Nexus of Thought: What happened to the colonies of countries that were annexed in WW2?

Saturday, April 17, 2021

What happened to the colonies of countries that were annexed in WW2?

(Asked on Quora. My answer).

These would be the colonies of three countries - France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Portugal and Spain were neutral during WWII.

France: Most of France’s colonial Empire was initially controlled by the collaborationist Vichy Government (headed by Petain and Laval) following its formation in July 1940. Morocco, Southern Algeria and all of France’s West African possessions fall into this category. Tunisia was more formerly controlled by the Axis powers.

However this vast area, including Tunisia, would eventually be taken over by the Allies and handed over to the Free French following Operation Torch in November 1942–May 1943. Northern Algeria also fell under the domain of Free France after Torch, but it was considered part of Metropolitan France (French Algeria).

Most of France’s Central African possessions plus Chad were administered by the Free French after September 1940. The Free French would later acquire Gabon, Syria and Madagascar (all three before Operation Torch).

French Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) was taken over by the Japanese in two stages from the Vichy French starting in September 1940 (the North) and ending in July 1941 (the Rest).

French zones in India and China proper fell under the jurisdiction of the Free French who also administered territory in South America (French Guiana), the Caribbean, the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The same was true of French territory around Newfoundland. French Somaliland (Djibouti) was formerly returned to the Free French in 1943.

Belgium - The Belgium Congo and other Belgium controlled regions in Africa (Rwanda and Burundi) remained loyal to the Free Belgium government.

The Netherlands- The Free Dutch government administered Suriname and the Netherland’s Caribbean possessions. However the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) fell to Japanese forces in early 1942. It was liberated in 1945. In the interim it was part of the vast expanse of Japanese controlled territory intended to sustain the Tokyo dominated Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

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My beliefs

I believe ….

1.That there is a God who transcends space and time. (I call it God for want of a name although I personally prefer the Kabbalistic term Ein Sof).

2. That it is impossible to know the nature of God. It cannot be truly defined.

3. That the universe operates according to the Laws of Physics. Life evolved through a combination of natural selection, genetic drift and other selection pressures acting on a genome whose variation arose as a consequence of mutation.

4. That God can intervene but such intervention is undetectable and does not contravene the laws of physics. God is a subtle actor who presents no evidence of understandable design.

5. That an agnostic position on a personal God makes sense.

6. That revealed religion are merely man made attempts at trying to understand God and although some carry the wisdom of earlier thought they are all inherently flawed.

7. That humans need to develop their own moral code based on reason, logic and the collective thinking of what has worked in the past.

8. That some religious customs may serve a purpose with respect to group cohesion but they need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

9. That God is a minimalist in action but not a disinterested party.

10. That the afterlife is unknowable.

11. That skepticism and the scientific method are the best tools we have in understanding the world.