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Copyright by Jessica Lynn Achberger 2012 THE DISSERTATION COMMITTEE FOR JESSICA LYNN ACHBERGER CERTIFIES THAT THIS IS THE APPROVED VERSION OF THE FOLLOWING DISSERTATION: “FORWARD WITH THE NATION”: ZAMBIA, CHINA, AND THE WEST, 1960- 1970 Committee: Toyin Falola, Supervisor Mark Lawrence Mark Metzler H. W. Brands Catherine Boone “FORWARD WITH THE NATION”: ZAMBIA, CHINA, AND THE WEST, 1960- 1970 by JESSICA LYNN ACHBERGER, B.A.; M.A. DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN DECEMBER 2012 Dedication For my parents. Acknowledgements A popular African proverb says that it takes a village to raise a child. I have realized over the course of the past six years that it takes a global village to research and write a dissertation. It would be impossible to name the hundreds of individuals around the world who have made this gigantic undertaking possible. Some of whom I do not even know their names, though I remember their kindness when I was far from home, jet- lagged, and frustrated with research. To all of you: Thank You, Zikomo, Xie Xie. You may not remember me, but I will always remember you. However, there are a few special people that I wish to thank in these pages. Although much of this work took place far away, I greatly appreciate the support of my colleagues in my ‘home’ of Austin, Texas. To my fellow Africanists, past and present, Tosin Abiodun, Saheed Aderinto, Nana Amponsah, Lady Jane Aquiah, Emily Brownell, Roy Doron, Kwame Essien, Tyler Fleming, Ryan Groves, Sylvester Gundona, Matt Heaton, Carla Khlem, Jason Morgan, Segun Obasa, Adam Paddock, and Danielle Sanchez—thank you all for being such a great ‘family.’ Thank you especially to my fellow Africanist, Charles Thomas, for showing me the library, keeping me company during office hours, reading drafts, and for being a friend all these years. The rest of the History Department has been a great source of professional and personal support for me over the years. It would take up far too much space to thank you all here, but I greatly enjoyed being a part of the History Graduate Council, Subalterns FC, and in general such a likeable bunch of historians. I am forever grateful as well for v the staff and faculty of the History Department, who are truly dedicated to the success of graduate students. I also feel I can honestly say I have the best, most supportive dissertation committee in the world of Mark Lawrence, Mark Metzler, H. W. Brands, and Catherine Boone. Thank you all for your incredibly useful commentary on my work over the years, as well as your encouragement. Finally, thank you to my advisor, Toyin Falola. You have taught me not only about history, but about skills I never knew I had, and what my limits are. When most others thought I was crazy, and still probably do, you told me to go for it. Thank you. As a graduate student with limited funding, and as a person who appreciates company when traveling for extended periods, I could not have done all of my research without the wonderful people who opened their doors to me and allowed me to stay in their homes while doing my research: Chris Miller in New York City, Trevor Herndon and Victoria Melvin in London, you guys were great at giving me the quiet to do more work and getting me out for a bit of fun. Finally, in particular I would like to thank Nicholas Chen for not only opening his doors and giving up his bed, but being the best research assistant I could have ever hoped for in Beijing. I hope that someday I can return the favor. Through both researching and writing, Zambia has also become my home, and words cannot even begin to express how thankful I am for the support so many have given me here. Thank you to all of the professors and lecturers at the University of Zambia; you all work so hard and still took the time to open your doors to me. Thank you vi especially to Professor Bismeck J. Phiri for serving as my adviser at UNZA. I greatly appreciate the friendly and fun staff of the National Archives of Zambia, I could not have asked for a better place to spend so much of my time. My sincere appreciation in particular goes to Marja Hinfelaar, not only an amazing historian and coordinator of so many important projects, but also now a great friend. I look forward to working with you and the rest of the scholars of the Network for Historical Research in Zambia much more in the future. Thank you also to the staff of the archives at the United National Independence Party and the party officials, past and present, who have provided much insight on Zambian politics. Working in Zambia has always been nothing but a pleasure and I am so happy that I can now always call it my home. Personally, I have been supported by the most amazing family and friends. Some of you knew me long before I began the far-flung journey of graduate school—Rachel ‘Fox’ Roberts, Lauren ‘Donnelly’ Surratt, Racquel ‘Schiller’ Parra, and Thomas Gillan— you have been such steadfast friends through everything. Some of you I have met along the way—Diadre ‘Blake’ Cooley, Saba Danawala, Katarina Zeravica, Elizabeth Sperber, Rosamund ‘Lloyd-Jones’ Vincent, Kristen Cockburn, Solange Chatelard—and you have made the ride worth it. Many of you have provided not only personal, but professional, support, reading drafts and listening to me go on endlessly about how to organize my dissertation—a double thank you to you all. I only wish I could have you all in one place. To my family, all of you, everywhere, I greatly appreciate your understanding when I miss Christmas and other important events, but I have greatly enjoyed every vii moment I have gotten to spend with all of you. To my sisters: thank you for being so totally different from me and providing a bit of perspective. I love you and your families (puppies included) so very much. To Dylan, thank you for putting up with me during the very difficult period of writing the dissertation. You are an incredibly patient man, and I appreciate your support. I promise it will all be worth it. And, finally, to my parents: you have always held me to a high standard and encouraged me to reach for the seemingly impossible. Without your support, I would not be half the scholar, or the person, that I am today. This work is dedicated to you. Jessica Achberger Lusaka, Zambia November 2012 viii “FORWARD WITH THE NATION”: ZAMBIA, CHINA, AND THE WEST, 1960- 1970 Jessica Lynn Achberger, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2012 Supervisor: Toyin Falola This dissertation examines how Zambia’s international relations, particularly with China, affected its political and economic development in the first decade after independence. Zambian development issues in the 1960s were directly tied to the volatile situation in Southern Africa, and its methods of negotiating this situation were deeply influenced by the Cold War. Regional issues placed land-locked Zambia in a difficult situation politically, economically, and socially. Yet, despite major hurdles to peace and stability, Zambia was an anomaly among newly independent Africa nations. Postcolonial African history is riddled with violent decolonization struggles, civil war, and oppressive dictatorship. The history of these newly independent nations was dramatic and bloody and has garnered much attention from scholars of Africa, identifying causes ranging from inept colonial governance to neo-colonialism, global resource competition, and poor leadership. More recently, scholars have begun to include the Cold War in this postcolonial narrative; however, they have almost exclusively focused on instances of resistance. ix It is true that violent conflict unfortunately represents a majority of decolonization struggles, not just in Africa, but in Asia as well. It is also true that these narratives are more dramatic than their peaceful counterparts. It is not true however, that decolonization struggles influenced by the Cold War only manifested in bloodshed. Relatively speaking, the Zambian independence process was deliberate and peaceful. Yet Zambia’s political and economic development following independence was directly influenced by the bi- polar political situation of the Cold War. The Zambian government’s most important communist ally was the People’s Republic of China. The reaction of the West to this “mutually beneficial friendship” between Zambia and China was, unsurprisingly, not a positive one. Yet Zambia’s staunch commitment to non-alignment was both a reaction to its political and economic situation, as well as the best way of ensuring development. Through trade agreements, pledges of aid, and, most importantly, the negotiation of the TAZARA railway, the Zambian government showed deft political skills at negotiating between the West and China for its continued economic development. x TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................... XV ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................ XVI MAP OF ZAMBIA................................................................................................ XVIII PROLOGUE ...............................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................3 Argument .....................................................................................................4