The second world war was another factor which encourages african nationalism. Throughout history, nationalism can be found almost everywhere, with the desire for selfdetermination and independence as its primary catalysts. The atomic bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki caused largescale destruction as well as an acute and lingering radiation throughout the infected areas, and as a result of decades of nuclearweapons production, experimentation, and. But first the terrible impact of the cold war, a catastrophic legacy little recognized by the south african public of the present day. Frantz fanon argued that during the cold war the u. The cold war led to major impact to international order. The cold war was a period of tension and hostility between the united states of america and the soviet union from the mid40s to the late 80s.
How a cold war turned into a very hot one central africa has been shaped by complex regional dynamics, through which local disputes and national conflicts have spilled over national borders. The words cold and africa are not terms we often hear in the same sentence. The effects of the end of the cold war on central african politics. The effects of the end of the cold war on central african. Nationalism, decolonization, and the cold war, 194. The eisenhower administration did not prioritize modernization as a key foreign policy instrument to counter lumumbas nationalism and contain soviet influence. The contributions of neocolonialism during the cold war 1572 words 7 pages. About ethnicity, nationalism and the european cold war. The cold war was driven by the search for a security architecture in europe that would prevent a return to the destabilizing nationalisms that had wracked europe in the first half of the 20th century.
Free society would have termed it as world war iii, but. Cold war is the period of political and military tensions between eastern and western blocs mainly between usa and soviet union from 19451992 i. War changes the way people view everyday life, themselves, and the people around them. Thirdly, the war needed enough food to feed the armies on war, therefore african populations were supposed to search for the food to stand the armies on the battle field, thus living african populations with shortage of food that decreased level of living and death due to food insecurity in african societies due to the war. After world war ii there emerged a big number of educated elite who founded a number of news papers. Africa was caught up in the cold war between the soviet union and america.
Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The impact of the second world war on tanganyika, 193949. Africans in the gold coast, a british colony, were the first to gain their independence. The berlin wall which separated the east and west germany was finally brought down leading to the formation of a unified germany. The politician most responsible for the catastrophe of the cold war in southern africa was pw botha.
The communism ideologies that were supported by the soviet union collapsed all over the world after the collapse of the soviet union. Since we achieved our independence, several distinguished foreigners have visited our young republic, and among the many questions they have asked have been those concerning our approach to pan africanism, our views on policies intended to keep africa free of the restrictive forces of the cold war, and the measures we would suggest to implement our policy of neutrality. The issues created by the cold war shaped many african nations, creating heated issues that are still dealt with today. The cold war has had many effects on society, from the end of the war up until today. Oct 02, 2014 in conclusion, the cold war did not have a singular but rather differing but generally destabilizing impact on the southeast asian decolonization struggle. But, for roughly forty years from 1950 to 1991, more than just africa was dominated by. Africas cold war 1 0 3 finally, the last legacy o f the cold war, or its. While this nation has a predominantly black population, for most of the 20th century it was ruled by a white african minority. Pdf the cold war in africa, in the routledge handbook of the. Cold war, and the enduring legacy of the cold war for african security.
The cold war comes to africa, as guinea gains its independence the former french colony of guinea declares its independence on october 2, 1958, with sekou toure as. African americans racial reform and cold war ideology. The second world war of 19391945 was a result of the german chancellor, adolf hitlers plans to take control of europe. Nationalism and decolonization in africa during the cold war on april 8, 2008 dr. South africa used their military to fight communists in africa. Africans began to push back against colonization each nation had its own struggle, and the european powers all responded differently. Nor has the end of the cold war altogether removed the ideological factors if ideological is the right word which can inhibit writing on africa. The most impressive monument for african victims of the world war i 19141918 is not to be found in africa but in france. African americans racial reform and cold war ideology the u.
This book questions the prevalent assumption that ethnicity and nationalist politics had nothing to do with the cold war and that, far from being frozen until the fall of communism, they remained central to the conflict in europe. From the congo to the horn of africa to southern africa, the cold war fomented or facilitated destructive wars and con. The impact of world war ii on africa black economics. The cold war dominated the second half of the 20th century, resulting in the collapse of communism. Nationalism, wwii, and the cold war flashcards quizlet. Finally, our traditional notions of war, nations, and nationalism are likely to change when dealing with the catastrophic impact of environmental degradation. The africans noticed that, in war, the white man bled, cried, was scared, and, when shot, died. Jul 16, 2015 sample essay on effects of cold war on africa. In the context of the cold war, the usa backed the nationalist south african apartheid government while the ussr backed the outlawed anc and the similarly outlawed south african communist party. Due to the military and nonmilitary exploitation of nuclear fission, the cold war brought forth some significant involuntary exposures to highlevel radiation. Nationalism and decolonization in africa during the cold war. There has, however, been something of an ideological switch.
