The GDR and the African National Congress: Aspects of Cooperation in the 1960s — 1980s

The article examines the relations of the GDR and the ANC on the basis of archival documents of the ANC stored in the National Heritage and Culture Studies Centre at the University of Fort Hare (Alice, South Africa). The author shows, that the relations of the GDR with the ANC in the 1960s — 1980s were of the most diverse nature, gradually expanding and deepening. They were not limited to inter-party ties, the GDR Solidarity Committee played a big role in their development. With its participation, the ANC received direct financial assistance, as well as scholarships to train its activists in a wide range of specialties. The author introduces a whole layer of previously unknown archival materials and memoirs of ANC activists into scientific circulation. He concludes, that in terms of the level and volume of relations with the ANC, the GDR was the first of all the COMECON countries after the USSR. At the same time, unlike other COMECON countries, the struggle of the German socialist state for international recognition left a certain imprint on the relations of the GDR with the APK.

Keywords

Африканский Национальный Конгресс, ГДР, ЮАР, СССР, холодная война, социализм, деколонизация, политическая поддержка, экономическая помощь, военное сотрудничество

Received

19.07.2023

Publication date

14.12.2023

Number of characters

44750

Cite

GOST	Balezin A. The GDR and the African National Congress: Aspects of Cooperation in the 1960s — 1980s // ISTORIYA – 2023. – V. 14. – Issue 11 (133) [Electronic resource]. URL: https://history.jes.su/S207987840029069-4-1 (circulation date: 19.05.2024). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840029069-4
MLA	Balezin, Alexandr "The GDR and the African National Congress: Aspects of Cooperation in the 1960s — 1980s." ISTORIYA 14.11 (133) (2023) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840029069-4
APA	Balezin A. (2023). The GDR and the African National Congress: Aspects of Cooperation in the 1960s — 1980s. ISTORIYA 14(11 (133)) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840029069-4

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 81

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Balezin A. S. SSSR i Zanzibar v gody ego bor'by za nezavisimost' i ob'edineniya s Tangan'ikoj (po arkhivnym istochnikam) // Vestnik Rossijskogo universiteta druzhby narodov. Seriya: Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya. T. 20. № 1. Dekolonizatsiya, neokolonializm i rekolonizatsiya: k 60-letiyu Goda Afriki. M., 2020. S. 54—66.

2. Platoshkin N. N. Voennoe sotrudnichestvo GDR s razvivayuschimisya stranami Blizhnego Vostoka i Afriki» // Voenno-istoricheskij zhurnal. 2015. № 10. S. 36.

3. Shubin V. G. Afrikanskij natsional'nyj kongress v gody podpol'ya i vooruzhennoj bor'by. Doktorskaya dissertatsiya. M.: Institut Afriki RAN, 1999.

4. Yablokov B. V. SSSR i GDR. Ehkonomicheskaya diplomatiya v usloviyakh «novoj ehkonomicheskoj sistemy». M.: GAUGN-PRESS, 2021.

5. Bass R., Bass E. Eastern Europe / ed. by Brzezinski Z. // Africa and the Communist World. L.: Oxford University Press, 1964. P. 84—116.

6. Bottoman W. W. The Making of an MK Cadre. Pretoria: LiNe, 2010.

7. Filatova I., Davidson A. The Hidden Thread. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball, 2013.

8. Gegen R. Apartheid und Kolonialismus. Dokumente der DDR 1949—1977. B.: Staatsverl. der DDR, 1978.

9. Heese H. Trotz Sanktionen — DDR-Fahrzeuge rollen in Südafrika // Engagiert für Afrika. Die DDR und Afrika II. Münster; Hamburg, 1994. S. 73—81.

10. Ngculu J. The Honour to Serve. Recollections of an Umkhonto Soldier. Cape Town: New Africa Books, 2013.

11. Post U., Sandfoss F. Die Afrikapolitik der DDR. Hamburg: Institut für Afrika-Kunde, 1982.

12. Schleicher I. Die Solidarität in der DDR mit dem ANC während des Rivonia-Prozesses 1963—1964 // Engagiert für Afrika. Die DDR und Afrika II. Münster; Hamburg, 1994. S. 104—121.

13. Schleicher I. Prinzipien Zwänge, Kalter Krieg: Die DDR und die Sanktionen gegen Südafrika zu Beginn der 60-er Jahre // Die DDR und Afrika. Zwischen Klassenkampf und dem neuen Denken. Münster; Hamburg, 1993. S. 45—62.

14. Singh E. “Sechaba” — Zeitschrift der ANC printed in GDR // Engagiert für Afrika. Die DDR und Afrika II. Münster; Hamburg, 1994. S. 129—140.