
Thus, in the process of developing resistance to the Japanese invaders, an increasing part of the national bourgeoisie and patriotic circles abandoned the policy of cooperation with the occupiers and switched to an active struggle against those. whom they at first tended to regard as “liberators.” Gradually, conditions for the creation of a united anti-Japanese front emerged in a number of countries.
The liberation movement in the countries of the Middle East and Africa was going through difficult times. The successes of the armed forces of the states of the fascist bloc on the southern sector of the Soviet-German front in the summer and autumn of 1942, as well as the Japanese troops in Southeast Asia, contributed to the revival of the activities of reactionary pro-fascist groups in these countries.
The support of fascism in North and West Africa was the Vichy administration of the French colonies, which was supported by wealthy European settlers who openly expressed pro-fascist sympathies. The striking force of the reaction was the organization of colonists “The French Legion” and its “order service”. The Vichyists resorted to brutal terror, democrats and anti-fascists languished in prisons and concentration camps, trade unions were banned.
Some of the right-wing nationalist leaders of Tunisia, who hoped to achieve the elimination of the old colonial order, took the path of cooperation with Nazi elements.
The anti-fascist liberation movement in North and West Africa aroused increasing sympathy among the local population. In contrast to the pro-fascist activities of right-wing nationalists in Tunisia, the bourgeois-nationalist party “Neo-Dustour” was guided by “Fighting France” and the powers of the anti-Hitler coalition. Neo-Dustour leader Habib Bourguiba. imprisoned, on August 8 he addressed his like-minded people from prison with a call to “get in touch with the French - supporters of de Gaulle” for joint action, postponing the solution to the issue of the country’s independence until the post-war period. The new one also took a clearly anti-fascist position.
1 K. Ghosh. The Indian National Army: The Second Front of the Indian IQ" dependence Movement. Meerut, 1969, pp. 84-85.
2 P. Sherwood. Roosevelt and Hopkins. Through the Eyes of an Eyewitness, vol. 2, p. 194.
3 M. Sladkovsky. China and Japan. M., 1971, p. 190.
4 Ch. Romanus. R. Sunderland. Stilwell's Command Problems-Washington, 1968, p. 36-37; “Solidarity”, Manila, August 1971, p. 15.
hit Tunisia Sidi Mohammed al-Munsef, whose reign began on June 19, 1942. He tried to use the created situation to carry out some measures for the autonomy of Tunisia, proposing in August to Vichy resident Admiral Esteva a reform program that included the introduction of self-government and the nationalization of all large enterprises 1.
The communists of North African countries played a leading role in the fight against the Vichy regime and the subversive activities of pro-fascist elements. They explained the falsehood of hopes for gaining national independence with the help of the Axis countries, and widely used for anti-Hitler propaganda the trial of 61 members of the Resistance organized by the Vichy authorities in Algeria in March - July 1942. 2. Despite the repressions, both in Algeria and Tunisia continued Resistance groups created by the communists act. In September, the Algerian Communist Party, in a special manifesto, called on all supporters of liberation to form a united freedom front against the penetration of German fascists into Algeria. The communists established contacts with underground groups of de Gaulle supporters. In Morocco, on the initiative of the communists, the formation of the Liberation Front began.
Events in the French colonies controlled by “Fighting France” reflected a peculiar situation characteristic of all colonial countries in Africa. On the one hand, their peoples increasingly actively supported the struggle of the anti-Hitler coalition, on the other hand, under the influence of the liberating democratic nature of the war, they were increasingly imbued with the desire to fight for their own liberation from British and French colonialism. Participation in the anti-fascist movement contributed to the awakening of the national and political consciousness of African peoples.
Residents of French Equatorial Africa (Chad, Ubangi-Shari, Gabon, Middle Congo), which continued to be the main territorial and economic base of “Fighting France,” made up the bulk of General Leclerc’s units operating in the Sahara and the French formations that were part of the British 8- J army.
The South African Communist Party (SACP) played a major role in mobilizing the population of the Union of South Africa to fight fascism and support the efforts of the anti-Hitler coalition. Drawing on mass national organizations of the local indigenous population, as well as progressive layers of workers and intellectuals of European origin, the SACP put forward a program to combat fascism within the country and abroad by providing weapons to African soldiers. At the same time, the SACP, together with the Friends of the Soviet Union society, explained the significance of the USSR victory in the war for the liberation of the colonial peoples.
In mid-1942, Germany and Italy tried to intensify the activities of pro-fascist groups in the Middle East. In July, during the offensive of Rommel's troops, the German and Italian governments issued a declaration of “respect for the independence” of Egypt.
But the Egyptian government, led by the leader of the Wafd party, Mustafa Nahhas, did everything to provide a reliable rear for the British army. Several leaders of pro-fascist groups were arrested for connections with the Axis powers, Germans and Italians were interned, and the Japanese were expelled from the country. In an effort to win over the people
1 La euerre en Mediterrannee 1939-1945. Actes du Colloque International tenu a Paris du Sau 11 avrii 1969. Paris, 1971, p. 628-629.
2 Des victoires de Hitler au triomphe de la democratie et du socialisme. Paris, 1970, p. 249.
masses, the government carried out a number of progressive social and economic reforms. In September 1942, for the first time in the history of Egypt, trade unions received the right to legal existence. The reforms contributed to an increase in the labor activity of Egyptian workers who served the Allied armies.
Despite the fact that there were British and Soviet troops in Iran, Nazi agents, using dissatisfaction with Tehran’s chauvinist policies, provoked open protests by the Qashqai tribes in the south of the country against the government and allies. The rebels had an army of 20 thousand, armed with guns, rifles and cannons. To suppress this uprising, the British had to bring up motorized units from Egypt.
The People's Party of Iran "Tudeh", whose first conference was held in 1942, fought against the fascist organization of reactionary landowners and officers "Iranian Nationalists" ("Melliune Iran"), headed by General Zahedi. Activities of the People's Party of Iran and those led by it anti-fascist organizations contributed to the fact that the Iranians, for the most part, understood the fallacy of the initial illusions regarding fascism. While seeking the timely transportation of military cargo to the USSR, Iran’s participation in the fight against fascism, the Tudeh at the same time advocated for democratic reforms and an improvement in the situation of workers and peasants.
In Syria and Lebanon, after the liquidation of the Vichy regime, a number of anti-fascist organizations were created. The most popular of them was the League against Fascism and Nazism. The Society for Cultural Relations with the USSR became more active. The trade unions, in which the leading role belonged to the communists, became legal. During the year, 7 new industrial trade unions were created, which launched a struggle to raise living standards and improve working conditions for workers and employees 2. Progressive forces, led by the Communist Party, sought to increase the contribution of the people of Syria and Lebanon to the anti-fascist struggle and at the same time accelerate the process of democratization of political and social their lives.
So, during 1942, the anti-fascist movement in Africa and the Middle East was aimed at suppressing the machinations of fascism and developing democracy. Already by the fall, the bankruptcy of the right-wing nationalist forces, which relied on an alliance with fascism, was clearly revealed. At the same time, the authority of the communist parties increased, and interest in the Soviet Union, its social and political structure grew steadily.
1 S. Agayev. German imperialism in Iran. M., 1969, p. 132.
2 J. Couland. Le mouvement syndical au Liban. 1919-1946. Paris, p. 287.
Libya was part of the Ottoman Empire as two administrative units: the historical region of Fezzan was part of the vilayet of Tripoli, and Cyrenaica was the sanjak of the same name.
