Layeth Khazendar
Explain the independence movements of Africa:
Conflicts:
- After World War II, the optimism faded over time; the independent states were now run by military leaders
- European powers carved Africa into territories that did not factor ethnicity or religion which caused much conflict among the people
- Poverty prevent nations from creating the capital that could have allowed for a sound political and economic infrastructure
- The Organization of African Unity recognized some of the problems and put work to stop them; they saw the artificial boundaries as a problem
- Pan- African unity was also promoted headed by Kwame Nkhrumah to stop interference and domination by foreign powers
- While the national borders held, the unity did not; African nations had been unable to avoid internal conflicts
- Nkhrumah was overthrown in 1966; the Ghanaians tore down everything that celebrated him
- Ghana and other countries politics lead to dictatorial one party rules with party leaders forgoing multiparty elections in the name to end political divisiveness
- African nations begin to fall to military rule
South Africa:
- Even though South Africa had gotten independence from Britain, the Africans were still dispossessed and disenfranchised
- Struggle against internal colonialism against an oppressive white regime that didn’t give Africans basic human rights to millions of South Africans
- The growth of industrial sectors opened many jobs allowing blacks to change their status in the society
- Black activism and calls for serious political reform after World War II, these changes changed the views of some white South Africans
- In 1948 the Afrikaner National Party, which was dedicated to stopping any move that could lead to black independence, came to power instituting harsh new sets of laws that control the black population
Apartheid:
- Apartheid asserted white supremacy and created racial separation
- Government allowed 87% of land for whites and other areas as homelands for colored/black skins
- Separated blacks and colored to prevent unification
- The African National Congress gained new leaders like Nelson Mandela who inspired campaigns against apartheid
- The ANC published its Freedom Charter which proclaimed the ideal of multiracial democratic rule for South Africa
- ANC and other black activists faced severe repression
- They were considered by the government communists and increased the actions against blacks
- In 1960, white police gunned down black demonstrators; sixty- nine blacks died and almost two hundred wounded.
- International oppositions grew against white South Africa
- UN sanctions were called against South Africa
- In 1963, the government captured leaders of the ANC including Nelson Mandela sentencing them to life in prison; they became symbols of oppressive white rule
- When F.W. de Klerk became president of South Africa, he and the National Party dismantled the Apartheid system
- The ANC, The Nation Party, and other African political groups created a new constitution and fixed South Africa allowing free election and freedom
The Democratic Republic of the Congo:
- Belgian Congo was reconfigured as Zaire in 1971 and renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1997
- Mobutu Sese Seko took power after Patrice Lumumba was killed in a military coup
- Lumumba was a Maoist Marxist and the CIA supported him
- Mobutu received support as well from the United States and other European democracies
- Mobutu ruled Zaire in dictatorial fashion abusing his power for himself
- Mobutu was later ousted by Laurent Kabila who changed the name of the country to the Democratic Republic of Congo
- Placed himself in many positions that granted more power
- Promised that this stage was a transition phase preparing to a democratic
- South Africa’s experiment with democracy in a land that includes many diverse ethnic groups is a model for a continent otherwise splintered by hundreds of tribal and ethnic identites
Explain the independence movements of Africa:
Conflicts:
- After World War II, the optimism faded over time; the independent states were now run by military leaders
- European powers carved Africa into territories that did not factor ethnicity or religion which caused much conflict among the people
- Poverty prevent nations from creating the capital that could have allowed for a sound political and economic infrastructure
- The Organization of African Unity recognized some of the problems and put work to stop them; they saw the artificial boundaries as a problem
- Pan- African unity was also promoted headed by Kwame Nkhrumah to stop interference and domination by foreign powers
- While the national borders held, the unity did not; African nations had been unable to avoid internal conflicts
- Nkhrumah was overthrown in 1966; the Ghanaians tore down everything that celebrated him
- Ghana and other countries politics lead to dictatorial one party rules with party leaders forgoing multiparty elections in the name to end political divisiveness
- African nations begin to fall to military rule
South Africa:
- Even though South Africa had gotten independence from Britain, the Africans were still dispossessed and disenfranchised
- Struggle against internal colonialism against an oppressive white regime that didn’t give Africans basic human rights to millions of South Africans
- The growth of industrial sectors opened many jobs allowing blacks to change their status in the society
- Black activism and calls for serious political reform after World War II, these changes changed the views of some white South Africans
- In 1948 the Afrikaner National Party, which was dedicated to stopping any move that could lead to black independence, came to power instituting harsh new sets of laws that control the black population
Apartheid:
- Apartheid asserted white supremacy and created racial separation
- Government allowed 87% of land for whites and other areas as homelands for colored/black skins
- Separated blacks and colored to prevent unification
- The African National Congress gained new leaders like Nelson Mandela who inspired campaigns against apartheid
- The ANC published its Freedom Charter which proclaimed the ideal of multiracial democratic rule for South Africa
- ANC and other black activists faced severe repression
- They were considered by the government communists and increased the actions against blacks
- In 1960, white police gunned down black demonstrators; sixty- nine blacks died and almost two hundred wounded.
- International oppositions grew against white South Africa
- UN sanctions were called against South Africa
- In 1963, the government captured leaders of the ANC including Nelson Mandela sentencing them to life in prison; they became symbols of oppressive white rule
- When F.W. de Klerk became president of South Africa, he and the National Party dismantled the Apartheid system
- The ANC, The Nation Party, and other African political groups created a new constitution and fixed South Africa allowing free election and freedom
The Democratic Republic of the Congo:
- Belgian Congo was reconfigured as Zaire in 1971 and renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1997
- Mobutu Sese Seko took power after Patrice Lumumba was killed in a military coup
- Lumumba was a Maoist Marxist and the CIA supported him
- Mobutu received support as well from the United States and other European democracies
- Mobutu ruled Zaire in dictatorial fashion abusing his power for himself
- Mobutu was later ousted by Laurent Kabila who changed the name of the country to the Democratic Republic of Congo
- Placed himself in many positions that granted more power
- Promised that this stage was a transition phase preparing to a democratic
- South Africa’s experiment with democracy in a land that includes many diverse ethnic groups is a model for a continent otherwise splintered by hundreds of tribal and ethnic identites