Fidel Castro sent 300,000 Cuban troops to Africa to support fellow revolutionaries against Western imperialism. Ahmed Ben Bella, in power 1963 to 1965, leaned toward China. During 1956-1986, as part of the long South African Border War (1966-1990), the Soviets supplied and trained combat units from Namibia (SWAPO) and Angola (MPLA) at the ANC military training camps in Tanzania. Therefore, US policy on decolonization often clashed with its rhetoric. The conflicts in both countries ended in 1974 with Portugal throwing in the towel. Lawrence James is a historian and author of Empires in the Sun: The Struggle for the Mastery of Africa (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2016), This content first appeared in issue 3 of BBC World Histories magazine, Save up to 49% AND your choice of gift card worth 10* when you subscribe BBC History Magazine or BBC History Revealed PLUS! Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces soldiers, however did not engage in combat, and after the overthrow of Castro's friend Ben Bella, Cuba cut back its involvement. Why not here?. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2004. 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. ", Ermarth, Fritz. The years following the end of the Second World War saw both the start of the Cold War between the west and the eastern bloc, and the break-up of empires as colonies across Africa and Asia strove for independence. EAST German communist officer uniform NVA COLD WAR RELIC RARE. The United States and the Soviet Union began developing intercontinental ballistic missiles, and in 1962 the Soviets began secretly installing missiles in Cuba that could be used to launch nuclear attacks on U.S. cities. Another intense stage of the Cold War was in 195862. [4] Soviet leaders, beginning with Nikita Khrushchev, were excited by the enthusiastic young black Africans who first came to Moscow for a major youth festival in 1957. The USA have a story of backup Coup d'tat in the countries of Latin America, support for anti-communist dictatorships such as Indonesia or Phillipines and millitary invasions as in Vietnam. The Soviet Union was the first country in the world to recognize the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic in 1962 by establishing diplomatic relations a few months before the official proclamation of its independence. However, the African nationalist movement was led by the better educated young middle-class that had little exposure to communism or socialism. Communist ideas have been prevalent in Africa since at least the early 20th century. Within a week, the country dissolved into anarchy after the army mutinied. Ginor, Isabella, and Gideon Remez. The Origins of a Misnomer: The Expulsion of Soviet Advisers from Egypt in 1972. in. Foreign interference became a hallmark of the past-World War II era, even its first months. United Nations (UN) secretary-general Dag Hammarskjld feared the imminent communisation of the Congo, despite the despatch of UN peacekeepers. Historically, communism on the continent was strongest in Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, and South Africa, which had significant European settlement, but such ideas remained foreign to the African masses until the principles of Marxism-Leninism became popular among intellectuals around the time of World War I ( Drew 2014 ). 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. These were seen as values that were common in African traditions. Filmmaking both documentary and fiction in support of rebellious causes were emerging across the world, from Palestine to Latin America, and young members of guerrilla movements such as the PAIGCs Flora Gomes and Sana Na Nhada were sent to Cuba to learn the language and techniques of Third Cinema, the values of revolution and social justice of which echoed the early, utopian ideals of African anti-colonial struggles. It was evident from the very beginning of African independence that individual leaders accepted a form of socialism based on the humanistic aspects of that ideology. In 1960, France granted independence to most of its colonies in sub-Saharan Africa, and the British and the Belgians followed suit. James Mulira, "The role of the Soviet Union in the decolonization process of Africa: from Lenin to Brezhnev. Soviet political interference in eastern European nations was a contributing factor to the Cold War and the formation of an Iron Curtain separating Eastern and Western Europe.. During the late 1940s, the United States offered support and inducements to shape the political . 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. Goodman, Melvin A. Gorbachev and Soviet Policy in the Third World" (1990) . Cold War 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. Nevertheless, there was very little use of weapons on battlefields during the Cold War. Before the Cold War only one country had and dropped a nuclear bomb, but that would not be the case during the Cold War. Friedland, William H., and Carl G. Rosberg Jr., eds. You could not be signed in, please check and try again. Liberation movements across southern Africa were sustained by the Soviet Union and Cuba, which sent large contingents of troops to support independence fighters. For example, after the Algerian revolution began in November 1954, the Soviets hesitated for more than two years before sending weapons to the rebels for fear of antagonizing the French government. the revolution in 1974. declared a Marxist Leninist state in 1974, under Mathieu Kerekou. Under the leadership of Ahmed Skou Tour, the former French colony of Guinea in West Africa proclaimed its independence in 1958 and immediately sought foreign aid. It was waged mainly on political, economic, and propaganda fronts and lasted until 1991. [14], In a complex civil war with outside interventions, Soviet military aid went to the Movimento Popular de Libertacao de Angola (MPLA). SOVIET SUPPORT In the mid-1950s, two developments signaled the arrival of the Cold War in North Africa: the Algerian War of independence against France began in November 1954; and Egypt adopted an independent foreign policy, challenging British influence in the Middle East, helping the Algerian rebels, and buying weapons from the Soviet bloc. According to Marxist theory, in its most advanced form, communism involves state control by the working class. [30] In this context, King Hassan II of Morocco said in 1980 that Morocco and the Soviet Union are "at war". Seducing the elected rulers of newly independent states proved the most effective policy for both the United States and the Soviet Union. You can unsubscribe at any time. Communist parties in these colonies were constantly under pressure by either the colonial government or a white-dominated regime. A brief treatment of the Cold War follows. It has been reported that between 1963 and 1969 the United States Agency for International Development spent US$3.3m delivering radios and small arms to African police forces and instructing them in strike-breaking, riot control and investigating sedition. Once these movements assumed power, they were termed Afro-Marxist regimes (Ottaway and Ottaway 1986, Keller and Rothchild 1987, Munslow 1986). The authors contend that, in practice, the aspiring ideology did not provide a clear strategy for social transformation after colonialism. Radu, Michael, and Arthur Jay Klinghoffer. Under the glare of international public opinion, colonial rule could be justified only through economic aid to uplift the natives, and this would add to the financial burden on the metropoles. This sparked the Cuban missile crisis (1962), a confrontation that brought the two superpowers to the brink of war before an agreement was reached to withdraw the missiles. CIA covert operations are by their very nature hard to prove definitively. The Cold War, however, also pushed US policymakers in the opposite direction. The Second World War had given enormous impetus to the embryonic nationalist movements in British and French colonies. The success of International Communism in gaining nine stooge states in Africa by the beginning of 1967 is near spectacular if two factors are borne in mind. ", Yahia Zoubir, "Soviet policy toward the Western Sahara conflict. There was alarm in Washington, where CIA director Allen Dulles suspected that Lumumba was a Castro or worse, and the CIA moved in, supplied with dollars and a hitman instructed to assassinate Lumumba with poisoned toothpaste. 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. Picture Information. Soviet Union. The decolonization of Sub-Saharan Africa from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s resulted in several proxy Cold War confrontations between the United States and the Soviet Union over the dozens of newly independent, non-aligned nations. [34][35] Around this time, the South African military's Armscor had a team of experts working in Leningrad involved in jet engine development.[36][34]. Spread of Communism Birth of the USA American Constitution American Independence War Causes of the American Revolution Democratic Republican Party General Thomas Gage biography Intolerable Acts Loyalists Powers of the President Quebec Act Seven Years' War Stamp Act Tea Party Cold War Battle of Dien Bien Phu Brezhnev Doctrine Brezhnev Era However, nowhere on the continent was a strict form of communism ever practiced. ", Larry C. Napper, "The Arab Autumn of 1984: A Case Study of Soviet Middle East Diplomacy. Stevens, Christopher. President Dwight D. 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