Africa
Overview
Decolonization: Libya and Congo
When World War II ended, the economies of most of the Western European nations were shattered. And yet, the end of the war ushered in waves of independence movements across Africa. Africans, who had been treated as second or third-class citizens by the colonizers for nearly a century, saw the time was ripe for severing ties with their colonial “parent” countries. Between the mid-1940s and early 1960s, numerous countries across Africa fought for, and won, their independence.
Learning Objectives
- Compare and contrast the decolonization processes across Northwest Africa and Congo.
- Evaluate the successes and challenges of decolonization for Africans.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Arab nationalism: after World War II, movement that promotes unity among Arab people
Muammar Gaddafi: brutal Arab nationalist, politician, and military leader in Libya (1969 – 20)
Libyan Revolution: 1969 Revolution that overthrew the Libyan king and installed military dictator, Muammar Gaddafi
Patrice Lumumba: Congolese politician and independence activist who became prime minister of Congo
Évolués: in Congo, the new middle class of “Europeanized” Africans
Force Publique: Belgian-operated military and police force in Congo
Congo Crisis: period of political crisis and upheaval during Congo’s early stages of independence (1960 – 65)
Joseph-Desiré Mobutu: Congolese military and political leader who was president of Congo, and later, Zaire
Zaire: name for Congo under President Mobutu (1965 – 1997)
The Libyan Arab Republic
Background
From 1943 to 1951, Libya was under Allied occupation. The British military administered the two former Italian Libyan provinces, while the French-administered the province of Fezzan. Under the terms of the 1947 peace treaty with the Allies, Italy relinquished all claims to Libya.
Kingdom of Libya
On November 21, 1949, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution stating that Libya should become independent before January 1, 1952. On December 24, 1951, Libya declared its independence as the United Kingdom of Libya—a constitutional and hereditary monarchy—led by King Idris, Libya’s only monarch.
The discovery of significant oil reserves in 1959 and the subsequent income from petroleum sales enabled Libya, one of the world’s historically poorest nations, to establish an extremely wealthy state. Although oil drastically improved the Libyan government’s finances, resentment among some factions began to build over the increased concentration of the nation’s wealth in the hands of King Idris. This discontent mounted with the rise of Arab nationalism throughout North Africa and the Middle East, so while the continued presence of Americans, Italians, and British in Libya aided in the increased levels of wealth and tourism following WWII, it was seen by some as a threat.
Libyan Revolution: Gaddafi
On September 1, 1969, a small group of military officers led by 27-year-old army officer Muammar Gaddafi staged a coup d’état against King Idris, launching the Libyan Revolution. Gaddafi was referred to as the “Brother Leader and Guide of the Revolution” in government statements and the official Libyan press.
On the birthday of Muhammad in 1973, Gaddafi delivered a “Five-Point Address.” He announced the suspension of all existing laws and the implementation of Sharia. He said that the country would be purged of the “politically sick”; a “people’s militia” would “protect the revolution”; and there would be an administrative revolution and a cultural revolution. Gaddafi set up an extensive surveillance system: 10 to 20 percent of Libyans worked in surveillance for the Revolutionary committees, which monitored place in government, factories, and the education sector. Gaddafi executed dissidents publicly and the executions were often rebroadcast on state television channels. Additionally, he employed his network of diplomats and recruits to assassinate dozens of critical refugees around the world.
In 1977, Libya officially became the “Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.” Gaddafi officially passed power to the General People’s Committees and, henceforth, claimed to be no more than a symbolic figurehead, but domestic and international critics claimed the reforms gave him virtually unlimited power. Dissidents against the new system were not tolerated, with punitive actions including capital punishment authorized by Gaddafi himself. The new government he established was officially referred to as a form of direct democracy, though the government refused to publish election results. Gaddafi was ruler of Libya until the 2011 Libyan Civil War, when he was deposed with the backing of NATO. Since then, Libya has experienced instability.
A New Start for Congo
Background: Belgian Rule
Colonial rule in the Congo began in the late 19th century. King Leopold II of Belgium attempted to persuade his government to support colonial expansion around the then-largely unexplored Congo Basin. The Belgian government’s ambivalence eventually led Leopold to create the colony on his own account. With support from several Western countries who viewed Leopold as a useful buffer between rival colonial powers, Leopold achieved international recognition in 1885 for a personal colony: the Congo Free State. By the turn of the century, however, the violence of Free State officials against indigenous Congolese and the ruthless system of economic extraction led to intense diplomatic pressure on Belgium to take official control of the country, which it did in 1908, when the Belgian Congo was created.
