Why did European powers give up many colonies after World War II?
Three general conclusions can be given why European colonial powers gave up their colonies after WW2: 1) The European countries were too exhausted, too devastated and their economies were in shambles. It was realized that it was no longer important to have the colonies in order to secure their economic strength. As a matter of fact, the colonies were now cinsidered a drain on their limited recources. 2) The second factor was that, after two devastating World Wars, European peoples had a sudden attack of circumspection. They now themselves went through a significant change. Having experienced for themselves foreign conquest, they no longer felt justified in denying soveriegnty to other peoples who plainly desired it for themselves. 3) It opened the eyes of the colonized that the former colonizers weren’t that impregnable or unconquerable. They could now see that their former colonial masters weren’t the epitome of strength, but are now really just cardboard caricatures of their once mig
