The U.S.S.R. and Southern Africa Since 1976

Keith Somerville

doi:10.1017/S0022278X00056780

The U.S.S.R. and Southern Africa Since 1976

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 November 2008

Keith Somerville

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This extract from an editorial in The Times, which followed the capture of a Soviet warrant officer by invading South African forces in southern Angola in September 1981, sums up well the attitude in many western quarters, including most governments, towards Soviet involvement in the continent, particularly Southern Africa. It was widely assumed that the victory of the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola led by Agostinho Neto, achieved with substantial Soviet and Cuban aid, would lead to the use of Angola as a springboard for communist intervention in Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa. Those who supported this premise believed that Moscow's leaders wished to be in a position to control the sea-lanes off the South African coast, and that

Type: Articles
Information: The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , March 1984 , pp. 73 - 108

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X00056780 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

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References

^{page 73 note 1} Larrabee, Stephen, ‘Moscow, Angola and the Dialectics of Detente’, in World Today (London), 05 1976, pp. 174 and 180.Google Scholar

^{page 73 note 2} Thompson, W. Scott, ‘South Africa in Soviet Strategy’, in Bissell, Richard E. and Crocker, Chester A. (eds.), South Africa into the 1980s (Boulder, 1979), p. 137.Google Scholar

^{page 73 note 3} Coker, Christopher, ‘Adventurism and Pragmatism: the Soviet Union, COMECON, and relations with African states’, in International Affairs (London), 57, 4, Autumn 1981, p. 618.Google Scholar

^{page 74 note 1} See, for example, Legum, Colin, ‘Foreign Intervention in Angola’, in Africa Contemporary Record, 1975–76 (London and New York, 1976);Google ScholarValenta, Jiri, ‘Soviet Decision-Making on the Intervention in Angola’, in Allbright, David (ed.), Africa and International Communism (London, 1980);Google Scholar and Marcum, John, ‘Lessons of Angola’, in Foreign Affairs (New York), 54, 3, 04 1976.Google Scholar

^{page 74 note 2} Valenta, loc. cit. p. 93.

^{page 74 note 3} Stevens, Christopher, ‘The Soviet Union and Angola’, in African Affairs (London), 75, 299, 04 1976, p. 137.Google Scholar

^{page 75 note 1} Commenting on the Nakuru agreement on a coalition government, Izvestiya (Moscow) had said, ‘It reflects the growing aspirations of Angola's progressive forces for unity and a successful conclusion to the country's decolonisation.’

^{page 75 note 2} Stevens, loc. cit. p. 141.

^{page 75 note 3} Ibid. pp. 141–2; and Marcum, loc. cit. p. 415.

^{page 75 note 4} Marcum, John, ‘Angola: perilous transition to independence’, in Carter, Gwendolen and O'Meara, Patrick (eds.), Southern Africa: the continuing crisis (London, 1979), p. 191.Google Scholar

^{page 75 note 5} Marquez, Gabriel Garcia, ‘Operation Carlota’, in New Left Review (London), 101–102, 02–04 1977, p. 124.Google Scholar

^{page 76 note 1} Africa Research Bulletin (Exeter), 15 September 1975; see also Hallett, Robin, ‘The South African Intervention in Angola, 1975–76’, in African Affairs, 77, 308, 07 1978, pp. 347–86.CrossRef Google Scholar

^{page 76 note 2} Marquez, loc. cit. p. 128.

^{page 77 note 1} Cited by Legum, loc. cit. pp. 24–5.

^{page 77 note 2} Africa Contemporary Record, 1975–76, p. c152.

^{page 78 note 1} Rand Daily Mail (Johannesburg), 6 10 1982.Google Scholar

^{page 78 note 2} The Star (Johannesburg), 21 05 1983.Google Scholar

^{page 78 note 3} Radio Moscow in Portuguese, 20 August 1982; Summary of World Broadcasts, Part 1, 24 August 1982.

^{page 79 note 1} See, for example, Glebov's, Mikhail commentary broadcast by Radio Moscow in English for Africa, 30 January 1984;Google ScholarIbid. 4 February 1984.

^{page 79 note 2} Radio Moscow World Service, 2 February 1983; Ibid. 5 February 1983.

^{page 80 note 1} The Times (London), 17 May 1983, and West Africa (London), 20 June 1983.Google Scholar

^{page 80 note 2} South African Broadcasting Corporation, Home Service, Johannesburg, 7 January 1984; SWB, Part 4, 9 January 1984.

^{page 80 note 3} Tass in Russian for abroad, 5 January 1984; SWB, Part 1, 6 January 1984.

^{page 80 note 4} Luanda in Portuguese, 16 January 1984; SWB, Part 4, 17 January 1984.

^{page 81 note 1} Radio R.S.A., Johannesburg, External Service in English, 28 January 1984; SWB, Part 4, 30 January 1984.

