Chapter 22

European colonial empires in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean region, and Pacific Ocean deceased at the end of the twentieth century. Strayer also mentions that the Austrian and Ottoman empires collapsed after World War I, resulting in a number of new states in Europe and the Middle East. In the 1940's the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Burma, Indonesia, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Israel gained their independence. By the 1970's, many other countries in the south did the same thing. The period from the mid-1950's through the mid-1970's was an age of African independence as colony after colony, more than fifty in total, emerged into what was then seen as the bright light of freedom. Strayer also mentions that during this time, it is also evident that the world was developing at a rapid rate, with populations increasing and expectations for independence rising. The erosion of democracy and the establishment of the military came from the economic disappointments for independence.