Africa Lecture Notes The Berlin Conference How Europeans

Africa Lecture Notes

The Berlin Conference How Europeans Carved Up Africa in 1884

The Berlin Conference • Berlin, Germany, 1884. • Hosted by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. • Stated goals: • Control slave trade • Humanitarian aid • True goals: • Avoid bloodshed • Establish ground rules for dividing Africa.

Results of Berlin Conference • Belgium given control of the Congo. • Free trade in Congo. • “First come, first serve” – Notify others of your claim. • “Might makes right” –Must possess colony to claim it. If you can hold it, it’s yours.

Belgium: The Congo • 1860 s: Livingstone search for Nile. • 1871: Stanley finds Dr. • 1879: Stanley returns. • 1882: Treaties with chiefs. • King Leopold of Belgium controls lands. Exploits natives (sap from rubber plants).

The Industrial Revolution! • Europeans needed raw materials to fuel the Industrial Revolution. • Shoes, tires, sports equipment, etc… • Rubber!

Industrial Revolution Markets for Manufactured Goods Source for Raw Materials European Nationalism Missionary Activity European Motives For Colonization Military & Naval Bases Social Darwinism Places to Dump Unwanted/ Excess Population. European Racism “White Man’s Burden” Humanitarian Reasons Soc. & Eco. Opportunities

Divide and Conquer! • Africa’s ethnic and cultural diversity provides a perfect opportunity for Europeans to pit Africans against each other.

The Story of Modern Africa… • 50 years of dictatorship, corruption, civil war and poverty. Why? • • Rival groups thrown together by European political boundaries. Inexperienced leaders with no good political models. Undeveloped economies that breed poverty. Lack of systems/institutions to make democracy work. • Elections, Rights, Courts, Press, Taxes Services (health, educate, sustenance)

Easy Definition • Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of an ethnic, racial, religious or national group. … but it’s not that simple.

8 Stages of Genocide • After studying much genocide from around the world, the Genocide Watch Program developed 8 stages they believe happen BEFORE an actual genocide occurs. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Classification Symbolization Dehumanization Organization Polarization Preparation Extermination Denial

Stage 1: Classification • All cultures have categories to distinguish people into “us and them” by ethnicity, race, religion, or nationality: German and Jew, Hutu and Tutsi. Bipolar societies that lack mixed categories, such as Rwanda and Burundi, are the most likely to have genocide. • The main preventive measure at this early stage is to develop universalistic institutions that transcend ethnic or racial divisions, that actively promote tolerance and understanding, and that promote classifications that transcend the divisions. • The search for common ground is vital to early prevention of genocide.

Stage 2: Symbolization • We give names or other symbols to the classifications. We name people “Jews” or “Gypsies”, or distinguish them by colors or dress; and apply the symbols to members of groups. • Classification and symbolization are universally human and do not necessarily result in genocide unless they lead to the next stage, dehumanization. • To combat symbolization, hate symbols can be legally forbidden (swastikas) as can hate speech.

Stage 3: dehumanization • One group denies the humanity of the other group. Members of it are equated with animals, vermin, insects or diseases. Dehumanization overcomes the normal human revulsion against murder. At this stage, hate propaganda in print and on hate radios is used to vilify the victim group. • In combating this dehumanization, incitement to genocide should not be confused with protected speech. Genocidal societies lack constitutional protection for countervailing speech, and should be treated differently than democracies. • Local and international leaders should condemn the use of hate speech and make it culturally unacceptable. Leaders who incite genocide should be banned from international travel and have their foreign finances frozen. Hate radio stations should be shut down, and hate propaganda banned. Hate crimes and atrocities should be promptly punished.

Stage 4: Organization • Genocide is always organized, usually by the state, often using militias to provide deniability of state responsibility. Sometimes organization is informal or decentralized (terrorist groups). • Special army units or militias are often trained and armed. Plans are made for genocidal killings.

