Decolonisation and New Nations · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

New flags, old borders

History · The Modern World · ages 15-16
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Why can a border drawn by an empire cause trouble after independence?

    • Borders are always drawn with perfect care
    • It can split one people or trap rivals in one state
    • New countries never disagree about anything

  2. Which are genuine routes to independence?

    • Negotiation, mass campaign, or armed struggle
    • Waiting quietly for empires to forget you
    • Bribing mapmakers to redraw borders

  3. Give one country's independence date and the power it left.

    • India, 1947, from Britain
    • Algeria, 1947, from Britain
    • India, 1962, from France

  4. How did the Cold War shape new nations?

    • Both superpowers ignored every independence struggle
    • Both superpowers armed and funded clients, bending local struggles
    • New nations chose sides with no pressure at all

  5. Why did political independence not automatically bring economic independence?

    • New flags magically erase all foreign debts
    • Debts, trade terms, and foreign firms kept profits flowing outward
    • New states refused to trade with anyone

  6. There was one single road from colony to country that every nation followed.

    Circle one:   True   False

  7. Two neighbours split from one empire. One colonial line cut a single people in half. What trouble do you predict?

    • The line will redraw itself peacefully
    • Instant harmony, since maps never matter
    • Cross-border claims and conflict over the split people

  8. A new state keeps its colonial trade terms and debts to stay friendly with the old ruler. What did its route buy and cost?

    • Negotiation removes every trace of the past
    • Debts vanish once a flag is raised
    • Talks kept ties but also kept debts and dependence
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

New flags, old borders W1-mt_VWuBm6iRmI-s1

  1. It can split one people or trap rivals in one state · Lines drawn in distant offices ignored peoples and rivalries on the ground.
  2. Negotiation, mass campaign, or armed struggle · Talks, strikes and marches, or guerrilla war each forced a different exit.
  3. India, 1947, from Britain · India left Britain in 1947; Algeria left France in 1962.
  4. Both superpowers armed and funded clients, bending local struggles · Guns, cash, and slogans from Washington and Moscow bent the shape of freedom.
  5. Debts, trade terms, and foreign firms kept profits flowing outward · Freedom changed who governed while old money ties still pulled strings.
  6. False · India, Algeria, Vietnam, and Nigeria each mixed talks, campaigns, and arms differently.
  7. Cross-border claims and conflict over the split people · A split people straddles the new line, so kinship and rivalry pull across it.
  8. Talks kept ties but also kept debts and dependence · A managed exit buys calm and keeps chains: each method leaves its own marks.
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