Projects per year
Abstract
On 24 February 1966, Ghana's first president, Kwame Nkrumah, was overthrown in a coup d’état. The coup rekindled a debate within the Soviet bloc about the prospects of socialism in Africa and about the appropriateness of certain policies. Soviet officials concluded that they would have to focus on establishing close relations with the armies and internal security forces of African countries. This article explores how Nkrumah's loyalists in exile and their sympathizers in Ghana attempted to launch a leftwing counter-coup in Accra in 1968 and the involvement of Warsaw Pact countries—notably the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia—in those events. The article sheds new light on “Operation ALEX,” a botched attempt by the Czechoslovak intelligence service to support Nkrumah loyalists in their plans for a countercoup. The article reexamines the late 1960s as an important period for the militarization of the Cold War in Africa and highlights the crucial role that African politicians themselves played in this process.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 4-25 |
Number of pages | 22 |
Journal | Journal of Cold War Studies |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 22 Feb 2019 |
Keywords
- Soviet Union
- Ghana
- West Africa
- secret agent
- Czechoslovakia
- Cold War
- Kwame Nkrumah
- African history
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Projects
- 1 Finished
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Winning the Development Endgame: The Political Economy of Soviet Cold War in Africa, 1974-1991
Telepneva, N. (Principal Investigator)
1/09/17 → 31/08/20
Project: Research Fellowship
Research output
- 8 Citations
- 1 Chapter (peer-reviewed)
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Cold War on the cheap: Soviet and Czechoslovak intelligence in the Congo, 1960-1963
Telepneva, N., 30 Jul 2018, Warsaw Pact Intervention in the Third World: Aid and Influence in the Cold War. Muehlenbeck, P. & Telepneva, N. (eds.). London, p. 123-148 26 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
Open Access
Activities
- 1 Invited talk
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The Cold War in Africa: Soviet Advisors and Politics in Ghana in the 1960s
Telepneva, N. (Speaker)
1 Apr 2021Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk