The Wind of Change and African Decolonization
Macmillan tells South Africa's parliament that African nationalism cannot be resisted, and colony after colony wins independence
Quick facts
- Speech delivered
- 3 February 1960, Cape Town
- First African colony independent
- Ghana, 1957
- Territories independent by 1967
- More than 20
What happened
Ghana became Britain's first African colony to achieve independence in 1957. On 3 February 1960, addressing the Parliament of South Africa in Cape Town, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan declared: 'The wind of change is blowing through this continent and, whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact. We must all accept it as a fact, and our national policies must take account of it.' The speech, delivered in a country then governed under apartheid, signalled that Macmillan's Conservative government would no longer try to hold back independence movements across Britain's remaining African territories. Independence followed rapidly: Nigeria in 1960, Tanganyika in 1961, Uganda in 1962, and Kenya in 1963 among more than twenty former colonies across Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean that became sovereign states over the following decade.
Why it matters
Macmillan's speech marked the point at which decolonization became declared British government policy rather than a series of grudging retreats, and the pace of independence that followed dismantled most of the empire within roughly ten years.
How we know
South African History Online preserves the verbatim text of the speech as delivered to the South African parliament, and the Imperial War Museums documents the wider wave of independence that followed it.
Sources
- South African History Online. The 'Wind of Change' Speech · Primary source (author-declared)sahistory.org.za · Cited as a "primary" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- Imperial War Museums. The End of the British Empire After World War 2 · Reputable sourceiwm.org.uk · The domain "iwm.org.uk" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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