Sankara's only mistake was refusing to get material assistance and military protection from the existing socialist states (predominantly the USSR, but also to a lesser extent Cuba and Libya could have given some help) so as to keep political independence.
On a serious note, I've always wondered how come all the gains of the revolutionary program got reversed so quickly once Compaoré expected his coup - how come people didn't rise up and push back?
I don't think he had much of a communist movement behind him. His situation was weird - almost Blanquist - in that his revolution was more of a coup with a relatively small cadre of leftist supporters. The people loved him but he didn't manage to establish much of a political education among the populace. So when he died I think they mostly just figured it was back to business as usual. Probably helps that the military and foreign powers supported it.
However, they did rise up and overthrow him in a mass protest literally last year and now he's in exile.
Ah I see. I knew it was a coup (one of the few good ones, like Ghadaffi and the Carnation Revolution) but thought he used it as a springboard to establish an actual popular democratic movement, too bad he never got around to it. Shows how crucial it is to create proper self-perpetuating meritocratic structures, otherwise any gains are fleeting. This is for example my biggest critique of Stalin (as well as his comrades in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War), since even if we assume, for arguments sake, that Stalin was the most dedicated communist ever ultimately it all got dismantled pretty quickly because there was nothing to safeguard all the gains.
Sankara's only mistake was refusing to get material assistance and military protection from the existing socialist states (predominantly the USSR, but also to a lesser extent Cuba and Libya could have given some help) so as to keep political independence.
He was also warned that Blaise Compaoré was plotting to kill him and did nothing about it because he felt that he would be betraying his friend.
Literally too good for this world.
Real Bernie Sanders hours :P
On a serious note, I've always wondered how come all the gains of the revolutionary program got reversed so quickly once Compaoré expected his coup - how come people didn't rise up and push back?
I don't think he had much of a communist movement behind him. His situation was weird - almost Blanquist - in that his revolution was more of a coup with a relatively small cadre of leftist supporters. The people loved him but he didn't manage to establish much of a political education among the populace. So when he died I think they mostly just figured it was back to business as usual. Probably helps that the military and foreign powers supported it.
However, they did rise up and overthrow him in a mass protest literally last year and now he's in exile.
Ah I see. I knew it was a coup (one of the few good ones, like Ghadaffi and the Carnation Revolution) but thought he used it as a springboard to establish an actual popular democratic movement, too bad he never got around to it. Shows how crucial it is to create proper self-perpetuating meritocratic structures, otherwise any gains are fleeting. This is for example my biggest critique of Stalin (as well as his comrades in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War), since even if we assume, for arguments sake, that Stalin was the most dedicated communist ever ultimately it all got dismantled pretty quickly because there was nothing to safeguard all the gains.