A. South Africa
The colony of South Africa was established by the Dutch but
came under British rule in 1814. The Dutch farmers, or Boers,
rejected British rule and trekked northward where they established
independent states. With the discovery of gold and diamonds
in these republics in the 1880s the British tried to annex them.
The resulting BOER WAR (1899-1902) ended with the Boers
accepting British rule. In 1909 South Africa became a self-governing
dominion in the British Commonwealth.
A little more than 50 years later, in 1961, South Africa left
the commonwealth to become an independent republic. Main reason
for separation was clash between South Africa and new African
and Asian commonwealth members over the issue of APARTHEID.
1. APARTHEID= 2 policies: the exclusion of all non-whites
from any participation in political life; and the confinement
of all Africans into separate areas known as BANTUSTANS
(or preserves for the Bantus). These Bantustans comprised only
14% of all African land but Africans made up 73.8% of Africa's
total population of 31.7 million (in 1984). By contrasts, the
whites made up only 14.8% and Afrikaners comprised only 3\5
of the white minority.
2.AFRIKANER minority controlled South Africa partly
because parliamentary representation was weighted in their favor
and also because many English-speaking whites supported apartheid
for economic reasons. This was especially true of white labor,
which feared competition from non-whites if they were given
equal opportunities.
3. Apartheid was not a viable program economically nor politically
but it was preserved in South Africa for so long because the
South African government possessed the strongest military on
the African continent and did not hesitate to use force in quelling
African nationalist uprisings:
--Mass killings at townships of Sharpeville (1960) and Soweto
(1976)
--By 1980 apartheid became unworkable--tidal wave of external
and internal opposition most notable angry your Africans who
were alienated and were willing to do anything to destroy
apartheid.
--Black trade unions--most important pockets of opposition
used their organizational strength in political struggle against
apartheid. Resulting turmoil forced business leaders to meet
with leaders of the banned African National congress and businessmen
to call for an end to Ap.
--Foreign sanctions against SA: America adopts economic sanctions
in 1985. All above forced Botha to resign in 1989.
4. Botha's strategy rested on military might, his successor,
de Klerk tried to find middle road between African demand for
"one person one vote" with Afrikaners' "never".
--1990 he legalized the African National Congress and released
its leader, Nelson Mandella, from prison where he had been
incarcerated for 28 years.
--Four-day free elections based on universal suffrage in
1994--Mandela's African Congress won over 62% of the vote.
Appears to be a peaceful and successful transition from apart.
B. North Africa
As in Indochina, the French fought long and hard to maintain
their colonies--tremendous number of french settlers in the
area (Tunisia and Morocco)
After WWII Tunisia and Morocco won independence fairly easily
so French became even more determined to hold onto Algeria and
were willing to accept losses elsewhere in order to concentrate
on this prime objective--therefore they agreed to grant autonomous
status to Tunisia after a mere two years of armed resistance
to French rule. As with the Afrikaners in South Africa, the
French in Algeria did not regard themselves as mere colonists.
They viewed Algeria their homeland--fathers and grandfathers
had lived and worked there.
1. Armed revolt against French in ALGERIA began in
1954, only four months after they had been ousted from Indochina
and in no mood to compromise. Paris govt resolved to crush the
uprising. Result was brutal, exhausting struggle that lasted
until 1962. This struggle cost the French nearly $1 billion
annually BUT the Algerians paid dearly in human terms--nearly
1 million dead (or 1\9 their total numbers).
2. In May 1958 a North African "Committee of Public Safety"
seized power in Algeria in order to establish an authoritarian
regime to hold the empire together. Demoralized National Assembly
bowed to this show of force.
3. DeGalle uses his ;power and popularity to end the bloodshed
in Algeria and in 1962 declares Algeria independent thus ending
the French African empire that began in 1830 when French soldiers
first landed in Africa and covered nearly 4 million miles and
contained more than 41 million people.
