Deck 49: Africas Decolonization and Independence

Question 1

Which of these was never tried in post-colonial Africa?

A) Parliamentary constitution.
B) Military dictatorship.
C) Rule by consensus.
D) Absolute monarchy.
E) Democratic elections.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

In gaining their independence from European colonizers,

A) South Africa broke free in the early 1980s.
B) France held its colonies until the late 1960s.
C) Kenya won its independence first, in 1957.
D) Britain tried to hold its colonies, but finally gave in and let even the white settlers colonies go.
E) French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa achieved independence in 1958.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

What is one of the more persistent issues in Africa (related to health problems) that affects about 30 percent of the population?

A) Acquired Immunity Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
B) Diabetes related to high obesity rates.
C) Starvation due to lack of food distribution.
D) Food restrictions related to religious dietary rules.
E) Combat-related deaths and wounds from war violence.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

In the U.S., the infant mortality rate is about 7 per 1000.What is the infant mortality rate in sub-Saharan Africa?

A) There are no statistics for the infant mortality rate in sub-Saharan Africa.
B) 100 per 1000.
C) 500 per 1000.
D) 1 per 1000.
E) 7 per 1000.

Question 5

Which of these occurred during the 1980s?

A) Prolonged droughts in Somalia and Sudan.
B) Civil wars in Egypt and Nigeria.
C) Nelson Mandela elected president of South Africa.
D) The independence of Eritrea.
E) Founding of the Organization for African Unity.

Question 6

What is Nelson Mandela most recognized for?

A) Kenyan independence.
B) The presidency of South Africa.
C) Leading Africa to prosperity.
D) Opposition to Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe.
E) Stopping the civil war in Ethiopia.

Question 7

In terms of the Green Revolution, Africa

A) benefited more than other places in increasing its food supply.
B) benefited less than elsewhere.
C) grew no crops that could have benefited from the revolution.
D) experienced practically no effect because of the nomadic lifestyle of many inhabitants.
E) chose not to participate in experiments with new food crops.

Question 8

Why is 1960 referred to as a "miraculous year" for African countries?

A) The year 1960 saw world-wide revolutions in favor of independence.
B) South Africa was allowed free elections and Nelson Mandela was elected.
C) Because more than half of the African continent gained their independence that year.
D) All the former colonial possessions were granted their independence that year.
E) The World Bank forgave all the African countries' debts to foreign banks.

Question 9

Which of these does not contribute to Africa's frequent droughts?

A) Much farming is done on "marginal" lands subject to frequent droughts.
B) Only about 10 per cent of Africa's land is arable.
C) Overpopulation is a continent-wide problem.
D) The Sahara Desert is extending southward because natural vegetation has been affected by droughts.
E) Leaders have recently been concentrating on the development of family farms.

Question 10

For Nigeria, oil reserves have been

A) successfully tapped to help all of the people.
B) mishandled by the government, causing hardships.
C) exploited by outsiders.
D) a problem for the government, because they are not easily accessible and Nigeria has little money for needed equipment.
E) a positive aspect of the economy since the 1970s.

Question 11

Which of the following is most accurate about the Organization of African Unity (OAU)?

A) The OAU is the main benefactor of the Green Revolution in Africa.
B) The OAU is increasingly taking on the role of peacekeeper for the African continent.
C) The OAU has been successful in bringing about economic improvements throughout Africa.
D) The OAU was founded immediately after World War II to promote African independence.
E) The OAU had become an elitist organization that leaves the poor to fend for themselves.

Question 12

During the years 1950 to 1965, about how many African countries came into existence?

A) 2
B) 35
C) 100
D) 10
E) 20

Question 13

What was one of the positive signs of progress in every newly independent African country?

A) Each country had resolved the drug abuse problem.
B) Each country had contained the AIDS epidemic.
C) Each country had a stable economy and government.
D) Each country had its own university.
E) Each country was out of debt.

Question 14

Migratory labor developed in Africa during the last of the colonial era because

A) the Europeans took the only jobs within their own colonies.
B) work was almost impossible to find except in cities, in mines, and on plantations.
C) Europe had introduced a cash economy, and Africans had to go where the paying jobs were.
D) Both A and B are correct.
E) Both B and C are correct.

Question 15

The future looked promising in the 1970s until

A) foreign aid stopped completely.
B) military dictatorships began to proliferate.
C) the Mau Mau rebellion brought reprisals from European residents.
D) the first democratic government was overthrown.
E) the OPEC oil boycott caused oil prices to quadruple.

Question 16

Small farmers and herdsmen who comprise the majority in tropical African countries

A) suffered most from the price collapse of the 1970s.
B) have been able to prosper in recent years.
C) have seen absolutely no increase in their yields despite the Green Revolution.
D) have found it necessary to take jobs in the cities.
E) have had to start guarding their fields because so many people are wandering through the countryside filled with hunger.