On October 18, 1912, the Treaty of Lausanne was signed between the Ottoman Empire and Italy, according to which the Turks transferred sovereign rights to Tripolitania and Cyrenaica to Italy, but retained religious jurisdiction over the inhabitants of these areas, since the Ottoman Sultan was also the caliph, i.e. . spiritual head of all Sunni Muslims.
The Libyans did not recognize the Treaty of Ouchy-Lausanne and began to fight against the Italian colonialists, who, in turn, first hoped that the Libyans would greet them as long-awaited liberators from Ottoman oppression.
During the First World War, Italy was busy with military operations in Europe, which did not allow it to successfully colonize Libya. However, the tribal uprising that began in Libya in 1915 saved Italian colonialism from complete defeat.
In 1917, in the city of Akram, an agreement was signed between the head of the Sufi order as-Senusi, the future king of Libya Idris, and the Italians on the cessation of hostilities in Cyrenaica and the establishment of two zones of control there - Senusite and Italian - with freedom of movement of local residents between them.
The signing of the 1917 agreement contributed to the unification of the patriotic forces of Cyrenaica. In October 1919, the Italians were forced to introduce a “Basic Law” in this area, which gave the tribes of the interior of Cyrenaica the right of self-government. A similar law was adopted for Trinolitania, but its implementation there was hampered by a difficult internal political situation, the solution to which was the proclamation of the Tripolitan Republic on November 16, 1918, governed by a council of four people.
In April 1919, in Ez-Zaitun, an agreement was signed between the Tripolitan Republic and Italy to cease hostilities and conclude peace. The agreement, however, was not implemented, primarily due to disagreements within the “quartet” of leaders of the Tripolitan Republic.
The creation of elements of statehood in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica and their desire to intensify the anti-colonial struggle led to a rapprochement between the two areas. On January 21, 1922, in Sirte, a National Pact was signed between them, which provided for a joint struggle against the Italians. This agreement was an important step towards achieving national unity. However, on March 3, 1922, the Tripolitan Republic concluded a separate truce with Italy and began negotiations with it.
During the negotiations, the Tripolitans quickly realized the error of their actions, so already in April 1922 they sent an official delegation to Cyrenaica, which invited the head of the Senusite order, Idris, to become the emir of Tripolitania. Idris gave his consent only in November 1922, wanting to delay the moment of the inevitable clash with the Italians.
Also in 1922, the fascists came to power in Italy, and already in 1923 they began to pursue a policy of brutal suppression of the national liberation movement in Libya.
By 1924, Tripolitan resistance began to weaken due to disagreements between the leaders of individual areas. Strong pockets of resistance remained until 1928 only in Sirtik and Ghibla. In 1930 the Italians took full control of Fezzan. In Cyrenaica, thanks to the heroism of the Senusite sheikh Omar al-Mukhtar and his supporters, the struggle against the colonialists continued until 1931 and waned after the execution of al-Mukhtar by the Italian fascists.
During the Second World War, Libya became the scene of a fierce confrontation between the Italians, who, together with the Germans, tried to make the country a springboard for the occupation of North and East Africa, and the British, who tried to oust the Italians from Libya and strengthen their positions in North Africa. Britain's mainstay in Libya was Idris al-Senusi.
By the end of 1940, the Italians lost Cyrenaica as a result of an unsuccessful attempt to occupy Egypt, and by the beginning of February 1943, the entire territory of Libya was liberated from Italo-German troops.
Following the Second World War, Libya was occupied by France and Great Britain. Fezzan was under French administration, and Tripolitania and Cyrenaica were turned into separate provinces governed by occupation administrations. Trade and economic ties between the two historical regions of Libya were interrupted, and freedom of movement of the local population was limited.
British colonial authorities encouraged tribalism, preservation and conservation of traditional tribal relations, restoring the institution of tribal leaders, in which they saw their support in the country. In particular, Britain had high hopes for Idris al-Senusi and the Senussi order.
Tribalism is a form of socio-political structure of societies based on the idea of the special, dominant significance of one’s tribe, ethnic group, group, its priority role in the past and present, usually accompanied by hostility towards other groups. Members of one tribe call themselves brothers, jealously observe the bonds of solidarity that protect them or oppose them to other tribes whenever the integrity of the tribe or the interests of its members is threatened.
In 1947, the British managed to bring Idris to power, who agreed to grant Great Britain the right to have military bases in Cyrenaica in exchange for the proclamation of Idris as king of Cyrenaica and all of Libya.
In 1949, self-government of Cyrenaica was established. In February 1950, France, following the example of Great Britain, issued the Provisional Regulations. In accordance with the document, an autonomous government was created in Fezzan.
In 1947, a peace treaty was signed between the victorious powers and Italy, according to which Italy renounced all rights to Libya, but Libya was not granted independence. Under pressure from the United States, which wanted to obtain the right to use the military airfield in Mellah, Great Britain agreed to transfer Tripolitania to Italian trusteeship (Bevin-Sforza agreement of May 7, 1949). Cyrenaica became a trust territory of Great Britain for 10 years, and Fezzan became a trust territory of France.
The division of Libya provoked the rise of national liberation movements in all three areas. Their consolidated actions with the support of the USSR led to the fact that on November 21, 1949, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution granting Libya independence no later than January 1, 1952.
On December 24, 1951, Libya was proclaimed an independent federal kingdom led by Idris al-Senusi. In terms of its form of government, it was a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral parliament.
In 1914 Great Britain declared Egypt his protectorate In 1919, an anti-colonial uprising began in the country, which became the first in the Arab East. It had a huge impact on the national liberation struggle of the peoples of the Middle East and the Maghreb, although it ended in the defeat of the rebels.
In 1921, a new uprising broke out in Egypt, which was also brutally suppressed. However, it pushed Great Britain to the conclusion that it was necessary to recognize Egyptian independence.
- On February 28, 1922, the British government issued a declaration abolishing the protectorate and recognizing Egypt as an “independent and sovereign state.” At the same time, London retained the rights to the defense of Egypt and the protection of imperial trade routes passing through the territory of the country, and to “co-government” of Sudan. British occupation troops also remained in the country. Thus, Egyptian independence was formal and incomplete.
- On April 19, Egypt was declared a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral parliament.
- On August 26, 1935, the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of Friendship and Alliance was signed, declaring an end to the occupation of Egypt (British troops remained only in the Suez Canal zone). Despite a number of positive aspects, the treaty as a whole was unequal. Britain effectively retained control over Egypt. Egypt only achieved the abolition of the capitulation regime, as well as the right to increase the size of the army.
After the end of World War II, a new stage of the national liberation struggle began in Egypt. The Egyptians advocated the abolition of the terms of the 1936 treaty and the withdrawal of British troops from the country.
The defeat of the Arabs in the war of 1948-1949. against Israel intensified anti-government and anti-British activities in Egypt.
In June 1950, Anglo-Egyptian negotiations began to terminate the 1936 treaty, but they came to nothing. In this regard, on October 8, 1951, bills were submitted to the Egyptian parliament to denounce the 1936 treaty and two 1899 agreements with England on condominium over Sudan.
Condominium - joint ownership, joint management of the same territory by two or more states, carried out under an agreement.
On October 15, 1951, parliament unanimously approved both bills. Sudan was declared an integral part of Egypt. Thus, the presence of British troops in Egypt lost its legitimacy.
London did not want to put up with this state of affairs, so it decided to expand its occupation zone. This led to popular unrest and the beginning of the Egyptian guerrilla war. But due to the erosion of the political system of monarchical Egypt, the struggle did not bring significant results.
On the night of July 22-23, 1952, the Free Officers organization, led by Gamal Abdel Nasser, seized power in Cairo.
The “July Revolution” of 1952 was anti-monarchical, anti-imperialist and anti-feudal in nature. It marked the end of Egypt's long national liberation struggle and the beginning of its independent development.
