AFRICA AND WWI AND THEIR DEATH STATUS DURING THE WWI

The role of Africans during WWI and their death levels by Tracey and Clemence

1. History Presentation Africa and World War One Presenters Tracey Takavada Clemence Madandi

2. Introduction of African historiography . Since the 1970s, African participation in World War One has become a significant aspect The war led to social, political and economic changes within African societies and redefined the relationship between African and the European colonizers. Historians agree that most of Africans participated in the war, either as combatants or as labourers. The recruited about 211000 troops from their West African and Equatorial colonies, about 270000 from their North African colonies and 40000 from Madagascar. Also, about 135000 Africans from Maghreb worked in French factories

3. The British recruited about 85000 men from the Gold Coast (now Ghana) and Nigeria to serve the imperial war cause, and more than 2000 were killed. In East Africa the British made use of over one million Africans during the East African campaign and over 100000 people died in the course of the war. About 25000 Africans formed the membership of the South African Native Labour Contingent(SANLC) that was sent to France to assist British troops.

4. Outbreak of the War Although the outbreak of the World War One took Africans by surprise, many knew about the possibility of the war in Europe. European settler colonies in Southern and North Africa also spread news about the inevitability of the war Once the European colonizers committed to the war, the colonized Africans became involved in the war because they had no choice of neutrality. The colonial powers especially Britain and France mobilised Africans and exploited natural resources to harness their war efforts.

5. Unlike the French, the British maintained that Africans should not fight in wars that involved the whites. The Africans were only sent to France as non-combatants to assist British soldiers.

6. Propaganda Towards Recruitment The French and British embarked on anti-German propaganda schemes in order to gain support of Africans for their war efforts. The main aim of Anti-German propaganda was to convince Africans that British and French brands of colonialism were superior than that of Germany. Therefore, Africans were encouraged to assist in the war so that Britain and France would win and prevent Germany from taking over the African colonies. However, the Anti-German propaganda worked to the advantage of Britain and France and in three ways:

7. It led to relative acquiescence to colonial rule. It promoted the recruitment of soldiers and labourers for the war effort. It stimulated Africa`s material and financial contributions to the war efforts. The Anti-German propaganda benefited the French and British at the expense of Africans in the sense that people of Ghana and Nigeria contributed money to buy war planes for Britain

8. Patterns of Military and Labour Recruitment Military and labour recruits refer to combatants and non-combatants and work of the latter included carrier services, cleaning and washing, supply of food items and water, cooking, clearing bush, road building, dock-work and boating. Recruitment of Africans for non-combatant roles was as difficult as recruitment of soldiers. The carriers, like the soldiers, were divided into groups with appointed leaders who taught basic drill and communication signals. The Africans resented serving as carriers because they were sniped at by the enemy, forced to walk long tortuous distances with heavy loads and they worked under regimental conditions.

9. During the East African campaign, the group with the highest death rate was the carrier corps. One half of 14184 carriers suffered from “ulcerated feet and legs, digestive and respiratory problems and malaria”. In addition, carriers lacked basic necessities like blankets, footwear and medical care. To make recruitment attractive, funerals for the recruits` relatives were borne by the indigenous state. Additionally, puberty and widow rites were hurriedly performed in order to secure more marriageable females for the recruits.

10. The African rulers responded in these ways: King Ofori -Atta of Akyem Abuakwa in the Eastern Province of Ghana and Chief Wadingo of Obela in the Owerri Province of Southern Nigeria took their recruiting tasks seriously. As a result , they incurred the disaffection of their subjects. Some African rulers who adopted a passive attitude towards the recruitment supplied unfit recruits , for instance, some chiefs in South western Nigeria supplied recruits who were 50 to 60 years. Some African rulers actively opposed recruitment and encouraged their subjects to rebel against the colonial authorities.

11. Societies which emerged from the abolition of domestic slavery tended to have a large number of recruits of servile origin, for instance in Guinea. Freed slaves sought to use their war participation as a vehicle for social mobility.

12. Problems of Recruitment The colonial authorities did not meet their recruitment targets. For instance, in Ghana and Southern Nigeria, the chiefs could not meet recruitment targets because of the opposition from their subjects. In the cocoa growing areas of Ghana, military recruitment coincided with the period of economic boom in cocoa farming. In addition, Africans found wage employment in cocoa production to be more beneficial than service in the colonial army.

13. In the same vein, in Southern Africa, wage employment in the mines and on white-settler agricultural estates proved to be more attractive than military service.

14. African Responses to Recruitment Africans responded to recruitment efforts in many ways, including violent,non-vilent,individual and collective actions. Individual acts involved self-mutilation, feigning sickness and running away. Collective efforts to avoid recruitment included migration of whole communities to regions that were either geographically or politically inaccessible to the recruiting parties or agents, for instance, Africans in West Africa immigrated into Liberia and British –governed territories. Violent response was in form of rebellions and armed resistance against the colonial authorities and their African agents.

15. However, not all resistance was due to recruitment policies. Some causes were of grievances against colonial rule.