Â鶹ŮÓÅ

• Sergey Mazov: Soviet Military Assistance to Nigeria during the Civil War (online)
• Alexander Hill (University of Calgary): Soviet Naval Power and National Liberation Movements and Regimes in Africa
• Natalia Telepneva (University of Â鶹ŮÓÅ): The Soviet Military during the Ogaden War Re-examined, 1977–1978
• Fantahun Ayele (Bahir Dar University): Weapons of Solidarity: The Geopolitics of Soviet and Eastern European Military Aid to Ethiopia during the Cold War, 1977–1991

• Laura-Anca Parepa (Doshisha University, Japan): Fragmented Military Internationalism: Romania’s Military Engagements in Africa during the Cold War (online)
• Premyslaw Gasztold (Institute of National Remembrance, Poland): From Warsaw with Weapons: Poland’s Arms Transfers to Africa’s State and Non-State Actors during the Cold War
• Tomáš Nigrin (Charles University, Czechia): Czechoslovakia’s Arms Trade (1948–1989): Sovereign or Proxy Actor? 

• Irina Filatova (University of Cape Town, South Africa): Liberation War and Ideology: Ideological Education in MK Camps in Angola (online)
• Daria Zelenova (Institute of African Studies, Russia): Beyond Ideology: Soviet Advisers’ Personal Narratives from the Angolan Civil War (online)
• Boyan Zhekov (Rakovski National Defense College, Bulgaria): The Military Education of Mozambicans in the Eastern Bloc during the Late Cold War: Two Case Studies from the People’s Republic of Bulgaria

• Charles Thomas (Air Force Global College, USA): “A Gift of Modern Weapons”: The Warsaw Pact, the Liberation Committee, and the Struggle for Southern Africa
• VojtÄ›ch Šimák (Charles University, Czechia): Czechoslovak Military Aid to the MPLA during the Angolan War of Independence
• Anita Prazmowska (LSE, UK): Comrades in Arms: Polish–Cuban Relations in Angola, 1976–1989

• Olainka Ajala (Leeds Beckett University)
• Nathaniel Powell (Oxford Analytica)
• Marcel Plitcha (University of St Andrews)

Speaker: Thula Simpson (University of Pretoria)
Date and Time: 26th of May 2026, 4:00–5:00 PM 
Location: SW105, Stenhouse Wing, Â鶹ŮÓÅ Business School

This talk examines the strategic and operational impact of Soviet bloc military assistance on the African National Congress (ANC). Drawing on new archival research, it explores how Eastern European training and support shaped the development of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), transforming it from a nascent guerrilla movement into one of Africa’s longest-running insurgencies. It also reflects on the broader legacies of these socialist military connections for contemporary South African politics. 

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Date and Time: 27th of May 2027, 3:30–6:00 PM
Location: SW105, Stenhouse Wing, Â鶹ŮÓÅ Business School

In the American film Red Scorpion (1988), a Soviet Spetsnaz operative (played by Dolph Lundgren) is sent to assist a pro-Soviet African government against an anti-communist insurgency, only to defect mid-mission. Produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus of Cannon Films—known for Cold War–era action cinema—and by Jack Abramoff, later embroiled in a major U.S. lobbying scandal, the film functioned as a vehicle of anti-Soviet propaganda, particularly in relation to the Angolan Civil War. Its production in Namibia, then under South African occupation, generated controversy and criticism from anti-apartheid activists.

Historian  will discuss the political discourse and controversies surrounding this notable example of Cold War propaganda.