ABSTRACT

Decolonisation and Regional Geopolitics argues that as much as the ‘Congo crisis’ (1960-1965) was a Cold War battleground, so too was it a battleground for Southern Africa’s decolonisation. This book provides a transnational history of African decolonisation, apartheid diplomacy, and Southern African nationalist movements. It answers three central questions. First, what was the nature of South African involvement in the Congo crisis? Second, what was the rationale for this involvement? Third, how did South Africans perceive the crisis?

Innovatively, the book shifts the focus on the Congo crisis away from Cold War intervention and centres it around African decolonisation and regional geopolitics.

part I|2 pages

Setting the scene

chapter 1|12 pages

Centring Africa

chapter 2|36 pages

The First Republic, 1960–1965

part II|2 pages

South African involvement

chapter 3|30 pages

1960–1963

chapter 4|28 pages

1963–1964

chapter 5|28 pages

1964–1965

part III|2 pages

South African motives and perceptions

chapter 6|47 pages

Motives

chapter 7|31 pages

Perceptions

part IV|2 pages

Conclusions

chapter 8|9 pages

An African battleground