Post-War Trends: Liberation, Political Instability & Independence Movements

1. POST-WAR TRENDS IN THE “THIRD WORLD” • LIBERATION OF FORMER WESTERN COLONIES AND CREATION OF INDEPENDENT STATES • UNFORTUNATE TENDENCY TOWARDS POLITICAL INSTABILITY IN NEW STATES • INTERFERENCE BY SUPER POWERS • LACK OF DEMOCRATIC TRADITIONS • ECONOMIC PROBLEMS • GROWING ASSERTIVENESS, BASED ON BELIEF BY THIRD WORLD PEOPLE THAT THEY HAVE THE RIGHT AND ABILITY TO DETERMINE THEIR OWN FUTURES • REGARDLESS HOW WESTERN POWERS FEEL ABOUT IT

2. COLONIAL INDEPENDENCE • WORLD WAR II • Exhausted and weakened colonial powers • Japanese success in Asia increased nationalistic feelings among colonial people there by showing that Europeans could be defeated • COLD WAR • Both U.S. and Soviet Union competed for influence in Third World countries by supporting independence movements

3. AFRICAN INDEPENDENCE • GHANA • First African colony to achieve independence (1957) • Peaceful separation from Great Britain • KENYA • Britain insisted that white settlers keep their land after independence • Provoked bloody Mau Mau Rebellion (1953-1956) • Finally resolved through efforts ofJomo Kenyatta(early 1960s) Kwame Nkrumah 1st president of Ghana Jomo Kenyatta

4. SOUTH AFRICA I • Most white settlers were Afrikaners (of Dutch descent) • Established apartheid • Vicious segregationist policy aimed at suppressing black natives • Broke free of British control in early 20th century • Established Afrikaner-dominated state

5. SOUTH AFRICA II • World-wide protests against apartheid • Growing unrest by blacks in South Africa • Result • End of apartheid • Free elections • Creation of a black-dominated government led byNelson Mandella

6. THE FRENCH SCREW UP • FRANCE REFUSES TO GIVE INDEPENDENCE TO ALGERIA AND INDOCHINA • RESULT • Two vicious civil wars • Costs hundreds of thousands of lives • Millions of francs squandered • France lost both wars • CASE STUDY OF HOW TO NOT HANDLE DEMANDS FOR COLONIAL INDEPENDENCE

7. POLITICAL INSTABILITY • REASONS • Colonies often created without regard to the native people involved • Hostile tribes included in same colony • Colonial repression held them in check • Removal of colonial authorities allowed old hatreds to resurface • Cold War • U.S. and Soviet Union backed rival factions • Vietnam and Korea • Lack of Western Political Traditions • Tribal loyalties remain strong • Super powers backed rival tribes, thus making the situation worse • Angola Ho Chi Minh

8. LATIN AMERICA • Achieved independence long before World War II • Problem was United States • Considered Latin American its special sphere of influence • Encouraged establishment and maintenance of dictatorial regimes as best way to provide stable conditions for American investment and to prevent hostile foreign powers from gaining foothold in region • Long-term policy

9. MEXICO • American-backed dictator Porfirio Diaz overthrown in 1911 • Prolonged civil war • America invades Mexico in 1916 • Regime finally established that was not blatantly subservient to American business interests • Mexico still suffered from overpopulation and economic problems • Therefore still dependent on American aid, trade, and investment • U.S. still controls Mexico from behind the scenes

10. CUBA • Fidel Castro overthrows corrupt dictator Batista • Attempts to establish socialist state • U.S. responds • by imposing economic embargo and withdrawing diplomatic recognition • Supporting attempts to eliminate Castro and destabilize his regime • Sponsoring ill-fated invasion attempt – the “Bay of Pigs” invasion • Castro survives but only by linking himself closely with the Soviet Union

11. NICARAGUA • Sandinista revolutionary movement overthrows Somoza dictatorship in 1977 • U.S. fears another Cuba • U.S. responds with economic embargo and sponsorship of “Contra” rebels to destabilize regime • Sandinista forced to call an election in 1989. It is rigged by the CIA and they lose power

12. CHILE • Salvador Allende, a moderate socialist, is elected president in 1970 • Allende begins reform program that hurts U.S. business interests • President Nixon orders CIA to destabilize Allende regime • Allende regime is fatally weakened and he is overthrown in 1973 by right-wing military officers led by General Augusto Pinochet • Pinochet sets up brutal dictatorship and murders thousands – but the U.S. looks the other way

13. BACKGROUND • Versailles Treaty divides former Ottoman Empire into “mandates” • Great Britain received Palestine, among others, as a mandate • Two hostile communities within the British mandate of Palestine • Native Moslem Arabs (Palestinians) • Jewish immigrants from Europe (Zionists) • Zionism • Founded by Theodore Herzl • Argued that Palestine should be developed into Jewish homeland • Only way Jews could escape anti-Semitism

14. 1947 • Jewish immigration to Palestine grows after 1890 • British vacillate – first encouraging, then discouraging Jewish immigration • After World War II, British give Palestine to United Nations • In 1947, United Nations present partition plan which gives part of Palestine to Zionists, part to Palestinians

15. WAR • Civil war between Palestinians and Jews erupts. Palestinians aided by Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq • Jews win and 750,000 Palestinians are forced to move to refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria

16. THE REFUGEE CAMPS • Birthplace of Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)

17. SIX DAY WAR (1967) • Israel wins and gets: • Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip from Egypt • Golan Heights from Syria • West Bank and Jerusalem from Jordan • Israel would later return Sinai to Egypt • But it keeps Golan Heights, West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip • Refuses full citizen ship to Palestinians in “occupied territories” in order to deprive them of political voice in Israel

18. YOM KIPPUR WAR • PLO begins terrorist campaign against Israel • Yom Kippur War (1973) • Israel caught by surprise and suffers initial reverses • Israel ultimately wins • Labour Party falls and is replaced by Likud Bloc (coalition of right-wing parties) led by Menacham Begin (1974)

19. MENACHAM BEGIN • Positive achievements of Begin • Camp David Accords (1979) • Negative achievements of Begin • Clung to Golan Heights, West Bank, and Gaza Strip • Settled Israeli families in these regions • Invaded Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon twice (1978 and 1982), damaging Israeli economy and morale

20. SHIFT IN U.S. POLICY • Riots in West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1987 damage Israeli morale and cause shift in U.S. attitude towards Israel • PLO offers concessions in its militant stand toward Israel

21. GOOD SIGNS IN 1980s AND 1990s • PLO and Israel begin to negotiate in 1991 about future of occupied territories • Yitzhak Rabinand Yassir Arafatsign peace agreement in 1993 creating limited autonomy for Palestinians in occupied territories and future establishment of Palestinian state

22. BAD SIGNS • Prime minister Rabin murdered by Israeli extremist in 1994 • Palestinians dissatisfied with limited gains and have stepped up terrorism • Israeli government refuses to alter its policy of promoting Jewish settlements in occupied territories • Suicide bombings have terrified Israelis and have derailed the peace process