# data[].attributes.headline
Turkey (JC-Excellent description of the issues faced and leadership methods to achieve independence. Did not discuss the lingering problems of the Kurdish rebellions against Turkish rule).

# data[].attributes.subject
Turkey (JC-Excellent description of the issues faced and leadership methods to achieve independence. Did not discuss the lingering problems of the Kurdish rebellions against Turkish rule).

# data[].attributes.body
Issues that Turkey faced after WW1 was peace treaties led to huge land losses. Then there was also the invasion by Greek soldiers. They threatened to conquer it. In 1922, a brilliant commander, Mustafa Kemal, successfully led Turkish nationalists in fighting back the Greeks and their British backers. In 1923, Kemal became the president of the new Republic of Turkey, the first republic in Southwest Asia. To achieve his goal of transforming Turkey into a modern nation, he ushered sweeping reforms:

Separated the laws of Islam from the laws of the nation

Abolished religious courts and created a new legal system based on European law.

Granted women the right to vote and to hold public office.

Launched government-funded programs to industrialize Turkey and to spur economic growth.

After winning a peace, the nationalists overthrew the last Ottoman sultan.
When Kemal died in 1938, Turkey gained a new sense of its national identity. His influence was so strong that the Turkish people gave him the name Ataturk which means “father of the Turks”.

# data[].attributes.headline
Kenya (JC-Great description of the issues and leadership. Needed more work on Kenyatta's method of 'westernizing' the economy and the problems this created later on).

# data[].attributes.subject
Kenya (JC-Great description of the issues and leadership. Needed more work on Kenyatta's method of 'westernizing' the economy and the problems this created later on).

# data[].attributes.body
Many French-Speaking  African and West Indians expressed their growing sense of black consciousness and pride in traditional Africa. After this the Negritude Movement was formed to celebrate things like African culture, heritage, and values. Once WWII started African soldiers fought alongside Europeans to "defend" their "freedom". Their experience of fighting in the war made them unwilling to accept  the return home to colonial domination. Many Europeans also questioned their maintenance of colonies abroad. These factors and others helped Africans gain their freedom throughout the 1950's and 1960's. African colonies that were under indirect rule had an easier transition into independence than colonies under direct rule where foreigners governed every level no self-rule existed. Some colonies even fought wars because Europeans settlers didn't want to grant power to African nationalist groups. Even after being granted or winning their freedom many African found it difficult to be a strong nation because they had to rebuild and  establish a new government and an economy. There was also the issue of  ethnic and religious differences. With the borders many people that were alike but many people that were very different were brought into close contact. As Europeans left the Africans to do as they pleased many tribal fights began.
Kenyan nationalism was a strong force in the fight for freedom and a huge help in their achievement of becoming self-governed. Jomo Kenyatta was a strong leader of Kenyan nationalism. The other huge cause of Kenya being self-governed is a group called the Mau Mau. The Mau Mau was a secret society made up of Kenyan farmers that the British forced out of the highlands. To get the Europeans to leave the highlands they used the guerrilla war tactic. While Jomo claimed that he had no relation or connection to the Mau Mau but he never sought to stop them or went against what they did. Because of his reaction towards the Mau Mau he was imprisoned by the Europeans.

# data[].attributes.headline
Nigeria (Edwin Reza) (JC-overall a good description of the issues facing Nigeria. Choice of picture doesn't really go with what NIGERIA had to do to achieve independence after the partitition. Also, the description of the conflict between the military and democratic forces of independence is not well explained in the 'lingering issues' section).

# data[].attributes.subject
Nigeria (Edwin Reza) (JC-overall a good description of the issues facing Nigeria. Choice of picture doesn't really go with what NIGERIA had to do to achieve independence after the partitition. Also, the description of the conflict between the military and democratic forces of independence is not well explained in the 'lingering issues' section).

# data[].attributes.body
Main issues- When the Europeans established colonial boundaries, they ignored existing ethnic or cultural division. New borders divided peoples of the same background, or threw different, often rival, groups together.

Leaders- Hausa-Fulani, mostly muslim,
Yoruba, farming people with a tradition of kings
Igbo, farming people with a democratic tradition

After independence, Nigeria adopted a federal system, In a federal system, power is shared between state government and a central authority. The Nigerian set up three states, one for each region and ethnic group, with a political party in each. The three states usually had fight, whether with itself or with others

Ken Saro-Wiwa was a Nigerian writer, political activist, and a member of the Ogoni people. The Ogoni live in a poor part of the country that has large oil reserves.

