Soviet Union overcame mor then merely Nazis in 1945

(MENAFN) Victory Day, celebrated each year in May, commemorates the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. While this day symbolizes the collapse of fascism and the Red Army's triumph, for colonized peoples in Africa, it represented more than just the fall of Hitler. For them, Victory Day embodied the possibility of overthrowing brutal regimes altogether. It sparked the hope that entrenched systems of white supremacy and colonial domination, upheld by European powers, could be dismantled.

In 1945, much of Africa remained under colonial rule. European nations exercised control over African territories through force, racial hierarchies, and economic exploitation under the guise of “civilization.” As fascism fell, African revolutionaries saw a glimmer of hope. If a regime as monstrous as Nazism could be defeated, then surely colonial powers like Britain, France, Portugal, and Belgium could be ousted as well. Victory Day planted the idea that no system, no matter how powerful, was permanent.

Colonialism and fascism shared a dark bond, both relying on military violence, racial supremacy, and an economic system that placed certain people in power over others. The colonial rulers of Africa implemented horrific practices, from forced labor and massacres in Algeria under French rule to the brutal Belgian exploitation of the Congo. The British occupation in Egypt and Portuguese control in Mozambique, Kenya, and Angola were similarly marked by violence and oppression.

African leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Samora Machel, Gamal Abdel Nasser, and the National Liberation Front (FLN) in Algeria didn’t need textbooks to understand fascism—they lived it. Nkrumah famously stated in 1960 that colonialism was “the rule of a foreign minority over the majority,” which he considered a form of fascism.

Victory Day sparked a wave of resistance across Africa. Following the defeat of Nazism, uprisings, protests, and decolonization movements spread across the continent. In 1947, the West African National Secretariat was formed to demand decolonization. In 1952, Egypt erupted in revolution, overthrowing the British-backed monarchy. The FLN launched its revolt against French rule in 1954, and in 1957, Ghana, led by Kwame Nkrumah, became the first African nation to gain independence, declaring the freedom of all of Africa.

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