Ch.42 The End of the Twentieth Century
The First Persian Gulf War
- In August 1990, Iraqi soldiers obeyed Saddam Hussein‘s orders to march into Kuwait and seize it.
- Some members of the UN wanted to press on further. They wanted to get rid of Saddam Hussein. They argued that Hussein was obviously going to keep on starting wars, no matter what. But many of the countries in the coalition, especially other Arab countries, wanted to end the war, now that Kuwait was free.
Africa, Independent
- Between 1960 and 1975, one by one, African nations freed themselves from the last bits of colonial rule. We‘ve already learned about the Union of South Africa, and about the Congo (Zaire) and Brazzaville becoming free from Belgium and France.
- In 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected the first black president of South Africa. Archbishop Tutu became head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which began to uncover the wrongs done to blacks in the past.
