Role of the international community in the South African apartheid

Research Plan

Research Question: What was the role of the international community in the South African apartheid?

Introduction

South Africa is known all over the world for the apartheid regime that lasted from the year 1948 to 1994, and during which intense racial segregation and discrimination was witnessed in the country. Much as apartheid is regarded as a South African problem that was officially recognized in 1948, it arguably began many years back. Apartheid was supported and championed by the National Party, but the international community had a huge influence on the onset and the trajectory that apartheid took, including the fact that South Africa still battles race-based segregation to date. To begin with, apartheid started at a time when the world was reeling from the effects of the Second World War. In 1939 when the war broke out, South Africa was still under British colonial rule but there were sharp divisions on which side South Africa should take. Many Afrikaners had German descent so they felt obliged to support Germany against Britain. The result of this was that the politics of South Africa split (South African History Online, n.d.). On a rather different note, it was during World War 2 that Western countries, notably the United States, learnt the strategic value of South Africa. There were large uranium deposits in South Africa, and the U.S. resolved to fiancé the apartheid regime in order to secure these resources (Nesbitt, 2004). This historical context helps to understand why the international community, specifically Western countries, are said to have been indifferent or rather not particularly keen on ending apartheid in South Africa.

References

Nesbitt, F. N. (2004). Race for sanctions: African Americans against apartheid, 1946-1994. Indiana University Press.

South African History Online. (n.d.). A history of apartheid in South Africa. sahistory.org.za/article/history-apartheid-south-africa