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The Struggle Against the Apartheid State of South Africa Essay

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Mandela's childhood was very important in shaping him to be the man he was. His father losing his land in 1919 would have affected Mandela's opinion of how the country works as he grew up, and when he was 16 the main speaker at his circumcision told that "Blacks were slaves in their own country". He grew up with the opinion that his country needed a better rule, because of how unfair it was to Black people. His earliest decisions to fight for Black liberation were made here.

Another turning point was when Chief Jongintaba died in 1942. He then stayed in Johannesburg instead of moving back to Mqhekezweni, this showed he wanted to make an impact on the country as a whole instead of just his …show more content…

Unity these factions meant that the party could operate more effectively, as was proved when in 1994 Mandela became the first democratically elected president of South Africa.

Q2. Explain the part played by external pressure in the fight against apartheid and minority rule in South Africa.

From 1960 onwards, when Harold Macmillan made his "change of winds" speech, the world started to place external pressures on South Africa, and this was one of the main causes of the end of apartheid. Economic sanctions and sporting isolation were the two main subdivisions of external pressure.

Sporting isolation made South Africa realise that the minority rule and the apartheid regime was greatly frowned upon by the rest of the world, and caused many Afrikaners to change their attitude to the way the country was being run; this was because they didn't want to be excluded from the rest of the world's competitions and tournaments solely for their governments issues; it made the Afrikaners feel guilty for the regime ruling South Africa. This attitude would eventually help in ending the apartheid regime.

Economic sanctions, however, were much more effective in the ending of minority rule. Foreign countries saw South Africa as a risky country to invest in because the sanctions against South Africa withdrew loans in businesses; businessmen found it harder to have prosperous companies

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