The Rivonia trial was a seminal event in South African history. In 1964 the defendants, Nelson Mandela and seven of his comrades, were sentenced to life in prison and they were all to serve over twenty years of their sentences. The trial took place at a time of intense political repression in South Africa, which led to the anti-apartheid struggle moving abroad. This thesis offers a novel understanding of the global importance of this trial by advancing two strands of analysis. Firstly, the international-diplomatic: the attempts of state actors to utilise diplomacy and negotiation to call for action against South Africa; and secondly the civic-transnational: the work of non-governmental groups to build a global movement in opposition to apartheid and on behalf of the defendants. It will be argued that it is only when looking at both of these strands, and recognising the ways in which they intertwined, that the global significance of the Rivonia trial can be properly appreciated. The focus of this thesis is upon the two closest allies of South Africa, and the base for many significant players in the growing transnational anti-apartheid network – the United Kingdom and the United States. To gain a clear understanding of the two levels of analysis which form the bedrock of this study, records from multiple archives from both these countries, as well as from South Africa, have been utilised. This includes both governmental records and the papers of various organisations involved in the fight to end apartheid. The result is a thesis that pulls together Cold War geopolitics, the impact of decolonisation upon the international system, activism in the UN, the work of organisations to build a transnational anti-apartheid campaign, and contemporary domestic politics within both the UK and the US. By keeping the Rivonia trial at the centre of this work, a novel picture emerges of the significant impact this event in a South African courthouse had the world over.
Permanent link to this resource: https://doi.org/10.24384/my7a-3d49
Slator, Sarah
Supervisors: Crook, Tom; Cooper, James; Edge, Peter
School of Education, Humanities and Languages
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