Decolonisation in Central & South Africa

History: AQA A Level The British Empire, topic 4.1.3

Decolonisation in Central and South Africa

Decolonisation in southern Africa was affected by the apartheid policies of South Africa. In Central Africa, decolonisation sparked intense conflict.

In 1948, the Afrikaner National Party was elected, using the campaign slogan 'Apartheid' (this means apartness in Afrikaans).
They wanted to split South Africa's black population into tribes and to segregate the tribes from the white population.
In 1950, the party banned marriage and sex between black and white people.
Land acts took 80% of South Africa and gave the land to the white minority.
The African National Congress opposed apartheid but were met by violent suppression (e.g. the Sharpeville massacre in 1960 when 69 protestors were killed).
Britain's surrounding territories, Basutoland (now Lesotho) and Bechuanaland (now Botswana) became independent in 1966.

The Central African Federation (CAF) was created in 1953 but it only existed for 10 years.
The Central African Federation united Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and Nyasaland (Malawi).
Local nationalists clashed with the white governors of the CAF, demanding independence and self-determination.

In 1964, Rhodesia splintered.
Northern Rhodesia became Zambia.
Nyasaland became an independent country, Malawi.
In Southern Rhodesia, the Rhodesian Front was a political party founded in 1962 to campaign against black majority rule. It was led by Winston Field, and then Ian Smith. They believed in white minority rule in Rhodesia.
Smith illegally declared independence in 1965.
The civil war in Rhodesia over this issue lasted from 1964 to 1979 when Robert Mugabe came to power of the newly-named Zimbabwe.