Changes

There was no process of decolonization. In some areas, it was peaceful and orderly. In many others, independence was achieved only after a protracted revolution. A few newly independent countries acquired stable governments almost immediately; others were ruled by dictators or military juntas for decades or endured long civil wars. Some European governments welcomed a new relationship with their former colonies; others contested decolonization militarily.  The process of decolonization coincided with the new Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, and with the early development of the new United Nations. Decolonization was often affected by superpower competition and had a definite impact on the evolution of that competition. It also significantly changed the pattern of international relations in a more general sense.