Methods- Mr. Saro-Wiwa denounced the Nigerian oil industry’s pollution of his people’s land and intimidation of those who spoke out
With the different ethnic groups pushed together, especially the rival ones, they fought over the newly formed territories.

Lingering problems- In 1979, the military handed power back to civilian rulers. Nigerians were cheered by the return to democracy. Some people, however, remained concerned about ethnic divisions in the nation. Nigerian democracy was short-lived

# data[].attributes.headline
Vietnam | Andrea Ortiz (JC-Good description of the major issues facing Vietnam as it struggled for independence. Leadership is also well described. Missing is methods and lingering problems).

# data[].attributes.subject
Vietnam | Andrea Ortiz (JC-Good description of the major issues facing Vietnam as it struggled for independence. Leadership is also well described. Missing is methods and lingering problems).

# data[].attributes.body
Vietnam started its independence with communism under the leader of Ho Chi Minh, who lead the independence movement against the French. During the early 1900's, the French controlled most of the resource-rich Southeast Asia. After WW II ended, the Vietnamese who supported the nationalists and communists, fought against the French and won. The Triumph against the French had spread serious concern to the US who had supported the French in Vietnam. They believe that if Vietnam fell into communism, neighboring countries would follow suit. Because of this conflict, Vietnam became divided at the 17 degree north latitude during the Cold War.

Ho Chi Minh was a communist leader who lead Vietnam out of French rule during the 1950's. When he was young, he worked as a cook on a French steamship. When he visited the US, he learned about their ideals and culture and later changed his name from Nguyen That Thanh to Ho Chi Minh. He also adopted communism. Although he was communist, he declared that "all men are created equal" when he proclaimed Vietnam's independence from France. But he ultimatly did not put democratic ideals into practice. He instead ruled North Vietnam under harsh communism, crushing anyone who stood in his way.

# data[].attributes.headline
Ghana (JC-Excellent description of the nation's struggle with the issues of decolonization and the conflicts that arose under their leadership of Nkrumah).

# data[].attributes.subject
Ghana (JC-Excellent description of the nation's struggle with the issues of decolonization and the conflicts that arose under their leadership of Nkrumah).

# data[].attributes.body
Main Issues: The African push for independence when African and West Indians began to express black consciousness and pride in traditional Africa. They formed the Negritude movement to celebrate African culture, heritage, and value. African soldiers fought, later in WW2, alongside Europeans to defend for freedom. There a few ways Africans actually achieved independence which differed across the continent. Under indirect rule, local official did most of the governing and gave colonists limited self rule which they enjoyed. For colonies under direct rule, in which foreigners governed under direct rule, independence came with more difficulty. Some colonies even had to fight for liberation, as European settlers refused to surrender power.  No matter how they managed too gain independence, it was always a struggle to build a strong nation. In colonizing Africa, Europeans created a fake border that separated ethnic groups. They also enclosed traditional enemies which led to violence and instability.
Leaders: The British colony of the Gold Coast became the first African colony south of the Sahara that achieved independence. However, Africans wanted to have full freedom. The leader of the nonviolent movement was Kwame Nkrumah. He organized strikes and boycotts that later on were successful. In 1957, receiving independence had resulted in the Gold Coast taking on the name Ghana. Nkrumah became the first prime minister and pushed through to make schools, roads, health facilities. These expenses showed good intentions which later on strengthened his opposition.
Lingering Problems: Nkrumah was always more focused on the negritude movement, but didn't focus on his own country' s problems. He dreamed of a "United States of Africa". In 1966, while he was in China, the army and police seized power. After that, the country has struggled back and forth between civilian and military type of rule. This has caused a struggle for economic stability. In 2000, Ghana held their first elections.

# data[].attributes.headline
Indonesia gains independence from the Dutch. (JC-Great description of the major issues facing the new nation. Could use more detail on both the methods Sukarno used to free the nation and what the conflict in East Timor was about).

# data[].attributes.subject
Indonesia gains independence from the Dutch. (JC-Great description of the major issues facing the new nation. Could use more detail on both the methods Sukarno used to free the nation and what the conflict in East Timor was about).

