South-West Africa
From Free net encyclopedia
South-West Africa (Afrikaans: Suidwes-Afrika; German: Südwestafrika) is the former name (1884–1990) of Namibia under German (as German South-West Africa, Deutsch-Südwestafrika) and South African administration after it was conquered from the Germans in 1915 during World War I. Following the war, the Treaty of Versailles declared the territory to be a League of Nations Mandate under South African administration. South Africa formally excluded Walvis Bay from the mandate and annexed it as an enclave; it became part of Namibia only in 1994. The Mandate was supposed to become a United Nations Trust Territory when League of Nations Mandates were transferred to the United Nations following World War II, but the Union of South Africa refused to agree to allowing the territory to begin the transition to independence and it essentially became a de facto fifth province of South Africa, even though it was never actually incorporated into the country. South-West Africa has been known internationally as Namibia since 1968, when the United Nations General Assembly changed the territory's nameTemplate:Ref. This resulted in a protracted struggle between South Africa and forces fighting for independence, particularly after the formation of the South West Africa People's Organisation in 1960. The territory became the independent Republic of Namibia in 1990.
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Template:Africa-hist-stubnl:Zuidwest-Afrika pl:Afryka Południowo-Zachodnia