Africa and the UN, Specialized Agencies, and the Cold War
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All 12 Flashcards — Africa and the UN, Specialized Agencies, and the Cold War
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Question
What was ONUC?
Answer
The UN's first major peacekeeping force in Africa, sent to the Congo in July 1960 during the crisis following independence.
Question
Why is the Congo Crisis (1960–1964) seen as a partial UN failure?
Answer
ONUC's unclear mandate meant it could not immediately stop the Katanga secession; Lumumba was overthrown and murdered, and Hammarskjöld died in a plane crash before the crisis was resolved.
Question
What was ONUMOZ and why did it succeed?
Answer
The 1992–1994 UN mission in Mozambique that disarmed around 90,000 combatants and ran the first multi-party elections; it succeeded because FRELIMO and RENAMO had already agreed to peace before the UN arrived.
Question
What triggered the US and UN withdrawal from Somalia in the 1990s?
Answer
The October 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, in which 18 US soldiers were killed trying to capture allies of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid, leading UNOSOM II to withdraw by 1995 without restoring the Somali state.
Question
What warning did General Roméo Dallaire give before the Rwandan genocide?
Answer
In January 1994 he warned the UN of plans for mass killing; the Security Council did not act, and later cut UNAMIR's troop numbers instead of reinforcing them.
Question
Roughly how many people were killed in the Rwandan genocide of 1994, and over what period?
Answer
About 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu were killed in approximately 100 days.
Question
What was UNICEF's key contribution to child health in Africa?
Answer
Vaccine and cold-chain supply for immunization campaigns, plus promotion of oral rehydration therapy, which sharply reduced child mortality from the 1970s–1980s onward.
Question
What was the WHO's landmark achievement linked to Africa?
Answer
The Smallpox Eradication Programme (1967–1980) achieved total worldwide eradication of smallpox; the last natural case was recorded in Somalia in 1977.
Question
Compare UN peacekeeping success factors: Mozambique vs Congo/Somalia/Rwanda.
Answer
Mozambique succeeded because both sides had already agreed to peace and the mandate was realistic. Congo, Somalia and Rwanda failed for different reasons: Cold War interference, mission overreach into nation-building, and ignored warnings/lack of political will.
Question
Who backed the MPLA and who backed UNITA in the Angolan Civil War?
Answer
The MPLA was backed by the Soviet Union and Cuba; UNITA (led by Jonas Savimbi) was backed by the United States and apartheid South Africa.
Question
How did Cold War politics help keep Mobutu Sese Seko in power in Zaire?
Answer
The US, Belgium and France gave Mobutu covert support from 1965 and continued backing his corrupt regime throughout the Cold War because he was seen as anti-communist; support evaporated after 1991 and he was overthrown in 1997.
Question
What is the key exam-writing lesson about the Cold War's role in African conflicts?
Answer
The Cold War usually intensified and prolonged conflicts that already had local causes (ethnic rivalry, colonial legacy) rather than creating them outright — avoid overclaiming that the Cold War alone caused a war.
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Topic 21.14 hub
Africa, international organizations and the international community (20th century)
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