Nelson Mandela was born in the village of Mvezo, in eastern South Africa, on July 18, 1918. He grew up in the village of Qunu – and described the village of as his happiest years after. The father was the counselor of the King of Tembufolk, but when Nelson was nine years old.
He became the first of his family to go to school. At Clarkebury Methodist High School, teachers preached Western ideals and one of them gave him an English name – Nelson
Young adult, he found himself in communist circles in Johannesburg, fascinated by the Europeans, Africans and mixed race.
The laws on apartheid were introduced in 1948
South Africa was deeply segregated and, in the 1948 elections, only the white minority population was allowed to vote. The nationalist party of the country won. In the same year, apartheid laws were introduced that quickly touched all parts of society: workplaces at park benches, where large signs explained which race was allowed on the spot
Nelson Mandela had joined the Social Democratic Party. strikes against the regime. The party was terrorist in several Western countries for its opposition to the apartheid regime.
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In 1961, he formed the militant group Umkhonto we Sizwe ("National Spear"), also known as MK – a fake army at the ANC. The group sabotaged the regime by bombing military installations, telephone lines and transportation sections.
"An Idea for Which I'm Ready to Die"
This is the last time that Nelson Mandela has been at liberty for 27 years. On August 5, 1962, he was captured near the town of Howick on the east coast of South Africa. He was sentenced to five years in prison for calling a strike and illegally leaving the country.
But a year later, it was time for another lawsuit: the South African police had stormed MK and received information overthrowing the apartheid regime.
– I have safeguarded the ideal of a democratic and free society where all peoples can live together in harmony and equal opportunity. It's an ideal for which I'm ready to die, said Nelson Mandela in his historic speech during the trial.
He spoke for three hours. Then, along with five other MK members, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for planning to overthrow the state.
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"It's Where You'll Die"
18 of 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela spent on the infamous Robben Island miles from Cape Town.
– This is the island. It is there that you will die, the White Guards said when he and the other ANC prisoners arrived on the island.
He was allowed to move into a 0.7 square meter cell with a single sleeping bag, chair and bowl. The prisoners were forced to work in a lime break and were punished for the slightest offense. However, Nelson quickly became a leader
"The biggest mistake of the watch was keeping us together, because together we strengthened our belief, we supported each other and we strengthened each other. " Walking towards freedom, "according to Independent.
Increased pressure on the government
Contact with the outside world, on the other hand, was weak. In prison, he was allowed a 30-minute visit every six months. Mandela's wife, Winnie, called her "traumatic" and visiting her children at the husband's.
– In fact, these are some of the most painful moments. I could see the stress on my children before the visit and after a period of contact with her father, she said, according to the BBC
At the same time, the point of view was reinforced against the apartheid regime in the world. The banks left South Africa because of the increased violence and old allies – like Thatcher – asked the nation to release Mandela.
From prison, Nelson Mandela became an international campaign and Mandela symbolized the struggle for black freedom of South Africans. In February 1990, he was summoned to a secret meeting with President F.W. de Klerk. A week later, he was released and the ban of the ANC was lifted.