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The African Fight for Liberation:

Resistance to Slavery and colonialism -acts of agency and self-determination

 

Military confrontations, acts of sabotage, and other forms of resistance characterized the African resistance to European colonialism. While hundreds of examples can be identified, I shall explore a small handful as they demonstrate the African people's determination and ingenuity. 

Africa, before 1500, was already exhibiting major empires in West Africa, Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. Their economic surpluses provided the gold necessary for Europe to develop in the 13^th and 14th centuries. (Adi 2021)

As early as the 11^th, long before France, England, or Portugal were prominent nations, there was the Ille-Ife (Ife) Empire. From this empire, the Yoruba homeland, consisting of present-day southwest Nigeria, Benin Republic, and Togo in West Africa, came into existence. These people and their rich culture, philosophy, arts, and histories demonstrate the precolonial realities of African indigenous people. 

The Oyo Empire (southwestern Nigeria) was the most notable Yoruba state, which peaked from 1660 to 1750. Oya became dominant by establishing trade and building a formable cavalry and trained army. Coastal trade with European merchants during the mid-1700s allowed territorial expansion. With time, the Oya used its military to take control of the trade routes and engage directly with the European trading posts being established along the coasts. The central trading goods were African slaves for European guns. This led to increasing conflicts between various African nations, as Oyo began to dominate the slave trade and exerted royal control in the Dahomey port of Whydah. European trading nations competed for slaves by offering more and more guns as an essential article of commerce. (Fabe and McCaskie, 2023)   

Slavery in Africa was not unlike that in Europe during this same period. Thus, Africans could become enslaved as captives in war, punishment for crimes, or poverty and debt. (Adi 2012)

Yoruba became the second most important slave-exporting region in Africa during the 19^th Century. Only Central Africa produced more slaves. Enslaved Yoruba were found throughout the Atlantic, with the largest numbers going to Sierra Leone, Cuba, Brazil, and Trinidad.   Other slave trading systems were in the Windward Coast, Asante, Igbo, Dahomey, Niger Delta, and Central Africa. (Oja 2008). 

Several African kingdoms refused to take part in slavery. Here are a few African domains that declined to participate and actively resisted slavery. 

Of the numerous African-led attempts to resist colonial imperialism, the Fante Confederation stands out. Caseley argues that the Confederation also envisioned the creation of infrastructure to include political, educational, and a system of roads, all paid for by taxes. As early as the 15^th Century, the Fanta, found in Ghana, actively prevented the Portuguese from coming on shore. King Ansah waged continuous battles and skirmishes, ultimately expelling the Portuguese from the region. The Fante Confederacy was formed in the early 18th Century to provide a collective force to fight against European imperialism.   (Casely 1903/2007)

Also in the 15th Century, the Balanta, in present-day Guinea-Bissau, unable to thwart the slave-raiding armies, changed their way. Living in the mosquito-infested, marshy land between West Africa's Saloum River and northern Liberia, the Balanta and other ethnic groups benefited from a decentralized, stateless society in an area where the Kaabu decimated the region in its slave raids. As the attacks increased, the Balanta relocated to more isolated regions within the swamps. In the process, they became highly efficient in developing paddy-rice production techniques. Thus, they were able to maintain political independence, as well as resist the slave trade. (Hawthrone 2001)     

One of the first African opponents to the transatlantic slave trade came from the Kongo ruler Nzinga Mbemba (also known as Alonso, 1446-1543). In a 1526 letter, he wrote to João III, the Portuguese king, objecting to the kidnapping and forced enslavement of their people.  

