Nyerere free essay sample

Conditions that produced authoritarian and single party state There were three main causes that lead to Nyerere’s authoritarian state. One was that he had created a party and worked his way up in order to get towards higher levels. In 1945 he formed the Tanganyika African National union also known as the (TANU). Nyerere soon became president, and in 1958 he was elected to the legislative council and eventually became chief minister in 1960. To Nyerere’s convenience Tanzania gained independence in 1961, this contributed to one of the causes that lead to the authoritarian state. Once independence was gained, Nyerere was then Prime Minister. At the time that Tanzania came into independence, Nyerere was at a position of high political power. With his position and Tanzania’s independence people saw him as the most relevant leader to the nation. Lastly, in 1962 Nyerere was finally elected president. This was his final step in his rise to a single party state and an authoritarian leader. His position as president put him in total control and he was now able to influences the people with his ideologies. Aims, ideology, who was their support base Similar to all leaders Nyerere had specific aims in mind as he rose to power. What Nyerere desired was to bring a blend of Socialism and African Communal living to Tanzania. As Nyerere rose to power he had great intentions for the country of Tanzania. His main aim was to provide education, opportunity and equality for every individual in the nation. Nyerere aspired for the people to become independent and self-reliant and his purpose was to help both the people of Tanzania and Africa as a whole. His intentions were to rid Africa of the imperial powers and unite all African countries. The outline for Nyerere’s aims was known as the Arusha Declaration. Self Reliance, abstinence, and self-denial were emphasized throughout the declaration of his goals for Tanzania. Nyerere has a theory known as Ujamaa, it revolved around the idea that the majority of production would be nationalized and that everybody was a worker who needed to contribute to the society. The Arusha Declaration also specified that the country should be based on socialism and the concept of equality, additionally that nobody should have more privileges than anybody else. The idea of moving the majority of development to the rural areas and the focus of ridding the nation of poverty was another aspect included in the declaration. Overall, Nyerere’s aims and ideologies circled around the ideas of equality and the unity of Africa. There were three main aspects to Nyerere’s ideologies. Britain ruled over Tanzania before it was an independent nation. Based on British imperialism Nyerere had hatred towards imperialist powers. Through his own perspective he had witnessed the ways in which the British treated Tanzania and he came to the conclusion that imperialism does not work and it negatively affects countries and their people. Therefore, Nyerere adopted the ideas of socialism and changed it according to his own interpretation. What Nyerere came up with was African Communal living applied to socialism, which was a combination of both principles. In conclusion the three main aspects were unity in Tanzania and Africa, equal opportunities for all individuals, and lastly the movement of development to rural areas. The extent at which they achieved totalitarianism Julius Nyerere was the president of Tanzania from 1962 to 1985, which was a single party state rule. Even after his presidency, he continued to have an impact in the government up until the early 1990’s. During his regime, Nyerere achieved almost complete totalitarian rule. However, Nyerere was not perceived as a horrendous dictator. His intentions were to help the people and e attempted to use his ideology for the benefit of the people and the nation. In addition to that, he had also vigorously attempted to unite the people of Africa. For example, the conflict in Uganda proves Nyerere’s attempts of uniting Africa. Idi Amin was the terrible leader of Uganda; he had attacked Tanzania. Nyerere responded with military action and eventually he was able to liberate Uganda through overthrowing their leader and taking the capital. Also, he took part in hosting many African Unity Organizations such as the Pan-African Congress and the African National Congress. Nyerere was willing to listen to the people and he avoided being a ruthless leader, but he was in total control of the nation and he was able to succeed totalitarian rule. Establishment of authoritarian rule Methods they used for keeping power As it has already been discussed Nyerere worked his way to high political power prior to the independence of Tanzania. During this time he gained a lot of power in the party TANU that benefited his establishment of power after Tanzania gained its independence. The TANU became the main party of Tanzania soon after it was independent causing Nyerere to easily maintain his high rank. A method that Nyerere used to maintain his power was that he apprehended whoever went against him. Through using a preventive detention act he was allowed to imprison his opponents at will. Nyerere was not a brutal dictator, though he still eliminated the opposition in order to remain in power. Creating an education system to spread his ideals was another one of his methods used to maintain power. He used this system to gain support of Tanzanians and to easily spread his ideas throughout the nation. His education system provided people with the knowledge of socialism and self-sufficiency and with this information the people would then accept Nyerere’s ideologies. With his education system it helped him maintain power because his ideologies were all that was taught and it prevented other influences and ideas from being shared. That is how Nyerere was able to maintain his totalitarian position. Nature and treatment of opposition As stated earlier Nyerere used a preventive detention