^{page 81 note 2} Tass in Russian for abroad, 12 January 1984, and Pravda, 13 January 1984; SWB, Part 1, 14 January 1984.

^{page 81 note 3} The Times, 20 December 1982.

^{page 82 note 1} Luanda in Portuguese, 5 February 1982; SWB, Part 4, 7 February 1982.

^{page 83 note 1} Source: Zafiris, Nicos, ‘The People's Republic of Angola: Soviet type economy in the making’, in Wiles, Peter (ed.), The New Communist Third World (London, 1982), pp. 74–5.Google Scholar

^{page 83 note 2} Wiles, Peter and Smith, A., ‘The General View, Especially from Moscow’, in Wiles (ed.), op. cit. p. 36.Google Scholar

^{page 84 note 1} The Star, 14 March 1983.

^{page 84 note 2} Tass in English, 13 January 1984; SWB, Part I, Weekly Economic Report, 20 January 1984. Also Luanda in Portuguese, 14 January 1984; SWB, Part 4, Weekly Economic Report, 24 January 1984.

^{page 84 note 3} Luanda in Portuguese, 25 January 1984, and Soviet Television, 25 January 1984; SWB, Part 4, Weekly Economic Report, 7 February 1984.

^{page 84 note 4} African Business (London), January 1984, p. 5.Google Scholar

^{page 86 note 1} See Africa Contemporary Record, 1977–78 (London and New York, 1978), pp. A17–19, for the text of this Treaty.Google Scholar

^{page 86 note 2} The Guardian (London), 25 04 1977.Google Scholar

^{page 86 note 3} S.A.B.C., Johannesburg, 15 August 1983; SWB, Part 4, 17 August 1983.

^{page 86 note 4} The Times, 20 December 1982.

^{page 87 note 1} Africa Contemporary Record, 1980–81 (London and New York, 1981), pp. A18–19.Google Scholar

^{page 87 note 2} Moscow Home Service, 5 March 1983; SWB, Part 1, 7 March 1983.

^{page 88 note 1} The Times, 5 November 1982.

^{page 89 note 1} For more detailed examinations of Frelimo's ideological development, see Munslow, Barry, Mozambique: the revolution and its origins (London, 1983).Google Scholar

^{page 89 note 2} Maputo in Portuguese, 25 August 1983; SWB, Part 4, 26 August 1983. By February 1984, 20 of the kidnapped Russians had been released by Mozambican troops.

^{page 89 note 3} The Star, 14 March 1983.

^{page 89 note 4} Ibid. 2 October 1982.

^{page 89 note 5} Moscow Home Service, 31 March 1983, and Tass in English, 2 April 1982; SWB, Part 4, Weekly, 26 April 1983.

^{page 89 note 6} Maputo in Portuguese, 23 December 1984; SWB, Part 4, Weekly Economic Report, 17 January 1984.

^{page 90 note 1} Source: International Monetary Fund, Direction of Trade Yearbook, 1979–80 (Washington, D.C., 1980).Google Scholar

^{page 91 note 1} Radio Moscow in English for Africa, 31 January 1981; SWB, Part 1, 4 February 1981.

^{page 91 note 2} Ibid. 15 April 1983; SWB, Part 1, 23 April 1983.

^{page 92 note 1} Day, John, International Nationalism: the extra-territorial relations of Southern Rhodesian African nationalists (London, 1967), pp. 16 and 102. It was confirmed by Ndabaningi Sithole, National Chairman of Z.A.P.U. until 1963, and then Head of Z.A.N.U. until 1976, in conversation with the author; Harare, 13 April 1982.Google Scholar

^{page 92 note 2} Gibson, Richard, African Liberation Movements (London, 1972), p. 161.Google Scholar

^{page 92 note 3} Martin, David and Johnson, Phyllis, The Struggle for Zimbabwe: the Chirumenga war (London, 1981), pp. 11 and 23–4.Google Scholar These details were confirmed by Ndangana, William, Z.A.N.L.A. Chief of Operations, in Harare, 16 April 1982.Google Scholar

^{page 92 note 4} Ibid. p. 317. According to the Zimbabwean Foreign Minister, Witness Mangwende, ‘Z.A.N.U. never got even a single penny from the Soviet Union’; interview in Harare, 16 April 1982.

^{page 92 note 5} Interview with Martin, David, Harare, April 1982.Google Scholar

^{page 93 note 1} Africa Contemporary Record, 1981–82 (London and New York, 1982), p. B863.Google Scholar

^{page 93 note 2} See, for example, Ryabtsev, E., ‘Rhodesia: racialist hide out’, in International Affairs (Moscow), 1, 01 1966;Google Scholar and Y. Oganisyan, ‘Colonialism's Agony in Africa’, in Ibid. 2, February 1966.

