The land of the Botswana – Botswana means the Tswana people – which today is called Botswana, has been known over the years as the crossroads of destiny or the eye of the hurricane. According to Countryaah, this is because the country located in the heart of southern Africa served as a transport route for British and Dutch and Portuguese colonizers alike. The first to try to connect the country from north to south, from Egypt to South Africa , used the so-called “missionary route”, while the Portuguese intended to connect the two colonies, Angola and Mozambique.
- According to abbreviationfinder, BC is the 2 letter abbreviation for the country of Botswana.
Therefore, from the 17th century, the area served as a crossroads, not only between the strategies of the various colonizers, but also between the imperialists and the Tswana people who had lived in the area since the 17th century. Around 1930, Botswana began to feel the consequences of the arrival of the Dutch peasants, who had gone north on the run from the English repression in Cape Town. The farmers were farmers who were going to fight for the modest areas that could be cultivated. The Tswana was also in conflict with the Zulu people who had been displaced by the Boers from southern Africa (See South Africa : “The Zulu Expansion”). The three most powerful tribal chiefs in Botswana traveled to London to request support for the fight against the Boers, and they succeeded: Botswana became a British protectorate.
British protection prevented Botswana from being totally engulfed by South Africa but at the same time enabled the economic dominance of Africans. When the first nationalist movements emerged, their demands were therefore a showdown with these conditions.
Despite the vast desert area, Botswana nevertheless became one of southern Africa’s largest meat exporters. At the beginning of the century, 97% of the population fed on farming and each family owned at least a few cows; moreover, the richest had the support of plows to plow the earth. Up to the last third of the century, when independence was achieved, the urban population was about 15%, and approx. 40% of the rural population no longer had their own cattle. Capital concentration enabled Africans to dominate the agricultural sector and control 60% of meat exports.
History. – The administration of the Botswana changed during the sixties: until December 1961 a high commissioner was responsible, employed by the Commonwealth relations office and also responsible for Basutoland and Swaziland, while a Resident commissioner was acting on the spot ; from 1962 the Botswana had its own Queen commissioner, head of the local executive, responsible in front of the Colonial office. Nationalistic claims were voiced mainly by refugees from South Africa and from South-West: in 1961 it was formed the Bechuanaland people’s party, but the first elections in 1965 were won by Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) founded by the noble Seretse Khama, leader of the Bamangwa tribe. On 30 September 1966 the Botswana acquired independence, with a new constitution; president of the republic, member of the Commonwealth, S. Khama was elected. After independence, the position of the BDP was consolidated – the elections of 1969 and 1974 did not bring any significant changes – and the personal position of President S. Khama who, despite his fundamental conservative-liberal attitude, also called for important responsibilities. leftist elements; with moderation and at the same time firmly tried to reduce the power of traditional leaders, to promote (with 1973 measures) the development of educational and health services, to compensate for the income differences between the mining regions, prevalent in the area inhabited by the Bamangwato tribe , and the rest of Botswana.
In the context of Southern Africa, Botswana pursues a delicate balance; for economic and geo-political reasons it cannot spoil relations, and in particular economic collaboration, with South Africa and Rhodesia, becoming the basis of operations against those countries; on the other hand, Botswana has declared himself against the racist policy, welcoming some thousands of refugees. In recent years it has strengthened relations with neighboring African countries, in particular with Zambia (permanent consultations since 1973) and with Tanzania; it has established diplomatic relations with the USSR and with Eastern countries and adheres to non-alignment, while receiving American aid for the construction of the Francistown-Lusaka railway.