US and EEC place economic sanctions on South Africa

Historical Context Note

Lucas Paul Richert (University of Saskatchewan)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 7.2.3.03: South Africa and other Southern Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Helen Rachel Cousins (Birmingham Newman University), David Firth (University of Manchester)

Domains

Trade agreements

Dates

Date of occurrence 1986

Places

South Africa (Location)

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

During the 1980s, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher came under growing pressure to effect change in South Africa, a country which promoted apartheid. In 1983, over 1,000 black and white South African launched the United Democratic Front. Thereafter, this group organized a number of strikes, boycotts, and attacks on South African police. In response, the Pieter Botha government resisted the UDF pressure and in 1985 declared a formal state of emergency. South African armed forces thus brutally cracked down on dissent through the use of draconian tactics. S.A. forces razed squatter camps and raided certain townships. The United States government, in response to widespread public opposition to apartheid and the Botha government, imposed economic…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

192 words

Citation: Richert, Lucas Paul. "US and EEC place economic sanctions on South Africa". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 October 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=3842, accessed 07 May 2024.]

Save this article