11:The Triumph and Tragedy of the "Third world" Flashcards
origin of the term “Third World”
Alfred Sauvy- French economist
‘tiers monde’ in 1952 as a reference to the ‘third estate’ (the commoners of the French Revolution)
what is the “Third world”?
- geographical/developemental category
-defines countries by core socio-economic characteristics
what are the characteristics that define “Third world” countries
-poverty
-high birth rates
-low literacy levels
-economic dependence
the association of the Third World in the Cold War
first world: the west/developed capitalist states
Second World: Soviet Union/communist bloc
Third world: newly independent states where Cold War powers were competing for alliances/influence
What was the Bandung Conference and when?
-April 1955
-a conference of African and Asian nations in Bandung, Indonesia
key principles and objectives of the Bandung Conference
-To foster good relations between Asian and African
countries
-To address issues of concern to Afro-Asian peoples:
sovereignty, racism, colonialism
-To consider the position of the Afro-Asian countries
in the Cold War
-The emergence of a group of non-aligned states
determined to remain neutral in the Cold War
what was the Non-aligned Movement?
-a follow up to the Bandung conference
-countries were under pressure from the west to establish an anti-soviet position
Principles of the non-aligned movement
-Rejection of collective military alliances and foreign
bases as well as bilateral alliances with a great power
-Respect for fundamental human rights and the
Charter of the United Nations.
-Recognition of the equality of all races
-Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of
all nations
-Support for national liberation movements against
colonialism
-Promotion of mutual interests and co-operation
examples of states that failed to stay out of the Cold War and suffered extensive damage as a result
Congo
Indonesia
Cambodia
south africa
Cuba
Angola
Mozambique
Afghanistan
Nicaragua
position of the Congo in 1960
it gained independence from Belgium in June
July: Congo in chaos with army mutinies and the secession of the mineral-rich province of Katanga under Moise Tshombe
Causes of the Congo crisis
-Belgian troops intervened to support Katanga against the Congolese government
-UN troops entered to restore order, also alienated the left wing Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba
-August 1960: Soviets accused UN of “colonialist behaviour” and sent military aid to Lumumba
-Congo fragmented into 4 rival governments by 1961
Congo crisis
-Lumumba was killed by Katangese troops in 1961
-Katangan secession effectively ended in Jan 1963
-November 1965: Joseph Mobutu seized power in a US-backed coup
-Mobutu ruled Congo (renamed Zaire) as a one party state till he died in 1997
Cold War intervention in the Congo Crisis
-US Kennedy administration instigated a tougher UN line to reunify Congo after 1961
-Soviets had been kept out of a key area in Africa
-argued that the UN had taken sides
consequences of the Congo crisis
UN prestige takes a hit
100’000 died in 1960-65 period
Brezhnev Doctrine
-Soviet Foreign Policy that proclaimed that any threat to socialist rule in any state of the soviet bloc, it was a threat to all, so justified intervention
-subsequent support of socialist regimes in Cuba,Angola, Afghanistan
Reagan Doctrine
-initiated an aggressive new set of US Cold War policies in the 3rd world
-underpinned US intervention in Afghanistan, Central America and africa
South Africa and the Cold War
-SA as an anti-communist Cold War ally complicated the western response to apartheid
Who were the 3 groups competing for power in Angola after the war of independence 1961-75?
-Holden Roberto’s FNLA:original liberation movement
-Agostino Neto’s Marxist MPLA
-Jonas Savimbi’s UNITA
who backed the FNLA in Angola?
Congo/Zaire
Algeria
USA
who backed the MPLA in Angola?
Cuba
Soviet Union
who backed the UNITA in Angola
China
South Africa
USA
when/why did Angola become a focal point of Cold War tension?
the MPLA defeated FNLA forces to emerge as the UN-recognised government by April 1976
foreign troops in Angola
-October 1975: South African troops entered Angola
-November 1975 Operation Carlota: 35,000 Cuban
troops were in Angola by the end of 1976
Cold War intervention in Angola
-US incorrectly assumed that the Soviet Union was
behind the Cuban intervention
-By the mid-1980s, the Reagan administration had
become a major backer of UNITA
End of violence in Angola
-1988 agreements: South African withdrawal from Angola
-1991 political settlement negotiated between Savimbi and Angolan government
-only ended with Savimbi’s death in 2002
-500’000 Angolans killed in civil war
Soviet intervention in Afghanistan
-USSR invaded Afghanistan in December 1979
-Islamic resistance fighters (Mujaheddin) began a
guerrilla war against the USSR
-CIA supplied arms to the Mujaheddin through
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, China, Israel and Iran
Consequences of Soviet war in Afghanistan
-Soviets lost 15,000 dead and 37,000 wounded in
the conflict; the war cost the Soviet economy
$7.8 billion a year
-Soviet prestige and international standing
suffered – especially in Asia and the Middle East
-Gorbachev initiated Soviet withdrawal in 1988,
completed in February 1989
-Over a million Afghans died in the war
Context of Nicaragua
1979: left wing Sandinista National Liberation Front
(FSLN) won power in Nicaragua
-The US Government began to support the right-wing
Contras against the Sandinistas
-Congress prohibited federal funding of the Contras in
1983 but Reagan continued to provide covert aid by
selling arms to Iran and channelling the profits to the
Contras
Consequence of Nicaragua for the US and Reagan
-1986: the World Court judged that US policy in
Nicaragua was in breach of international law and
ordered the USA to pay $17 billion in reparation
-June 1986: US Congress approved a $100 million aid
package to the Contras
Daniel Ortega,
President of
Nicaragua, 1985-90
the impact Cold War ideologies had on the Third world
-distorted political and economic development in these countries
examples of the impact of Cold War ideologies on the Third World
-Mao and the ‘Khymer Rouge’ sought to transform
Chinese and Cambodian societies into a socialist
utopia
-Suharto and the Shah sought to transform Indonesia
and Iran into advanced capitalist societies
