Colonial Africa

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The colonial history of Africa spans from colonial period until the postcolonial period in the history of Africa.

Southern Africa

Main article: Southern Africa § History

By the 1850s, British and German missionaries and traders had penetrated present-day

missing long citation
]

The Herero entered into an alliance with the Germans, thinking they could get an upper hand on the Nama. The Germans set up a garrison at the Herero capital and started allocating Herero land for white settlements, including the best grazing land in the central plateau, and made tax and labor demands. The Herero and Ovambanderu rebelled, but the rebellion was crushed and leaders were executed. Between 1896 and 1897, rinderpest impaired the Herero and Nama economy and slowed white expansion. The Germans continued the policy of making Namibia a white settlement by seizing land and cattle, and even trying to export Herero labor to South Africa.[2]

In 1904, the Herero rebelled again. German General

extermination policy at the Battle of Waterberg, which drove the Herero west of the Kalahari Desert. At the end of 1905, only 16,000 Herero were alive, out of a previous population of 80,000. Nama resistance was crushed in 1907. All Nama and Herero cattle and land were confiscated from the very diminished population, with remaining Nama and Herero assuming a subordinate position. Labor had to be imported from among the Ovambo.[2]

Nguniland

Main article: Nguni people § History
Zulu warriors

A moment of great disorder in southern Africa was the

Swaziland over scarce resource and famine. When Dingiswayo of Mthethwa died, Shaka of the Zulu people took over. He established the Zulu Kingdom, asserting authority over the Ndwandwe and pushing the Swazi north. The scattering Ndwandwe and Swazi caused the Mfecane to spread. During the 1820s, Shaka expanded the empire all along the Drakensberg foothills, with tribute being paid as far south as the Tugela and Umzimkulu rivers. He replaced the chiefs of conquered polities with indunas, responsible to him. He introduced a centralized, dedicated, and disciplined military force not seen in the region, with a new weapon in the short stabbing-spear.[3]

In 1828, Shaka was assassinated by his half brother

Voortrekkers tried to occupy Zulu land in 1838. In the early months they were defeated, but the survivors regrouped at the Ncome River and soundly defeated the Zulu. However, the Voortrekkers dared not settle Zulu land. Dingane was killed in 1840 during a civil war. His brother Mpande took over and strengthened Zulu territories to the north. In 1879 the Zulu Kingdom was invaded by Britain in a quest to control all of South Africa. The Zulu Kingdom was victorious at the Battle of Isandlwana but was defeated at the Battle of Ulundi.[4][5]

One of the major states to emerge from the Mfecane was the Sotho Kingdom founded at Thaba Bosiu by Moshoeshoe I around 1821 to 1822. It was a confederation of different polities that accepted the absolute authority of Moshoeshoe. During the 1830s, the kingdom invited missionaries as a strategic means of acquiring guns and horses from the Cape. The Orange Free State slowly diminished the kingdom but never completely defeated it. In 1868, Moshoeshoe asked that the Sotho Kingdom be annexed by Britain, to save the remnant. It became the British protectorate of Basutoland.[6]

Sotho-Tswana

Main articles: Sotho people § History, and Tswana people § History

The arrival of the ancestors of the Tswana-speakers who came to control the region (from the

Okavango Swamp and across the Zambezi into Barotseland, now part of Zambia.[9] In 1845, the Kololo conquered Barotseland.[10]

At about the same time, the

voortrekkers ("pioneers") were farmers who opted to leave the former Dutch colony and moved inland where they eventually established independent polities.[11][12]

At the time of these developments,

Difaqane into a cohesive nation.[13] His inspired leadership helped his small nation to survive the dangers and pitfalls (the Zulu hegemony, the inward expansion of the voortrekkers and the designs of imperial Britain) that destroyed other indigenous South African kingdoms during the 19th century.[14]

In 1822, Moshoeshoe established his capital at Butha-Buthe, an easily defensible mountain in the northern Drakensberg mountains, laying the foundations of the eventual Kingdom of Lesotho.[13] His capital was later moved to Thaba Bosiu.[13]

To deal with the encroaching

Missionaries sent by the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society provided the King with foreign affairs counsel and helped to facilitate the purchase of modern weapons.[15]