- On June 18, 1953, Egypt was declared a republic. General Mohammed Naguib became the country's first president.
- On October 19, 1954, an Anglo-Egyptian agreement was signed in Cairo, according to which British troops were to leave Egypt within 20 months from the date of signing the document. On June 13, 1956, the withdrawal of British troops from Egypt was completed, marking the end of the 74-year British occupation of Egypt.
- On June 23, 1956, the constitution of the Republic of Egypt was approved, and G. A. Nasser was elected president of the country.
Development of the national liberation struggle in Sudan closely connected with the national liberation movement of Egypt.
Since 1899, Sudan has been an Anglo-Egyptian condominium, although the scope of Egypt's powers was significantly less than that of England.
In 1924, the British, violating the 1899 agreement, removed Egypt from participating in the administration of Sudan. The condominium was restored only in 1936.
The rise of the national liberation movement in Sudan, as in most colonial countries, began after the Second World War and the defeat of the Axis powers in it. In the summer of 1951, a wave of anti-British protests swept across Sudan, which were brutally suppressed.
After the promulgation of Egypt's decision to terminate the 1899 treaty, patriotic forces became more active in Sudan, calling for a boycott of colonial laws and government orders.
The "July Revolution" of 1952 in Egypt greatly undermined Britain's position in Sudan. The government of G. A. Nasser raised the question of liquidating the condominium before London and decided to give the Sudanese the right to determine their own political status. Under these conditions, London was forced to enter into negotiations with Cairo.
On February 12, 1953, the Sudan Agreement was signed in Cairo between Great Britain and Egypt, according to which the 1899 treaty was annulled. Sudan was granted the right to self-government, and after three years it was to gain independence. During a three-year transition period, power in Sudan was to be exercised by a governor general and a commission of representatives of neutral and interested states.
The Governor-General in every possible way delayed the process of transferring power into the hands of the Sudanese. The subversive activities of Great Britain led Sudan to begin economic rapprochement with socialist states and then become a member of the Non-Aligned Movement.
In response, Britain provoked a rebellion in southern Sudan that escalated into a racial massacre. The rebellion was suppressed by Sudanese national troops, but it laid the foundations for a future civil war between the Muslim Arabs of the North and the black Christian population of the South.
Despite all the measures, Great Britain had to leave Sudan. On the night of December 31, 1955 to January 1, 1956, Sudan was declared a unitary democratic republic with a collective head of state.
Algeria, the largest and most significant colony of France in Africa, went through a difficult and long path to independence - from 1830 to 1962.
In the XIX-XX centuries. Algeria served as a springboard for France to colonize the rest of Africa. During the First World War, Algeria was a supplier of personnel for the French armed forces. It was then that patriotic forces began to mature in Algeria, which opposed France and even hoped to achieve independence with the help of Germany and the Ottoman Empire.
An important force in the Algerian national liberation movement were the ulema (Muslim scholars), who since 1931 opposed the assimilation of Algerians by the French and the displacement of the Arabic language. The anti-colonial activities of the ulema, who enjoyed great influence among the indigenous population, contributed to the formation of the national consciousness of the Algerians.
With the outbreak of World War II, France began to “tighten the screws” in Algeria, banning parties one after another. After France's defeat in June 1940, the collaborationist "Vichy government" allowed Germany and Italy into Algeria and allowed them to siphon resources out of the country.
In November 1942, Allied troops landed in North Africa and quickly occupied the territories of Algeria and Morocco. By May 1943, Algeria was completely liberated from Italo-German troops, and in June 1943, the French Committee for National Liberation (OCNO) was formed, headed by General Charles de Gaulle.
In 1942-1943. representatives of Algerian patriotic forces sent a number of documents to the French authorities demanding that Algeria be granted the right to self-determination. However, the FCNO rejected this demand, agreeing only to grant full rights of French citizens to the top of Algerian society (ordinance of March 7, 1944).
In May 1945, a major uprising broke out in Algeria, which was suppressed by the French colonial authorities at the cost of the lives of several tens of thousands of demonstrators. The May uprising showed that France would not “let go” of Algeria without a fight.
In September 1947, the French Parliament approved the Statute of Algeria, which effectively preserved the colonial regime in the country, since the laws in force in Algeria were adopted by the French government. Thus, in 1948-1954. Algeria experienced a crisis caused by systematic violations of the Statute by France, discrimination against Algerians in the socio-economic sphere and political repression.
- On November 1, 1954, anti-French uprisings broke out throughout Algeria, marking the beginning of the War of Independence of 1954-1962. France, with the support of NATO, continued the bloody “pacification” of Algeria, not wanting to let go of the wealth of this country - oil and gas.
- On September 19, 1959, General de Gaulle, who led France in 1958, recognized the right of Algerians to self-determination, to which the French living in Algeria responded with an attempted rebellion that took place in January 1960. De Gaulle was forced to take into account the discontent of the Algerian French, offering Algeria internal autonomy while France retained full control over its foreign policy, economy, finances and defense. Algeria did not agree to this, and the war continued.
Only on March 18, 1962, a Franco-Algerian agreement on the cessation of hostilities was signed in Evian, and on June 1, 1962, a referendum was held in Algeria, in which 99% of the votes were cast in support of the country's independence.
French mode protectorate V Tunisia was formalized by two documents: the Bardo Treaty of 1881 and the La Marse Convention of 1883. In accordance with the documents, all power in Tunisia passed into the hands of the French colonial administration, headed by the Resident General of France in Tunisia.
The national liberation movement in Tunisia intensified after the First World War, the leading role in it was played by the national bourgeoisie, represented by the Dostur party, and since 1934 by the New Dostur, led by Habib Bourguiba. Bourguiba advocated granting "internal autonomy" to Tunisia.
On the eve of World War II, New Dusgur launched an anti-colonial resistance movement, and a network of underground organizations was created throughout Tunisia.
During the Second World War, Tunisia suffered from the policies of the “Vichy government”: censorship was restored in the country, democratic freedoms were limited, and the persecution of leaders of New Dostur and other anti-colonial parties began.
In 1942, the Italo-German occupation of Eastern and Southern Tunisia began, and Western Tunisia was under the control of Anglo-American troops. Only in March 1943 did the Allies manage to expel the Italo-German troops and their proxies from the occupied regions of Tunisia.
After the war, the national liberation struggle of the Tunisians continued. In 1951, a protest strike took place in the country, to which the French authorities responded by arresting activists of the national liberation movement, armed suppression of protests, and the restoration of press censorship.
One of the tools of the anti-colonial struggle in Tunisia was guerrilla warfare (“fellagism,” from “fellag,” as the French called partisan “bandits”).
In 1952, due to the aggravation of the situation in Tunisia, the Tunisian problem was brought up for discussion at the UN General Assembly, although no significant solution could be reached there.
On July 31, 1954, French Prime Minister P. Mendes-France announced the granting of “internal autonomy” status to Tunisia, which was confirmed by the Franco-Tunisian agreements of June 3, 1955.
The 1955 agreements allowed for a painless transition to independence. On March 20, 1956, a protocol was signed in Paris on France's recognition of Tunisia's independence. Thus, the protectorate regime was eliminated.
Protectorate France over Morocco was established in 1912. The regions of the Rif, Jibala and the Ifni enclave were transferred to Spain and administered from Madrid.
In 1923, the large seaport of Tangier, as a result of a bitter struggle between France, Spain and Great Britain, was declared an international zone with a regime of permanent neutrality. It was granted legislative and administrative autonomy.
