Africa and the First World War

It was begun in 1914, initially it was European war, since European powers had a
colony Africa – this reflects that Africans had been affected by the war how?
- Africa was a battle ground – two control enemy colonies, France and Britain
Alliance to control Germany Territories of Cameroon and Togo.
- British and white South Africa government- German South west, West and
East Africa , it resulted
 Rural villages and food destruction, labor were demanded –
porters and soldiers – German- Askaris in East Africa, the
British recruited from Sierra Leone, Gold Coast and Nigeria in
East African Campaign. Challenge French rebellion in West
Africa.
 Famine and influenza
- German colonies were taken by the European powers as a mandate
territories
 Togo and Cameroon – French and British
 Belgian Rwanda and Burundi
 British kept Tanganyika
- The Fourteen points in 1918 by President Woodrow Wilson – endorsed the
rights of self determinations. European imperialist believe African peoples were
not ready for this principle.

Colonial Administration models

After they crushed African resistances they established colonial rule in Africa. European
employed different forms of colonial administration

- Direct Rule- Albert Sartaut – French man- Belgian, Germany, Portuguese a

policy of Paternalism
- Indirect rule – Frederick Lugard – Cooperative model
- Economic Companies- United Africa Company, United Trading Company in
west Africa, Imperial British East Africa Company in Kenya
- Settler Rule- South Africa Zimbabwe and Zambia and Angola,

The French System – Direct rule

- The policy was designed by the French colonial Minister Albert Sarraut
- Centralized administrations
- It placed the chief into the role subordinate role to political officer
- Chiefs were agent of the central colonial government
- French divided the country into Cantons [Regions]
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 - Chiefs did not remain chiefs of their old political units: deliberately broke up
old political units; to suppress the chiefs and parcelling out their authority.

Criteria to be chiefs of Cantons

 Old families
 Notable natives literate if possible
 From old soldiers
 Local civil servants
 Chiefs were selected based on their loyalty to French or had
obtained some education
- The French originally sought their colonial subjects into cultural Frenchmen
 They were have full legal and political rights of French citizenship,
right to send representatives to the French parliament in Paris
 Later assimilation became ideal – strive, large scale colonization-
education
- Chiefs were anger while they are agent of colonial power carrying unpopular
measures such as collecting taxes, recruiting for labour, suppress rural
opposition.
- In general the French system of administration deliberately exhausted the
traditional powers of chiefs
- Superiority of French culture and civilization
- It was the duty of France to civilize them and turn them into Frenchmen
- There was a growing reaction in France against assimilation
 Africans were inferior and thus incapable of full assimilation
 Tremendous educational effort involved in making assimilation
a reality was too much
 Special privilege – Algeria
- French denied independent religious or legal authority. French destroyed
African customary law
- The law to which Africans were most commonly subjected was the Indigenat.
Implication
- French provincial administrators to imprison any African Sujet or subject
indefinitely and without charge or trial.

The British System- Indirect

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 - The architect of this policy was Frederick Lugard, The Dual Mandate in British
Tropical Africa – Sokoto emirates of Northern Nigeria – where first British
experiment indirect rule
- British indirect rule depended on the advisory relationship [Cooperative model]
between the political officer and the native authority. chief mediator role
- British paid attention than French to a candidate’s legitimate claim to the
chieftaincy
- British used African customary law, chief’s judge local civil disputes and minor
criminal cases – not allowed to judge serious crimes and disputes with European
– this was not emanated from respect but rather for administrative convenience.
- Cheapest [ European personnel] and most effective way –vast population
- Great Britain adopted the plan of governing Africans through their native rulers.
- This is accomplished by setting up a hierarchy of European official alongside the
native administration
- Indirect rule increased divisions between ethnic groups and gave power too
certain “big man” who had never had it before. To weakened indigenous power
networks and institutions. Invented tribalism from economic and political
competition to tribal
Portuguese
- Adopted French principle select few individual and adopted Portuguese
language and culture – Civilisado [later renamed assimilado . they were free from
tax and labor demands
- They worked as teacher, clerks and petty trader
- They never allowed voting right in central and local government

Belgians

- Mixture of French and British systems

- They recognized the cultural assimilation of Mission educated Africans known
as evolues. They never allowed to participate in local politics
- Discourage to attend more than primary school

The spread of Islam in Tropical West Africa – how Islam spread during the colonial period?

- Islam emirs – indirect rule – traditional African authorities – strengthened position

- Trade - ports – Muslim penetration
- Christianity related with European and Islam did not insist customary practices –
polygamy

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