During the 1940s and 1950s, the Congo experienced an unprecedented level of urbanization. The colonial administration developed programs aimed at making the territory into a “model colony.” One of the results of these measures was the development of a new middle class, in the cities, of Europeanized African “évolués”. By the 1950s the Congo had a wage labor force twice as large as that of any other African colony. The Congo’s rich natural resources, including uranium, led to substantial interest in the region from both the Soviet Union and the United States as the Cold War developed. Much of the uranium used by the U.S. nuclear program during World War II was Congolese.
Nationalist Politics
An African nationalist movement developed in the Belgian Congo during the 1950s, primarily among the évolués. The movement consisted of several parties and groups which were divided on ethnic and geographical lines and opposed to one another. The largest, the Mouvement National Congolais (MNC), was a united front organization dedicated to achieving independence “within a reasonable” time. It was created around a charter that was signed by, among others, Patrice Lumumba. Lumumba became a leading figure within the MNC, and by the end of 1959, the party claimed 58,000 members. Although it was the largest of the African nationalist parties, the MNC had many different factions that took differing stances on many issues. It was increasingly polarized between moderate évolués and the more radical mass membership.
Major riots broke out in Léopoldville, the Congolese capital, on January 4, 1959, after a political demonstration turned violent. The colonial army, the Force Publique, used force against the rioters. Total casualties may have been as high as 500. The nationalist parties’ influence expanded outside the major cities for the first time, and nationalist demonstrations and riots became a regular occurrence over the next year, bringing large numbers of black people from outside the évolué class into the independence movement. Many blacks began to test the boundaries of the colonial system by refusing to pay taxes or abide by minor colonial regulations.
Independence from Belgium
Congolese, supported by Lumumba, started arguing for independence from Belgium. They projected a target date of June 30, 1960. Belgians began campaigning against Lumumba. They accused him of being a communist to little effect. On June 30, 1960, King Baudouin—the last king of the Belgian Congo, gave a speech in which he presented the end of colonial rule in the Congo. Immediately after, Lumumba gave an unscheduled speech in which he angrily attacked colonialism and described independence as the crowning success of the nationalist movement.
The Congo Crisis
The Congo Crisis was a period of political upheaval and conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1960 and 1965 that was a series of civil wars, as well as a proxy in the Cold War, for which the Soviet Union and United States supported opposing factions; it was initially caused by a mutiny of the white leadership in the Congolese army and resulted in the execution of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. Around 100,000 people were killed during the crisis.
Minimal preparations had been made for Congo once it became independent. Many issues remained unresolved. In the first week of July, a mutiny broke out in the army and violence erupted between black and white civilians. Belgium sent troops to protect fleeing whites; two areas of the country—Katanga and South Kasai—seceded with Belgian support. Amid continuing unrest and violence, the United Nations deployed peacekeepers, but the UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld refused to use these troops to help the central government in Léopoldville fight the secessionists. Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba called for assistance from the Soviet Union. who promptly sent military advisors and other support.
The involvement of the Soviets split the Congolese government and led to an impasse between Lumumba and the Congolese president. Mobutu, in command of the army, broke this deadlock with a coup d’état, expelled the Soviet advisors, and established a new government effectively under his control. Lumumba was placed in captivity and subsequently executed in 1961.
Mobatu and Zaire
During the Congo Crisis, military leader Joseph-Desiré Mobutu ousted the nationalist government of Patrice Lumumba and eventually took authoritarian control of the Congo, renaming it Zaire in 1971. Mobutu then attempted to purge the country of all colonial cultural influence.
Mobutu's Rise to Power
In 1960, Lumumba appointed Joseph-Désiré Mobutu as Chief of Staff of the Armée Nationale Congolaise—the Congolese National Army. Violence soon erupted in the southern part of Congo. Concerned that the United Nations force was inadequate, Lumumba turned to the Soviet Union for assistance, receiving massive military aid and about a thousand Soviet technical advisers in six weeks. Lumumba’s rivals tried to overthrow Lumumba through a coup de-tat. Both sides of the conflict ordered Mobutu to arrest the other.
Mobutu accused Lumumba of pro-communist sympathies, thereby hoping to gain the support of the United States, but Lumumba fled to Stanleyville where he set up his own government. The USSR again supplied Lumumba with weapons and he was able to defend his position. In November 1960, he was captured and sent to Katanga. Mobutu still considered him a threat and on January 17, 1961, ordering him arrested and publicly beaten. Lumumba then disappeared from the public view. It was later discovered that he was murdered the same day by the secessionist forces. On January 23, 1961, Mobutu was promoted to major-general.