The national liberation movement in Morocco had the character of an armed struggle, in which the Berber tribes occupied a significant place. In 1921 - 1926 There was an independent Republic of the Rif, created by the Berbers of the Rif tribes. The fight against the Rif Republic resulted in serious losses among the French and Spanish.
After the defeat of the Rif Republic, France continued the armed “pacification” of Morocco. The seizure of the country was carried out by the hands of foreign legionnaires, Algerian, Tunisian and Senegalese riflemen. The tribal resistance was broken in 1934, and then the national liberation struggle moved to the streets of Moroccan cities.
The French, trying to prevent the Moroccans from uniting, used the Berbers as agents of their interests. By encouraging, on the one hand, Berber nationalism, and on the other, “embedding” Berbers into their education system and inviting them into their service, the French sowed enmity between the Arab and Berber populations of Morocco.
During the interwar period, Spanish Morocco became a refuge for Italian-German agents, and after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Germany and Italy established full control over Spanish Morocco.
After the occupation of France by A. Hitler in 1940, the power of the “Vichy government” was established in Morocco, which allowed the inclusion of Tangier into Spanish Morocco. Tangier was returned to Moroccan sovereignty in 1945 at the Paris Conference of the Victorious Powers.
In November 1942, Anglo-American troops landed in North Africa, which led to a severance of ties between the mother country and the protectorate.
After the war, France faced US rivalry in Morocco. Some forces within the national liberation movement, in particular Sultan Mohammed bin Yusuf and his supporters, hoped that Franco-American rivalry would facilitate Morocco's independence.
Since 1947, the national liberation movement in Morocco has relied on the League of Arab States as a spokesman and defender of pan-Arab interests.
In December 1952, the Moroccan issue was put on the agenda of the UN General Assembly, but due to the actions of the Western powers this came to nothing.
In August 1953, anti-Sultan forces led by France organized a coup in Morocco. Their goal was to overthrow Sultan Mohammed bin Yusuf, who was a significant figure, a symbol of the Moroccan national liberation struggle against French colonialism. As a result of the coup, Mohammed ben Yusuf's cousin, Mohammed ben Arafa, ascended the throne, and Mohammed ben Yusuf was exiled to Corsica and then to Madagascar.
The new sultan signed all the decrees proposed by France, which curtailed the already insignificant powers of the monarch.
The coup d'etat caused a storm of popular outrage throughout the country; The Moroccans did not recognize the new sultan and continued to call Mohammed bin Yusuf their overlord. The administration of the Spanish zone also did not recognize the results of the coup.
The overthrow of Mohammed bin Yusuf only fueled the national liberation struggle in Morocco, which led to a crisis in French colonial policy. Popular unrest 1954-1955 forced Paris to begin negotiations with the leaders of the anti-colonial forces of Morocco. An agreement was reached to depose Mohammed bin Arafa and form a national government.
- On October 30, 1955, Mohammed bin Arafa officially abdicated the throne in favor of Mohammed bin Yusuf, and on November 5, Paris officially recognized Mohammed bin Yusuf as the legitimate Sultan of Morocco.
- On November 16, 1955, the triumphant return of Mohammed bin Yusuf to Morocco took place.
- On March 2, 1956, following the results of Franco-Moroccan negotiations, statements and a protocol were signed on French recognition of Moroccan independence.
- On April 5, 1956, Moroccan independence was officially recognized by Spain, and on April 7, the Declaration of Moroccan Independence was signed. However, the issue of the status of the coastal cities of Ceuta and Melilla was never resolved.
- On October 29, 1956, the international status of Tangier was canceled and the city came under the jurisdiction of Morocco.
Thus, after 44 years of struggle, Morocco gained independence, Sultan Mohammed bin Yusuf took the title of king and became known as Mohammed V.
The entire northern and almost the entire northeastern part of the African continent was conquered by the Arabs in the early Middle Ages, starting in the 7th century, when the warriors of Islam created the Arab Caliphate. Having experienced a turbulent era of conquests and wars, ethnic mixing during migrations and assimilation of the local Berber-Libyan population by Arabs, the countries of the Maghreb (as the western part of the Arab-Islamic world is called) in the 16th century. were, with the exception of Morocco, annexed to the Ottoman Empire and turned into its vassals. However, this did not prevent Europeans, primarily the neighbors of the Maghreb Arabs, the Portuguese and Spaniards, at the same time, at the turn of the 15th - 16th centuries, from beginning colonial conquests in the western part of the Maghreb, in Morocco and Mauritania. Mauritania has become a colony of France since 1920, as already mentioned in the previous chapter. Accordingly, its historical destinies during the period of colonialism turned out to be more connected with the destinies of Sudanese Africa. Morocco was and remains a country in the North African Maghreb, which will now be discussed.
Rulers of the country in the 15th - 16th centuries. The sultans of the Wattasid dynasty, descendants of the Berber Marinid dynasty (XIII - XV centuries), tried to contain the onslaught of the colonialists who plundered the coastal areas and took away Moroccans as slaves. By the end of the 16th century. these efforts have led to some successes; The sherif sultans (that is, those who traced their lineage to the prophet) Arab dynasties of the Saadians and Alawites came to power, relying on fanatical supporters of Islam. XVII and especially XVIII centuries. were a time of strengthening of centralized administration and displacement of Europeans (the Spaniards managed to retain only a few fortresses on the coast). But from the middle of the 18th century. A period of decline and decentralization and internal strife began. Weak governments were forced to make concessions to foreigners (in 1767 agreements were concluded with Spain and France), but at the same time retained a monopoly on foreign trade, carried out in several ports (in 1822 there were five).
The French colonial conquests in Algeria in 1830 were received in Morocco with some satisfaction (a formidable neighbor and rival was weakened) and with even greater fear. The Moroccans supported the anti-French movement of the Algerians led by Abd al-Qadir, but this was precisely the reason for the French ultimatum to Morocco. An attempt under the banner of jihad to resist the onslaught of the colonialists was unsuccessful, and after the defeat of 1844, only the intervention of England prevented the transformation of Morocco into a French colony. In exchange for this intervention and the subsequent patronage of the British, the Sultan, under the treaty of 1856, was forced to open Morocco to free trade. Spanish-Moroccan War 1859--1860. led to the expansion of Spanish possessions on the Moroccan coast and to additional trade concessions, after which the previous monopoly on foreign trade was abolished in 1864.
The 60-80s were a time of energetic penetration of Europeans into Morocco. A regime of benefits and capitulations was created for traders and entrepreneurs, some cities, primarily Tangier and Capablanca, were Europeanized, and a layer of comprador-intermediaries was formed from among wealthy Moroccans with business ties to European companies (these intermediaries were called the French word “protégé”). In an effort to prevent the country from becoming a semi-colony, Sultan Moulay Hassan (1873-1894) undertook a series of reforms, including the reorganization of the army and the creation of a military industry. But these reforms, very limited in nature compared to, say, the Turkish Tanzimat, aroused resistance from traditionalists, led by religious brotherhoods led by their marabout sheikhs. Under Hassan's successor Abd al-Aziz (1894-1908), attempts at reform were continued, but with the same result: the few supporters of reform and modernization of the country, inspired by the ideas of the Young Turks and publishing their own newspapers, even dreaming of a constitution, encountered increasing discontent among the masses, whose insurgent movement was directed both against “their” reformers and, above all, against foreign invasion, in defense of traditional, customary norms of existence under the banner of Islam. The movement expanded, and in 1911 the Sultan was forced to turn to the French for help, who did not hesitate to occupy part of Morocco. By the treaty of 1912, Morocco became a French protectorate, with the exception of a small zone made into a Spanish protectorate, and declared the international port of Tangier.
