Apartheid
The Apartheid system dominated South African politics from 1948-1994. Under this system of racial segregation, the black majority and other non-whites were subjected to white minority rule. For almost fifty years, the National Party (NP) governed the country with its far-right, racist, and nationalist ideology. The apartheid régime was condemned by the UN General Assembly in 1973; three years later, the UN Security Council put an embargo on selling weapons to South Africa. In 1985, Great Britain and the U.S. put sanctions on the country; these sanctions would be lifted six years later, and the government of President F. W. de Klerk did away with the apartheid laws the same year. A white-only referendum on ending apartheid was held in 1992; an overwhelming majority voted in favor of the negotiations to end apartheid. In 1993, together with Nelson Mandela (who recently was released from prison), de Klerk won the Nobel Peace Prize for the peaceful end of apartheid. The first multiracial election was held on April 27, 1994. Nelson Mandela was elected the country's first black president; he served one five-year term. His term ended on June 14, 1999.
