Liberation within Southern Africa

Part of the Liberation and Struggle topic

I just finished reading Vladimir Shubin's The Hot "Cold War", which discusses the role of the Soviet Union in the liberation of countries within Southern Africa. What stands out the most about this series of conflicts is the extreme level of violent resistance to the liberation movements of the region. Portuguese colonialism was maintained in Angola and Mozambique until the mid-1970s, while racist white minorities ruled over South Africa, Namibia (formerly Southwest Africa), and Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) until the late 1970s to 1980s. Throughout this process, reactionary proxy groups such as UNITA and RENAMO were funded by the US and South Africa in an attempt to maintain strong influence in the region. The string of conflicts during this period were indeed a "Hot" Cold War that impacted the lives of millions.

Ultimately, the progressive forces, with extensive Soviet aid for liberation, won out in the end. The outcomes of these struggles were less than ideal. Angola and Mozambique continued to face internal armed opposition for several decades after achieving liberation. Zimbabwe would later become the poster child for economic mismanagement. South Africa immediately surrendered to neoliberal pressure and continues to have a socially-stratified society, with its huge level of inequality still mostly based on racial lines. Nonetheless, through militant struggle, these countries were able to achieve a much higher level of autonomy than many other African countries. Independence in West African countries was notably less violent than Southern Africa, but while the new West African states gained nominal independence, they remained neo-colonies under the rule of their former colonizers.

It is also worth noting the malign role that the US played in this affair. It consistently supported the white minority governments to the end, and actively sabotaged newly-liberated states by encouraging their chosen proxy to spark civil wars in order to obtain total control. The US and its ally, apartheid South Africa, had a corrupting influence over many of the liberation groups. In Angola, for example, the three main parties of MPLA, UNITA, and FLNA did not have hugely different ideologies in the beginning. The MPLA leaned slightly to the left, and the other two parties leaned to the right. US backing of UNITA and FLNA caused them to adopt more extreme politics, causing a polarization within Angola. Since MPLA was a popular party that increasingly embraced socialist rhetoric, the Soviet Union felt obligated to intervene on their behalf.

Although the Soviet Union was considered to be a social imperialist power by many observers, one cannot deny the significant role that it played in Southern Africa's liberation. Regardless of its intentions, the Soviet Union's involvement assured a smoother transition of power to the democratic movements in the region. In Shubin's mind, the Soviets helped the nascent African countries because of their strong ideological commitment to decolonial liberation. There were no strings attached to the aid, and the Soviet Union had little material or strategic gains from the conflicts. I think this is somewhat backed up by Gorbachev's dramatic reduction in aid to Southern Africa. By that point, the extreme rightward shift of the Soviet government caused it to be more concerned with fiscal solvency and less committed to liberation movements.

There was a similar ideological motivation behind the US's investments in the region. As a settler colonial nation, the US was all too eager to save its fellow white supremist government in South Africa. Near the end of the apartheid era, Reagan bemoaned the sagging congressional support for the white minority rulers. Eventually, liberation would win out even in the bastion of white supremacy of Southern Africa. Unfortunately, many compromises had to be made. Without US intervention, there would have been considerably less bloodshed and probably better outcomes overall in terms of state-building. In this capacity, the Soviet Union was able to balance the scales somewhat and help liberation movements to overcome the long struggle.

We can see similar elements in the Palestinian liberation struggle. Once again, we see a violent settler population suppressing the indigenous population. This time, there is no Soviet Union to render aid, and the bloc of progressive pan-Arab governments has been dismantled by the US. Meanwhile, the US is funding the worst genocide in generations within Gaza as I write this post. The Palestinians have a right to resist their aggressors, just like the formerly oppressed Southern Africans had a right to wage a liberation struggle to free their own nations. Although the situation looks bleak at the moment, Palestine still has allies in the international community. South Africa, having been through a similar phase of colonial apartheid, stands in solidarity with Palestine. The South African government have successfully indited Israel for genocide through the International Criminal of Justice. Numerous nations have backed this ruling, even while the minority of corrupt Western nations continue to unequivocally support Israel. With enough pushback, Palestine can become free just like Southern Africa.