Someone School me on why the Soviet Union was Pro Africa?

[The Odum of Ala Igbo]

The Soviet Union was anti-imperialist in its philosophy since the time of Lenin. Furthermore, the Soviets ideologically viewed imperialism as a major obstacle to global communism coming to fruition. The Soviet Union first involved itself in Africa during the Congo Crisis when Belgian, American and French interests sought to take advantage of internal instability in the Congo a few months after it gained independence from Belgium. Afterwards, the Soviet Union began giving aid to various African states such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Angola etc. to counter Western interests.

It's hard to say that they were "pro-African" per se. Rather, they were pro-African if you were a marxist and hated imperialism. As we all know, Marxism in the African continent was a failed experiment which cost many lives in Ethiopia during the Derg regime and tore countries apart allowing them to be substantially weakened so that the IMF and AIDS crisis could further erode African potential after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

 

[Hawaiian Punch]

This. Plus what everybody mentioned. I would also add uranium under natural resources. Plenty of materials to make nuclear bombs.

 

[TTT]

The colonial powers were mostly Western Europe and the West in general only ever paid lip service to African liberation movements so the Soviets and the Chinese moved in to fill the gap. The exploitation of Africa was also initially done through charter companies so naturally capitalism became part and parcel of the colonialist tool of oppression and that led to the appeal of communism/socialism as the intellectual foundation of the resistance by Africans. I would say the Soviets were in some cases a last resort after the West rebuffed all efforts to help in decolonizing Africa with the exception of Scandinavian countries. Later on the Cold War rivalries also led to an increased engagement with Africa but that was not out of a pre-existing positive attitude towards the continent but political calculus. China also had a lot of influence in Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Gambia, while countries in the Cold War were also lining up behind the West because of their preference for capitalism like Ivory Coast and Kenya while others used the West for political support and cash like Mobutu's Zaire or Banda's Malawi whereas other countries adopted communist or socialist policies like Ghana and Tanzania. The Cold War exacerbated the rivalry and it was not uncommon for the sides to switch allies or truly weird situations in Angola where Cuban troops armed with Soviet machinery were guarding oil platforms owned by American companies like Chevron from UNITA guerrillas financed by the US.

 

[Mr. Somebody]

Two people that use the different methods to reach the same goal.

 

[Shogun]

USA and Russia were playing a game of monopoly and Africa wasn't taken yet.

It was taken, but it's owners had to mortgage the property.

 

[Robbie3000]

I love how Kenya has little to no resources and is currently one of the most successful countries in Africa. No outside corruption/influence, no massive wars, no civil war (with exception of the occasional somali slappings). Doing well for itself.

 

[Crakface]

White supremacy with a different system.

 

[Maddmike]

I love how Kenya has little to no resources and is currently one of the most successful countries in Africa. No outside corruption/influence, no massive wars, no civil war (with exception of the occasional somali slappings). Doing well for itself.

Yea nothing for the "militas" to fight over. Money is so demonic

 

[keepemup]

Two people that use the different methods to reach the same goal.

Any facts to back this up?

 

[keepemup]

This. Plus what everybody mentioned. I would also add uranium under natural resources. Plenty of materials to make nuclear bombs.

Any facts to support this?

 

[Dion Isus]

 

[TRFG]

Not just Africa. Many Caribbean and Latin American countries had strong diplomatic relationships with the Soviet Union. I know many Guyanese people in my family and friends who either went to Russia to study or to Cuba.

Most people in the English speaking Caribbean islands can go to medicals schools in Cuba for free

 

[IVS]

communism only leads to a cabal running a country, and capitalism with its plutocrats and oligarchs results in same thing.

SB: Its two sides of the same coin to me. I look at the whole Soviet vs West thing as the continuation of a schism in the Greco-Roman (Byzantine) empire. The East is represented by the Soviet nations and Eastern European countries and they're are Catholics who follow the Greek rite, as opposed to their Western Catholic brethren (remember the protestants are just rogue catholics) brethren practice the Roman rite. The liturgical language in the former is Greek and the later is Latin. Both are equally imperialistic. The church is able to hide their hands in all this (by pretending that church and state have been separated).

Their schism was philosophical differences regarding interpretations of the laws of the Bible. You'll find "Abrahamist" philosophers (meaning wise men who practiced circumcision) and later Israelite\Jewish philosophers were the people who taught "Europeans." Their rabbinical schools of thought produced the incredibly imperialistic Catholicism (based on the Messianic cult, and fueled by capitalism) and they also had a hand in inventing and propagating communism. But

And meanwhile the Soviets and the West drum up strife between one another, creating boogeymen, and allowing for each manufacture and sell weapons and have arms races that nobody will question. Just My opinion.

 

[#1 pick]

Two sides of the same coin. They like systematic White supremacy too.

 

[Mr. Somebody]

Any facts to back this up?

Yes history.