Stage 5: Polarization • Extremists drive the groups apart. Hate groups broadcast polarizing propaganda. Laws may forbid intermarriage or social interaction. Extremist terrorism targets moderates, intimidating and silencing the center. Moderates from the perpetrators’ own group are most able to stop genocide, so are the first to be arrested and killed. • Prevention may mean security protection for moderate leaders or assistance to human rights groups. Assets of extremists may be seized, and visas for international travel denied to them. Coups d’état by extremists should be opposed by international sanctions.

Stage 6: Preparation • Victims are identified and separated out because of their ethnic or religious identity. Death lists are drawn up. Members of victim groups are forced to wear identifying symbols. Their property is expropriated. They are often segregated into ghettoes, deported into concentration camps, or confined to a famine-struck region and starved. At this stage, a Genocide Emergency must be declared. • If the political will of the great powers, regional alliances, or the U. N. Security Council can be mobilized, armed international intervention should be prepared, or heavy assistance provided to the victim group to prepare for its self-defense. Otherwise, at least humanitarian assistance should be organized by the U. N. and private relief groups for the inevitable tide of refugees to come.

Stage 7: Extermination • It begins, and quickly becomes the mass killing legally called “genocide. ” It is “extermination” to the killers because they do not believe their victims to be fully human. When it is sponsored by the state, the armed forces often work with militias to do the killing. Sometimes the genocide results in revenge killings by groups against each other, creating the downward whirlpool-like cycle of bilateral genocide. • For larger interventions, a multilateral force authorized by the U. N. should intervene. If the U. N. is paralyzed, regional alliances must act. It is time to recognize that the international responsibility to protect transcends the narrow interests of individual nation states. If strong nations will not provide troops to intervene directly, they should provide the airlift, equipment, and financial means necessary for regional states to intervene.

Stage 8: Denial • This is the eighth stage that always follows a genocide. It is among the surest indicators of further genocidal massacres. The perpetrators of genocide dig up the mass graves, burn the bodies, try to cover up the evidence and intimidate the witnesses. They deny that they committed any crimes, and often blame what happened on the victims. They block investigations of the crimes, and continue to govern until driven from power by force, when they flee into exile

• The Rwandan genocide occurred between April – July , 1994 • June 10: “Genocide”

"Rwanda is clinically dead as a nation. " Nigerian Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, Los Angeles Times, 11 May 1994. How do you go forward? The Tutsi win the war, they are in power. What would you do?

United Nations Response… • UN Criminal Tribunal in Tanzania. • Indicted 93 individuals whom it considered responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in Rwanda in 1994. • Those indicted include highranking military and government officials, politicians, businessmen, as well as religious, militia, and media leaders.

Gacaca Courts • In 2000, there were over 120, 000 people in Rwanda’s jails. • It is estimated that it would take over 200 years to clear all the cases. • Some prisoners waited over 10 years in jail before they were charged with a crime.

Apartheid - 1948 • Separation: “The status of being Apart” • Segregation: Started in the diamond and gold mines. • Expanded to the cities and towns.

The Cape Colony • The Dutch started a colony at Cape Town in 1652 to supply their ships going to Asia.

• Starting in the 1800 s, the British take an interest in South Africa. • Diamonds!!! • Gold!!!

Towns, Townships, and Travel • Towns (white populations, industry, factories, and jobs) • Townships (Land reserved for Black Africans) • Pass Laws • Everybody has to have a pass on them at all times. • You need a permit to travel • You need a permit to work

Apartheid is not just for fun. South Africa has a huge economy: Farms, mines, factories, construction, ports. They need workers.

Apartheid Laws 1948 - Apartheid becomes the official policy of the South African Government. Forced Removals of Black and Asian Africans begins. Pass Laws. Mixed Marriage Prohibited.

Sovereignty: • Independence. • The right to self-government without interference from outside • The power to make your own laws. South Africa is a Sovereign nation. What can the USA do?

International Response to Apartheid • People in the USA and Europe become outraged by reports (and pictures! And stories!) of Apartheid. • Voters pressure politicians to do something. • Customers pressure businesses to do something.

