History and Problems in
Africa South of the Sahara
European Colonization
When word of Africa’s wealthy kingdoms
reached Europe, they began trading with
Africans in the 1200s.
trade posts & way stations set up along
coastal areas
by 1600s & 1700s, extensive trade of gold,
ivory, textiles, and enslaved workers
by 1800s, region seen as source of raw
materials for industries
Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 divided
Africa into more than 40 European
colonies (mainly Britain, France,
Portugal and Germany)
by 1914, all of Africa except Ethiopia
and Liberia under European control
no regard for ethnic homelands when
boundaries drawn
From Colonies to Countries
Europeans introduced new crops, legal
systems, basic schooling, roads, and
medicine—mostly benefiting Africans
Euro commercial and labor practices caused
hardships and great loss of life
Africans soon demanded a share in
government and launched independence
movements by the mid-1900s
faced difficult challenges after
independence
colonial economies met European needs
not African
no models for democracy
adopted the political boundaries set
earlier by colonial powers
rival ethnic groups struggled for power,
civil wars erupted
Problems in Africa
Ethnic Conflicts—stem from colonial
pasts
Nigeria
1914—British formed colony of Nigeria
from several smaller ethnic territories
in north, Islamic influences
in south, traditional religions or
Christianity
1960—despite differences, Nigerians united to
resist British rule and gained independence
by 1967, Eastern Region secedes from Nigeria
and civil war breaks out—1 million casualties
in war
military officials rule afterwards
1998—Nigeria returns to civilian rule; free
elections held
by 2000, tensions increase again between
Muslim & Christian communities
Somalia
Plagued by famine & civil war
United Nations had sent in relief/food for
Somalians in the 1990s
relief packages were being taken by
militia groups involved in civil war
US sent peacekeeping troops to help
the United Nations aid workers
o
On October 3, 1993 elite units of
the U.S. Army's Rangers and Delta
Force were ambushed by Somali men,
women and children armed with
automatic weapons and rocketpropelled grenades. The Rangers were
pinned down in the most dangerous part
of Mogadishu, Somalia and taking
casualties.
What had started out as an operation to
capture warlord Mohammed Farah Aidid-turned into a tragic firefight that lasted
seventeen hours, left eighteen Americans
dead, eighty four wounded and continues to
haunt the U.S. military and American foreign
policy.
movie “Black Hawk Down” chronicles the
ambush in Mogadishu
Rwanda
o
1994—800,000 people die in 100 days
during ethnic cleansing (genocide)
o
April 6, 1994--Rwandan President
Habyarimana and the Burundian President
are killed when Habyarimana's plane is shot
down near Kigali Airport. Hutu extremists,
suspecting that the Rwandan president is
finally about to implement the Arusha Peace
Accords, are believed to be behind the attack.
The killings begin that night.
o
Hutu ethnic group begins killing Tutsis in
April of 1994
o
tens of thousands of Tutsis and other
Rwandans become refugees and try to flee
Rwanda—enter Tanzania, Burundi, Zaire
o
no country in the world does anything to
stop the genocide, including the United
Nations
o
mid-July 1994-- Although disease and
more killings claim additional lives in the
refugee camps, the genocide is over. An
estimated 800,000 Rwandans have been
killed in 100 days.
Sudan—2004-2005
o
2 million people on the verge of
starvation—plagued by droughts & civil war
o
decade of civil war between Muslim
Arab government & Africans
drought has caused the nomadic Arabs to
move to more arable lands where Africans are
farmers; straining relations between two
groups
o
Over 50,000 Africans have been killed
by Arab militia known as Janjaweed who
receive financial and military support from the
Sudanese government
o
hundreds of women being raped
o
President Bush and former Secretary of
State Colin Powell have called it genocide
o
tens of thousands are refugees,
suffering from starvation and malnutrition
o
no US troops have been deployed