Africa and the role they played during both of the world wars.

So  why  did  the  Africans  participate  in  world  war  one?

    Basically, they  were  forced  to  by  there  colonial  rulers. Most  Africans,  given  the  chance, would  not  have  participated  in  the  war. The  political  rewards  for  participating  in  World War  one, as  far  as  the  Africans  were  concerned  were  very  small. When  European  soldiers  and  civilians  returned, the  old  order  was  restored  often  spreading  disappointment  and  frustration  among  Africans.Many  soldiers  returned  and  had  to  return  to  their  lives  as  it  was  before  the  war, injured  soldiers  were  given  little  for  their  sacrifice  and  many  of  them  died  of  hunger  because  they  weren’t  able  to  find  jobs. So ,basically,  after  the  war  everything  returned  as  it  was  before  the  war  as  the  African  people  weren’t  rewarded  for  the  sacrifice  they  gave  for  this “European  war”.

    Although  some  railways  were  built  for  military  reasons, the  first  world  war  generally  had  a  negative  effect  on  trade  and  development. Many  major  public  works  projects  such  as  buildings  and  the  construction  of  roads  were  postponed.

    One  of  the  unexpected  gains  to  Africans  from  the  first  world  war, given  the  manpower  shortages  among  the  Europeans, was  the  substitution  of  Africans  in  employment  roles  previously  exclusive  to  whites. Africans  served  as  managers  of  estates  and  administrative  duties  exclusive  to  whites. Even  though  this  was  a  positive  thing  the  negative  by  far  outweighed  the  positive  outcomes  of  the  war  in  Africa. Even  after  the  war  was  over, Africans  were  feeling  the  effects, the  influenza  epidemic  inflicted  between  1,5-2  million  casualties  after  the  war, which  was  carried  back  by  returning  soldiers  and  labourers  from  Europe.

   There  were  four  campaigns  against  German  colonies  by  the  allies  in  Africa. One  lasted  a  few  weeks  another  went  on  even  after  the  war, but  all  were  significant.

    The  Togoland  campaign  was  the  shortest  and  least  bloody  of  the  allied  campaigns  in  Africa.

    Togoland  was  a  German  procterate  in  West  Africa  lying  between  the  British  colony  of  Gold  Coast  (Ghana)  and  the  French  colony  of  Dahomey  (Benin). The  Germans  had  managed  to  build  a  quite  successful  with  a  stable  government  and  prosperous  economy. It  grew  yams, maize  and  cotton  and  by  1914  it  had  become  the  only  German  colony  that  was  financially  independent  of  Germany. Togoland  was  the  only  colony  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa  without  a  standing  army, only  a  paramilitary  police  force  existed. Most  of  this  force  was  scattered  around  the  country  in  small  posts  and  was  designed  for  internal  security  and  policework. This  is  why  the  governor  of  the  colony  at  the  time, Adolf  Friedrich  zu  Mechlenburg, was  not  eager  for  war, because  he  was  surrounded  by  the  French  to  the  east  and  British  to  the  west  and  would  not  be  able  to  defend  it  if  it  were  attacked.

    The  French  and  British  wanted  to  capture  Togoland. The  Germans  had  built  a  wireless  station  in  Togoland, one  of  the  most  powerful  in  existence, that  was  capable  of  communicating  with  ships  in  the  Atlantic. The  British  wanted  to  very  much  put  these  wireless  stations  out  of  action.

    The  British  in  1914  demanded  the  surrender  of  Togoland. Whilst  the  English  were  waiting  for  a  reply, when  they  returned  to  Lome (Togolands  capital,only  15  miles  away  from  Gold  Coast), they  found  that  the  police  and  government  officials  had  fled, leaving  behind  only  the  district  commissioner  who  was  authorized  to  surrender  only  the  colonies  coast  and  120  km  inland- the  wireless  station  was  170  miles  inland.

