Chapter 2: Post-1945 Colonial Historiography and the New Imperial History

In the second half of the 1800s, several Western European countries, the United States, and Japan all conquered foreign lands in a dramatic new wave of imperialism that only accelerated as the century drew to a close. There were instances of continuity, for example of British rule in India and continental expansion by Russia and the United States. Overseas colonialism reached a height in the period 1914–1945. During that time Russia’s growth was greater than ever thanks to Bolshevik ambitions, the United States had colonized not only a continental empire but also Hawaii, Alaska, and the Philippines, and Europe’s overseas holdings reached their greatest extent. Then, strong anti-colonial movements, among other factors, led to an implosion of European empires in less than three decades. A first wave of decolonization extended from India and Pakistan’s independence in 1947 to self-rule across much of sub-Saharan Africa by the end of 1960. There followed a second wave from the 1960s down to the independence of Portuguese Guinea-Bissau (independence recognized in 1974), Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Mozambique, and Angola in 1975, after which few territories remained under formal colonial control. Nonetheless, innumerable legacies of empire translated into ongoing informal influence by former powers over many erstwhile colonies.