# data[].attributes.body
After world war two, the Dutch, like many other European nations saw their colonial empire fall. With this, their rule over a south-east Asian area known as Indonesia came to an end, due to the destruction the Japanese made in that territory to the Dutch. With the defeat of the Japanese in world war two, they too were also forced to leave Indonesia. When the war ended, the people of Indonesia tried to established a free nation.Leading this movement was their leader, Sukarno, who which after the Japanese left, named himself the official "life-time president".But this diverse land of more than 13,600 islands, 300 different ethnic groups and 250 languages, its economy fell and it was led in to instability and Inflation. The downfall of this new nation led to a seize of power from a general named Suharto which started a bloodbath where about 500,000 to 1 million people died.  After this, Suharto was named president, and imposed frequent periods of martial law. With Suharto as president, bribery and corruption became frequent, and his annexation of East Timor was widely criticize. After which  East Timor gained independence.first president, Sukarno

# data[].attributes.headline
South Africa  Leslie Escobedo (JC-exceptional description of the issues and problems of decolonization for one of the more complicated issues of decolonization for Africa-apartheid. The description falls down though when it comes to explaining how apartheid ended and what lingering problems were left over for the new government when it did).

# data[].attributes.subject
South Africa  Leslie Escobedo (JC-exceptional description of the issues and problems of decolonization for one of the more complicated issues of decolonization for Africa-apartheid. The description falls down though when it comes to explaining how apartheid ended and what lingering problems were left over for the new government when it did).

# data[].attributes.body
In South Africa, racial conflicts was the result of colonial rule . From its beginnings under Dutch and British control, South Africa was divided. A small white minority ruled a large black majority. In 1910, South Africa gained self-rule as a dominion of the British Empire .  in 1931, it became an independent member of the British Commonwealth. Although South Africa had a constitutional government, the constitution gave whites power and denied the black majority its rights. In 1948, the  National Party came to power in South Africa. This party promoted Afrikaner, or Dutch South  African, nationalism. It also instituted a policy of apartheid, complete separation  of the races. The minority government banned social contacts between whites and blacks. It established segregated schools, hospitals, and neighborhoods. In 1959, the minority government set up reserves, called homelands, for the country's major black groups. Blacks were forbidden to live in white areas unless they worked as servants or laborers for whites. the homelands policy was totally unbalanced. Although blacks made up about 75 percent of the population, the government set aside only 13 percent of the land for them. Whites kept the best land.
Blacks protest- The blacks of South Africa Resisted the controls imposed by the white minority. In 1912, they formed the African National Congress (ANC)  to fight for their rights. The ANC organized strikes and boycotts to protest racist policies. The government banned the ANC and imprisoned many of its members. One was ANC leader Nelson Mandela. The troubles continued. In 1976 riots over school policies broke  out in the black township of Soweto, leaving about 600 students dead. In 1977, police beat popular protest leader Stephen Biko to death while he was in custody. As protests mounted, the government declared a nationwide state of emergency in 1986.By late 1980s, South Africa was under great pressure to change, For years, a black South African bishop, Desmond Tutu, had led an economic campaign against apartheid. He asked foreign nations not to do business with South Africa Other nations then imposed a trade restriction and also isolated South Africa in other ways such as banning it from the Olympic games. (in 1984, Tutu won the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent methods.)
The First Steps- In 1989, white South Africans elected a new president, F. W. de Klerk. His goal was to transform South Africa and end its isolation. In 1990, he legalized the ANC and also released Nelson Mandela from prison. These deamatic actions marked the beginning of a new era in South Africa.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Artists United Against Apartheid - Sun City (Official Video)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Artists United Against Apartheid was a 1985 protest group founded by activist and performer Steven Van Zandt and record producer Arthur Baker to protest apartheid in South Africa.

# data[].attributes.headline
Cuba | Leonardo Buitimea (Great description of the issues facing Cuba through to the end of the Cold War. Could use more description of how the fall of the USSR impacted the economy. Also, picture?)

# data[].attributes.subject
Cuba | Leonardo Buitimea (Great description of the issues facing Cuba through to the end of the Cold War. Could use more description of how the fall of the USSR impacted the economy. Also, picture?)

# data[].attributes.body
In the 1950's after WW11, Cuba was ruled by a unpopular dictator named Fulgencio Batista, whom was supported by the U.S.A. Cuba dislike for him led to a popular revolution. This revolution overthrew Batista in January 1959. A young lawyer named Fidel Castro led that popular revolution, and people praised him at first for bringing social and economic reforms to the nation,  but Castro was a harsh dictator. He oppressed his opponents, suspended elections, and controlled the media.