    In  the  beginning  of  August, the  British  landed  at  Lome, without  any  resistance. They  then  marched  north  towards  the  wireless  station. On, August, 12th  contact  was  made  with  the  Germans  and  shots  were  exchanged. These  were  the  first  rifle  shots  to  be  fired  by  a  British  soldier  at  Germans  on  any  front  in  the  first  world  war.

On  the  18th  of  August  the  French  joined  the  British. The  allied  forces  in  the  Togoland  campaign  totaled  65  European  officers (57 British, 8 French)  and  885  African  soldiers  and  carriers. This  was  quite  a  small  campaign  compared  to  the  others  in  Africa. Battles  continued  between  the  allies  and  Germans  between  18-25  of  August, 1914. On  the  night  of  24-25  August, the  Germans  finally  blew  up  their  wireless  station  at  Kamina, so  on  August  25, 1914  Major  Von  Doring, the  acting  German  governor  surrendered  unconditionally, thus  ending  the  shortest  and  least  bloody  of  the  African  campaigns.

    The  campaign  in  Cameroon (another German  colony) was  much  bigger  than  that  in  Togoland. The  Germans  had  about  200  officers  and  3,000  men  whilst  the  British  had  about  8,000 men. Cameroon, like  Togoland, was  sandwiched  between  British  and  French  colonies. The  German  soldiers  successfully  countered  British  attacks  early  in  the  conflict, but  the  resources  and  soldiers  the  allies  had  were  just  to  much  for  the  Germans, so  on  September  27, 1916, after  being  surrounded  by  allied  naval  ships  the  Germans  surrendered  in  Douala.

    The  campaign  on  German  southwest  Africa  was  bigger  still  than  Cameroon  and  lasted  unitil 1915. This  campaign  against  the  Germans  in  south  west  Africa  (now known  as  Namibia)  was  made  by  the  British  allies  in  Africa, the  Union  of  South  Africa. The  British  asked  South  Africa  to  “seize  parts  of  German  south  west  Africa”  and  that  “it  would  be  a  great  and  urgent  imperial  service”  and  the  South  Africans  agreed.But  South  Africa  had  internal  problems  of  their  own, as  the  Boers  who  were  of  German  and  Dutch  ancestry, were  on  the  brink  of  revolution  in  South  Africa. They  were  angered  of  the  British  rule, who  defeated  them  only  a  few  years  back  in  the  Boer  wars  and  were  ready  to  revolt. The  Germans  counted  on  this  because  they  had  no  real  chance  of  defeating  the  South  African’s  who  had  a  force  of  55,000  soldiers  and  33,000  carriers, whilst  the  Germans  could, at  best, muster  up  10,000  soldiers.

    The  Germans  landed  on  Sept, 19, but  there  first  attacks  failed. Whilst, that  was  happening  a  Boer  revolt  was  put  down  by  the  South  African  government  and  with  that,  the  Germans , basically, lost  all chance  in  this  conflict. The  South  Africans  went  on  to  capture  Windhoek  (the  capital  city)  and  finally  after  heavy  fighting  the  Germans  surrendered  on  July, 9 ,1915.

    The  4th  and  largest  of  the  African  campaigns  in  world  war  one  was  the  campaign  in  east  Africa.

    Lieutenant- colonel  Paul  Emil  von  Lettow  arrived  from  Germany  to  take  command  of  the military  force  in  German  east  Africa (the  largest  and  most  populous  of  the  German  colonies). With  the  threat  of  war  looming  the  colony  needed  a  capable  commander. Von  Lettow  was  the  son  of  a  Prussian  general –he  was  experienced  and  had  served  overseas  against  the  boxers  in  China.

    Strategically  German  east  Africa  was  in  an  impossible  position. It was  bounded  to  the  north  by  British  east  Africa  and  Uganda, to the  west  lay  the  Belgian  Congo, with  British  northern  Rhodesia  and  Nysaland  to  the  South  west – all  these  became  hostile  territories  the  moment  war  broke  out.So  the  Germans  had  the  British  to  the  North  and  South, Portugese  to  the  south  and  the  Belgians  to  the  west, all who  would  eventually   become  enemies  of  Germany  during  the  war.

