What’s the context? The release of Nelson Mandela, 11 February 1990
Posted by:
Professor Patrick Salmon, Posted on:
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Categories:
Foreign affairs and diplomacy, Foreign Office Historians, What's the context? series
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Nelson Mandela’s release on 11 February 1990, after 27 years in jail, symbolised the end of apartheid in South Africa. It was a tribute to one man’s endurance. It was also the result of decades of political, economic and social change that had brought apartheid to the brink of destruction.