Violence of Decolonization Essay -- European History Colonies Essays

Violence of Decolonization Frantz Fanon argues the decolonization must always be a violent phenomenon because resisting a colonizing power using only politics will not work. Europeans justified colonization by treating it as gods work. They believed that god wanted then to occupy all lands and spread the word of god to savages of darker skin color. Fanon joined the Algerian Nationalist Movement when the Algeria was being colonized be the French. Many examples of violence written of in The Wretched of the Earth were taken from the struggle for independence in Algeria. Also the writing is sympathetic towards colonized natives. Fanon claims decolonization causes violent actions from both settlers and natives and creates intolerant views toward the opposite party. Violence from Europeans during the colonization is a tactic used to keep the natives oppressed and a resistance minimal. The police officers and soldiers of the settlers used excessive force to show dominance and create an "atmosphere of submission" in native communities (Fanon, 38). European schools, churches, and economic societies were set up on colonized people's land. These acts of segregation and practices of European values were an insult to natives and helped fuel violent protests. Officers who would patrol the boarders between the two groups and political leaders would serve as a "go-between" person for negotiations (Fanon 62). Negotiations involving larger masses of bodies were feared to lead to aggression. Although the politic between these groups was a slow moving process, when native political or independence parties begin to immerge, the colonial governments will allow concede to some writes demanded by natives. Settlers did this to contr... ...ent of psychiatry and included Psychiatrist's notes about the effects the war was having on the native people. Lack of dignity, depression, inferiority complex, suicidal and homicidal tendencies were psychiatric disorders developed by colonized people resulting from the forces lifestyle change, extreme violence, raping, and murder of the native people. Decolonization causes violence and aggression form both settlers and natives. It also harvests hatred and extreme prejudice toward the opposite party. Settlers see violence as the most effective method of conquering new land where the colonized see violence as the most effective way to regain their freedom. Violence from both settlers and natives simultaneously during a period of decolonization reinforces Fanon's argument. Work Cited Fanon, Frantz. The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Press, 1963