    The  first  major  offensive  of  the  war  was  a  British  attempt  to  capture  the  port  of  Tanga  from  the  sea  in  November  of  1914. This  ended  in  disaster  as  the  British  “chivalrously”  insisted  on  giving  them  notice  that  it  was  coming, as  Von  Lettow  was  able  to  rush  troops  to  reinforce  the  single  company  stationed  in  the  vicinity.

    Most  of  the  British  troops  fighting  were  Indian  brigades, the  only  regular  British  unit  to  serve  in  the  entire  campaign  was  the  2nd  north  Lancashire  regiment. The  German  army  was  mostly  made  up  of  German  officers, but  the  soldiers  were  mostly  African  soldiers  from  the  colony. Over  the  following  years  both  sides  launched  a  number  of  smaller  attacks  along  the  other  fronts, but  these  were  mostly  small  battles, designed  to  keep  the  opposition  off   balance.

    One  of  the  main  places  of  conflict  was  in  the  North  where  the  British  had  a  vital  railway  line  built  in  Uganda. The  Germans  sent  small  squads  of  demolition  men, which  caused  large  problems  for  the  British, who  had  to  use  much  manpower  to  protect  it. In  February, 1916  the  British  had  roughly  32,000 troops  in  the  conflict  whilst, the  Belgians  had  about  12,000. The  Germans  had  about  16,000 men, so  the  allied  forces  outnumbered  the  Germans  three to  one. When  Portugal  entered  the  war  against  Germany  in  1916  it added  another  5,000  troops  against  it  from  the  Portugese  colony  to  the  south.

    Von  Lettow, was  outnumbered, but  brilliantly  kept  slipping  away  from  flanking  forces, time  and  time  again  in  the  rough  African  terrain. Basically, the  Germans  attacked  and  inflicted  many  casualties, while  being  able  to  slip  away. The  allies  who  were  closing  in  on  Von  Lettow  and  his  forces  on  all  fronts, kept  attacking  but  Von  Lettow  just  kept  escaping  without  much  harm. While  the  other  German  generals  and  there  armies  kept  falling  back  and  retreating, Von  Lettow  was  inflicting  many  casualties  and  causing  many  problems  for  the allies. By, Sept,1916  the  Germans  had  been  confined  to  the  southern  most  third  of  their  colony. The  British  had  occupied  all  of  there  ports  and  they  were   surrounded  on  all sides.

    By  now  the  British  imperial  troops  were  exhausted. It  was  not  so  much  battle  casualties  as  disease., which  had  worn  them  down. The  tsetse  flies, maleria  bearing  mosquitos, fleas, ticks  and  wild  animals  was  the biggest  problem  for  the  British. Clean  water  was  also  scarce. By October of 1916  most  British  or  Indian  units  had  been  reduced  to  mere  cadres.

    By  the  end   of  1916  the  combination  of  sickness  and  exhaustion  had  brought  the  British  imperial  and  allied  advance  to  a  halt. Von  Lettow  might  have  retreated  into  the  southern  third  of  his  territory, but  he  was  still  at  liberty  there and  quite  capable  of  inflicting  damage. Other  German  columns  broke  through  and  went  north  causing  more  problems  for  the  allies. It  was  May, 1917  before  the  British  got  going  again. The  white  troops  had  been  relieved  by  African  units  from  west  Africa. The  Belgians  also  set  off  again  in  July 1917, as  the  allies  kept  attacking  Von  Lettow’s  forces. The  allies  suffered  a  considerable  more  number  of  men  than  the  Germans, but  still  being  severely  outnumbered  Von  Lettow  knew  that  he  could  not  afford  many  more  such  battles. The  allies  with  there  forces  rebuilt  kept  pressing  Von  Lettow and  it  seemed  that  he  could  twist  and  turn  no  longer, by  now  he  was  backed  into  the  southern  most  corner  of  the  colony. However, those  who  thought  he  might  surrender  had  underestimated  his  devotion  to  duty. His  task  was  to  keep  allied  forces  engaged, and  keep  draining  funds  for  the  allied  war  effort. His  forces  had  learned  to  live  off the  land  and  were  still  quite  a  force  to  be  reckoned  with. Von Lettow  successfully  kept  his  forces  strong  by  capturing  weakly  defended  Portugese  posts  where  they  captured  food, clothing  and  weapons  that  kept  his  army  going.