Aside from acting as state ministers, missionaries (primarily Casalis and Arbousset) played a vital role in delineating Sesotho orthography and printing Sesotho language materials between 1837 and 1855.[16] The first Sesotho translation of the Bible appeared in 1878.[17]

In 1868, after losing the western lowlands to the Boers during the Free State–Basotho Wars; Moshoeshoe successfully appealed to Queen Victoria to proclaim Lesotho (then known as Basutoland) a protectorate of Britain and the British administration was placed in Maseru, the site of Lesotho's current capital.[11] Local chieftains retained power over internal affairs while Britain was responsible for foreign affairs and the defence of the protectorate.[18] In 1869, the British sponsored a process by which the borders of Basutoland were finally demarcated.[11] While many clans had territory within Basutoland, large numbers of Sesotho speakers resided in areas allocated to the Orange Free State, the sovereign voortrekker republic that bordered the Basotho kingdom.

Voortrekkers

Boer
camp in February 1838

By the 19th century, most Khoikhoi territory was under

Oorlams, and Griqua. In 1795, the British took over the cape colony from the Dutch.[19]

In the 1830s, Boers embarked on a journey of expansion, east of the

Voortrekkers. They founded republics of the Transvaal and Orange Free State, mostly in areas of sparse population that had been diminished by the Mfecane/Difaqane. Unlike the Khoisan, the Bantu states were not conquered by the Afrikaners, because of population density and greater unity. Additionally, they began to arm themselves with guns acquired through trade at the cape. In some cases, as in the Xhosa/Boer Wars, Boers were removed from Xhosa lands. It required a dedicated imperial military force to subdue the Bantu-speaking states. In 1901, the Boer republics were defeated by Britain in the Second Boer War. The defeat however consummated many Afrikaners' ambition: South Africa would be under white rule. The British placed all power—legislative, executive, administrative—in English and Afrikaner hands.[5][20]

European trade, exploration and conquest

Further information:
African slave trade, and Scramble for Africa
1895 .303 tripod mounted Maxim machine gun

Between 1878 and 1898, European states partitioned and conquered most of Africa. For 400 years, European nations had mainly limited their involvement to trading stations on the African coast. Few dared venture inland from the coast; those that did, like the Portuguese, often met defeats and had to retreat to the coast. Several technological innovations helped to overcome this 400-year pattern. One was the development of

Hiram S. Maxim developed the maxim gun, the model of the modern-day machine gun. European states kept these weapons largely among themselves by refusing to sell these weapons to African leaders.[21]

African germs took numerous European lives and deterred permanent settlements. Diseases such as

Tropical Africa. In 1854, the discovery of quinine and other medical innovations helped to make conquest and colonization in Africa possible.[22]

Strong motives for conquest of Africa were at play. Raw materials were needed for European factories. Europe in the early part of the 19th century was undergoing its Industrial Revolution. Nationalist rivalries and prestige were at play. Acquiring African colonies would show rivals that a nation was powerful and significant. These factors culminated in the Scramble for Africa.[23]

David Livingstone, early European explorer of the interior of Africa, is attacked by a lion.
French explorer Paul Du Chaillu confirmed the existence of Pygmy peoples of central Africa

Knowledge of Africa increased. Numerous European explorers began to explore the continent.

George Schweinfurth, and Joseph Thomson. The most famous of the explorers was David Livingstone, who explored southern Africa and traversed the continent from the Atlantic at Luanda to the Indian Ocean at Quelimane. European explorers made use of African guides and servants, and established long-distance trading routes.[24][25]

Missionaries attempting to spread

Berlin West Africa Conference to discuss the partitioning of Africa. It was agreed that European claims to parts of Africa would only be recognised if Europeans provided effective occupation. In a series of treaties in 1890–1891, colonial boundaries were completely drawn. All of Sub-Saharan Africa was claimed by European powers, except for Ethiopia (Abyssinia) and Liberia.[citation needed][26]

The European powers set up a variety of different administrations in Africa, reflecting different ambitions and degrees of power. In some areas, such as parts of

Boers. France planned to settle Algeria and eventually incorporate it into the French state on an equal basis with the European provinces. Algeria's proximity across the Mediterranean allowed plans of this scale.[citation needed
]