A period of rapid industrial development and exploitation of the country's natural resources began: phosphorites and metals (manganese, copper, lead, zinc, cobalt, iron) were mined and exported, citrus fruits were grown, and cork bark was harvested. Foreign, mainly French, companies invested huge capital in the industrial development of Morocco, built railways, developed energy and trade. Up to a million hectares of fertile land were transferred to European (mostly French) colonists who farmed using hired labor. Industrial construction and the modernization associated with it had an impact on the traditional structure, which until recently had so energetically resisted the invasion of Europeans: a considerable number of peasants left the village for the city, where the ranks of workers and educated classes grew. And although the resistance did not stop, and sometimes even took somewhat unexpected forms, the traditional structure not only resisted, but also somehow adapted to the new conditions. In the 1930s, the first political movements emerged - the National Action Committee (1934), the National Party (1937). In 1943, the Istiklal Party was created and demanded independence. The independence movement developed with particular force after the war, reaching its peak in the late 40s and early 50s. Its results were the conquest of independence in 1956 and the reunification of Morocco, including Tangier, in 1958.
Algeria, located east of Morocco in the 16th-17th centuries. was under the rule of rulers who considered themselves vassals of the Turkish Sultan. Since the 18th century Algeria began to be led by their leaders, the dei, who were elected by the Janissaries, and the country's vassal dependence on the Sultan became illusory, while the influence of Europeans grew stronger: there were consulates of powers, trade relations developed, cities and crafts flourished. There were many Muslim schools and even several higher educational institutions in the country.
In 1830, using a minor conflict as a pretext (during the reception of the French consul, with whom negotiations were being held about the Algerian debt, an angry dey hit him with a fly flapper), King Charles X began a war with Algeria, although it ended in a quick victory, but which caused long-term resistance, the uprising of Abd al-Qadir. The suppression of this and other uprisings that followed it required considerable efforts from the French, but did not prevent them from vigorously establishing themselves in Algeria as its colonizers. The public lands fund generously allocated plots for European colonists, the number of which quickly increased. So, in 1870 they had a little more than 700 thousand hectares in their hands, in 1940 - about 2700 thousand hectares. Among the French settlers there were many radicals, even revolutionaries: the Republican Association of Algeria (an organization of European settlers) created in 1870 included workers with socialist convictions. There was even an Algerian section of the First International, and during the days of the Paris Commune in 1871, demonstrations in its support took place in the cities of Algeria.
As for the Arab-Islamic population, they took a wait-and-see attitude and resisted European colonization by all means, including sporadic uprisings, mainly led by religious and sectarian leaders. However, the spread of European forms of labor organization and the need for labor in the farms of the colonists, as well as in the industrial enterprises that arose in the cities, led to the gradual drawing of a certain proportion of Algerians into new production ties. The first detachments of Algerian workers arose, artisans and traders joined the capitalist economy (initially the urban population consisted mainly of the non-Algerian population - Turks, Moors, Jews, etc.). On the whole, however, the economic dominance of European, mainly French, capital was undeniable. As for the forms of administration, until 1880, special “Arab bureaus” headed by French officers were in charge of the affairs of the indigenous population, then “mixed” communes appeared in areas of mass Algerian residence, managed by French administrators. Where there was an influential European population or Europeans were numerically dominant, “full-fledged” communes were created, where there was an electoral procedure, elective municipalities (Algerians in any case had no more than two-fifths of the total number of deputies of the municipality). A small stratum of wealthy Algerians (at the end of the 19th century - about 5 thousand) could take part in the elections of the Algerian section-curia of the council under the governor general.
At the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries. In Algeria, a noticeable layer of intellectuals appeared who opposed the “native code” (introduced in 1881), which limited the rights of Algerians and prohibited their participation in political life. Various cultural and educational associations began to be created, newspapers, magazines, and books were published. Although in form these were predominantly speeches in defense of Islam, the Arabic language (it was noticeably replaced by French) and Sharia, there was also an influential group of Young Algerians who, by analogy with the Young Turks, were oriented towards rapprochement with Western, French culture, demanding equal rights for Algerians with the French.
The participation of many tens of thousands of Arab-Algerians (along with French Algerians) in the First World War gave a strong impetus to the development of national identity in the post-war years, which was facilitated by a significant increase in the layer of Arab-Algerian intellectuals, including those educated in Europe. Influential organizations arose - the “Young Algerian” (1920), the Federation of Elected Muslims (1927, meaning members of municipalities), and finally, the famous “North African Star” (1926), which in 1933 put forward the slogan of the struggle for the independence of Algeria. Among intellectuals, the Islamic organization “Union of Ulema”, which developed ideas about the identity of the Algerians and their culture, began to enjoy greater recognition. In general, the 30s gave impetus to the development of political activity among Algerians, which was facilitated, in particular, by a change in the national composition of the workers of Algeria (if in 1911 Europeans numerically prevailed in it, now the picture was reversed, there were twice as many Algerians).
The Popular Front's victory in Paris led to reforms that granted Algeria new democratic freedoms and political rights. The Second World War temporarily interrupted the process of development of national identity, but after the war it manifested itself with even greater force. New political parties emerged and demands for autonomy and independence intensified. The 1947 law guaranteed Algerians the status of French citizens, established an Algerian Assembly of 120 deputies, half of which were elected by Europeans, and a government council under the governor general. But this was no longer enough. The movement for the triumph of democratic freedoms, formed in 1946, began to prepare for armed struggle. A Revolutionary Committee was created, which in 1954 transformed into the National Liberation Front. The National Liberation Army, created by the Front, began to fight throughout Algeria. In 1956, the National Council of the Algerian Revolution was elected by the Front, and in 1958 the Algerian Republic was proclaimed. And although Algerian extremists of European origin tried to prevent de Gaulle’s decision in 1959 to recognize Algeria’s right to self-determination, which resulted in their raising in 1960 rebellion against the French government, in 1962 the Algerian revolution finally won. The Algerian People's Democratic Republic was created.
Tunisia. Became from the 16th century. part of the Ottoman Empire, Tunisia, located east of Algeria, was for a long time a base for Mediterranean corsair pirates and one of the centers of the slave trade (“the goods” were most often captured Europeans who became prey for corsairs). A large number of such slaves, as well as those expelled at the beginning of the 17th century. From Spain, the Morisco Moors, Spanish Muslims, who were persecuted there, played a certain role in the formation of the ethnic culture of the Tunisian elite, the descendants of the Moriscos, Turkish Janissaries and Christian harem slaves. The beys of the Husseinid dynasty (1705-1957), although considered vassals of the Sultan, behaved as independent rulers and, in particular, entered into trade agreements with European states. Relations with Europeans, active trade, piracy, Morisco migration - all this contributed to the development of the country, 20% of whose population at the end of the 18th century. lived in cities that were experiencing a period of prosperity after the abolition of the state monopoly on foreign trade. Tunisians exported olive oil, aromatic essences and oils to Europe, including rose oil, which was especially highly valued in Paris, as well as wool and bread. Having achieved complete independence from neighboring Algeria in 1813, the Beys of Tunisia, however, soon found themselves in serious financial difficulties, which was facilitated by the cessation of income from piracy and the slave trade. Having supported the French expedition of 1830 to Algeria, Tunisia in the 30-40s tried, with the help of France, to carry out reforms in the country and, in particular, to create a regular army instead of the Janissary corps.
