All flags, without distinction of nationality, shall have free access to the whole of the coastline of [the Congo]…All differential dues on vessels…are forbidden…All the Powers exercising sovereign rights or influence in the aforesaid territories bind themselves to watch over the preservation of the native tribes, and to care for the improvement of the conditions of their moral and material well-being, and to help in suppressing slavery, and especially the slave trade. They shall, without distinction of creed or nation, protect and favour all religious, scientific or charitable institutions and undertakings created and organized for the above ends, or which aim at instructing the natives and bringing home to them the blessings of civilization.
-General Act of the Congo Free State
Then answer the following question:
How did Europeans justify their empires to themselves?
2.
Watch Triumph of the Will . Then use it as a source to answer the following question:
How did Nazism attract followers?
3.
The world knows how hard we strove to avoid the civil war. Our objectives in fighting the war to crush Ojukwu’s rebellion were always clear. We desired to preserve the territorial integrity and unity of Nigeria. For as one country we would be able to maintain lasting peace amongst our various communities; achieve rapid economic development to improve the lot of our people; guarantee a dignified future and respect in the world for our prosperity and contribute to African unity and modernization. On the other hand, the small successor states in a disintegrated Nigeria would be victims of perpetual war and misery and neo-colonialism. Our duty was clear. And we are, today, vindicated.
-Announcement of the victorious Nigerian government after the end of the Biafran War, 1970
Land of the rising sun, we love and cherish,
Beloved homeland of our brave heroes;
We must defend our lives or we shall perish,
We shall protect our hearts from all our foes;
But if the price is death for all we hold dear,
Then let us die without a shred of fear.
-Anthem of Biafra, defeated by the Nigerian government in the Biafran War
Then answer the following question:
What factors determined whether decolonization remained peaceful or turned violent?
4.
Watch an episode of any non-American TV show, such as the following: http://www.mtvshuga.com/show/series-4/mtv-shuga-4-episode-1/.
Then answer the following question:
Has the world become “flat” – that is, have differences between societies disappeared? Connect your answer to the themes of the course, especially imperialism and the race to catch up to Europe.
