Africa and decolonisation

The period after the end of the Second World War was a time of change for Africa. After independence had been granted to India and Pakistan, other possessions of the British and French empires demanded self government.

Ghana became independent in 1957 with Kwame Nkrumah as prime minister, and was followed by a wave of other countries over the next fifteen years. The British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, touched on this new mood when he gave his 'Wind of change' speech in January 1960.

But it was not to be an easy time. There was a bloody civil war in Algeria, Katanga ceded from Congo, apartheid was introduced in South Africa, and in 1965 white minority rule was established in Rhodesia.

South Africa & Apartheid

Cartoons referring to the apartheid system in South Africa. Left, Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd, Illingworth's reaction to the Sharpeville massacre of 21 March 1960, and his response to the assassination of Verwoerd on 6 September 1966.

ILW3312 (15 March 1961)

ILW3105 (23 March 1960)

ILW3112 (1 April 1960)

ILW4018 (7 September 1966)

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Rhodesia

Cartoons referring to the white minority government of Ian Smith. Left, Illingworth's response to the sanctions imposed on Rhodesia, talks between British Prime Minster Harold Wilson and Rhodesia's Prime Minster, Ian Smith, and Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence.

ILW4100 (30 June 1957)

ILW3957 (3 September 1965)

ILW4219 (14 October 1968)

ILW3945 (4 October 1965)

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Mau Mau

Cartoons referring to the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya.

: ILW2178 (22 February 1964)

: ILW2003 (22 October 1962)

De-colonisation

Left, the increasing calls for self-government, the problems faced by Britain and France in defending the interests of colonists, concerns about civil unrest, and the release from prison of Hastings Banda who later became President of Malawi.