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Visual History of the World
(CONTENTS)
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The Contemporary World
1945 to the present
After World War II, a new
world order came into being in which two superpowers, the United
States and the Soviet Union, played the leading roles. Their
ideological differences led to the arms race of the Cold War and
fears of a global nuclear conflict. The rest of the world was also
drawn into the bipolar bloc system, and very few nations were able
to remain truly non-aligned. The East-West conflict came to an end
in 1990 with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the consequent
downfall of the Eastern Bloc. Since that time, the world has been
driven by the globalization of worldwide economic and political
systems. The world has, however, remained divided: The rich nations
of Europe, North America, and East Asia stand in contrast to the
developing nations of the Third World.
The first moon landing made science-fiction dreams reality in the
year 1969.
Space technology has made considerable progress as the search for
new
possibilities of using space continues.
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Africa since the Independence of its Nations
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SINCE 1945
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see also: United Nations member states -
Angola,
Benin,
Botswana,
Burkina Faso,
Burundi,
Cameroon,
Cape Verde,
Central African Republic,
Chad,
Comoros,
Congo,
Cote d'Ivoire,
Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Djibouti,
Equatorial Guinea,
Eritrea,
Ethiopia,
Gabon,
Gambia,
Ghana,
Guinea,
Guinea-Bissau,
Kenya,
Lesotho,
Madagascar,
Malawi,
Mali,
Mauritania,
Mauritius,
Mozambique,
Namibia,
Niger,
Nigeria,
Rwanda,
Sao Tome and Principe,
Senegal,
Seychelles,
Sierra Leone,
Somalia,
South Africa,
Sudan,
Swaziland,
Tanzania,
Togo,
Uganda,
Zambia,
Zimbabwe
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The nations of Sub-Saharan Africa that became independent after 1957
have continued to suffer the consequences of their continent's
experience of colonialism. The optimism of the early years of
independence soon gave way to repeated military coups, violent
conflicts, and popular disillusionment with promises to end poverty and
improve living conditions. Other problems faced in parts of the region
include drought and famines, limited access to drinking water, and
the alarming growth of HIV/AIDS since the 1980s. These problems are
compounded by authoritarian and frequently corrupt regimes.
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West Africa
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Of the West African countries, Nigeria has had the most turbulent
postcolonial history. Ghana, Senegal, and the Ivory Coast have slowly
consolidated since their independence.
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On March 6,1957, 1 Ghana became the first independent nation in
sub-Saharan Africa.
Kwame Nkrumah, one of the intellectual leaders of
Africa's liberation and Ghana's prime minister since 1952, became
president and installed an increasingly autocratic regime. In February
1966 he was deposed by a military coup d'etat and emigrated to Guinea.
After a short democratic period lasting until 1972, the military
repeatedly took power in sequence of coups. At the end of 1981, Flight
Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings took power in a coup, introduced democratic
structures, and liberalized the economy.
He then won two successive
presidential elections before peacefully handing over governmental power
to the victorious opposition leader 2
John Kufuorin 2001.
After Nigeria's independence in i960, intense clan wars took place,
leading to the separation of national regions and parallel governments.
From 1966 to 1999, several military coups and regimes followed one
another, interrupted by short phases of democratization.
A civil war
broke out from 1967 to 1970 over the 3 Biafra region, which declared
itself provisionally independent.
1 Shrine of an Asafo company of the Fanti at the coast of Ghana,
painted cement, 1952
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2 John Kufour at his swearing-in ceremony as the new president of Ghana,
January 7, 2001
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3
The name of the Biafra
region became synonymous
with misery, hunger,
despair,
and suffering
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Since 1999, under the leadership of
President 6 Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria has begun to stabilize and seek
relations with the international community. However, corruption and
religious conflicts continue to afflict the country.
In Senegal, 4 Leopold Sedar Senghor ruled from
1960.
He was a socialist
and acclaimed poet who was greatly respected as a spokesperson for the
continent and as an international mediator. Senghor ruled as president
until 1980 in a surprisingly liberal presidential system. His
successors, Abdou Diouf (1980-2000) and Abdoulaye Wade maintained the
internal political stability of the Senegalese state.
Ahmed Sekou Toure, who was president of Guinea from 1958 to 1984,
established a socialist presidential government. His regime survived
several coup attempts and was characterized by brutal suppression of the
civilian population.
His successor 5 Lansana Conte continued this
dictatorial rule.
Corruption and human rights abuses have discouraged
international donors and foreign investment, and in January 2005 Conte
narrowly escaped an assassination attempt.
The Ivory Coast (Cote d'lvoirc) was led by President Felix
Houphouet-Boigny until 1993. During this period, the country was one of
the most economically prosperous and politically stable in Africa,
although it fell short of a democratic system.