Mobutu's Coup
With the government hanging by a thread, Mobutu seized power in a bloodless coup on November 25, a month after his 35th birthday. Under state of emergency, Mobutu assumed sweeping—almost absolute—powers for five years. In his first speech upon taking power, Mobutu told a large crowd at Léopoldville’s main stadium that since politicians had brought the country to ruin in five years, “for five years, there will be no more political party activity in the country.” Parliament was reduced to a rubber-stamp before being abolished altogether, though it was later revived. The number of provinces was reduced and their autonomy curtailed, resulting in a highly centralized state. In 1971 Mobutu changed of the country to “Republic of Zaire.”
Zaire under Mobutu
Facing many challenges early in his rule, Mobutu was able to co-opt many people; those he could not, he dealt with forcefully. In 1966 four cabinet members were arrested on charges of complicity in an attempted coup, tried by a military tribunal, and publicly executed in an open-air spectacle witnessed by over 50,000 people. Uprisings by former Katangan gendarmeries were crushed, as was an aborted revolt led by white mercenaries in 1967. By 1970, nearly all potential threats to his authority had been smashed, and, for the most part, law and order was brought to most of the country. That year marked the pinnacle of Mobutu’s legitimacy and power. Despite rampant corruption, Mobutu had the support of the United States because of his staunch opposition to Communism.
Decolonization: Egypt and South Africa
After World War II, nearly every African country fought for independence from their European colonizers. Each had a unique strategy and story. But each country also experienced the common desire to govern themselves, and establish socities in which African people were no longer second-class citizens.
Learning Objectives
- Compare and contrast the decolonization processes in Egypt and South Africa
- Evaluate the successes and challenges of decolonization for Africans
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Bantustans: in South Africa, the English notions of “traditional homelands” for black-Africans
apartheid: segregation of society and facilities in South Africa (1948 – early 1990s)
Nelson Mandela: successful South African lawyer and independence leader who called for the end of apartheid and South African independence
Egyptian Revolution of 1952: Egypt’s breakaway from English colonial rule that was led by Colonel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser: Egyptian military and political leader who was also the president of Egypt from 1956 – 1970
Suez-Canal Crisis: an invasion by Israel, England, and France into Egypt to regain control of the vital Suez Canal that ended in their defeat by Nasser
Six-Day War: brief and critical war in which Israel was invaded by a coalition of Arab States including Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, and in which Israel won
Anwar Sadat: president of Egypt between 1970 – 1981 who sought to win Western favor
Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty: peace treaty between Egypt and Israel (1979) witnessed by the United States
Yom Kippur War: invasion of Israel by an Arab Coalition of Syria and Egypt (1973)
Camp David Accords: political documents signed between the Israeli and Egyptian heads of state, and witnessed by the United States at Camp David (1978)
Egypt
The Kingdom of Egypt was established in 1922 following the Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence, but the Kingdom was only nominally independent since the British continued to have varying degrees of political control and military presence until 1952.
Background: British Involvement in Egypt Post-Independence
On September 23, 1945, after the end of World War II, the Egyptian government demanded the modification of the treaty to terminate the British military presence and to allow the annexation of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Three years later with new government leadership under Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, the UK agreed to withdraw its troops in the Anglo–Egyptian Agreement of 1954; the British withdrawal was completed in June 1956. This is the date when Egypt gained full independence, although Nasser had already established an independent foreign policy that caused tension with several Western powers.
The Egyptian Revolution of 1952
The Egyptian Revolution of 1952 began on July 23, 1952, by the Free Officers Movement—a group of army officers led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. The revolution’s initial goal was to overthrow King Farouk, who the military blamed for Egypt’s poor performance in the 1948 war with Israel. From July 22 – 26, 1952, a group of disaffected army officers led by Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser were able to achieve the goal, and King Farouk was removed from power. But the movement also had more ambitious political aims: the creation of a republic, the end of British occupation, and the independence of neighboring Sudan. The revolutionary government adopted a staunchly nationalist, anti-imperialist agenda, expressed chiefly through Arab nationalism and international non-alignment.
