Table of Contents
What impact did the collapse of the Soviet Union have on the end of segregation in South Africa?
The collapse of the Soviet Union helped topple Apartheid—South Africa’s rigidly enforced laws of racial segregation—by removing the global Communist threat, the country’s last white president told CNBC.
What led to the fall of communism in the Soviet Union?
Gorbachev’s decision to allow elections with a multi-party system and create a presidency for the Soviet Union began a slow process of democratization that eventually destabilized Communist control and contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
How did the UN respond to apartheid in South Africa?
On November 6, 1962, the United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution condemning South Africa’s racist apartheid policies and calling on all its members to end economic and military relations with the country.
What happened to the anti-apartheid movement in Africa?
While Mandela and many political prisoners remained incarcerated in South Africa, other anti-Apartheid leaders fled South Africa and set up headquarters in a succession of supportive, independent African countries, including Guinea, Tanzania, Zambia, and neighboring Mozambique where they continued the fight to end Apartheid.
Was apartheid a bulwark against communism?
Defenders of the Apartheid regime, both inside and outside South Africa, had promoted it as a bulwark against communism. However, the end of the Cold War rendered this argument obsolete.
What happened to South Africa’s involvement in Namibia?
However, the end of the Cold War rendered this argument obsolete. South Africa had illegally occupied neighboring Namibia at the end of World War II, and since the mid-1970s, Pretoria had used it as a base to fight the communist party in Angola. The United States had even supported the South African Defense Force’s efforts in Angola.
What laws were passed to suppress Communism in South Africa?
Further laws had the aim of suppressing resistance, especially armed resistance, to apartheid. The Suppression of Communism Act of 1950 banned any party subscribing to Communism. The act defined Communism and its aims so sweepingly that anyone who opposed government policy risked being labelled as a Communist.