Question 17

Highly touted Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) have turned out to be

A) used by dictatorial leaders to divert much needed funds to their own use.
B) not very helpful, because most recipients take the money associated with the loan and never carry out the reforms they are supposed to make.
C) one means of getting rid of power-hungry individuals in a few places.
D) helpful in countries that want to implement major reforms.
E) most useful to women who need startup money for new businesses.

Question 18

After World War II, what was the overall shared vision of the new leaders regarding African nationalism?

A) "Perpetual Revolution."
B) Equality with Whites.
C) A chicken in every pot.
D) "Africa for Africans."
E) Immediate industrialization.

Question 19

The departing colonial powers left democratic multiparty governmental systems in most former African colonies.By the 1970s, what was the status of most African governments?

A) The governments had become parliamentary monarchies.
B) The governments were communist dictatorships.
C) The governments had dissolved and anarchy reigned.
D) The governments had solidified their democratic institutions.
E) The governments had become one-party dictatorships.

Question 20

Somewhat surprisingly, the newly freed African nations

A) allowed Europeans who wanted to, to remain in the country.
B) did not change the European-imposed borders, even though these were problematic.
C) made no effort to reestablish the tribal kingdoms that had been in place when the Europeans arrived.
D) usually chose leaders who had never lived in Africa during the colonial era.
E) tried to hold on to the multiparty, democratic systems inherited from the Europeans.

Question 21

Since ____________________, changes in the traditional village lifestyle have led to overcrowding of African urban areas and crime in societies where it did not previously exist.

Question 22

Elaborate on the key social issues in Africa since independence.

Question 23

In Kenya, the path to independence was

A) violent.
B) peaceful.
C) quick.
D) easy.
E) Both B and C are correct.

Question 24

Discuss the initial momentum toward independence in post-colonial Africa, including both external and internal factors.

Question 25

In post-colonial Africa, concentration on export crops and timber has seriously disrupted the African ____________________ balance.

Question 26

What effect have population numbers had on African history since independence?

Question 27

In Kenya, the Land and Freedom Army were know as the ____________________ by the British.

Question 28

What economic and political problems do the diverse people of Africa still face?

Question 29

All of the following influenced the decolonization process EXCEPT

A) discussion prior to 1945 by Western nations about self-determination.
B) the formation of the United Nations.
C) Nationalist movements among leaders in colonized areas.
D) Western educated individuals from colonized areas.
E) the moral condemnation of the Catholic Church of colonialism.

Question 30

Conditions set by international lenders to compel ____________________ reforms by African governments in return for loans are termed SAPs.

Question 31

The white settler colonies such as Rhodesia and Kenya

A) threw Europeans out of their lands and regained control as soon as decolonizing began.
B) had to fight the Europeans for several years before the colonizers gave up and left.
C) witnessed black against black fighting freedom as freedom fighters took up arms against those they labeled "collaborators."
D) did not gain their independence until the late 1980s.
E) found it necessary to go to Britain and address Parliament to get people to listen to their complaints.

Question 32

Pan-Africanism

A) began in the US and Caribbean.
B) influenced the decolonization process.
C) encouraged a sense of racial unity and strength.
D) All of the options are correct.
E) None of the options are correct.

Question 33

Most African governments seem to be relying on ____________________ health authorities to find a solution to ____________________ and bring it to Africa.

Question 34

In the first years of independence, most African countries had leaders who

A) attempted to return their countries to a more familiar tribal government.
B) had collaborated with the colonial powers.
C) believed it was necessary to implement a dictatorship in the short term in order to have democracy later.
D) had been educated in Europe and believed that only they were capable of ruling effectively in the new states.
E) came from the minority tribes in their countries, and wanted to ensure that tribalism did not prevail again.

Question 35

The new leaders that emerged in African after World War II came from

A) universities.
B) union leadership.
C) soldiers who fought in the war.
D) All of the options are correct.
E) Both A and B are correct.

Question 36

Which of the following has not contributed to African economic missteps since independence?

A) Misguided notions of establishing national prestige.
B) Desire for personal enrichment.
C) Desire to spread the benefits to as many citizens as possible.
D) Frequent use of bribery.
E) The misuse and/or theft of much foreign aid money.

Question 37

Many African nations lack an adequate supply of which occupation?

A) merchants.
B) military leaders.
C) union leaders.
D) physicians.
E) unskilled laborers.

Question 38

Robert Mugabe has established a virtual dictatorship in ____________________ in recent years.

Question 39

The first president of the first country freed in Africa was ____________________; the state was ____________________, and the year was ____________________.

Question 40

Compare and contrast different nations in Africa in their experience with independence.