In most areas colonial administrations did not have the manpower or resources to fully administer the territory and had to rely on local power structures to help them. Various factions and groups within the societies exploited this European requirement for their own purposes, attempting to gain positions of power within their own communities by cooperating with Europeans. One aspect of this struggle included what Terence Ranger has termed the "invention of tradition." In order to legitimize their own claims to power in the eyes of both the colonial administrators and their own people, native elites would essentially manufacture "traditional" claims to power, or ceremonies. As a result, many societies were thrown into disarray by the new order.[citation needed]

Following the Scramble for Africa, an early but secondary focus for most colonial regimes was the suppression of slavery and the slave trade. By the end of the colonial period they were mostly successful in this aim, though slavery is still very active in Africa.[27]

France versus Britain: the Fashoda crisis of 1898

Further information: French colonial empire
Central and east Africa, 1898, during the Fashoda Incident

As a part of the

Khedive of Egypt arrived to confront them. Under heavy pressure the French withdrew securing British control over the area. The status quo was recognised by an agreement between the two states acknowledging British control over Egypt, while France became the dominant power in Morocco, but France suffered a humiliating defeat overall.[29][30]

European colonial territories

Dhulbahante garesas
were the first places to be airstriked in African history
Areas controlled by European colonial powers on the African continent in 1914

Belgium

France

Germany

Italian invasion of Libya in 1911: propaganda postcard made by Italian Army

Italy

Portugal

Spain

Riffian rebels during the Rif War in Spanish Morocco
, 1922

United Kingdom

Boer Republics
to the British Empire in 1902

Independent states

20th century

In the 1880s the European powers had divided up almost all of Africa (only Ethiopia and Liberia were independent). They ruled until after World War II when forces of nationalism grew much stronger. In the 1950s and 1960s the colonial holdings became independent states. The process was usually peaceful but there were several long bitter bloody civil wars, as in Algeria,[32] Kenya[33] and elsewhere. Across Africa the powerful new force of nationalism drew upon the organizational skills that natives learned in the British and French and other armies in the world wars. It led to organizations that were not controlled by or endorsed by either the colonial powers not the traditional local power structures that were collaborating with the colonial powers. Nationalistic organizations began to challenge both the traditional and the new colonial structures and finally displaced them. Leaders of nationalist movements took control when the European authorities exited; many ruled for decades or until they died off. These structures included political, educational, religious, and other social organizations. In recent decades, many African countries have undergone the triumph and defeat of nationalistic fervor, changing in the process the loci of the centralizing state power and patrimonial state.[34][35][36]

1916 political map of Africa

World War I

The Battle of Ngomano in November 1917

With the vast majority of the continent under the colonial control of European governments, the World Wars were significant events in the geopolitical history of Africa. Africa was a theater of war and saw fighting in both wars. More important in most regions, the

East African campaign. In each, Allied forces, primarily British, but also French, Belgian, South African, and Portuguese, sought to force the Germans out of their African colonies. In each, German forces were badly outnumbered and, due to Allied naval superiority, were cut off from reinforcement or resupply. The Allies eventually conquered all German colonies; German forces in East Africa managed to avoid surrender throughout the war, though they could not hold any territory after 1917. After World War I, former German colonies
in Africa were taken over by France, Belgium, and the British Empire.

Physical and political elements of the African continent in 1929

After World War I, colonial powers continued to consolidate their control over their African territories. In some areas, particularly in Southern and East Africa, large settler populations were successful in pressing for additional devolution of administration, so-called "home rule" by the white settlers. In many cases, settler regimes were harsher on African populations, tending to see them more as a threat to political power, as opposed to colonial regimes which had generally endeavored to co-opt local populations into economic production. The Great Depression strongly affected Africa's non-subsistence economy, much of which was based on commodity production for Western markets. As demand increased in the late 1930s, Africa's economy rebounded as well.

Africa was the site of one of the first instances of

armor and aircraft, by May 1936, Italian forces had occupied the capital of Addis Ababa and effectively declared victory. Ethiopia and their other colonies were consolidated into Italian East Africa
.

