The historical process of decolonisation was a prolonged process that originated initially in local and regional movements such as peasant rebellions, before being transformed into national movements. There was a general feeling of discontent amongst the colonised, who held in general consensus that the nation was being exploited by the European powers and needed to be overthrown. This resulted in the formation of the Indian National Congress in 1885, while Vietnamese nationalists started to protest against the French authorities in the 1920s. Algerians formed their own Algerian National Liberation Front to combat the French authorities after decades of famine, discrimination, warfare, and starvation which reduced the native population by one-third. 

The process of gaining a national consciousness was bolstered by the Second World War. It exposed the military weaknesses of the West, which until then was considered to be superior to the Eastern nations. British territories in South Asia were completely overrun by the invading Japanese armies, seizing Indo-China, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Burma, reaching to the north-eastern borders of then-British India. This provided the morale boost that the European powers could overcome.

Participation in the war made aware the colonised subject of his own oppression due to the better treatment he received in the army. Millions of Asians and Africans had been recruited into the army to fight against the Axis Powers. The earlier propaganda that the European rule was beneficial to the colonised was gradually revealed to be a cover for the larger insidious project of colonial exploitation, which perpetrated poverty and famine in the colonies. Additionally, cultural nationalism, that is, the use of culture to promote a sense of united nationhood, was crucial to raising a national consciousness which portrayed the narrative of the common experience of colonial oppression in the hands of the Europeans.

Furthermore, the Allied Powers, in order to prevent the cooperation between their colonised subjects and the Axis Powers, agreed to grant independence to the nations upon the defeat of the Axis. For example, Subhas Chandra Bose sought help from the Germans to defeat the Britishers. The War also majorly ruined the economies of the European countries. The collateral damage, both in terms of human losses and expenditure, had rendered the countries militarily or economically inadequate to hold onto their far-flung territories; thus, the governments proceeded to hastily retract their presence in these regions. The emergence of pan-Africanism (backed by leaders such as the president of Ghana, Nkrumah)  and the cooperation between equally oppressed colonies also resulted in a stronger united front against colonialism to provide determined resistance.

Further stimulus was provided by support from the US, who were against imperialism due to their own history of a country arising due to anti-colonial struggles. Roosevelt and his successor, Truman, were determined to pressurise Britain to decolonise India. The UN was also firmly against European empires and outlined a detailed programme for decolonisation.