Apartheid’s Fall

To the Editors:

George Fredrickson is correct in attributing the demise of apartheid to both internal and external factors [NYR, May 6], but the latter were not limited to those directly connected to the Cold War. Between 1974 and 1990, the apartheid state lost four buffer territories intended to protect it from guerrillas based in Independent Africa: Angola and Mozambique (1974), Zimbabwe (1980), and Namibia (1990). Breaches in government defenses encouraged civil associations and students in their struggle.

Bruce Fetter
Milwaukee, Wisconsin