Decolonization

Youth against colonialism. Postage stamp USSR, 1962

Decolonization is the process of granting independence and full sovereignty to dominions , mandated territories , colonies , protectorates .

The influence of the USSR and the countries of the socialist camp, as leaders of the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement repeatedly determined in their speeches, became the main cause of the collapse of the world colonial system and the collapse of the English, French, Dutch and Portuguese colonial empires. And disinterested help and cooperation in creating a modern economy laid the foundations of industry in China, India, Syria, Egypt, Algeria and a number of other countries. The Atlantic Charter of 1941 proclaimed a policy of eliminating colonial empires when, in exchange for support in World War II, the USA demanded open access to the markets of colonial countries.

The decisive demolition of the colonial system occurred in 1947 (independence of India) and 1960 (independence of a significant part of African possessions). Countries freed from colonial dependence were called Third World countries . In the post-colonial period, developed Western countries retained and retain their economic dominance over many Third World countries, primarily in the form of nonequivalent trade exchange ( neocolonialism ). Third World countries act as sources of cheap raw materials and reservoirs of cheap labor, which enables Western corporations to minimize their costs here. Neocolonial enslavement is facilitated by the fact that developed countries control commodity and financial markets and maintain exchange rates favorable to them. Western goods often enter the markets of developing countries at monopolistically high prices, especially high-tech, pharmacological and military products.

The weak corrupt regimes of the Third World countries are often under the political control of developed countries and are not able to achieve a fair price ratio, ensure control over the return of foreign exchange earnings and increase tax collection for the development of their own educational and scientific fields. The debt of most countries is growing chronically.