Africa Notes #3 – Ethnic Conflicts

Positives: Built roads, schools, hospitals, technology Negatives: Split up ethnic groups and forced them to live with others they didn’t like – This will cause a lot of the modern wars in Africa today Effects of Imperialism

Struggles to Build Nations African nations tried to set up governments modeled after their colonial rulers – Caused dissent (opposition) among the people Some nations were set up as democracies Most were single party, authoritarian, or dictators ½ of all new nations had power seized by the military

Struggles to Build Nations Many civil wars raged between ethnicities and factions Governments were often corrupt

Modern African Problems Loss of colonial rule hurt the infrastructure: – (roads, bridges, transportation, healthcare, and education all affected) Trade with the outside world decreased Foreign countries own lots of the major industries - Ex: Nestle (Swiss) exploits cheap African labor for Milk, Sugar, Coco, and Coffee

Modern African Problems By the 1980s Africa was in crisis The World Bank wouldn’t give out more loans. Opposition parties were legalized, and multiparty elections were held in some countries

Modern African Problems New nations relied on foreign aid and import food as cash crops are grown instead Droughts ravage what little crops there are Famines occur in many countries

Population Explosion

Ethnic Conflicts Rwanda and in Burundi in Central Africa had one of Africa’s deadliest civil wars. Rwanda – Hutus were the majority group, – Tutsis were the minority but had been placed in control by Belgium – In 1994, extremist Hutu officials urged civilians to kill their Tutsi and moderate Hutu neighbors.

Ethnic Conflicts Around 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered – 3 out of 8 million people lost their homes – The United Nations stopped the fighting – It is considered one of the worst Genocides in modern history

Civil Wars in Sudan Sudan gained independence from the U.K. The 1 st Sudanese Civil War lasted from – fought mainly between the Arab/Muslim North and the Christian South

Sudan Splits in 2011 The 2 nd Civil War lasted from – Same basic division – Ended with South Sudan become Autonomous In July of 2011 S. Sudan officially became its own country This year the N. and S. are both engaging in violence – Possible war – mainly over OIL

Sudan’s western region of Darfur In 2004 ethnic violence spread to this region Arab militias with govt. support terrorized the non-Arab - burned villages –drove hundreds of thousands of farmers off the land

Darfur Genocide The UN, the United States, and other nations organized a huge aid effort to help refugees Many have deemed it a genocide. –Estimated 400,000 died