^{page 93 note 3} Tass in English, 5 March 1982; also USSR and the Third World (London), 10, 2–3, 1980, p. 62.Google Scholar

^{page 94 note 1} Radio Moscow in Shona: statement by a Z.A.P.U. member complaining that Zimbabwe had not recognised Soviet aid and that someone must be preventing the establishment of relations; SWB, Part 1, 25 October 1980.

^{page 94 note 2} Interview with Witness Mangwende, Harare, 16 April 1983.

^{page 94 note 3} Radio Moscow in English for Africa, 18 April 1983; SWB, Part 1, 23 April 1983. See also the Ambassador, Soviet to Zimbabwe's interview in The Herald (Harare), 7 November 1981.Google Scholar

^{page 95 note 1} Radio Moscow in English for Africa; SWB, Part 4, Weekly Economic Report, 31 January 1984. According to Richard Hove, the Minister of Trade, this trade agreement marked a new era in relations between Zimbabwe and the Soviet Union.

^{page 96 note 1} Tass, 24 May 1981; SWB, Part 1, 27 May 1981.

^{page 96 note 2} Pravda (Moscow), 11 February 1982.

^{page 97 note 1} Radio Moscow in Zulu, 13 April 1983; SWB, Part 1, 23 April 1983.

^{page 97 note 2} Pravda, 6 February 1981.

^{page 97 note 3} New African (London), 08 1983, p. 28.Google Scholar

^{page 98 note 1} Radio Moscow in French for Africa, 30 May 1983; SWB, Part 1, 2 June 1983.

^{page 98 note 2} Soviet Television, 27 August 1983; SWB, Part 1, 1 September 1983.

^{page 98 note 3} Radio Moscow in English for Africa, 30 January 1984; SWB, Part 1, 4 February 1984.

^{page 98 note 4} The Times, 10 December 1982.

^{page 98 note 5} Africa Contemporary Record, 1978–79 (London and New York, 1979), p. B831.Google Scholar

^{page 98 note 6} Ibid.1980–81, p. B725.

^{page 99 note 1} Kiljunen, Kimmo ‘The Ideology of National Liberation’, in Green, Reginald H., Kiljunen, Kimmo, and Kiljunen, Marja-Liisa (eds.), Namibia: the last colony (London, 1981), pp. 183–95.Google Scholar

^{page 100 note 1} Statement to the Court, 20 April 1964, in Mandela, Nelson, No Easy Walk to Freedom (London, 1965), pp. 163 and 179–81.Google Scholar

^{page 101 note 1} Pravda, 8 January 1982.

^{page 101 note 2} C.P.S.U. greetings to the S.A.C.P. on its 70th anniversary, Moscow Home Service, 29 July 1981; SWB, Part 1, 31 July 1981.

^{page 102 note 1} E.g. Radio Moscow World Service in English, 22 August 1983; SWB, Part 1, 1 September 1983.

^{page 102 note 2} Kulik, Sergey, ‘SATO– the Brainchild of Washington and Pretoria’, Tass in Russian, 30 January 1983; SWB, Part 1, 2 February 1983. Also Pravda, 31 January 1983.Google Scholar

^{page 102 note 3} Radio Moscow in English for Africa, 30 January 1984; SWB, Part 1, 4 February 1984.

^{page 102 note 4} Gromyko, Anatoliy, ‘Soviet Foreign Policy and Africa’, in International Affairs, 2, 1981, p. 32.Google Scholar

^{page 104 note 1} Solodovnikov, Vasiliy G., ‘For the Full Liquidation of Colonialism and Racism in Southern Africa’, in Stokke, Olav and Widstrand, Carl (eds.), The UN-OAU Conference on Southern Africa, Oslo, 9–14 August 1973, Vol. II, Papers and Documents (Uppsala, 1973), p. 66. As former Director of the Soviet Africa Institute in Moscow and Soviet Ambassador to Zambia, Solodovnikov played a leading rôle in Soviet relations with African states and movements.Google Scholar

^{page 105 note 1} Radio Moscow in English for Africa, 30 January 1983; SWB, Part 1, 5 February 1983.

^{page 105 note 2} Radio Moscow, 17 January 1978; SWB, Part 1, 19 January 1978.

^{page 106 note 1} For a similar argument with respect to the Persian Gulf, see Yapp, Malcolm, ‘Soviet Relations with the Northern Tier’, in Adeed, and Dawisha, Karen (eds.), The Soviet Union and the Middle East: policies and perspectives (London, 1982), p. 29.Google Scholar

^{page 106 note 2} Colin Legum, ‘African Outlooks Towards the USSR’, in Allbright (ed.), op. cit. p. 34.

^{page 106 note 3} The Guardian, 20 March 1981.

^{page 107 note 1} ‘External Intervention in Africa: the view from Africa’, speech by Obasanjo, Lieutenant-General Olusegun, 27 07 1978, in Survival (London), XX, 6, November–December 1978, pp. 268–9.Google Scholar

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