The revolution was faced with immediate threats from Western imperial powers, particularly France and the United Kingdom, who had occupied Egypt since 1882. Both European countries were wary of rising nationalist sentiment in territories under their control throughout the Middle East and Africa. The ongoing state of war with Israel also posed a serious challenge, as the Free Officers increased Egypt’s already strong support of the Palestinians. These issues conflated four years after the revolution, when Egypt was invaded by Britain, France, and Israel in the Suez Crisis of 1956. Despite enormous military losses, the war was seen as a political victory for Egypt, especially as it left the Suez Canal in uncontested Egyptian control for the first time since 1875, erasing what was considered a mark of national humiliation. This strengthened the appeal of the revolution in other Arab and African countries.
Agrarian reform and huge industrialization programs were initiated in the first 15 years of the revolution, leading to an unprecedented period of infrastructure building and urbanization. By the 1960s, Arab socialism became a dominant theme, transforming Egypt into a centrally planned economy. Fear of a Western-sponsored counter-revolution, domestic religious extremism, potential communist infiltration, and the ongoing conflict with Israel were all cited as reasons for severe and longstanding restrictions on political opposition and the prohibition of a multi-party system. These restrictions would remain in place until the presidency of Anwar Sadat from 1970 on, during which many of the policies of the revolution were scaled back or reversed.
The early successes of the revolution encouraged numerous other nationalist movements in other Arab and African countries, such as Algeria and Kenya, where there were anti-colonial rebellions against European empires. It also inspired the toppling of existing pro-Western monarchies and governments in the region and on the continent.
After the Revolution
Nasser was appointed president in 1956. He announced a new constitution on January 16 at a popular rally, setting up a system of government in which the president had the power to appoint and dismiss ministers. Nasser was elected as the second president of the Republic on June 23. In 1957, Nasser announced the formation of the National Union paving the way to July elections for the National Assembly, the first parliament since 1952. Nasser served as president until his death in 1970. Despite his defeat in the Six-Day War with Israel, he remained popular among his people and within neighboring Syria.
Sadat and Cold War Influences
The Sadat era in Egypt refers to the presidency of Anwar Sadat, the 11-year period of Egyptian history spanning from the death of president Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1970 through Sadat’s presidency. The presidency of Anwar Sadat saw many changes in Egyptian politics and policy: breaking with Soviet Union to make Egypt an ally of the United States, initiating the peace process with Israel, reinstituting the multi-party system, and abandoning socialism. Sadat’s presidency saw many changes in Egypt’s direction, reversing some of the economic and political principles of Nasser by breaking with Soviet Union to make Egypt an ally of the United States, initiating the peace process with Israel, reinstituting the multi-party system, and abandoning socialism by launching the Infitah economic policy. His term in office ended abruptly on October 6, 1981 when fundamentalists assassinated him.
The Yom Kippur War (1973) a began when the coalition launched a joint surprise attack on Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, which occurred that year during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Egyptian and Syrian forces crossed ceasefire lines to enter the Israeli-held Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights, respectively. After Israel lost the defensive war, Egypt and Israel came together for negotiations with Israel, culminating in the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty in which Israel traded the Sinai to Egypt for peace. This led to Egypt’s estrangement from most other Arab countries and Sadat’s assassination several years later.
Relations with the United States
Sadat instigated momentous change in foreign relations, shifting Egypt from a policy of confrontation with Israel to one of peaceful accommodation through negotiations. Following the Sinai Disengagement Agreements of 1974 and 1975, Sadat created a fresh opening for progress by his dramatic visit to Jerusalem in November 1977. This led to an invitation from President Jimmy Carter of the United States to President Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Begin to enter trilateral negotiations at Camp David.
The outcome was the historic Camp David Accords, signed by Egypt and Israel and witnessed by the U.S. on September 17, 1978. The accords led to the March 26, 1979, signing of the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty, by which Egypt regained control of the Sinai in May 1982. Throughout this period, U.S.–Egyptian relations steadily improved, and Egypt became one of America’s largest recipients of foreign aid. Sadat’s willingness to break ranks by making peace with Israel earned him the enmity of most other Arab states, however, which was the instigation for the 1977 a short border war between Egypt and Libya.
South Africa
Much of South Africa’s history, particularly of the colonial and post-colonial eras, is characterized by clashes of culture, violent territorial disputes between European settlers and indigenous people, dispossession and repression, and other racial and political tensions.
Background: English Annexation
During the Napoleonic Wars, South Africa was annexed by the British and officially became their colony in 1815. Britain encouraged settlement on the Cape. The changing of the Cape from Dutch to British excluded the Dutch farmers in the area: the Boers. This period also marked the rise in power of the Zulu under their king Shaka Zulu. Subsequently, several conflicts arose between the British, Boers, and Zulus.