The first armed resistance occurred in 1630. Queen Nzinga Mbandi of the Abundu Kingdoms of Ndongo and Matamba (now Angola), for close to 40 years, waged a war against the Portuguese and European colonization in Southwest Africa out of her realm. Described as a brilliant military tactician, she could restrict the Portuguese colony to just a few square miles. (Akimbode 2021) 

During this same period, Muslim state organizing among the Berber tribes began to formally reject slave raiding. Nasir al-Din, with the title of imam, refused to take any share or participate in the slave traditions of earlier Islamic states. (Robinson 1975) Under Nasr's leadership, a thirty-year war took place. This war, known as the Char Bouba war, 1644-1677, started with al-Din declaring jihad and targeting the French trade in Senegal. Nasr's movement, aiming to abolish the slave-trading dynasties of the local kingdoms, was a populist movement. Many local peasants flocked to him to overthrow the traditional leaders embroiled in the slave trade. (Barry 1998)  

By 1885, only Ethiopia and Liberia remained free during the European Scramble for Africa. Only Italy was without colonies, as France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal had controlled the bulk of the continent. Italy, determined to make its mark, was establishing its colony of Eritrea along the Horn of Africa. It was here, in a fierce battle in 1887, that 500 Italian soldiers died in a well-orchestrated ambush. 2 years later, Italy signed a treaty with Ethiopia's emperor, Menelik II. Confusion over the terms of this treaty led to an all-out war, as Menelik mobilized an estimated 80,000 to 120,000 soldiers from across most of the Ethiopian region and ethnic groups. (Woldeyes 2020)

As Italian troops neared the Ethiopian capital of Addis, the Battle of Adwa began. Within 2 months, the Ethiopian army had vanquished the Italian column and had encircled the Italian fort at Mekel.  Menelik declared victory in March of 1886 with the Italian military in full retreat and with the Ethiopians claiming 3,000 prisoners. And thus began the long road to African liberation.   One of the remarkable military tacticians and strategies, leading a 6,000-person cavalry, was Etege Tayitu Bitul, wife of Emperor Menelik.   Other protracted rebellions occurred in Somaliland from 1895 to 1920, the Egba revolt in Nigeria in 1918, and peasant uprisings in the Sudan from 1900 to 1904. These rebellions, revolts, and wars would sound the bells of liberation and redemption for leaders such as Nkrumah in Ghana and across the continent and the Black diaspora, including Marcus Garvey and W.E. B. Du Bois (Woldeyes 2020) The next section will look at these colonial resistance movements of the 20th Century.    

Anti-Colonial Movements of the 20^th Century

WWI anti-colonial movements

 As the 20^th Century dawned, it was greeted by Africans across the continent in a continual battle to resist the colonial imposed systems. Resistance took many forms, from escaping and work stoppages to full-blown military engagements.  

Perhaps the most popular movement of the early 20^th Century was the Dervish Movement in Somalia. This movement, occurring between 1896 and 1925, was led by a poet named Mohammad Abdullah Hassan. Calling for the liberation of the Somali people, he waged a war to reclaim the region from British and Italian incursions and to restore self-government. They also targeted the Ethiopians who facilitated and collaborated with the British and Italians during this period.    (Hassan and Robleh 2004) The movement attracted as many as 26,000 armed youths from different clans. Their first battle was an unequitable success as the Ethiopians retreated. Next, the Dervish movement targeted the British administration in Somaliland. In response, the British armed several competing Somali clans with weapons and supplies. This resulted in several successful attacks against Dervish positions. From 1904, the Dervish resorted to guerrilla warfare, targeting Italian-controlled territories. By 1906, the Italians had signed the Illig treaty in which the Dervish were ceded the Nugaal valley and granted protected status. (Samatar 1988) Increasing victories in 1908 saw the British retreating to the coastal regions as they suffered major losses in the interior areas of the Horn of Africa. For most of the First World War, things were at a stalemate. But as the war ended in 1920, the British launched a massive offensive against the Dervish strongholds. (Mohamoud 2006)   

From 1905-1907, the Jaji Maji Rebellion was orchestrated by the collaboration of Muslim and Animist Africans to challenge German colonial rule in East Africa. Between 75,000 to 300,000 died, mostly because of famine. (Iliffe 1967) Although unsuccessful, it nevertheless served as a model for future rebellions that would ultimately lead to the liberation of Tanzania. (Sunseri 2003).