As Castro nationalized Cuba, he took over U.S. owned sugar mills and refineries. The U.S. responded by ordering an embargo on all trade with Cuba. This lead to Cuba asking the soviet union for military and economic aid. This caused the CIA to train anti-Castro exile in the 1960's. This made the USA invade the bay of pigs and Cuba humiliated them by defeating the USA forces. The soviet union took the bay of pigs as a sign that the USA would not resist communist expansion in Latin America. So in July 1962 the soviet union started building 42 secret missile sites in Cuba. The USA found out about this and declared the the missiles a threat and tensions got really heated between the USA and Soviet Union. This was not what Castro intended and did not want his nation to be a pawn in the cold war. The tensions were later cooled down when Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles if the USA did not invade Cuba. The communist support all came to an end when the Soviet Union fell in 1991. This made Cuba seek better relations with other countries.

# data[].attributes.headline
The Global South: India By Bernardo Luviano (JC-excellent discussion of all major issues, leadership, methods, and lingering problems for one of the more complicated examples of decolonization).

# data[].attributes.subject
The Global South: India By Bernardo Luviano (JC-excellent discussion of all major issues, leadership, methods, and lingering problems for one of the more complicated examples of decolonization).

# data[].attributes.body
Main Issues:
The fight for independence against Imperialist Britain mostly took place through the Congress Party's endorsement of civil disobedience, which was the deliberate and public refusal to obey an unjust law, and nonviolence as the means to achieve independence. demonstrations along with boycotts of British goods and strikes weakened the British government's authority and economic power over India. However, conflict also took place in India's interior among the Hindus and Muslims. The Muslim League, and its founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, were formed in competition to the Congress Party, or India's National Political Party, who Muslims believed were only looking out for the interest of Hindu's. In order to ensure a safe and secure region, British officials enforced a partition which converted the northwest and eastern region of India into the separate nation of Pakistan. However, this division, lead to a multitude of civilians deaths of people who attempted to relocate and were exposed the eruption of violence among different religious groups.
Leaders:
Gandhi, with support of the Congress Party of India, promoted acts of civil disobedience which included boycotting British products such as salt, and cloth, as well as boycotting government schools, unfair taxes, and voting in elections. Such non-violent acts of defiance, promptly lead to a decline in the British government's authority and economic power over India. Demonstrations such as the Salt March, which showed there opposition to British taxes on salt, involved Indian residents making their own salt from seawater. Poor, and violent attempts by British officials to stop the Indians, stained their reputation.
However, Gandhi, and the Congress Party's leadership was met with opposition by the Muslim League, and its founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Sensing that the mainly Hindu Congress Party only looked out primarily for Hindu interests, a multitude of Muslims resigned from the Congress Party to join the Muslim League which was devoted to promoting India's  independence from British rule, as well as independence from Hindu authority., claiming that it would never accept Indian independence if it meant rule by the Hindu-dominated congress party. Acceptance of the Partition by British officials allowed the Muslim community to conjugate their own nation of Pakistan.
Methods:
Gandhi and the congress party attempted to nonviolently gain independence from the British through a series of boycotts, and demonstrations such as strikes and protests. Indian residents refused to buy British goods, attend government schools, pay British taxes, or vote in elections, and especially important, the boycott of British cloth which was a huge source of wealth for the British. Acts such as the Salt March in which Indian residents opposed the high taxes on salt, attempted to create their own salt from seawater. When riots broke out among British officials, and Indians, the violent arrest of figures like Gandhi, left the British, losing their reputation as a nation based on white morals. The Indian national Congress was also, a strike against the British oppression, as this permitted them to obtain a slight degree of political independence.
Jinnah, also attempted to reject Hindu leadership through the creation of the Muslim League which many Muslim members of the Indian National Congress joined in order to escape oppression and dominance from the Hindu majority. He openly accepted the partition enforced by British officials that permitted India to be divided into the Hindu India, and Pakistan which promoted the Muslim traditions. Violence broke out among Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan who were attempting to gain more land, and people on their side of the border.
Lingering Problems:
One lingering problem that remained was the conflict over Kashmir. Laying at the northern point of India next to Pakistan, it possessed a mostly Muslim population with a Hindu ruler. After gaining independence, India and Pakistan began battling each other for control of the region until a ceasefire was called in 2003. Currently in the 21st Century, religious tensions arise from violence and reprisal.  This becomes an especially dangerous issue with the population of India almost surpassing China's. In 1974, India exploded a "peaceful" nuclear device that in the span of 24 years, encouraged  India to stock up its nuclear capability. With India shortly after conducting nuclear tests, and Pakistan building its own nuclear program, both sides became aware of the other having nuclear power behind them which promoted serious tension among both sides, that soon became an international concern especially with the continuing struggle over Kashmir. The spheres of influence that both India and Pakistan were trying to expand certainly forced serious violence to rise from both sides, especially with nuclear weapons present and capable of impacting surrounding/neutral regions.