The Boers successfully resisted British encroachments during the First Boer War (1880 – 1881), using guerrilla warfare tactics that were well-suited to local conditions. The British returned with greater numbers, more experience, and new strategy in the Second Boer War (1899 – 1902), but they suffered heavy casualties through attrition. By 1902, 26,000 Boers (mainly women and children) had died of disease, hunger, and neglect in concentration camps. On May 31, 1902, a superficial peace came with the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging. Under its terms, the Boer republics acknowledged British sovereignty, while the British committed themselves to reconstruction of the areas under their control.
Within the country, anti-British policies among white South Africans focused on independence. During the Dutch and British colonial years, racial segregation was mostly informal, though some legislation was enacted to control the settlement and movement of native people, including the Native Location Act of 1879 and the system of pass laws.
Power was held by the ethnic European colonists, and black citizens remained marginalized in society. The British High Commissioner Lord Alfred Milner introduced legal “segregation,” later known as apartheid. The authorities imposed harsh taxes and reduced wages. Resentment was rampant as racial tensions escalated.
Apartheid
The National Party in South Africa imposed apartheid in 1948, which institutionalized racial segregation through a series of legislation that established strict racial classification, forced relocation of nonwhites to “tribal homelands,” and segregated public facilities and institutions. It also prevented marriages between racial groups. It racially divided South Africa from 1948 to 1991.
Places of residence were determined by racial classification. Between 1960 and 1983, 3.5 million nonwhite South Africans were removed from their homes and forced into segregated neighborhoods in one of the largest mass removals in modern history. Most of these targeted removals were intended to restrict the black population to ten designated “tribal homelands.” These removals included people relocated due to slum clearance programs, labor tenants on white-owned farms, the inhabitants of the so-called “black spots” (black-owned land surrounded by white farms), the families of workers living in townships close to the homelands, and “surplus people” from urban areas, including thousands of people from the Western Cape. Relocated peoples also lost their citizenship of South Africa as they were moved into bantustans.
The NP also passed a string of legislation that became known as petty apartheid. Acts passed under petty apartheid were meant to separate nonwhites from daily life. Blacks were not allowed to run businesses or professional practices in areas designated as “white South Africa” unless they had a permit. Transport and civil facilities were segregated. Black buses stopped at black bus stops and white buses at white ones. Trains, hospitals, and ambulances were segregated. Because there were fewer white patients and white doctors preferred to work in white hospitals, conditions in white hospitals were much better than those in often overcrowded and understaffed black hospitals.
Apartheid Opposition and Abolishment
Apartheid sparked significant international and domestic opposition, resulting in some of the most influential global social movements of the twentieth century. It was the target of frequent condemnation in the United Nations and brought about an extensive arms and trade embargo on South Africa. During the 1970s and 1980s, internal resistance to apartheid became increasingly militant, prompting brutal crackdowns by the National Party administration and violence that left thousands dead or imprisoned. Some reforms of the apartheid system were undertaken, but these measures failed to appease most activist groups.
Nelson Mandela and the End of Apartheid
Nelson Mandela, a successful South African lawyer, strongly opposed apartheid. Throughout the 1940s and through the early 1960s, Mandela strongly campaigned to end racial segregation and to overthrow the white-only government of South Africa. For his efforts, he was charged with treason and frequently arrested. His final arrest came in 1962 after a failed attempt to overthrow the government. Twenty-seven years later, he was released from prison to enormous fanfare.
Between 1987 and 1993, the white-only National Party entered negotiations with the African National Congress—the leading anti-apartheid political movement. They sought to end segregation and introduce majority rule. In 1990, Nelson Mandela and other prominent African National Congress leaders were released from detention. Apartheid legislation was abolished in mid-1991, pending the multiracial elections set for April 1994. Mandela was elected the president of the African National Congress in 1991. Within three years, he was elected the first President of South Africa. After serving his term of four years, Mandela semi-retired from politics. He later received numerous awards for his work, including the Nobel Peace Prize.
Primary Source: The Case for Apartheid, 1953
The following speech was given before the Rotary Club of London on August 19, 1953. A supporter of apartheid explains why it is the best policy for all races in South Africa.
