By 1948 Soviet-sponsored and -directed communists had consolidated their control of the governments of eastern and central Europe and suppressed all noncommunist political activity. Had the West offered assistance, there would have been much less need to look to Moscow. Second it wanted to gain a voice in African affairs, primarily by supporting local communist parties, and providing economic and military aid to the governments. Please select which sections you would like to print: Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Still, India was the largest and most vocal Third World country not embedded in the emerging Cold War alliance structure, with Nehru the champion of anti-imperialism and neutralism (Barnes, 2013b . Cuba had already been providing low-level support to the MPLA since 1965, when Che Guevara was in the Congo, but from 1975, the game had changed. In 1986 Gorbachev rejected the idea of a revolutionary takeover of the South African government, and advocated a negotiated settlement. ", Philip E. Muehlenbeck, "Kennedy and Toure: A success in personal diplomacy. However, the Kremlin was reluctant to send Soviet troops because of its fear of a major escalation with NATO powers. From 1960, the Soviet Union became involved in several Marxist, African struggles, providing political support, weapons and military training, including to the People's Movement for the Liberation. Copy this link, or click below to email it to a friend. . Washington feared that the metropoles intransigence would open the door to Soviet meddling. Another intense stage of the Cold War was in 195862. ", Piero Gleijeses, "Cuba's first venture in Africa: Algeria, 19611965. It is easy to romanticise the historic friendships that the USSR, Cuba and Yugoslavia offered African liberation movements and governments, as Calvert 22s Red Africa season seems to, especially with so much information about the era still locked in archives. LGBTI Minorities and Queer Politics in Eastern and Souther Maasai and Maa-Speaking Peoples of East Africa, The, Modern African Literature in European Languages, Northeastern African States, c. 1000 BCE-1800 CE, Political Science and the Study of Africa, Postcolonial Sub-Saharan African Politics, Religion and Politics in Contemporary Africa, Social and Cultural Anthropology and the Study of Africa, States of the Zimbabwe Plateau and Zambezi Valley, Swahili City-States of the East African Coast. Nationalist movements more closely aligned with the major Communist regimes, the USSR and China, did not begin to surface until the 1970s, particularly in Lusophone Africa (Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea Bissau) and Ethiopia, where liberation revolutionary movements developed. But the significance of this in domestic politics was only felt after the Second World War. These are some of the communist countries during the Cold War era.. * Angola * * The Cuban troops and the Soviets supported Angola for their war on independence and in return Angola adopted communism. Their main aim was not socialist revolution, but to be free of military aggression from South Africa and see independence with majority rule throughout the continent. As African movements attracted international solidarity, filmmakers went to support them, both by making films and by training filmmakers. Ahmed Ben Bella, in power 1963 to 1965, leaned toward China. But, as in the neighbouring DRC, Soviet support alone was not enough to secure power. The pattern was set for the next 30 years of proxy rivalry in Africa. The Soviet Union began to establish left-wing governments in the countries of eastern Europe, determined to safeguard against a possible renewed threat from Germany. Some were destined for Rhodesia, where the white minority were defending themselves against nationalist partisans, some of whom enjoyed Soviet patronage. The Kremlin supported Gizenga, but did not want to take the international risks involved in delivering material aid to the blockaded Orientale Province. Had the West offered assistance, there would have been much less need to look to Moscow. These were seen as values that were common in African traditions. Britain, France, Belgium and Portugal were valuable Nato allies but, if they persisted in resisting African nationalist movements or delaying independence, they were offering the Soviet Union a propaganda bonus. But Nasser was an ideal ally in Khrushchevs new policy of challenging the west in Africa. Most socialist systems today are participatory democracies. Picture Information. There were only four independent states: Liberia, de facto a US protectorate; Egypt, nominally independent but occupied by British troops; Ethiopia, eager to establish a close relationship with the United States; and white-ruled South Africa. The first such confrontation occurred in the former . The officer and non-commissioned officer corps of former colonial armies became a praetorian guard of newly independent states, and palace revolutions propelled to power such figures as army commander Idi Amin in Uganda in a 1971 west-backed coup, and Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam, the Soviets choice in Ethiopia, who effectively took power in 1974. The Cold War, however, also pushed US policymakers in the opposite direction. GOVERNMENTS WHICH RECEIVED DIPLOMATIC OR MILITARY SUPPORT FROM THE SOVIET The favorite technique therefore was to identify the Soviet Union with the rising tide of nationalism to demonstrate that they in Moscow were engaged in a common struggle against Western imperialism. Explore technological innovations of the Cold War, How the Cold War helped foster antibiotic resistance. The conflict showed that both superpowers were wary of using their nuclear weapons against each other for fear of mutual atomic annihilation. AFRICAN The struggle between superpowers The Cold War reached its peak in 1948-53. By 