Summary Independent Africa, Congo - IEB syllabus NOTES

INDEPENDENT AFRICA
 Up until WW2 – majority of African countries were under colonial rule
 After WW2 – African Nationalists fought for freedom from colonial rule
 1957 – Ghana first to gain independence
 By 1960’s – most of Africa were free  not Mozambique, Angola, Zim and
Namibia




MODELS OF GOVERNMENT
 AFRICAN SOCIALISM:
 Collective ownership of the means of production
 Both the rich and poor were secure in African society
 Communal land ownership, classless structure of village communities,
collective decision making
 2 leaders who believed in it : Leopold Senghor (Senegal) & Julius
Nyerere (Tanzania)
 Socialism was closer to the traditional African communal way of life
 Willing to include benefits of western technology
 CAPITALISM:
 Kenya, Nigeria, Ivory Coast
 Land previously owned by white farmers – bought by government and
sold to individual African farmers
 Government assisted these farmers – soon became an important
feature in economy and encouraged foreign investment
 Wanting to improve standard of living, provide essential social services
 Economy remains reliant on foreign investments from West
 Putting Africans in key positions in economy
 DEMOCRACY:
 Botswana
 Single party usually had monopoly and quickly eliminated potential
opposition
 Many leaders, once in power, abandoned western systems in pursuit of
more power

,  Many states multi party democratic systems were soon replaced by
more authoritarian systems
 ONE PARTY STATES
 Ruling party took control of government, police, armed forces,
president ruled as autocratic
 No democratic rule
 Didn’t have competitive elections
 Most cheap, straight-forward and efficient way
 Often led to abuse of power
 Some relied on army to stay in power
THE CONGO
 Congo – with its vast minerals and strategic positions in central Africa,
became a focus of attention by superpowers during the Cold War
 Up until June 1960  Congo was under Belgian rule
 Legacy of Belgian rule:
 1800’s  Belgium colonised Congo – rich in resources
 King Leopold II  wanted wealth of Congo
 Policy of Paternalism – African people should be treated like children,
not given any responsibility/place in government
 No higher education for Africans, only primary and a few secondary
schools
 Congolese people treated harshly – hard labour, high taxations
 Army very brutal – destroyed villages, raped women, took hostages,
torturing
 After WW2, Belgium was determined to keep Congo under their rule
 Banned all political parties and independent African newspapers –
combat the spread of nationalist ideas from neighbouring countries
 1959  Congo producing 10% worlds copper, 70% diamond & worlds
50% worlds cobalt
 1959  violent protests in towns led Belgians to grant independence
within 6 months
 BUT  they hoped to maintain control behind the scenes because the
Congolese politicians were so inexperienced.
 NEXT  Congolese weren’t ready for this sudden change, many
political parties quickly formed.
 Most parties  parties from different regions, had the support from a
single ethnic group
 May 1960 – elections to be held, hope that the years of oppression and
poverty would come to an end
 Elections held – 120 parties – MNC (Movement National Congolese
won majority of the seats in parliament – led by Patrice Lumumba
 Only party that had tried to gain nation-wide support, rather than
regionally-based support
 Independence and Civil War
 At independence – Congo was described as a third world economy