During the later years of the struggle, after war’s end in 1945, erstwhile dependencies and colonies of the disintegrating European empires declared their independence, joined the United Nations as sovereign states and played active parts in the battle for survival.

African development typifies the process during the later phases of western civilization.  When voyaging and discovery became a leading activity of European nations around 1450 A.D. northern Africa was directly involved, but the bulk of the continent—­Equatorial Africa—­remained almost entirely untouched.  After 1870 the pattern was dramatically altered as British, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Italian forces moved inland, staking out their claims.

Division of Africa among the great powers reached its culmination when this process was completed, about 1910, when the whole vast continent of Africa excepting Ethiopia, Egypt and South Africa had been parcelled out among the rival European empires.  In terms of geography and population, Africa was still African.  Politically it was pre-empted, occupied, dominated and exploited by European empire builders, who used the over, all trade name of western civilization.

Excessive costs of empire building, including the disastrous losses of military struggle from 1914 to 1945, impoverished and weakened the European overlords to such an extent that they could no longer maintain their footholds in Africa.  At the same time African minorities in various parts of the continent launched independence movements under the slogan of self-determination, drove out the European occupiers, organized political states and declared that Africa must be governed by and for Africans.

Much of Africa, at the time, was organized along tribal lines, which cut across the boundaries drawn by the European imperialists between their colonial territories.  The resulting chaos temporarily removed Africa from any meaningful role in the planet-wide contest for pelf and power.  Africans are politically sovereign.  Economically and culturally they remain dependent on their former European masters.

Politically, western civilization is in a state of flux.  Its European homeland is basically divided by potent fears, ambitions, feuds and conflicts, and separated geographically from North America and Asia.  Despite several attempts to unify the continent politically, Europe was disrupted, fragmented and weakened by two general wars in a single generation.  The European empires were politically and economically upset by widespread colonial revolt in Asia and Africa.  Spectacular achievements of socialism-communism, particularly in East Europe and Asia, added to the previous fragmentation a new line of division between capitalist West Europe and socialist East Europe.  This process of fragmentation is giving separatist forces ascendancy over the forces of integration and unification.

In Roman and Egyptian civilizations, the period of survival conflict led to the centralization of wealth and authority.  After five centuries of suicidal competitive struggle, the European homeland of western civilization is criss-crossed by sharp lines of division.  Furthermore, the shift of production and military power from Europe to North America and Asia reduces the probability of speedy European integration.