As Europe entered World War I, Africans in countries such as Nigeria, Guinea, Dahomey, and Mozambique realized that there would be an exponential increase in labor demands, taxes, and other resources. Consequently, potential military inductees fled the colony and took refuge in other territories. Others escaped into different villages, clans, or other means to avoid compliance. Ultimately, they responded with rebellions, sabotage, and open warfare. European military threats and reprisals did little to gain full compliance. (Moyd 2017)

 One particularly significant armed rebellion occurred in 1906 in Natal, a former province of South Africa. Although the smallest of the four traditional areas, it was integral in the struggle for independence. Here, the Zulu Chief organized a major uprising known as Mbata Bhambatha. In many ways, Bhambatha might be considered a reluctant rebel. As chief, it was his duty to collect the poll taxes. He found himself not unlike other leaders across the Colony, many of whom bitterly resented and chose to defy the tax. One such group, The Mpanza faction, decided to speak out and armed themselves to violently oppose the new tax levy. They were marching to the capital and confronted by Bhambatha, who successfully talked them out of open warfare and returned home. Frightened, the white settler community sought to punish the group and summoned Bhambatha to report on the rebellion. Fearing reprisals from the police and militia, he chose to escape instead.   After a few weeks, he returned and organized an armed uprising in 1906 to oppose the poll tax and increasing hardships imposed by the United Kingdom. With 10,000 Zulu warriors, he began his mission to force the Brits out of South Africa. Although Bhambatha was ultimately defeated, he inspired the South African anti-apartheid movement that would follow. (Thompson 2008)

Increasing resistance among Africans and reprisals ultimately led to open and armed conflict between the colonizer and the colonized. One such incident, Chilembwe's rebellion, occurred in January 1915 in Nyasaland (Malawi). In this rebellion, John Chilembwe (1871-1915), a Baptist pastor, incited his congregation -consisting of teachers and the African middle class-to attack the British settlers and their properties. Raiding British estates, they acquired weapons and ammunition and continued for about 2 weeks until the insurgents were captured.    The rebellion, although suppressed, nevertheless served notice to the colonial managers that the Africans were not docile and could be mobilized to fight back for liberty and justice.   Islamic areas of Africa, particularly in the French West Africa and North African States, became the leading edges of anti-colonial movements of the period. (SAHO 2011/2019)

Muslim doctrine, recognizing Euro-Christianity as the antithesis of Islam, increased the militancy, vigor, and duration of these anti-colonial movements. The first of these rebellions occurred during the First World War. Rebels, influenced by Islam, build campaigns across diverse populations and produce the wider socio-political activities necessary for a successful outcome. Reaching a peak in 1916, almost every major French colony in Africa and Asia witnessed anti-colonial rebellions during the First World War. These activities engulfed Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad, and Benin. (Krause 2021)

Although rarely successful, these rebellions, insurrections, and protests demonstrated Africans' unquenchable desire for freedom across the continent, the various religions, clans, and regions. Other protracted revolutions occurred in Somaliland from 1895 to 1920, the Egba revolt in Nigeria in 1918, and peasant uprisings in the Sudan from 1900 to 1904. These rebellions, revolutions, and wars would sound the bells of liberation and redemption for leaders such as Nkrumah in Ghana and across the continent and the Black diaspora, including Marcus Garvey and W.E. B. Du Bois (Woldeyes 2020) These also fueled the next phase of liberation struggles across Africa as Europe and other Western nations were again engulfed in war, which was WWII. 

 WWII and the modern anti-colonial movement

 

In many ways, Africa was at the center of the Second World War, if not the cause. Europe never settled the First World War, as several states, notably Germany and Italy, continued to reassert their control over their lost colonial territories. It might have started with the 1935 attempt by Mussolini and his unprovoked attack against Ethiopia.   As the world watched on in silence, invading forces forced Haile Selassie, Ethiopian's ruler, into exile, and Mussolini proclaimed Ethiopia as a vassal state. Although the League of Nations responded with economic sanctions against the Italians, lack of support made it ineffective. What it did was reignite the various African nationalist movements across the continent. Wary of further Italian incursions, the Egyptians granted Britain and France military access and naval control of the Mediterranean. The real issue was control over the Suez Canal and access to the oil from the Middle East and other raw resources from Asia.   In December of 1940, the Italian and British armies would face off at the Libyan-Egyptian border in the so-called Western Desert campaign. Facing massive defeats, the Italians called upon Hitler and the Germans for support.   Ultimately, the English were victorious, and on January 15, 1943, the German and Italian forces were defeated, and Britain took over Tripoli. (Zabecki 2006).    As the war concluded, Africans' struggle for freedom and autonomy reached new levels.   