Ahmed Bey (1837-1855), having rejected the principles of Tanzimat (in which he followed Muhammad Ali of Egypt, whom he admired), nevertheless, following the example of the same Muhammad Ali, began to rapidly establish the military industry and European education, including military education. Colleges and schools began to be founded in the country, newspapers and books were published. All this placed a heavy financial burden on the country and led to a crisis. Ahmed Bey's successors changed his policies, supported the ideas of Tanzimat and began to rebuild the administration and economy according to European standards. In 1861, the first constitution in the Arab-Islamic world was adopted in Tunisia, establishing a system of limited monarchy with a government responsible to the Supreme Council (the council was partly appointed, partly elected by lot from a list of privileged notables). These innovations were perceived by the people, as was the case somewhat later in Morocco, with distrust and gave rise to internal resistance and rejection. The peasants, led by religious marabout leaders, rebelled. The most powerful of them was the speech of 1864, whose participants demanded the abolition of the constitution and reduction of taxes, and the restoration of the traditional Islamic Sharia court. To suppress the uprising, the government had to resort to the help of foreigners and foreign loans. The growth of debt led in 1869 to the bankruptcy of Tunisia and the creation of the International Financial Commission, which greatly limited the country's sovereignty and brought it to the brink of becoming a semi-colony. The crisis, unbearable taxes, uprisings - all this led the relatively recently prosperous country into a state of deep decline, to a reduction in the population by almost three times, to 900 thousand people.
Prime Minister Hayraddin Pasha, who came to power in 1873, did not worry about reviving constitutional norms, but instead undertook a number of important reforms that led to streamlining taxation, changing the nature of land use, and developing education, health care, and improvement. He tried to emphasize vassal dependence on the Ottoman Empire in order to protect the country from the onslaught of colonial powers. However, after the Berlin Congress of 1878, France achieved recognition of Tunisia as its sphere of influence, and in 1881 Tunisia was occupied by the French and turned into a protectorate.
The colonial authorities began active economic development of the country. Mining enterprises (phosphorites, iron), railways, and piers were built. European colonists were attracted to Tunisia: at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries. they made up about 7% of the population and owned 10% of the best lands that produced marketable grain (mineral fertilizers and agricultural machines were used there). The influx of colonists contributed to the growth of nationalist sentiment among the Tunisians, among whom workers began to appear and the stratum of the educated increased. Various circles and associations appeared, and connections were established with national movements in Turkey and Egypt. As in Algeria, the Young Tunisians were inclined to reconstruct the traditional structure with the help of the French, and the traditionalists who opposed them, on the contrary, considered it necessary to rely on ancestral norms and, above all, on Islam. As in Algeria, the most militant part of the trade union movement at the beginning of the 20th century. were represented by European workers, while the uprisings of Tunisian peasants were a reflection of the resistance of the traditional structure, which did not accept and rejected innovations. Representatives of the colonial administration also made certain concessions: in 1910, a special section-curia was created for the Tunisians at the Consultative Conference, convened in 1891 and then consisting of deputies from the European population.
In 1920, the Destour party was formed. In 1922, under the colonial administration, a Grand Council was created with representation from the entire population of Tunisia. World economic crisis 1929-- 1933 dealt a severe blow to the Tunisian economy. Many enterprises closed, peasants went bankrupt. All this led to a sharp increase in discontent. In 1934, X. Bourguiba, based on Destour, formed the Neo-Destour party, which was distinguished by socialist tendencies and led the protests of the dissatisfied. The victory of the Popular Front in France in 1936 brought Tunisia, like other French colonies, some new orders: the system of democratic rights and freedoms was strengthened, and conditions arose for the activities of various parties and groups. And although at the end of the 30s the pressure of the colonial administration again sharply increased, and many parties, including the Communist Party that took shape in 1939, were subjected to repression, the struggle for national liberation intensified. In 1946, the National Congress, convened on the initiative of the Neo-Destour party, adopted the Declaration of Independence of Tunisia. Negotiations with the French government and the mass anti-colonial movement of 1952-1954. led to France recognizing Tunisia's autonomy in 1954. In 1956, Tunisia achieved independence, and in 1957 it became a republic.
Libya. The ancestors of the Berbers, the Libyans, who gave this country its modern name, inhabited the area to the west of Egypt in ancient times, and in the late period of the existence of ancient Egyptian society, they even developed many lands in the Nile Delta and created the Libyan dynasties that ruled Egypt. After the 7th century Libya, like the entire Maghreb, was conquered by the Arabs and began to become Islamized and Arabized, and in the middle of the 16th century. it became part of the Ottoman Empire. Like Tunisia, Libya had long been a base for Mediterranean corsairs and a center for the slave trade. It was ruled by people from the Janissaries, after which power passed to the Karamanli dynasty of Turkish origin (1711-1835), under which vassal dependence on the Turks noticeably weakened, and Arabic became the official language.
Beginning of the 19th century passed under the sign of the increasing pressure of European powers, which, under the pretext of stopping piracy and the slave trade, forced Libya to conclude a number of agreements, and in particular the unequal treaty of 1830 with France. Heavy taxes and foreign loans here, as in Tunisia, led to a financial crisis, but the way out of it turned out to be different than in Tunisia: with the help of England, which feared the strengthening of French positions in the Maghreb, Turkey in 1835 managed to restore its almost long-lost sovereignty and begin vigorous reforms based on the principles of the Tanzimat. The reforms, with their orientation toward a Europeanized system of administration, court, trade, education, and publishing, to a large extent transformed the traditional structure and thus caused a sharp protest from the population accustomed to it. The protest took the form of religious resistance, led by the Senusite order, founded by the marabout al-Senusi, a native of Algeria, who fortified himself in 1856 in the desert area of Jagoub, an oasis in the middle of the vast southern Libyan Sahara.
From the lands adjacent to the oasis, the Senusites created vast possessions (not only in the desert), a kind of state within a state with its own trading centers and military fortifications. The coming to power in Turkey of the opponent of the Tanzimat, Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909), was perceived by the Senusites as a signal for an attack: the Senusites opposed both the liberal reforms of their own government and those operating to the south of them in the lake area. The children of the French colonialists. The influence of the order continued to expand, and the French were forced to wage a long, grueling war with it, which ended in their favor in Central Africa only in 1913-1914. As for Libya, only after the start of the Young Turk revolution in Turkey in 1908, the situation here again began to change in favor of supporters of reforms: elections to the Majlis were held, and the problems of adapting Islam to new conditions, including technological progress, began to be actively discussed in the pages of periodicals , women's rights, etc.
In 1911, Italy, having started a war with Turkey, tried to seize Libya. However, after the capture of Tripoli and some areas of the coast, the war took on a protracted nature. And although Turkey, under the 1912 treaty, agreed to recognize part of Libya as an autonomous territory under Italian control (with the Sultan retaining supreme sovereignty), the war, which took on the character of a guerrilla struggle led by the Senussites, continued. In 1915, a Senusite government was created in Cyrenaica, and in 1918, the leaders of the Tripolitan uprising of 1916 created the Republic of Tripolitania. In 1921, it was decided to join the efforts of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica in the struggle for national liberation.
After the fascists came to power in Italy, that country's pressure on Libya intensified again, and by 1931 the Italians achieved success. Libya was turned into a colony of Italy, and its rapid economic development began: the most fertile lands were expropriated and transferred to Italian colonists, and the production of marketable grain was increased. World War II brought an end to Italian colonialism. Libya was occupied by Allied forces. After the war, political organizations began to be created here, advocating the formation of an independent and united Libya. In 1949, at a meeting of the UN, it was decided to grant Libya independence by 1952. In December 1950, the National Constituent Assembly began to prepare a constitution, which came into force in 1951: Libya was proclaimed an independent United Kingdom, and the head of the Senussites, Idris I became its king.
