Africa – Hotspot of the Cold War | DW Documentary
In the collective memory, the Cold War is the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. However, one thing is often forgotten: the two superpowers also set their sights on the African continent.
To this day, the Cold War is remembered as an East-West conflict that was fought in the form of proxy and guerrilla wars in Asia and Latin America. However, one aspect of this confrontation is often forgotten: the United States and the Soviet Union also set their sights on Africa, which became a new arena for their power struggle, against the backdrop of decolonization.
Left-wing political forces gained strength in African countries in the 1960s. Moscow seized the opportunity and invested heavily in East African Somalia, for example. The situation was similar in Angola. And Moscow triumphed.
With Ronald Reagan as the new president, the United States began preparing its return to the African continent in 1981. The timing was favorable, as communism had been devastating in Africa: the collectivization of agriculture in Ethiopia, for example, led to a famine that cost 500,000 people their lives.
As more and more African countries turned away from the Soviet model, Moscow could only stand by and watch. Ultimately, Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms could not prevent the collapse of the USSR in 1991.
The end of the East-West conflict offered many countries in Africa the opportunity to take control of their own destiny once again. However, to avoid being exploited and manipulated by world powers once more, the continent had to learn the lessons of the Cold War era.
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Video “Africa – Hotspot of the Cold War | DW Documentary” was uploaded on 02/28/2026 by DW Documentary Youtube channel.