Sanctions 1986: The United States imposes sanctions on South Africa. • No US companies or individuals can do business with South Africa. • SA airlines cannot fly to the US. • South Africa goes into a deep recession.

Nelson Mandela: 1918 -2013 • Joined the African National Congress in 1944 • Increasingly political • Lawyer • Peaceful protests • Put on trial in 1956 for “illegally leaving the country and in sighting a workers strike. ” • -Treason

The Arab Spring •

What is the ‘Arab Spring? ’ • Began in the winter of 2010/spring of 2011 • We’re still seeing the ramifications today • Pro-democracy protesters across North Africa and the Middle East rose up against the dictatorial regimes that had ruled their home countries for years.

How did the ‘Arab Spring’ begin? • Began in Tunisia when a 26 year old street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire after a policewoman confiscated his unlicensed vegetable cart and its goods on Dec. 17, 2010. It wasn’t the first time it had happened! http: //www. bbc. co. uk/news/worl d-middle-east-16212447

Countries the ‘Arab Spring’ has impacted • • • Tunisia Jordan Egypt Syria Libya Morocco Iran Algeria Bahrain Saudi Arabia Yemen Oman

Small Group Research • Your group will be assigned to one of the following countries: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Tunisia Egypt Libya Bahrain Morocco Yemen • For your assigned country, answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper. • Be prepared to discuss on the board: 1. Why did the uprising happen? 2. What was the governments’ reaction? 3. What was the outcome?

Reflection • Consider the similarities between the countries where the ‘Arab Spring’ took place. • What did most of the protesters want to accomplish? • What rights were they fighting for? Do you have these rights?

Social Media Protesters used social media websites like Facebook and Twitter to organize their movements and spread their message!

The Role of Technology in the Arab Spring • http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=r. Zw. Nb 11 n 9 zk • ↑ BBC video about social media and the Arab Spring

The Power of the Protester • TIME Magazine named the ‘Protester’ their 2011 Person of the Year. http: //www. bbc. co. uk/news/world-16192792

World Gold Agenda 10/29/15 • Syria Uprising • Background Notes • Timeline Activity • Key information • Independent Research: Your country’s stance

Background • Syria’s location along major trade routes linking Europe, Africa and Asia made it a crossroads for camel caravans and the center of world trade more than 4000 years ago. • They’re also used to being invaded… • The Ottoman Empire conquered Syria in 1516. During World War I Syrians helped the United Kingdom defeat the Ottomans in hope of gaining independence. • League of Nations appoints France to oversee Syria. France controlled Syria with force, which Syrians resented.

Background cont… • Syria gained its independence from France after World War II. • United Nations proposed to divide Palestine into an Arab state and a new Jewish state called Israel. • Syria and other Arab forces went to war against the new Israel in 1948 but could not defeat Israel.

Syria today… • Leader: Bashar al-Assad, in power since 2000 (inherited power from his father). • The Baath Party • Protestors are calling for political freedom, an end to corruption, action on poverty, and an end to the emergency law of 1963.

Vocabulary • al Qaeda: • Radical Sunni Muslim group whose intent is to wipe out Western influence from Arab countries. • Sharia Law: • Basis for Islamic legal system. Based on the Quran. • Islamic Fundamentalist: • Radical Islamic ideology. • Jihad: • A holy war against non-believers. • Mujahideen: • Guerilla fighters in Islamic countries. Usually fighting non-Muslim forces. • Infidel: • A person who does not believe in religion or who adheres to a religion other than one's own. • Fatwa: • a ruling on a point of Islamic law given by a recognized authority.

Soviet War in Afghanistan (1980’s) • Mujahideen vs. Afghan government & Soviet troops. • USA + bin Laden? • Taliban takeover 1992 • $$$ -> al Qaeda

al Qaeda Operations • 1993 World Trade Center • 1998 US Embassies in Kenya, Tanzania • 2000 USS Cole in Yemen • 2001 9/11 World Trade Center, Pentagon • 2002, Bali • 2004, Madrid • 2005, London