A. L. Geyer (1953)
"The Case for Apartheid"
As one of the aftermaths of the last war, many people seem to suffer from a neurotic guiltcomplex with regard to colonies. This has led to a strident denunciation of the Black African's wrongs, real or imaginary, under the white man's rule in Africa. It is a denunciation, so shrill and emotional, that the vast debt owed by Black Africa to those same white men is lost sight of (and, incidentally, the Black African is encouraged to forget that debt). Con fining myself to that area of` which I know at least a very little, Africa south of the Equator, I shall say this without fear of reasonable contradiction: ever) millimetre of progress in all that vast area is due entirely to the White Man. You are familiar with the cry that came floating over the ocean from the West-a cry that "colonialism" is outmoded and pernicious, a cry that is being vociferously echoed by a certain gentleman in the East. (This refers to Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India.)
May I point out that African colonies are of comparatively recent date Before that time Black Africa did have independence for a thousand years and more-and what did she make of it? One problem, I admit, she did solve most effectively. There was no overpopulation. Interminable savage inter tribal wars, witchcraft, disease, famine, and even cannibalism saw to that.
Let me turn to my subject, to that part of Africa south of the Sahara which, historically, is not part of Black Africa at all - my own country. Its position is unique in Africa as its racial problem is unique in the world.
- South Africa is no more the original home of its black Africans, the Bantu than it is of its white Africans. Both races went there as colonists and, what is more, as practically contemporary colonists. In some parts the Bantu arrived first, in other parts the Europeans were the first comers.
- South Africa contains the only independent white nation in all Africa ~. South African nation which has no other homeland to which it could retreat; a nation which has created a highly developed modern state, and t which occupies a position of inestimable importance
- South Africa is the only independent country in the world in which white people are outnumbered by black people. Including all coloured races or peoples the proportion in Brazil is 20 to 1. In South Africa it is 1 to 4.
This brings me to the question of the future. To me there seems to be two possible lines of development: Apartheid or Partnership. Partnership means Cooperation of the individual citizens within a single community, irrespective of race.... (It) demands that there shall be no discrimination whatsoever in trade and industry, in the professions and the Public Service. Therefore, whether a man is black or a white African, must according to this policy be as irrelevant as whether in London a man is a Scotsman or an Englishman. I take it: that Partnership must also aim at the eventual disappearance of all social segregation based on race. This policy of Partnership admittedly does not envisage immediate adult suffrage. Obviously, however, the loading of the franchise in order to exclude the great majority of the Bantu could be no wore than a temporary expedient.... (In effect) "there must one day be black domination, in the sense that power must pass to the immense African majority. Need I say more to show that this policy of Partnership could, in South Africa, only mean the eventual disappearance of the white South African nation? And will you be greatly surprised if I tell you that this white nation is not prepared to commit national suicide, not even by slow poisoning? The only alternative is a policy of apartheid, the policy of separate development. The germ of this policy is inherent in almost all of our history, implanted there by the force of circumstances.... Apartheid is a policy of self preservation. We make no apology for possessing that very natural urge. But it is more than that. It is an attempt at selfpreservation in a manner that will enable the Bantu to develop fully as a separate people.
We believe that, for a long time to come, political power will have to remain with the whites, also in the interest of our still very immature Bantu. But we believe also, in the words of a statement by the Dutch Reformed Church in 1950, a Church that favours apartheid, that "no people in the world worth their salt, would be content indefinitely with no say or only indirect say in the affairs of the State or in the country's socioeconomic organisation in which decisions are taken about their interests and their future."
The immediate aim is, therefore, to keep the races outside the Bantu areas apart as far as possible, to continue the process of improving the conditions and standards of living of the Bantu, and to give them greater responsibility for their own local affairs. At the same time the longrange aim is to develop the Bantu areas both agriculturally and industrially, with the object of making these areas in every sense the national home of the Bantu - areas in which their interests are paramount, in which to an ever greater degree all professional and other positions are to be occupied by them, and in which they are to receive progressively more and more autonomy.
- From Union of South Africa Government: Information Pamphlet (New York, 1953), reprinted in Ruth E. Gordon and Clive Talbot, eds., From Dias to Vorster: Source Material on South African History 14881975 (Goodwood, S.A.: Nasou, n.d.), pp. 409 410.
Attributions
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Boundless World History:
“Independence in the Maghreb”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/independence-in-the-maghreb/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
“The Democratic Republic of Congo”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo/
“Egypt”
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/egypt/
“South Africa”
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/south-africa/
Geyer, A.L. "The Case for Apartheid." 1953. Hosted by: Fordham University.