Independent Africa:
How was independence realised in Africa in the 1960s and 1970s:
• 1950s-1960s: ‘Winds is Change’ in the North
• Independence: own government(Sovereignty), replace colonialism with self rule.
• Happens during the era of the Cold War- Africa will have some issue
• Communism is equal
• Who can give the most aid
• Non- aligned movements: take money but don’t follow their ideologies
• South Africa is on the West/America’s side of the Cold War
• 1948- Apartheid government(National Party Government)- pro-West(Capitalist)= anti-
communism
• People of colour=pro-communist and anti-west
• Although National Party Government started in 1948/ segregation always existed
• Apartheid-separate people into different groups so they can grow
• Late 1980s(1985)- Britain and America put pressure on Apartheid Government
• 9 November 1989- Berlin Wall comes down- people say Cold War is over, Apartheid needs to end
• 2 February 1990- De Klerk sets everyone free
• 11 February 1990- Mandela was released.
• Ver Woed- won’t let freedom come to SA
• Native inhabitants felt that when colonialists had left it was better- civilians can reach their own
heights. But civilians were left with challenges after independence depending on how quickly
and how evil they left and how much they left behind.
• Belgiums left over night and took everything
• French left but helped them become independent and helped them run the country smoothly.
• Britain- taught chiefs and tribe leaders how to rule
• Some multi-party democracy or one-party(voted for that leader and that party)
• Africanization- bring African culture. Embrace themselves and how they bring that into
rule(language- shift back to native languages, bring back traditional names)
Ubuntu- share of brotherhood and embracing things=unity
Challenges:
Political- how they would rule:
• Will they have support from civilians
• Battle for power
• Didn’t know what to replace colonialism with and how to rule
Economically:
• Powers had stripped them of all their natural resources from three independent African nations
who were ruled differently.
• Congo(Zaire) DRC- disunity and interference from others rousers. Mobuto Sese Seko
authoritarian- supported by West(Capitalism)
• Tanzania- Julius Nyerere
• Exploitation- power, resources
• Cold war in Africa- choose sides/ which will they support
• Ethnic divides- map was drawn @Berlin Conference and Africans had no say.
• After independence- people didn’t know how to gain people’s trust because of different ethnic
groups
• Horrors of what Africa has gone through and now the successes
• Impact of China entering Africa
• France treated each colony as a province in France
, Ideas of Independence:
• ½ of 20th century- Africa not free
• Part of the empire of European colonial power
• After WW2 African nationalists fought for freedom from colonial rule
• 1957: Ghana 1st colony to gain independence
• 1960s: African independence except for a few areas which remained colonies until 1970s-
1980s- Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia
• 1880- 1890s: Africa divided into colonies- Continued to 1914
↳British- Southern and Eastern Africa
↳French- Western Africa
• 1960s: African colonies- independent
• 1961:1994: South Africa was independent but under white rule
• 1975: Mozambique and Angola- independent
• 1980: Rhodesia(Zimbabwe)- independent
• 1990: independent
• People hoped independence= bright new future after colonial rule
• Free from colonial rule, government= Africans rules themselves- decisions for new nations
↳Different ideas about government, political ideologies and how the economies should be
run. Tried different approaches= nation- building and economic growth
Economic Systems:
• Not wealthy
• Didn’t work on self-sufficiency but on exporting unprocessed minerals and cash crops
cheaply, importing expensive manufactured goods
• Promote economic development (industrialisation)- Socialism/ African Socialism and
Capitalism
African Socialism:
• Socialism- traditional African societies
↳Communal land( Leopold Senghor- Senegal) —ownership, collective decision( Julius
Nyerere of Tanzania)-making, classless structure of village communities
• Others supported Socialist- centralised state control best to bring economic and social
transformation.
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