1942 |
Aug 8 |
"Quit India" resolution of Indian National Congress Party |
1946 |
July 4 |
Republic of the Philippines independent of USA |
Aug 16 |
Mohammed Ali Jinnah declares a Muslim "day of protest": 4000 people are killed |
|
Dec 19 |
Viet Minh forces under Ho Chi Minh begin war on France |
|
1947 |
Feb 20 |
British Prime Minister Atlee announces that Britain will leave India |
March 25 |
Netherlands grant Indonesia independence |
|
Aug 14 |
India achieves independence; communal massacres begin |
|
1948 |
Jan 4 |
Burma (Myanmar) becomes independent |
Jan 30 |
Gandhi assassinated by Hindu fundamentalist |
|
Feb 4 |
Ceylon (Sri Lanka) becomes independent |
|
1949 |
Apr 18 |
Eire (Ireland) leaves Commonwealth |
Apr 27 |
King George VI recognized as "head of the Commonwealth" |
|
1951 |
Jan 1 |
Liberal constitution comes into effect in Gold Coast (Ghana) |
1953 |
Aug 1 |
Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland established (today Zimbabwe. Zambia and Malawi) |
1954 |
May 7 |
French army defeated in Viet Nam at Dien Bien Phu |
Nov 1 |
FLN (Front de Liberation Nationale) launches independence Struggle in Algeria |
|
1955 |
Apr 22 |
Tunisia granted home rule |
1956 |
Jan 1 |
Sudan gains independence |
Mar 2 |
France recognizes independence of Tunisia and Morocco |
|
Nov 5/Dec 22 |
Britain and France at war with Egypt; six day war Israel versus Egypt |
|
1957 |
Mar 6 |
Gold Coast (Ghana) gains independence |
Aug 31 |
Federation of Malaya independent |
|
1960 |
Feb 3 |
Macmillan, British prime minister, makes "winds of change" speech in Cape Town |
Apr 27 |
French grant Togoland independence |
|
June 30 |
Belgians grant Congo independence |
|
July 1 |
Somalia becomes a republic |
|
Aug 21 |
Federation of Mali breaks up; Mali and Senegal independent |
|
Oct 1 |
Nigeria independent |
|
1961 |
Apr 27 |
Sierra Leone independent |
Dec 9 |
Tanganyika (Tanzania) independent |
|
1962 |
Mar 19 |
Cease-fire in Algeria |
July 1 |
Ruanda and Burundi independent |
|
July 3 |
Algeria gains independence |
|
1963 |
Dec 12 |
Kenya independent |
Dec 22 |
Greek and Turkish populations begin civil war on Cyprus |
|
Dec 31 |
Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland dissolved |
|
1964 |
July 6 |
Nyasaland (Malawi) becomes independent |
Oct 24 |
Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) independent |
|
1965 |
Feb 19 |
Gambia independent |
Nov 11 |
Prime Minister Ian Smith declares Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) Independent ("Unilateral Declaration of Independence"/UDI) |
|
1967 |
May 3 |
Biafra secedes from Nigeria; civil war (- Jan 12, 1970) |
1968 |
Mar 12 |
Mauritius independent |
Sept 6 |
Swaziland independent |
|
Oct 12 |
Equatorial Guinea independent |
|
Nov 29 |
British leave Aden; People’s Republic proclaimed |