World War II: Political

Areas controlled by European powers in 1939. British (red) and Belgian (marroon) colonies fought with the Allies. Italian (light green) with the Axis. French colonies (dark blue) fought alongside the Allies until the Fall of France in June 1940. Vichy was in control until the Free French prevailed in late 1942. Portuguese (dark green) and Spanish (yellow) colonies remained neutral.

Africa was a large continent whose geography gave it strategic importance during the war. North Africa was the scene of major British and American campaigns against Italy and Germany; East Africa was the scene of a major British campaign against Italy. The vast geography provided major transportation routes linking the United States to the Middle East and Mediterranean regions. The sea route around South Africa was heavily used even though it added 40 days to voyages that had to avoid the dangerous Suez region. Lend Lease supplies to Russia often came this way. Internally, long-distance road and railroad connections facilitated the British war effort. The

British possessions were ruled by the Colonial Office, usually with close ties to local chiefs and kings. Italian holdings were the target of successful British military campaigns. The Belgian Congo, and two other Belgian colonies, were major exporters. In terms of numbers and wealth, the British controlled the richest portions of Africa, and made extensive use not only of the geography, but the manpower, and the natural resources. Civilian colonial officials made a special effort to upgrade the African infrastructure, promote agriculture, integrate colonial Africa with the world economy, and recruit over a half million soldiers.[37][38]

Before the war, Britain had made few plans for the utilization of Africa, but it quickly set up command structures. The Army set up the West Africa Command, which recruited 200,000 soldiers. The East Africa Command was created in September 1941 to support the overstretched Middle East Command. It provided the largest number of men, over 320,000, chiefly from Kenya, Tanganyika, and Uganda. The Southern Command was the domain of South Africa. The Royal Navy set up the South Atlantic Command based in Sierra Leone, that became one of the main convoy assembly points. The RAF Coastal Command had major submarine-hunting operations based in West Africa, while a smaller RAF command dealt with submarines in the Indian Ocean. Ferrying aircraft from North America and Britain was the major mission of the Western Desert Air Force. In addition smaller more localized commands were set up throughout the war.[39]

Before 1939, the military establishments were very small throughout British Africa, and largely consisted of whites, who comprised under two percent of the population outside South Africa. As soon as the war began, newly created African units were set up, primarily by the Army. The new recruits were almost always volunteers, usually provided in close cooperation with local tribal leaders. During the war, military pay scales far exceeded what civilians natives could earn, especially when food, housing and clothing allowances are included. The largest numbers were in construction units, called Pioneer units, with over 82,000 soldiers. The RAF and Navy also did some recruiting. The volunteers did some fighting, a great deal of guard duty, and construction work. 80,000 served in the Middle East. A special effort was made not to challenge white supremacy, certainly before the war, and to a large extent during the war itself. Nevertheless, the soldiers were drilled and train to European standards, given strong doses of propaganda, and learn leadership and organizational skills that proved essential to the formation of nationalistic and independence movements after 1945. There were minor episodes of discontent, but nothing serious, among the natives.[40] Afrikaner nationalism was a factor in South Africa, But the pro-German Afrikaner prime minister was replaced in 1939 by Jan Smuts, an Afrikaner who was an enthusiastic supporter of the British Empire. His government closely cooperated with London and raised 340,000 volunteers (190,000 were white, or about one-third of the eligible white men).[41]

French Africa

As early as 1857, the French established volunteer units of black soldiers in sub-Sahara Africa, termed the Tirailleurs Sénégalais. They served in military operations throughout the Empire, including 171,000 soldiers in World War I and 160,000 in World War II.[42] About 90,000 became POWs in Germany. The veterans played a central role in the postwar independence movement in French Africa.[43][44]

Allied landings in North Africa (operation Torch) in November 1942. Vichy Admiral François Darlan suddenly switched sides and the fighting ended.[45] The Allies gave Darlan control of North African French forces in exchange for support from both French North Africa as well as French West Africa. Vichy was now eliminated as a factor in Africa. Darlan was assassinated in December, and the two factions of Free French, led by Charles de Gaulle and Henri Giraud, jockeyed for power. De Gaulle finally won out.[46]

World War II: Military

Erwin Rommel with Italian governor of Libya, General Italo Gariboldi (on Rommel's right), in Tripoli, February 1941

Since Germany had lost its African colonies following World War I, World War II did not reach Africa until

Japanese
who had reached the eastern Indian Ocean). The French garrisons in Madagascar surrendered in November 1942.

