Africa in The Twentieth Century
Cold
War in Africa
| GRADE LEVEL | THEME | TOPIC | DURATION |
| 12 | WORLD HISTORY | AFRICA IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY | x LESSONS |
Africa in The Twentieth Century |
In 1955 the Bandung Conference was held to build cultural and economic cooperation between Asia and Africa. The conference also took a stand to oppose colonialism throughout the world. During the discussions, African leaders began to realise that they could manipulate the Cold War tensions to benefit themselves. Over the next years the USA and USSR, and to a lesser extent China, intervened in African affairs in their power struggle against each other. European colonisers also tried to entrench economic dependence so that decolonisation would not mean the loss of financial interests. The USA, USSR and China exploited Africa’s need for aid, making the continent a pawn in the power struggle between the communist and capitalist blocs. The superpowers were so caught up in this power struggle that the interests of the African people were seldom considered. This was clear in the US role in both the Congo and Angola where it gave the support to the rightwing UNITA forces along with South Africa. Although the US criticised apartheid, she refused to take major steps against the South African state, supporting it instead as protection against communist take over in southern Africa. The USA was thus motivated by its economic interests rather than moral concerns. The United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) Although the USSR was not present at the Bandung Conference, the proceedings convinced Nikita Krushchev that Africa was an area of political influence which he could use in the struggle against the West. Khrushchev was the USSR President during the Cold War period. The USSR had first to overcome the obstacle of its very limited knowledge of Africa. Departments were set up for the study of African languages and history. But the USSR found it difficult to understand the classlessness of African society. They also had to deal with Christianity, Islam and traditional religions. The USSR found African socialist ideas unacceptable, believing in only one form of socialism. These ideas however changed after the death of Stalin (1953), and the USSR went about setting up ‘national democracies' in Africa. The USSR chose five black leaders within Africa, including Nkrumah and Nasser, as fit to serve Soviet interests on the continent. Guinea was the first West African country to get attention from the USSR because their leader had communist learning and because of the country's strategic position. The USSR quickly recognised the new state and offered them support. Mali also moved closer to the USSR after it broke away from Sudan and turned to Guinea. Ghana and Kwame Nkrumah initially went to the side of the USA, but after the death of Patrice Lumumba he turned towards the USSR in 1960.
Patrice Lumumba However, the USSR dwas not very popular in Africa. Many countries were resentful of their economic policies, and the USSR began to realise that the move to Africa was not as profitable as they had hoped. The experts did not understand African society, and so suggested economic measures that either were not implemented or that failed. The communist ideology did not offer what most Africans had been hoping for. A country where the USSR was quite successful was in Nigeria, where they supplied arms in the Civil War. The reason for greater success here was that the USSR turned away from their ideology to a large extent and built up economic ties. The USSR also gave a lot of support to those countries that were still fighting for their complete independence notably South Africa, Mozambique and Angola. The assistance offered by the USSR meant a prolonged war in Angola and meant less Western support for South African freedom movements. The help the USSR gave to the African National Congress was very important for the movement, and many members were educated in the USSR. Red China The Chinese followed the USSR quickly in West Africa. Money was made available to Ghana and Mali, and Patrice Lumumba was supported in the Congo. China’s support to other liberation groups had little effect, especially after the foundation of the OAU in 1963. A tour of Africa was arranged in 1963 to better the position of China, but this had little success, despite promises of economic aid. The USSR was more popular in most countries. The position of China started to improve after the French recognised the country in 1964, although moves towards a second Conference failed. Chinese involvement in Burundi was disastrous. Relations with the Congo were slightly better. During the Cultural Revolution, 1966- 1968, China closed all embassies except the one in Egypt. Aid was reduced and the Chinese changed their tactics. China now aimed at anti-imperialism rather than creating conflict between Africa and the West. The one place where China was successful was in Tanzania, one of the most radical and anti-West African countries. Chinese connections with Tanzania dated back to independence in 1964, with a treaty of friendship being signed in 1965 with Nyerere. Close economic ties developed, and Nyerere introduced his own form of socialism. The Tanzara railway was built with Chinese help. Bad maintenance however meant that the Chinese reputation suffered in the end. With regard to South Africa, China did not support the apartheid government, and with the USSR supporting the African National Congress (ANC) decided to support the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). The PAC however faced major leadership problems while in exile, and the Chinese support never equalled that of the USSR. The Chinese were in general not very successful in Africa. Britain There were some countries were Britain did try and retain relations, and in some of these cases she also backed autocratic leader. One case of this was support for Daniel Arap Moi in Kenya. Moi was the Kenyan president from 1978 to 2002. British interest in Africa was dominated by economic objectives.
Daniel Arap Moi France The Western world remained part of African affairs after decolonisation. Western countries continue to give aid to African countries and, mainly through the UN, are also engaged in efforts to resolve political and ethnic conflicts.
Map of Angola Learning outcome: Learners will be expected to demonstrate an ability to work independently, formulating enquiry questions and gathering, analysing, interpreting and evaluating relevant evidence to answer questions.
|
Activity
12