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Defending white minority rule

Defending white minority rule. HI277 | Africa and the Cold War Term 2 | Week 5 Dr Natalia Telepneva. Détente in action: South Africa’s Prime Minister B. J. Vorster meets Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda, Victoria Falls, 1975. Lecture Outline.

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Defending white minority rule

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  1. Defending white minority rule HI277 | Africa and the Cold War Term 2 | Week 5 Dr Natalia Telepneva Détente in action: South Africa’s Prime Minister B. J. Vorster meets Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda, Victoria Falls, 1975

  2. Lecture Outline • South Africa, South Rhodesia and Portuguese Colonies: Key Features • Relations with the West • Strategies of Survival • 1974 Revolution in Portugal and its Consequences • Conclusions

  3. 1. South Africa: Background Economic powerhouse: • Kimberley diamond diggings, 1867- • Witwatersrand gold mines, 1880s- -->mines required cheap labour development of racial hierarchy Afrikaner Nationalism: ‘Great trek’; Boer wars (1880-81 and 1899-1902) 1914: National Party Southern Africa colonies, c. 1900

  4. 1. South Africa: Elections 1948 Jan Smuts (United Party) F. D. Malan (National Party) • What was the impact of the collapse of the Portuguese Empire? versus

  5. 1. South Africa: Sharpeville, 21 March 1960 “Sharpeville victims and police”. Source: https://www.sahistory.org.za

  6. 1. South Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) • British colony • 1953-1963: Central African Federation: Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Nyasaland (Malawi) and Southern Rhodesia. • 11 November 1965: Ian Smith proclaims Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) Top: announcements of UDI Bottom: Ian Smith, circa 1979

  7. 1. Portuguese Empire in Africa • Complex society: white Portuguese; black Angolans; mesticos (mixed-race) population • Labour scarcity development of hierarchical social order • Lack of investment in social welfare • 1932-1968: Antonio Salazar’s comes to power in Lisbon. Establishes Estado Novo (‘New State’) in 1933. • 1961: Angolan Uprising and the start of anti-colonial wars António de Oliveira Salazar. PM 1932-1968

  8. 1. What did these regimes have in common? • racialised social order (extreme in South Africa) • socioeconomic problems & “poor whites” • anti-colonial movements, often spurred into violent action by key events (Sharpeville in South Africa, UDI in South Rhodesia and Angolan Uprising)

  9. 2. Who supported the white minority states? • Portugal and NATO allies. Importance of the Azores Location of the Azores archipelago. NATO military base at Lajes

  10. 2. Who supported the white minority states? • South Africa & USA • Economic interests – 20% of FDI from US by 1980 • Technological expertise – development of nuclear programme • Regional policeman against communism in Africa • Shifting position: 1963 – supported voluntary UN embargo on arms sales to South Africa Johnson and especially Nixon much more tolerant of apartheid Carter and human rights – voted to render UN arms embargo mandatory

  11. 2. Who supported the white minority states? • Britain – ambiguous support • Conservative governments more tolerant; Labour more critical • Heath government and proposed sale of helicopters to South Africa, 1971 • Thatcher opposed economic sanctions against South Africa… but did negotiate the settlement in Rhodesia in 1979-80 • Beyond the government… • Conservative ‘Monday Club’ • France, West Germany • Israel • Problematic position of frontline states, especially Kaunda’s Zambia and Banda’s Malawi

  12. 3. Strategies of Survival • Cooperation between South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, Portugal • Political: South Africa’s support for Rhodesian UDI • Economic: Evading embargos, e.g. Portuguese provided oil to Rhodesia • Military: Exercise ALCORA, 1970 Not an equal alliance: South Africa dominated • International diplomacy used threat of communism to get international backing

  13. 4. Carnation Revolution in Portugal, 25 April 1974 Euronews: Program from 2018, Youtube

  14. 4. Hawks and doves: shifts in South African foreign policy Left: Hendrik Verwoerd (PM 1958-66). hawk Centre: Balthazar Johannes Vorster (PM 1966-78). Détente, dove Right: P.W. Botha (PM 1978-84). Die Groot Krokodil (The Big Crocodile). hawk

  15. Conclusions • Did the Cold War prolong white minority rule in southern Africa? • How do we analyse apartheid regime in South Africa? • What was the impact of the collapse of the Portuguese Empire?

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