Egypt. The reforms of Muhammad Ali (1805-1849) put Egypt, formally still associated with the Ottoman Empire, but actually independent of it and even more than once defeating its armies and seizing its lands, among the leading and most developed countries of the East, a strong regular army (up to 200 thousand soldiers), strictly centralized administration, well-established agriculture with a government monopoly on the export of cash crops (cotton, indigo, sugar cane), construction of state industrial enterprises, especially military ones, encouragement of the achievements of European science and technology, creation of a network educational institutions of various profiles - all this was the basis for strengthening the power of Muhammad Ali, who, not by chance, became an object of imitation for certain segments of the population in other Maghreb countries. It is also worthy of mention that Muhammad Ali did not follow the path of tanzimat reforms, but, on the contrary, in every possible way emphasized the national “I” of Egypt and forced the strengthening of the country so that it would not suffer the sad fate of a colony. Faced with the opposition of powers (especially England), who robbed him of the fruits of victories in his successful wars with the Sultan, Muhammad Ali in the early 40s was not only forced to give up what he had conquered (Syria, Palestine, Arabia, Crete) and return those who had gone over to his side Turkish fleet, but also to give in to the onslaught of foreign capital, opening the doors to free trade.
The penetration of foreign goods dealt a heavy blow both to the backward state industry (state-owned factories in conditions of free competition turned out to be unprofitable, not to mention the fact that yesterday’s fellahins, who were forcibly mobilized to work for them, did not want to work and often damaged expensive cars), and throughout financial system exhausted by wars. Under Muhammad Ali's successors, many of the state-owned enterprises, as well as expensive educational institutions, were closed. But European private enterprise, including the construction of railways, cotton gins and sugar factories and, finally, the strategically invaluable Suez Canal, was in full swing. The development of market relations and commodity-money relations forced the Egyptian authorities to issue a number of reforms aimed at expanding the rights of owners in the village and changing taxation. The country's construction costs (Khedive Ismail (1863 - 1879) insisted on Egypt's participation as a state in the construction of the canal and in the creation of some other enterprises] and interest on foreign loans led the financial system to collapse: in 1876, Ismail declared bankruptcy, after which, at the insistence of England and France, a special commission was created, which took over a significant part of the treasury's revenues. The Khedive's shares in the Suez Canal were sold. Finally, the Egyptian debt commission forced Ismail to create a government headed by Nubar Pasha, known for his pro-English sympathies. The ministers of finance and public works (i.e., those who controlled the country's revenues) were occupied by an Englishman and a Frenchman, respectively.
Dissatisfaction with these concessions and with the entire policy of the Khedive and the colonial powers was mature and increasingly open in the country. In 1866, the Chamber of Notables was created - an advisory body in which representatives of influential strata of Egyptian society, who formed the National Party (Watan) in 1879, began to set the tone. This chamber demanded that the Khedive dissolve the “European Cabinet,” which he did. In response, the powers forced the Sultan to depose Ismail, and the new Khedive dispersed the House and restored foreign financial control, while infringing on the interests of army officers (the army was reduced). In September of the same 1879, the Cairo garrison led by Colonel Orabi (Arabi Pasha) rebelled. The Khedive was forced to submit to the pressure of the dissatisfied and restore the national cabinet headed by Sherif Pasha and with the participation of the Vatanists. But events developed rapidly. Soon the new government began to look very moderate against the background of the demands of the radical members of the dissatisfied movement led by Orabi. In February 1882, the army overthrew the Vatanist government. M. Abdo, a prominent theorist of the National Party and ally of al-Afghani, the founder of the theory of pan-Islamism, also lost his influence.
The radicals, led by Orabi, came out with anti-foreign slogans and began to energetically cleanse the country of the European “infection”: cafes and brothels, restaurants and opera houses were closed, and traditional norms of Islam were restored. Orabi also received support from the Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamid, who awarded him the title of pasha. In February 1882, a new cabinet was created, in which Orabi took the post of Minister of War. Tension in the country increased. Peasants began to rise up under the slogans of fighting the infidels. All Europeanized layers of Egyptian society fled to Alexandria under the protection of the English squadron that arrived there. Soon the Khedive arrived here. At the same time, a Military Council was formed in Cairo, and the National Majlis was convened, in which Arabi's supporters, including his officers, became the decisive force. An open confrontation began. In July 1882, the Khedive removed Orabi, declaring him a rebel. In response to this, Orabi stated that he considered the Khedive a hostage of foreigners, “a captive of the British.” England supported the Khedive and soon its troops occupied Cairo. Arabi was put on trial and exiled to Ceylon, and Egypt became a protectorate of England.
However, formally Egypt had a special status and was still considered an autonomous part of the Ottoman Empire. According to the Organic Law issued in 1883, the Legislative Council and the General Assembly were created here (in 1913 they were united into the Legislative Assembly), while all executive power was concentrated in the hands of the British consul, who retained full control over the activities of the cabinet headed by prime minister. Of course, real power remained with the colonialists, but the very fact of the existence of both the legislative chamber and the cabinet of ministers was intended to emphasize that Egypt has a special status.
English and other foreign capital, which began to actively penetrate Egypt after 1882, contributed to the acceleration of the country's development. At the beginning of the 20th century. industrial workers numbered almost half a million people - a very respectable figure for that time (this number also included those who were employed in small enterprises; slightly less than half of the total number of workers were Europeans). Among the Egyptians there were already many educated people, intellectuals; a national bourgeoisie was also emerging. The external attributes of Europeanization, which were destroyed at the turn of the 70s and 80s, reappeared: clubs, restaurants, salons. The telegraph and telephone, cinema, universities, and publishing houses operated. Fierce debates began to take place again about the fate of the country and the people, with liberals in favor of Westernization, mostly people with a European education, and traditionalists defending the norms of Islam, a significant part of whom were quite close to the broad masses of the Egyptian population, dissatisfied with the colonization of the country, opposing each other. As in a number of other Maghreb countries, at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries. In Egypt, a labor, trade union and socialist movement began to emerge, but its representatives were mainly immigrants from Europe, workers or intellectuals. As for the Egyptian indigenous population, they were drawn into this movement very slowly.
This was facilitated by the increasingly pronounced religious-nationalist emphasis in the socio-political life of Egypt. On the eve of the World War, the position of religious extremists, who resorted to methods of armed terror, strengthened in the Vatanist party, which was disintegrating into factions. The murder in 1910 of Prime Minister B. Gali, a native of Copts, Egyptian Christians, further intensified religious strife in the country. In 1912, the Vatan party was banned, and new forces came to the forefront in the political struggle after the war, primarily the Wafd party created in 1918. This party launched a powerful movement demanding national independence, which played a role: in 1922, England agreed to recognize the independence of Egypt, but on the condition that it retained its troops and a commissar, not to mention the economic positions of British capital. According to the constitution of 1923, Egypt became a constitutional monarchy headed by King Fuad I. A parliament and a cabinet of ministers responsible to him and the king were created, headed by the leaders of the Wafd. In 1924, they raised before England the question of the withdrawal of British troops and the unification of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan with Egypt. This demand led to a conflict, as a result of which the Wafdists were forced to resign. However, they won the next elections again, and the pressure of the cabinet and the young Egyptian bourgeoisie ultimately led to the fact that England was forced to agree to important economic concessions: in 1931, a new customs tariff was introduced, designed to protect Egyptian industry and trade from competition.
The global crisis affected the deterioration of Egypt's economic situation and led to another intensification of the political struggle, during which the Wafdists were again removed from power in 1930, and the constitution of 1923 was replaced by another, more reactionary in nature. However, in 1934, under the leadership of the same Wafdists, another political campaign was launched, as a result of which King Fuad, with the consent of the British, restored the constitution of 1923. According to the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936, British troops were withdrawn from Egypt, the commissioner became the British ambassador and only in the Suez Canal zone did some British armed forces remain. This was a considerable success for the Wafdists, but, strange as it may seem, it caused a new division of political forces and a sharp struggle, attacks on the Wafd from the right and left.
