Zanzibar
joins Tanganyika, both former British colonies, to form the
newly independent state of Tanzania in 1964. Malawi and Zambia
become independent in 1964, and by 1966 most of British East
Africa is decolonized.
Uganda becomes independent in 1966, but the government of President
Obote is toppled in an army revolt in 1971. Major-General Idi
Amin Dada becomes military dictator and launches a reign of
terror against his opponents, especially those not belonging
to his own ethnic group. A Tanzanian army finally ends Amin's
rule by invading Uganda in 1979. Most Ugandans welcome the Tanzanians
as liberators. Amin escapes and flees into exile.
In 1970, Egypt completes the Aswan Dam. The project was a disaster
for the Nubian people whose lands are flooded. Many are forced
out of their homes and the Nubian people become scattered virtually
wiping out one of the oldest cultures in Africa. At one time,
Nubians had ruled as pharaons in Egypt.
The 1974 revolution in Ethiopia overthrows the Emperor Haile
Selassie and ends one of the most ancient monarchies in the
world. A new military government is created led by Colonel Mengistu
Haile Mariam. In mid-1977 ethnic Somalis living in the Ogaden
region of Ethiopia, started a war to win self-determination.
Somalia, itself a former province of Ethiopia and independent
since 1960, supported the rebels. By late 1977 the Somalis had
captured most of the Ogaden, but Ethiopia with support of the
Soviet Union counter-attacked. Confusing the problem more was
the revolt in Eritrea. Mass famines, largely as result of the
fighting, broke out in both Ethiopia and Somalia. Fighting dragged
on until 1988, but civil war continued in Somalia.
Rivalries and ethnic strife in the Sudan, temporarily halted
by the British military invasion and colonial occupation in
the 1890s, arose again after Sudan gained independence. Years
of British rule had done nothing to solve the ages old cultural,
religious and economic differences between the largely Muslim
north and
non-Muslim peoples of south Sudan. A coup in 1969, sees Colonel
Jafaar al-Nimeiry rise to power. In elections held in 1972,
he becomes the first elected president. He maintains some degree
of stability, but he himself is deposed in a bloodless coup
in 1985. A new Mahdi, the grandson of Mohammed Ahmad, ruled
briefly but was deposed in 1989.
Civil War has continued in Sudan
25
years ago
/ 50 years ago / 80
years ago / 125 years ago
/ 150 years ago
250 years ago / 400
years ago / 700 years ago
/ 1,200 years ago
1,500 years ago / 2,000
years ago / 3,000 years ago
/ 4,000 years ago / 5,000
years ago / 10,000 years
ago