1980, then, South Africa ruled by what Castro called a Fascist-Racist regime stood alone against the forces of African nationalism. The United States was sympathetic, in principle, to the gradual progression of colonized people toward independence. First published in the early 1980s, this book is essential reading for those interested in identifying why the most orthodox Afro-Marxist regimes of the time chose development strategies rooted in scientific socialism, or variants of Marxism-Leninism. (1985). But the crisis also hardened the Soviets determination never again to be humiliated by their military inferiority, and they began a buildup of both conventional and strategic forces that the United States was forced to match for the next 25 years. The Americans and the British worried that Soviet domination in eastern Europe might be permanent. Joseph Stalin had a fleeting interest in claiming the former Italian colony of Tripolitania in modern-day Libya, but the NATO containment policy blocked those efforts. South Africa, along with Egypt, were. Inevitably, South Africa was drawn into the conflict, because Cubans were using Angolan bases to train guerrilla units. In these colonies, jailing, torturing, and killing Africans was routine, but not on a large scale, except in Madagascar (19471948) and Kenya (19521956), where there were major revolts; neither received outside assistance. Moscows doctrinal purists had dismissed Nasser as a radical nationalist in the mould of those military strongmen who held sway across South America. Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. ", Harry Brind, "Soviet policy in the Horn of Africa. By 1963 Guinea had shifted away from Moscow into a closer friendship with Washington. The Cold War began after the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945, when the uneasy alliance between the United States and Great Britain on the one hand and the Soviet Union on the other started to fall apart. However, most of its attempts to spread Communism were initially focused on Europe and this did not prevent Lenin and Stalin from trying to force all the former territories of the Russian Empire into the Soviet Union. There, everyone was equal! Fear of Communism. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here. The United States therefore welcomed the rule of General Ibrahim Abboud, who had in November 1958 seized power in recently independent Sudan, bordering Egypt to the south. this page. NATO has renewed itself and re-united Meanwhile, Japan and certain Western countries were becoming more economically independent. In 1960, France granted independence to most of its colonies in sub-Saharan Africa, and the British and the Belgians followed suit. Third it wanted to undermine Western/NATO influence. Such leaders had come to power at the head of disciplined parties, practised the arts of messianic leadership, and fostered popular optimism. This was prudent: at this stage there was no knowing who would win the Cold War. In 1954 the Algerian Front de Libration Nationale (National Liberation Front) began an uprising that triggered an eight-year partisan war of attrition in which more than a million died, most of them Arabs. The article is particularly useful in understanding the history of Communist parties and movements throughout Africa. In the 1980s the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia plunged into greater turmoil and the Soviet system itself was collapsing by 1990. At the same time, the United States imposed a ban on all trade with Cuba. The Cuban camp was the brightest and cleanest place in the neighbourhood, and they were known as being hardworking, friendly, fair and fun. Your current browser may not support copying via this button. Africa-Soviet Union relations covers the diplomatic, political, military, and cultural relationships between the Soviet Union and Africa from the 1945 to 1991. Though often absent from retellings of the Cold War, the interventions and alliances conceived in Southern Africa between the 1960s and 1980s, had a profound and sometimes devastating impact. The one-party states that replaced colonial administrations were handed the apparatus of domestic coercion. Elsewhere, this spilled over into anger. [16], The South African government evoked the term rooi gevaar to refer the political and military threat posed by the Soviet Union's support for the guerrilla wings of anti-apartheid movements such as SWAPO and the ANC. From 1953 to 1957 Cold War tensions relaxed somewhat, largely owing to the death of the longtime Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in 1953; nevertheless, the standoff remained. [27] Suddenly, the Ethiopians launched a counter offensive with the help of newly arrived Soviet arms and a South Yemeni brigade. Available online by subscription. ", Aryeh Y. Yodfat, "The Soviet Union and the Horn of Africa,", Diana L. Ohlbaum, "Ethiopia and the Construction of Soviet Identity, 1974-1991. Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba threatened the nationalisation of foreign businesses, and looked to the Soviet Union for assistance. The Cold War in Africa had ended. The Soviet Union, too, hoped to fill that power vacuum, posing as the patron and armourer of colonial liberation movements. [30] In this context, King Hassan II of Morocco said in 1980 that Morocco and the Soviet Union are "at war". [7], Stalin thought in terms of a black and white world of class conflict, capitalists versus the proletariat. Communist ideas have been prevalent in Africa since at least the early 20th century. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The Americans and the Soviet system itself was collapsing by 1990 Europe might be permanent Soviet-sponsored and communists! Stalin thought in terms of a revolutionary takeover of the South African government and. 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