Over the following years, Egypt continued to pursue a policy aimed at completely freeing the country from foreign interference. A powerful movement, waves of rallies, demonstrations, and strikes forced the British in 1946 to sit down at the negotiating table to revise the 1936 agreement. The negotiations did not lead to success: England did not want to give up control over the Suez Canal or a condominium in Sudan. In 1951, the next Wafd government led by Nahhas Pasha introduced a bill to the Egyptian parliament to abolish the 1936 treaty, in response to which the British transferred additional military contingents to the canal zone and occupied a number of cities. A crisis was again brewing in the country, manifested in the acute dissatisfaction of various segments of the population with the created situation. Under these conditions, the Free Officers organization came to the fore, whose head, Naguib, took power into his own hands as a result of the 1952 coup. King Farouk abdicated the throne. A revolutionary council was created, reforms were carried out in the field of agrarian relations and in the political structure. The previous parties were dissolved, the constitution was abolished, and the monarchy was abolished. The radical wing of the movement strengthened its position, which resulted in the emergence of Nasser, who became prime minister in 1954. In 1956, a new constitution was adopted, and soon President Nasser announced the nationalization of the Suez Canal. During the 1956 Anglo-French-Israeli military campaign against Egypt in the Suez Canal zone, the Egyptian army survived and prevailed. The troops of foreign countries, including England, were withdrawn. Egypt finally gained the complete independence it had so desired and cost it so much.
Thus, it can be noted that the heyday of African colonial empires dates back to the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. The most extensive and richest possessions were those of Great Britain. In the southern and central part of the continent: Cape Colony, Natal, Bechuanaland (now Botswana), Basutoland (Lesotho), Swaziland, Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia). The colonial empire of France was not inferior in size to the British, but the population of its colonies was several times smaller, and its natural resources were poorer. Most of the French possessions were in Western and Equatorial Africa. The main incentives that led to the heated battle of European powers for Africa are considered economic. Indeed, the desire to exploit Africa's natural resources and people was of paramount importance. But it cannot be said that these hopes were immediately realized. The south of the continent, where the world's largest deposits of gold and diamonds were discovered, began to generate huge profits. But before income could be received, large investments were first necessary to explore natural resources, create communications, adapt the local economy to the needs of the metropolis, suppress the protest of the indigenous people and find effective ways to force them to work for the colonial system. All this took time.
Another argument of the ideologists of colonialism was not immediately justified. They argued that the acquisition of colonies would open up many jobs in the metropolises themselves and eliminate unemployment, since Africa would become a large market for European products and enormous construction of railways, ports, and industrial enterprises would begin there. If these plans were implemented, it was more slowly than expected and on a smaller scale.
After the end of the war, the process of colonial development in Africa accelerated. Colonies increasingly turned into agricultural and raw materials appendages of the metropolises. Agriculture became increasingly export-oriented. During the interwar period, the composition of agricultural crops grown by Africans changed dramatically - the production of export crops increased sharply: coffee - 11 times, tea - 10 times, cocoa beans - 6 times, peanuts - more than 4 times, tobacco - 3 times, etc. .d. An increasing number of colonies became monoculture countries.
The World War sharply aggravated the discontent of the broad masses of the colonial and dependent countries with foreign domination. At the same time, it caused important changes in the economic and political situation of these countries. During the war, the imperialists were forced to develop certain industries in the colonies and semi-colonies, which objectively contributed to the growth of national capitalism. The strengthened national bourgeoisie began to fight with much greater persistence than before to achieve national independence. The war weakened the imperialist apparatus of violence. Moreover, in a number of cases the imperialists had to attract colonial peoples to participate in hostilities, arm them, and train them in modern military technology. Finally, the contradictions between the imperialist powers, which served as one of the most important factors in the outbreak of the world war, subsequently deepened even more.
The Great October Socialist Revolution in Russia, having broken the chain of imperialism, opened a new era in the history of the anti-imperialist struggle of the oppressed peoples of Asia and Africa - the era of colonial revolutions. National liberation movements acquired unprecedented mass participation and consciousness. The crisis of the colonial system was an integral part of the general crisis of capitalism.
In colonial and dependent countries, under the direct influence of the October Revolution, communist groups, and then communist parties, began to emerge. Their formation took place in difficult and difficult conditions. This was due to the small number, weakness, and political immaturity of the proletariat of the colonies and semi-colonies, the lack of basic democratic freedoms, and insufficient help from the working class of the metropolises. Nevertheless, communist ideas gradually took possession of the consciousness of the masses.
The foreign policy of the Soviet state had a huge influence on the development of the national liberation struggle in Asia and Africa. The Peace Decree, which demanded peace without annexations and indemnities, explained that annexation is any seizure of foreign land, regardless of when it is committed and how advanced or backward the nation being forcibly annexed or forcibly retained is. Having published and annulled the secret treaties of tsarist Russia with other imperialist powers, which provided, in particular, for the division and enslavement of the countries of the East, the government of the RSFSR renounced all unequal treaties wrested by tsarism from China, Turkey, Iran and other dependent countries, from spheres of influence, capitulation and similar privileges. The appeal “To all working Muslims of Russia and the East”, adopted on November 20 (December 3), 1917, announced the refusal of Soviet Russia from the tsarist treaties on the division of Turkey and Iran, and confirmed the right of all peoples to self-determination and free existence. “It is not from Russia and its revolutionary Government,” the address said, “that enslavement awaits you, but from the predators of European imperialism, from those who are waging the current war over the division of your countries...”
The colonial world was not united. In some countries, more or less industrially developed, there was a proletariat, in others there was no capitalist industry at all or almost no capitalist industry, and therefore no factory proletariat. The national bourgeoisie was formed in different ways, and the political (including foreign policy) conditions in which the national liberation struggle of individual colonies and semi-colonies developed were also different.
Therefore, each of the colonial and dependent countries went through its own path of revolutionary development. In China, already during the period under review, the proletariat entered the arena of political struggle. In Turkey, the role of the proletariat was insignificant, and the hegemon of the anti-imperialist revolution was the national trading bourgeoisie. In other cases, the liberation struggle took place under the leadership of feudal lords and tribal leaders (Afghanistan, Morocco).
The course of world-historical development after the Great October Socialist Revolution created for colonial and dependent countries an objective opportunity to move towards socialism, bypassing the stage of capitalism. V.I. Lenin in 1920, at the Second Congress of the Communist International, substantiated this position as follows: “...Can we recognize as correct the statement that the capitalist stage of development of the national economy is inevitable for those backward peoples who are now liberating themselves in among whom now, after the war, movement along the path of progress is noticeable. We answered this question in the negative. If the revolutionary victorious proletariat conducts systematic propaganda among them, and the Soviet governments come to their aid with all the means at their disposal, then it is wrong to believe that the capitalist stage of development is inevitable for backward peoples" ( V. I. Lenin, II Congress of the Communist International July 19 - August 7, 1920. Report of the commission on national and colonial issues July 26, Works, vol. 31, p. 219.).
At the first stage of the general crisis of capitalism, the scope of this provision was still very limited. The Soviet country was then the only country of proletarian dictatorship. The possibility of a non-capitalist path of development turned out to be practically feasible in those years only for one of the colonial and dependent countries - Mongolia, in which the national liberation struggle developed under the direct influence and with the direct help of the working class of Soviet Russia.
