Independent Africa:
VALUE OF AFRICA
- Diamonds, gold, coco, ivory, rubber cotton
- Strategic trade routes
FRENCH:
- Ground nut & cotton
- Crucial to industrial Europe
- Wanted to assimilate a population
- Cultural colonization → forced to speak French
KING LEOPOLD II (BELGIUM):
- Founded committee to civilise Africa
- Congo free State
- 23-year reign
- Population halved while
- Collect huge quotas of rubber
- Hand amputation if misbehaved
- Tyre created → Leopold
1960 - withdrawal of colonial powers from Africa
Uhuru:
- Swahili for ‘freedom’
- Fuelled by:
→ Pan Africanism
→ Exposure to western concepts of freedom and democracy
→ Weakness of colonial powers after WWII
→ Atlantic Charter - giving all people the right to choose their own form of government. Rights enshrined
in the UN Charter
African Socialism:
- Adopted by most African countries after becoming independent
- Supported socialist ideals → considered to be a deviation of Marxist-Leninism
Homegrown Capitalism:
- Capitalism with peculiarities making it specific to that country
,Kleptocracy:
- Government that uses public funds for private undertakings/corruption
“Authenticity”:
- Mobotu’s policy of abandoning Western cultrural norms in favour of ‘authentic’ Congolese culture
- Involved the adoption of traditional dress in the form of hats and shirts
Zaireanization:
- The economic equivalent of ‘authenticity’
- The removal of foreign influence and ownership from Zaïre’s economy
Nationalisation:
- State control of industries (businesses) and mines
Ujamaa:
- Swahili word for “neighbour less”
- The name for collectivised peasant villages in Tanzania
, Historical context:
1800s:
- Europeans found Africa to be primitive
- No desire to explore Africa due to tropical diseases, unnavigable rivers and dangerous animals
- This changed after the Industrial Revolution (18th & 19th century)
- Africa became the target for European Empire building
- After WWII African sentiment changed → Europeans were no longer all powerful conquers
- World viewed colonisation as evil
- At the same time, European colonials, who generally dominated politically and economically, countered
independence movements largely through limiting voting rights
- Africa formed part of the empires of European colonial powers
1900s:
- Most of Africa was not free in the first half of the 20th century
- After WWII, African nationalists fought for freedom from colonial rule
- 1957 → Ghana became independent (first colony to become independent)
1960s:
Most of Africa was independent
IN SOUTH AFRICA:
- Sharpeville (1960) → Demonstration against Pass Laws resulted in massacre by the police
- MacMillan’s Winds of Change Speech
- South Africa announces its intention to withdraw from the British Commonwealth
→ showed intent to use for independence
- Formation of uMkhonto we Sizwe and Azanian People’s Liberation Army (POQO)
uMkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation):
- The armed wing of the African National Congress co-founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of
the Sharpeville massacre.
- Its mission was to fight against the South African government
IN THE REST OF THE WORLD:
- Civil Rights Movement gains momentum in 1950s and 1960s
- Pan Africanism and Black Power are on the rise
- People are more critical of their government
- Communism is still seen as a threat to Capitalist countries
VALUE OF AFRICA
- Diamonds, gold, coco, ivory, rubber cotton
- Strategic trade routes
FRENCH:
- Ground nut & cotton
- Crucial to industrial Europe
- Wanted to assimilate a population
- Cultural colonization → forced to speak French
KING LEOPOLD II (BELGIUM):
- Founded committee to civilise Africa
- Congo free State
- 23-year reign
- Population halved while
- Collect huge quotas of rubber
- Hand amputation if misbehaved
- Tyre created → Leopold
1960 - withdrawal of colonial powers from Africa
Uhuru:
- Swahili for ‘freedom’
- Fuelled by:
→ Pan Africanism
→ Exposure to western concepts of freedom and democracy
→ Weakness of colonial powers after WWII
→ Atlantic Charter - giving all people the right to choose their own form of government. Rights enshrined
in the UN Charter
African Socialism:
- Adopted by most African countries after becoming independent
- Supported socialist ideals → considered to be a deviation of Marxist-Leninism
Homegrown Capitalism:
- Capitalism with peculiarities making it specific to that country
,Kleptocracy:
- Government that uses public funds for private undertakings/corruption
“Authenticity”:
- Mobotu’s policy of abandoning Western cultrural norms in favour of ‘authentic’ Congolese culture
- Involved the adoption of traditional dress in the form of hats and shirts
Zaireanization:
- The economic equivalent of ‘authenticity’
- The removal of foreign influence and ownership from Zaïre’s economy
Nationalisation:
- State control of industries (businesses) and mines
Ujamaa:
- Swahili word for “neighbour less”
- The name for collectivised peasant villages in Tanzania
, Historical context:
1800s:
- Europeans found Africa to be primitive
- No desire to explore Africa due to tropical diseases, unnavigable rivers and dangerous animals
- This changed after the Industrial Revolution (18th & 19th century)
- Africa became the target for European Empire building
- After WWII African sentiment changed → Europeans were no longer all powerful conquers
- World viewed colonisation as evil
- At the same time, European colonials, who generally dominated politically and economically, countered
independence movements largely through limiting voting rights
- Africa formed part of the empires of European colonial powers
1900s:
- Most of Africa was not free in the first half of the 20th century
- After WWII, African nationalists fought for freedom from colonial rule
- 1957 → Ghana became independent (first colony to become independent)
1960s:
Most of Africa was independent
IN SOUTH AFRICA:
- Sharpeville (1960) → Demonstration against Pass Laws resulted in massacre by the police
- MacMillan’s Winds of Change Speech
- South Africa announces its intention to withdraw from the British Commonwealth
→ showed intent to use for independence
- Formation of uMkhonto we Sizwe and Azanian People’s Liberation Army (POQO)
uMkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation):
- The armed wing of the African National Congress co-founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of
the Sharpeville massacre.
- Its mission was to fight against the South African government
IN THE REST OF THE WORLD:
- Civil Rights Movement gains momentum in 1950s and 1960s
- Pan Africanism and Black Power are on the rise
- People are more critical of their government
- Communism is still seen as a threat to Capitalist countries