It was this fear of soviet influence in africa, particularly on the part of the united states, that created such a major problem for african nations. Civic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives political legitimacy from the active participation of its citizenry from the degree to which it represents the will of. A positive impact of the cold war was the unification of germany. Jun 11, 2014 in short south african apartheid regime survived because it was a key ally of usa in cold war. Impact of nationalism during the 19th and 20th centuries, nationalism played a crucial role in shaping the world, both constructively and destructively. The war helped build strong african nationalism, which resulted in a. Abstract war, says tristan tzara in tom stoppards play travesties, is capitalism with the gloves off.
For instance in south africa, the government of the white minority was haunted by communism. On other hand, mussolini the italian dictator occupied ethiopia in 1935 until he was forced out in 1941. South africa was viewed as a bastion against communism in the 1970s and 80s in southern africa due to the fact that several of its northern neighbors. Effects of cold war on africa can be seen in different aspects. A brief overview of the causes and effects of the cold war. Foreign intervention in africa by elizabeth schmidt march 20. Nationalism, decolonization, and the cold war, 19451991. Gregory mann, professor of history at columbia university, presented summaries of their most recent books cold war and decolonization of guinea, 19461958 2007 and native sons. During the second world war tanganyika experienced colonialism with the gloves off. Africa desperately trying to forge nationstates out of the cartographic contraptions of colonialism and to rid itself of the last vestiges of colonialism in the settler laagers of southern africa. That made africa a major source of cold war tension. The impact of the second world war on the decolonization of africa.
Before and during wwii, nationalism was surging in subsaharan africa africans celebrated their blackness and africanness in contrast to their european colonial rulers using the pan african movements that emerged in the united states and the caribbean, african intellectuals, especially in french controlled west africa. Consequently, africas labor movements wielded disproportionate influence over anticolonial and nationalist politics after the second world war, popularizing. If these sharp differences in foreign relations confirm suspicions that the cold war is moving into africa, other facts point in the same direction. The effects of this were very large, seeing as the militaryindustrial sector had previously employed one of every five soviet adults and its dismantling left hundreds of millions throughout the. Italy, which lost its colonies in the aftermath of world war ii, played a lesser role. Factors for the growth of african nationalism wattpad. Western powers viewed african independence through the lens of the cold war, which rendered african leaders as either prowest or proeast. Decolonization and influence of the cold war essay bartleby. Most of the twentyeight independent states of africa have tended to align themselves with one of two blocs african blocs, to be sure, but oriented in many important ways either to east or west. The cold war dominated world politics from the end of the ww2 to the collapse of soviet. It is clear that the heyday of african nationalism coincided with the system. Secondly, i will describe some significant historical events, in order to show how the cold war logic affected the area and how it shaped the regions political reality, both from a regional and a domestic point of view. In 1991, most of the republics that had made up the ussr formed in cis. The impact of the second world war on the decolonization of.
Elizabeth schmidt, professor of history at loyola college in maryland and dr. Free society would have termed it as world war iii, but instead, used a whimsical name pertaining to no direct military confrontation between the two. This war changed and shaped the way africans viewed europeans. The influence of decolonization in asia also played a big role in the growth of african nationalism. However, the impact of cold war among the african countries differed. The impact of the cold war and new scrambles for africa. Usa used their veto power to shield apartheid regime from any international pressure in. The second world war imposed psychological changes that aided in the decolonization of africa. Start studying nationalism, wwii, and the cold war. Africa and the effect of world war ii durodola samuel tosin b. In the first minutes of the sixth of march, in the great square bordering the ocean, prime minister kwame nkrumah addressed the multitude assembled in the cool night air to celebrate their newfound independence.
The impact of the cold war and the fall of the berlin wall on. During the two wars in the democratic republic of congo drc, 19961997 and 19982002 which followed the genocide in rwanda, the congo and particularly its eastern provinces became the battlefield of. It is true that most african nations became related after the war in the attempt to regain their lost so vereignty. Nationalism movements in africa world war ii created a powerful wave of nationalism in african colonies. Thus, while the cold war may have created auspicious conditions for, and even accelerated, decolonization and enabled african states to gain. The cold wars effect on postcolonial dreams of nation and statebuilding is. The amalgamation of war and nationalism peaked just as radical jacobins were calling on parisian mobs to crush the enemy within, justifying violence against civilians as part of the war effort. The baltic states, however, chose total independence. Lot of africans were enrolled in french and british armies, as soldiers and they knew the use of guns, the military. The elite used these news papers to expose colonial exploitation and to mobilize the people for the nationalist struggle. Effects of the two world wars on the african continent.