See also

References

  1. ^ Shillington (2005), pp. 218, 327–329, 340–342.
  2. ^ a b Shillington (2005), pp. 218, 327.
  3. ^ Shillington (2005), pp. 256–257, 270.
  4. ^ Shillington (2005), pp. 256–257.
  5. ^ a b Davidson (1991), pp. 274–275.
  6. ^ Shillington (2005), pp. 261–262, 271.
  7. ISSN 0525-5090
    .
  8. ^ Ross, R. (2009). A Concise History of South Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  9. ^ Muimui, Lubosi. "Political History of Barotseland". Archived from the original on 23 April 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  10. ISBN 978-1-57958-454-2
    .
  11. ^ a b c d Ross, R. (2009). A Concise History of South Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press..
  12. ^
    ISBN 9780300087765
    ..
  13. ^ a b c Becker, P. (1969). Hill of destiny: the life and times of Moshesh, founder of the Basuto. London: Longman.
  14. ^ "Moshoeshoe". Encarta Encyclopedia. Redmond: Microsoft Corporation. 2003.
  15. ^ a b Sanders, P. (1975). Moshoeshoe, chief of the Basotho. London: Heinemann.
  16. ^ Casalis, E. (1992). The Basutos : or, twenty-three years in South Africa. Morija: Morija Museum & Archives.
  17. ^ Legassick, M. (1972). The Griqua, The Sotho–Tswana, and the Missionaries, 1780–1840. Ann Arbor: Univ. Microfilms International.
  18. ^ Grant, N. (1981). Moshoeshoe: Founder of a Nation. London: Longman..
  19. ^ Shillington (2005), pp. 215–216.
  20. ^ Shillington (2005), pp. 268–271.
  21. ^ Collins & Burns (2007), pp. 268–269.
  22. ^ Collins & Burns (2007), p. 269.
  23. ^ Collins & Burns (2007), p. 265.
  24. ^ Shillington (2005), p. 295.
  25. ^ a b Collins & Burns (2007), pp. 254–257.
  26. ^ "The Partition of Africa •". 2009-02-21. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
  27. ^ Lovejoy, Paul E. 2012
  28. S2CID 153431025
    .
  29. ^ D.W. Brogan, France under the Republic: The Development of Modern France (1870–1930) (1940) pp. 321–326
  30. ^ William L. Langer, The diplomacy of imperialism: 1890–1902 (1951) pp. 537–580
  31. ^ Martin & O'Meara (1995), pp. 135–138.
  32. ^ Alistair Horne, A savage war of peace: Algeria 1954–1962 (1977).
  33. ^ David Anderson, Histories of the hanged: The dirty war in Kenya and the end of empire (2005).
  34. ^ Gabriel Almond and James S. Coleman, The Politics of the Developing Areas (1971)
  35. ^ Festus Ugboaja Ohaegbulam, Nationalism in colonial and post-colonial Africa (University Press of America, 1977).
  36. ^ Thomas Hodgkin, Nationalism in Colonial Africa (1956)
  37. ^ Jackson (2006), pp. 171–239.
  38. ^ David Killingray and Richard Rathbone, edfs. Africa and the Second World War (1986).
  39. ^ Jackson (2006), pp. 175–177.
  40. ^ Jackson (2006), pp. 180–189.
  41. ^ Jackson (2006), pp. 240–245.
  42. ^ Robert Aldrich, Greater France: A History of French Overseas Expansion (1996) p. 223.
  43. ^ Raffael Scheck, "French African Soldiers in World War II." in Thomas W.Zeiler, ed., A Companion to World War II (2012): vol 1:501–515.
  44. ^ Ruth Ginio, The French Army and Its African Soldiers: The Years of Decolonization (U of Nebraska Press, 2017).
  45. S2CID 159589846
    .
  46. ^ Arthur Layton Funk, Charles de Gaulle: the crucial years, 1943–1944 (1959).

Bibliography

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Colonial_Africa&oldid=1218538334"