Case Study → 1960s Wind of Change in Africa (DRC)

Context	● Most British colonies in Africa became independent nations in the 1960s ● The Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan said the wind of change is blowing through Africa ● DRC has suffered persistently from a 'resource curse' ○ Its enormous raw material wealth attracts numerous outsiders who eventually find local collaborators to help loot the country's natural resources
Challenges for the New Nations	● The British left without establishing a secure government. The military often seized power ● The economies of formed colonies had been constructed to supply raw materials to the empire were not industrialised ● Ethnic and political differences within and between nations produced conflicts ● Superpowers tried to gain influence in new nations, which increased corruption

| Economic Costs of Conflict for
DRC | In 2019, DRCs GDP per capita was just US$500 per year despite its rich resources. Political mismanagement and conflict squandered the country's early development opportunity | | Environmental
Costs of Conflict
for DRC | 🔗 Conflict in the 1990s led to widespread abandonment of farmland and the re-growth of secondary forest. Simultaneously, loss of vegetation occurred in and around the massive refugee camps where poor sanitation has allowed diseases such as Cholera to thrive | | Human Costs of
Conflict for DRC | 🔗 DRC has one of the world's lowest HDI scores (179th place). Life expectancy is just 60. The majority of deaths among younger people are due to infectious diseases and malnutrition linked with the loss of health services and food security due to conflict. |

| Geopolitical
Changes of the
DRC | ● Colonised by Belgium, 1870-1960
Millions of Congolese were killed or worked to death by King Leopold II
● Independence as Zaire, 1950s-90s
After a power struggle, Joseph Mobutu took power and renamed the country. He
created a difficult regime for the TNCs to operate in, while amassing a US$4 bn fortune for himself. Zaire eventually defaulted on loans resulting in cancellation of development programmes
● Regime change & conflict, 1990s-2005
Mobutu was removed from power when the neighbouring states Uganda and Rwanda
assisted a rebel leader, Laurent Kabila, to become president in 1997 (renamed Zaire as DRC). Later, they turned on him only to discover that other neighbours (Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia) had sent troops to help Kabila
↳ The 6 nation war claimed 5 mil lives
● Attempted conflict resolution, 2005-present
UN peacekeepers are trying are trying to bring stability
↳ The WB has approved US$8 bn in debt relief
|

| Factors
Influencing
Change | ● Raw materials encouraged Europeans to the region. Timber, Rubber and gold made
the country an important prize
● Geopolitical strategies followed by Belgium and the USA during the Cold War helped
put Mobutu in charge (favoured because of his generally pro-Western stance).
However, aid and loans designed to help alleviate poverty in DRC were syphoned off
by Mobutu's family while leaving ordinary people in great debt
● Cross border ethnic ties between some Rwandans and some Congolese is a legacy
of colonialism and an important reason why the conflict came to involve more than
one nation. Raw materials again proved to be a source of prolonged conflict. The UN
believes many occupying forces were motivated in part by a desire to grab DBRC
resources
● Displaced refugees and traumatised civilians have yet to be rehabilitated. Armed
militia groups still operate in the East of the Country |

•                                   :highlight[30 June 1960]: the declaration of independence of DRC*