Form Three History Notes

All Form Three History Chapters

1. Chapter 1CapitalismRead below · Free
2. Chapter 2Colonial Administrative SystemsContinue in the app
3. Chapter 3Colonial Economic SystemContinue in the app
4. Chapter 4Colonial Social ServicesContinue in the app
5. Chapter 5Colonial Systems versus Current Systems in AfricaContinue in the app
6. Chapter 6NationalismContinue in the app

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

• define capitalism and state its main features;
• explain the origin and stages of capitalism in Europe;
• describe the causes and effects of the First World War, the Great Depression and the Second World War;
• explain why the League of Nations failed;
• analyse the impact of capitalism and its crises on Africa;
• relate colonial capitalism to present-day economic patterns in Africa.

Key Terms and Concepts

1. Meaning of Capitalism

Capitalism is an economic and social system based on private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. In a capitalist economy:

• Individuals or companies own factories, farms, mines and banks.
• Goods and services are produced mainly for sale in the market.
• Competition among producers is encouraged.
• Profit is the main motive of production.
• Workers sell their labour power for wages.

Main Features of Capitalism

1. Private ownership of means of production
2. Profit maximisation as the driving force
3. Market economy – prices determined by supply and demand
4. Competition among producers
5. Class structure – bourgeoisie (owners) and proletariat (workers)
6. Wage labour
7. Accumulation of capital – continuous reinvestment for growth

2. Origin and Development of Capitalism in Europe

Capitalism grew out of the decline of the feudal system in Europe between the 15th and 18th centuries.

Why Capitalism Developed First in Europe

• Strong merchant class and banking systems
• Enclosure movement in Britain freed labour for factories
• Scientific and technological advances
• Colonial expansion that supplied cheap raw materials and markets
• Political changes – rise of nation-states that protected private property and trade

3. Stages of Capitalism

Even in peacetime, capitalism moves through cycles of boom, crisis, depression and recovery.

4. Crises of Capitalism: Wars and the Great Depression

4.1 The First World War (1914–1918)

Long-term causes: monopoly capitalism and colonial rivalry; unfair partition of colonies; military alliances (Triple Alliance vs Triple Entente); French desire for revenge over Alsace-Lorraine; Balkan nationalism; arms race and militarism.

Immediate cause: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 by Gavrilo Princip.

Effects on Africa: African soldiers recruited and many died; intensified colonial exploitation; land alienation; rise of early nationalist feelings among returned soldiers and educated Africans.

4.2 The Great Depression (1929–1933/39)

Began with the Wall Street Crash (Black Tuesday, 29 October 1929). Causes included over-production after WWI, high tariffs, unequal income distribution, bank failures and the cyclical nature of capitalism.

Effects on African colonies: Fall in cash-crop prices; wage cuts and unemployment; higher taxes and forced labour; forced agricultural schemes; decline in social services.

4.3 The Second World War (1939–1945)

Causes: Failure of the League of Nations; rise of Fascism (Italy) and Nazism (Germany); Italo-Ethiopian War (1935); effects of the Great Depression; Spanish Civil War; failure of Appeasement; German invasion of Poland (1 September 1939); Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (1941).

Effects on Africa: Depopulation through recruitment; rise of mass nationalism via ex-soldiers; intensified colonial exploitation; import-substitution industries; support from the United Nations for decolonisation; spread of socialist ideas; family separation and social suffering.

5. The League of Nations and Its Failure

The League of Nations was established in 1919 by the Treaty of Versailles after WWI. Its main aims were to maintain world peace and security and to promote international cooperation.

Why the League Failed

• It had no army of its own to enforce decisions.
• It lacked a clear and strong enforcement mechanism.
• Major powers (including the USA) did not fully support or join it; some later withdrew (Japan, Germany, Italy).
• It failed to stop aggression: Japanese invasion of Manchuria (1931), Italian invasion of Ethiopia (1935), German rearmament and expansion.
• Many nations formed their own military alliances outside the League.

6. Impact of Capitalism on Africa

Negative Impacts

• Colonisation and loss of independence
• Exploitation of resources and labour (cash crops, mining, forced labour, low wages, high taxes, land alienation)
• Destruction of traditional economies – Africa became a supplier of raw materials and a market for European goods
• Underdevelopment – infrastructure built only where it served export of raw materials
• Social disruption – migrant labour broke families; cultural imperialism undermined African values
• Wars and crises – Africans fought and died in European wars and suffered the effects of the Great Depression

Limited / Indirect Positive Impacts

• Introduction of some modern infrastructure, cash crops and processing industries (mainly for colonial benefit)
• Spread of Western education and medicine (uneven and limited)
• Creation of a wage-earning class and urban centres that later became bases for nationalist movements
• Ex-soldiers and the experience of the world wars accelerated the demand for independence

Chapter Summary

Capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership of the means of production and production for profit. It originated in Europe from the decline of feudalism, grew through commercial and industrial stages, and reached its highest stage – monopoly capitalism or imperialism – in the late 19th century. This stage produced intense competition among European powers, leading to the partition of Africa and three major crises: the First World War, the Great Depression, and the Second World War.

These crises had severe effects on Africa: loss of life, intensified exploitation, economic hardship and social disruption. At the same time they weakened colonial powers and produced a generation of African ex-soldiers and nationalists who accelerated the struggle for independence. The League of Nations failed because it lacked power and full support. The United Nations replaced it after 1945.

Understanding capitalism and its crises helps us explain why Africa was colonised, how colonial economies were organised, and why the fight for political and economic independence remains relevant today.