How Colonies Became Independent

The first scenario involved preparation: elections, a transfer of control, training officials, and agreeing on borders. It took years, but it left functioning institutions behind.

The third scenario was the most destructive. A colonial power weakened by war or crisis announced its departure within months, without having time either to draw borders or transfer control - and the new authorities inherited everything at once.

World War II changed the balance of power. The colonial powers emerged from it impoverished, while the colonies had made huge contributions in manpower and resources and gained the leverage to demand change. The two new superpowers also had little sympathy for colonial empires.

The arithmetic changed too. Holding territories by force began to cost more than it brought in - and in some cases, the decision to leave was made for budgetary rather than ideological reasons.

Economic dependence often remained as well. Roads led to ports rather than connecting regions, production was geared toward exporting one or two goods, and rebuilding all of this in a few years was impossible.

That is why the outcomes varied so widely. Countries with similar starting points diverged sharply, and the explanation was not one factor but a combination: the way the colonial power left, the institutions it handed down, resources, and what the first governments did.