Both his successor Henri Bedie, who ruled for seven years before being
ousted in 2000, and the socialist 7
Laurent Gbagbo used rigged elections
to bolster the legitimacy of their rule.
In 2002 a civil war broke out
as the north and the south of the country split along political and
sectarian lines. After the intervention of France, South Africa, and the
United Nations, a peace deal was achieved in April 2005.
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6
Olusegun Obasanjo
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4
Leopold Sedar Senghor, 1986
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5
Guinea's president Lansana Conte
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7
Laurent Gbagbo, October 2000
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Central Africa
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Since 1960, authoritarian governments have predominated among Central
African states.
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In Niger, President Hamani Diori established single-party rule in
i960 and tied the country firmly to France, as did his successor Seyni
Kountche. Disturbances led to a military coup in 1996.
In 1999 the military handed back power to President
8 Mamadou Tandja, who introduced
a multiparty system and democratized the nation.
Chad suffered from religious tensions that emerged between its Islamic
north and Christian south.
The conflict escalated, following revolts by
the Muslim population over taxes, into a 9
civil war in which France and
Libya intervened between 1984 and 1988.
In 1993 Idriss Deby was elected,
and his government slowly stabilized the country and wrote a national
constitution. In 1994 Libya withdrew its troops from the country after
the International Court of Justice t'cjcctcd its claim to a disputed
strip of territory between the countries.
The Central African Republic was initially ruled by President David
Dacko as an authoritarian state. In January 1966 he was toppled by army
chief Jean-Bedel Bokassa, who established one of the cruelest regimes in
Africa.
Bokassa made himself president for life in 1973 and then in a
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megalomaniacal ceremony in December 1977 crowned himself Emperor Bokassa
I.
8
The democratic president of Niger, Mamadou Tandja, 1999
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9 Libyan tanks bomb a street in the Aouzou border area in the northern
part of Chad, April 7, 1987
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10
Jean-Bedel Bokassa during
his coronation ceremony in Bangui,
December 4,
1977
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He was deposed in September 1979 with international approval, and Dacko
returned to power, but the country remained unsettled. Even President
11 Ange Felix Patasse, emerging from a controversial election
in 1993, was unable to ensure stability in the country. Various rebel
groups launched a series of destabilizing insurrections during the
1990s.
In Cameroon between 1960 and 1982, the Francophile president Ahmadou
Ahidjo presided over a one-party system. His successor. Paul Biya,
initially followed the same policies but was forced to introduce a
multiparty system in 1990 following popular protests. The democratic
validity of following elections is disputed.
Violent clashes had occurred in Rwanda since 1959 as the ethnic Hutu
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majority rebelled against the Tutsi minority that had served as the
ruling elite and been privileged during the colonial era.
Around 150,000
Tutsis fled from Rwanda to Burundi and other neighboring states. After
independence in 1962, military leaders of the Hutu ruled for the most
part. However, conflicts repeatedly broke out with Tutsi rebels and led
to appalling massacres in 1994.
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11
Ange Felix Patasse brandishes a gun at a press conference, Sept. 26, 1979
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12
A group of young soldiers of the Hutu militia
at a military exercise,
1994
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Genocide in Rwanda
After 1990, the tension between the Tutsi rebels and Hutu holders of
power increased in Rwanda. When President Habyarimana was killed in an
airplane crash under suspicious circumstances in April 1994, Hutu
extremists began—with propagandist support from the
government—systematically to massacre Tutsis and moderate Hutus
throughout the country.
Within only a few weeks, 800,000 people fell
victim to a genocide in which virtually all layers of society took part.
At the beginning of July, Tutsi troops were able to establish order and
take control of the country.
A girl searches for her parents among the bodies
of Rwandans who have been trampled to death,
July 18, 1994
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see also: United Nations member states -
Angola,
Benin,
Botswana,
Burkina Faso,
Burundi,
Cameroon,
Cape Verde,
Central African Republic,
Chad,
Comoros,
Congo,
Cote d'Ivoire,
Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Djibouti,
Equatorial Guinea,
Eritrea,
Ethiopia,
Gabon,
Gambia,
Ghana,
Guinea,
Guinea-Bissau,
Kenya,
Lesotho,
Madagascar,
Malawi,
Mali,
Mauritania,
Mauritius,
Mozambique,
Namibia,
Niger,
Nigeria,
Rwanda,
Sao Tome and Principe,
Senegal,
Seychelles,
Sierra Leone,
Somalia,
South Africa,
Sudan,
Swaziland,
Tanzania,
Togo,
Uganda,
Zambia,
Zimbabwe
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