    Not  counting  the  Arab  part  of  Northern  Africa  and  with  the  exception  of  the  liberation  of  Ethiopia  from  Italian  control  in  1914  and  the  small  skirmish  of  the  Dakar  raid  in  1940- Africa  was  not  as  it  had  been  in  world  war  one, a  major  theatre  in  world  war  two.

    But  the  second  world  war  had  a  stronger  affect  on  Africa  and  Africans  than  the  first  world  war, in  the  sense  that  they  were  able  to  finally  start  breaking  away  from  their  colonial  masters  and  start  feeling  a  sense  of  nationalism. Geo-politically  the  war  finally  ended  the  colonial  powers, Great  power  status, as  the  main  colonial  powers  in  Africa ; France, Britain  and  Belgium, due  to  the  huge  losses  they  suffered  in  the  war, weren’t  able  to  rule  with  as  much  authority  over  the  colonies  as   before. By  the  end  of  the  war  the  United  States  and  the  Soviet  Union  had  become  superpowers  and  were  against  the  maintenance  of  the  western  European  colonial  possessions.

    Nationalists  sprung  up  all  over  Africa, as  the  war  helped  Africa  start  pushing  for  decolonisation. People  became  more  educated  and  as  African  economies  grew, so  did  the  peoples  expectations. Many  African  servicemen  acquired  literacy  as  well  as  skills, like  wireless  telegraphy  during  the  war. Those  who  served  overseas  expanded  there  horizons  and  learned  that  the  invincibility  of  the  white  man  was  no  more  than  a  myth. So  the  war  gave  Africans  a  chance  of  educating  themselves  and  seeing  the  world, through  this  the  first  seeds  of  African  nationalism  were  sown. Anti –Nazi  propaganda  legitimated  and  stimulated  debate  among  African  intellectuals  about  colonial  racism  and  authoritarianism.

    Even  though  there  weren’t  any  major  conflicts  of  the  war  south  of  the  Sahara, many  Africans  served  in  the  armed  forces  of  the  colonial  powers. Many  African  intellectuals  supported  the  allied  war  effort. It  was  widely  presented  by  the  media  as  a  struggle  against  Fascism. The  invasion  of  Ethiopia  in  1935  by  the  Italians, angered  many  Africans  and  they  understood  that  they  needed  to  fight  this  evil  from  the  north. Anti- fascist  propaganda  was  broadcast  on  the  radio  and  newspapers  and  poster  campaigns  with  dramatic  cartoons  and  drawings  depicting  what  life  might  be  like  under  German  rule. On  the  whole  the  people  of  Africa  rallied  to  the  war  effort.

    Over  400,000  Africans  served  with  the  British  armed  forces  alone. About  160,000   of  those  were  recruited  in  British  west  Africa. But  fears  of  arming  Africans, just  like  in  the  first  world  war, still  scared  the  South  African  leadership, who  didn’t  want  to  arm  the  Africans, and  sent  them  as  non-combatant  soldiers. An  even  bigger  number  of  Africans  that  served  in  the  military  were  recruited  as  labourers  and  marshalled  to  increase  colonial  production  in  the  fields  and  mines  of  Africa. African  goods  assumed  a  great  importance  durinf  the  war,as  demand  for  African  production  increased  all  throughout  the  war.