act in order to defeat his opposition and maintain power. The preventive act also controlled strikes, angry opposition to trade and union acts and racists and anti foreign activities. His treatment of opposition was not extremely harsh, but it was not good either. The act allowed him to imprison his opponents whenever he pleased to do so. It allowed him to stay in power as well as not come off as an evil leader. The treatment of his opponents is shown through Reverend Christopher Mtikila’s answer when he was asked â€Å"Did people live in fear during the Nyerere era? † â€Å"We experienced a very strange way of living because of the terror campaign with the security officers trained in the communist block. It was terrible. People did not trust anyone, even in the families. Wives would not trust their husbands and vice versa because it was a very severe terror campaign. People would disappear silently and no one would be allowed to think about them because if you are suspected to be thinking treason, then you also disappear. We lived under that repressive regime, I mean, all these years until this guy retired after the failure of Ujama, because we did not achieve all these things. We were made to think about things, which were not there and believe they are there. To say otherwise was to say treason. This is the terror campaign which subdued us to the level of livestock, which always live in fear of slaughter anytime. † Based on Reverend Mtikila’s statement, Nyerere is demonstrated as fearful in some ways. In some cases, Nyerere would respond militarily against some opposition. For instance, the conflict with Uganda in the late 1970’s that was previously mentioned required the use of military tactics against the opposition to rid them of their unfair leader, Idi Amin. This worked out in favor of Nyerere, it was successful and caused Nyerere to gain popularity in Uganda and throughout Africa. To sum it up, Nyerere’s treatment of his opposition was not always legal, but it wasn’t violent or brutal either. Also, his treatment towards opposition was extremely successful in the sense that he remained in power and kept a good reputation throughout Tanzania and Africa. Domestic and Foreign policies Political, economic, religious policies Nations such as the United States commenced to act cautiously while investing in the Socialist country of Tanzania. This is because TANU and Nyerere implemented a regime control system called the Arusha Declaration. The Arusha Declaration called for supreme regime control of dispersal and engenderment, a code of ethics for the countries political bellwethers and great grip on resourcefulness predicated off of the same lines as Ujamma. It was designed to regulate economic and social development. The five parts of the declaration are the TANU creed, the policy of socialism, the policy of self-reliance, TANU membership, and lastly the Arusha resolution. Nyerere promoted the Arusha Declaration as a way to show his hope to promote universal human dignity and break down class barriers. The Arusha Declaration availed to organize and present the countries political conceptions and policies in an official, orderly fashion, availing them to perpetuate on with their work and convince others they were doing so. Role of education, the arts, media, use of propaganda Nyerere’s main source of propaganda was education and he used it to get himself into power. He was a highly educated intellectual and was the first African to attend a British university. Nyerere used his respected education and viewpoint to his benefit. He was able to appeal and persuade the people of his country that his ideas would work, that his words were brilliant because of his degrees and experience. Nyerere’s promises of a better life and a caring, equal community were used to draw the people in. Status of women, treatment of minorities Nyerere believed in equality for all no matter what the gender or the minority of the individual. In the Arusha declaration it states, â€Å"All human beings are equal. † Therefore, this shows Nyerere believes that everyone has a right to freedom and everyone should be entitled to their own rights. Key political allies outside the country Nyerere enjoyed political longevity and friendly relations with Western and Eastern Bloc nations. He was also a close friend to both J. F. Kennedy and Nelson Mandela. During the time in which Nelson Mandela visited Tanzania with Nyerere as president he gives positive comments. â€Å"I then truly realized that I was in a country ruled by Africans. For the first time in my life, I was a free man †¦ I felt the burden of oppression lifting from my shoulders †¦ I was being judged for the first time not by the color of my skin but by the measure of my mind and character †¦ I met Julius Nyerere, the newly independent country’s first president. We talked at his house, which was not at all grand, and I recall that he drove himself in a simple car, a little Austin. This impressed me for it suggested that he was a man of the people. † Interaction with other states One of Nyerere’s aims was to unite all of Africa. Therefore, he regularly interacted with the African nations through meetings and organizations. An example mentioned earlier would be his involvement with Uganda. Conclusion: In conclusion, Julius Nyerere ruled over Tanzania through a totalitarian rule. His extent of his total control was shown through his origins, establishment of authoritarian rule, and through both his domestic and foreign policies. His rule ended when he voluntarily retired form office in 1985 and then died in 1999. MLA Works Cited Primary Sources- Mtikila, Reverend Christopher. Heaven On Earth: the Rise and Fall of Communism. Personal Interview. 10 Feb 2014. Nelson Mandelas Tanzania Trips Revisited. Nelson Mandela Foundation. N. p. , 26 Jan. 2009. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. Nyerere, Julius. â€Å"The Arusha Declaration. † N. p. , 5 February 1967. Web. 11 Feb 2014. Secondary Sources-