The Cold War became a global geopolitical, military, and economic confrontation between the two blocs of states, the centers of which were the United States and the USSR, from 1946 to the end of 1980. The countries fought for a dominant position in world public opinion. One of the main roles in this confrontation was occupied by Africa because it had air and naval bases, and since Africa is rich in food and mineral resources, it was attractive to the opposing countries.
The Cold War led Africa to certain consequences, for example, the transformation of political systems as multiparty democracy is not suitable, moreover, threatens the needs of the new African states. This means that people will not organize and vote, and as Reynolds (2015) claims, they will form political parties based on ethnic affiliations. As a result, African leaders were first opposed, and then moved to eliminate multi-party systems, advocating a single party.
Another consequence that affected Africa was the military coup in 1966, which uprooted a corrupt regime. The leaders of this coup became heroes for their people, and the politicians disappeared from sight. In the south, people cheered, but in the north, the reaction was more restrained. Meredith (2005) states that the northerners began to weigh the consequences of the coup and they had some doubts about the true intentions of this coup. Over time, the northerners became increasingly convinced that the coup was staged not to root out corruption, but to seize power by one of the tribes. This suspicion was the cause of the civil war, which lasted for more than two years and claimed the lives of almost a million people.
In conclusion, the Cold War claimed millions of lives and was very costly. For many African countries that were engulfed by the war, this was a real tragedy, since the country’s internal problems were in the background for the United States and the USSR. All the problems of Africa that arise from the confrontation of countries remain to this day and remind us of the painful legacy of the Cold War.
References
Meredith, M. (2005). The Fate of Africa a History of the Continent Since Independence. New York.
Reynolds, J.T. (2015). Sovereignty and Struggle. Africa and Africans in the Era of the Cold War. Oxford University Press.