    Many  of  the  French  African  colonies  fell  under  the  control  of  the  collabaratist  Vichy  regime, as  France  became  occupied  in  1942. These  African  colonies  had  to  decide  which  side  they  were  on. The  governors  in  French  North  Africa  and  French  West  Africa  declared  there  loyalty  to  the  puppet  Vichy  government. In  Chad, the  black  governor, Felix  Eboue,  made  a  bold  and  swift  decision  to  support  the  free  French, as  French  equatorial  Africa  became  a  significant  base  for  the  free  French  resistance  movement.

    The  major  theatre  of  war  in  Africa,  and  one  of  the  most  significant  in  the  whole  war  was  that  in  Northern  Africa  between  Rommell  of  Germany (many  compare  him  to  Von  Lettow  in  the  first  world  war)  and  Colonol  Montgomery  of  the  allies. The  allied  forces, even  though  outnumbering  at  times  3 to  1, that  of  Rommell’s  came  very  close  to  defeat. But  after  suffering  heavy  casualties  (just  like  in  the  first  world  war  in  East  Africa)  were  finally  able  to  defeat  the  Germans  by  1943.

    Ethiopia  also  had  been  liberated  by  the  end of  the  war. This  conflict  began  in  1935  when  Italy  invaded  and  then  occupied  Ethiopia. The  emperor  of  Ethiopia  went  into  exile  in  Britain. This  invasion  led  to  a  widespread  willingness  on  the  part  of  the  people  in  Africa  to  fight  fascism. But, by 1941, with  the  help  of  African  soldiers  from  west, east  and  south  Africa  the  Italians  were  defeated  in  Ethiopia  and  emperor  Selassie  was  then  restored  to  his  throne.

  The  only  other  conflict  south  of  the  Sahara  was  the  Dakar  raid  in  1940. Because  of  Dakar’s  strategic  importance  to  the  north  and  south  shipping  routes, an  expedition  was  mounted  to  acquire  the  port  for  allied  use. Small skirmishes  followed, as the  free French  led  by  DuGaulle  bombared  the  city. The  French  warship  was  severely  damaged  and  the  Anglo- French  forces  withdrew.

    Both  wars  in  Africa  had  different  effects  on  the  continent. The  end  of  the  first  world  war  saw  the  Germans  kicked  out  of  the  continent. Many  Africans  lost  there  lives  fighting  this  “European  war”  and  not  getting  much  out  of  it. Most  of  the  soldiers  who  came  back  were  treated  and  abused  just  like  before  the  war. Who  knows  what  the  outcome  would  have  been  like  if  the  African  soldiers  didn’t  fight  and  didn’t  work  for  the  colonial  war  efforts.

    The  second  world  war  saw  many  more  African  men  fighting. The  allies  recruited  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Africans  to  fight  there  war. Another  question  is  raised;  how  would   the  war  have  ended  if  there  weren’t  these  African  soldiers? Germany  didn’t  have  the  luxury  of  using  colonial  soldiers  because  of  the  loss  of  there  territories  during  the  first  world  war. But what  if they  did? What if  they were  able  to  hold  there  territories  during   the  first  world  war? Would that  have  affected the  second?

   It  is  also  important  to  point  out the  crucial  role  African  products  and  supplies  the  allies  received  during  the  war. Germany  didn’t  have  this  luxury. So, Africa’s  role  was  very  important, even  though  there  wasn’t  much  fighting  south  of  the  Sahara.

    But  the  second  world  war  opened  up  the  eyes  of  the  Africans. They  saw  the  world, became  educated  and  started  to  understand , themselves, how  important  there  role  as  colonies  were  to  the  colonial  powers. The  second  world  war  helped  the  Africans  want  to  form  there  own  countries  as  the  aftermath  of  the  war  led  to  nationalist  thinking  among  Africans, as  the  road  to  decolonisation  had  begun.

   

   

   

 

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