History (AS)·Depth Study A — South Africa, 1910–1994 · NSSCAS A.4
The end of minority rule, 1976–1994
Narrated lesson · press play
In 1976 the schoolchildren of Soweto marched, and a whole generation lost its fear. Over the next eighteen years, pressure built on apartheid from every side — the townships rose, the unions bit into the economy, the world tightened its sanctions, the buffer of friendly territories collapsed, and the Cold War came to an end. We will follow that pressure through the 1980s, watch F. W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela choose negotiation over bloodshed, reach the joyful queues of the 1994 election, and finish with the great AS question: which factor mattered most in ending white minority rule?
What you'll learn in this lesson
By the end you should be able to (NSSCAS History (AS) A.4):
- Explain why opposition to apartheid increased after 1976
- Assess the internal and external pressures on the apartheid state
- Explain how minority rule came to an end
- Evaluate why apartheid finally collapsed when it did
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