 Even before WWII ended, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill began discussing the future. Their conversations culminated in the Atlantic Charter, which declared that each country would "respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government which they will live; and they wish to see sovereign rights and self-government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them." (Atlantic Charter 1941) This agreement would become the catalyst for decolonization movements across Africa. 

African nationalists were able to take advantage of the immense post-war debts facing many European powers. These debts meant that many could no longer maintain their control over their African colonies. The first step came when delegates from across the globe gathered in Manchester to participate in the Fifth Pan-African Congress in 1945.  Three future African presidents would attend this historic meeting: Hastings Banda of Malawi, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana. At this Congress, Kwame Nkrumah, writing the preamble to the Congress, declared their vision: "...we believe in the rights of all peoples to govern themselves. We affirm the right of all colonial peoples to control their own destiny. All colonies must be free from foreign imperialist political or economic control." (Nkrumah 1945) As the clarion call for liberty and justice was heard across the continent, liberation movements surfaced across Africa. 

By 1948, Ghanaians were rioting in response to three Ghanaian veterans being killed by colonial police as they protested colonial rule. Nkrumah and other leaders were imprisoned, and the independence movement was launched. Upon release from prison, Nkrumah founded the Convention People's Party, which began to push for "Self-Government Now!" The slogan gained momentum, and with the February 1951 election, the CPP gained 34 of the 38 elected seats. On March 6, 1957, the Ghanaians became the first sub-Saharan African country to gain independence from European powers.   (Esseks 1971)

Also, in the early 1950s, the Kikuyu people of Kenya launched the Mau Mau nationalist movement. This movement, advocating violent resistance to British rule, was immediately banned by the British rulers in Kenya. After a four-year military engagement, and with over 11,000 rebels killed, 20,000 placed in detention camps, and an estimated 5,228 Kenyans tortured or abused, the battle waged on. Amnesty for the Mau Mau activists was ordered on January 18, 1955, by Evelyn Baring, the Governor-General of Kenya. Although later revoked due to a lack of response, a land reform program increasing Kikuyu's land holdings was granted in June 1956. Other land reforms followed, the most significant of which was that native Kenyans were finally allowed to reap cash crops for the most considerable import -coffee. (Pinckney and Kimuyu 1994) Formal direct elections took place in 1957 in which Kenyans were finally elected to the Council. Then, after the ban on national political movements was lifted, allowing several indigenous political parties came into being. These political parties, contesting the 1961 general election, resulted in them having a plurality of the popular vote and seats in the legislature. Following this victory, they rewrote the national constitution, leading to the formal independence of Kenya on December 12, 1963. Adding to the success, Jomo Kenyatta, a Mau Mau leader jailed in 1953, became the first prime minister of an independent Kenya. (Perry 2016)

A parallel path toward independence was occurring in Algeria. The movement for Algerian independence started during World War I but gained momentum after WWII. The National Liberation Front (LLF), from 1954 to 1962, was the vehicle by which Algerians fought for their independence. The LLF waged a diplomatic war (in the United Nations) and a guerrilla war against the French. Urban guerrilla fighting around Algiers forced several violent urban attacks formally known as the Battle of Algiers (1956-57). Even with 500,00 troops, France had difficulty regaining control, and this was only with a level of brutality that caused the French people to lose their political will.    The movement was so popular that it caused major ripples in France with the demise of the Fourth Republic (in 1956). Sensing defeat, Charles de Gaulle 1959 declared Algerians had the right to determine their future. On July 5, 1962, after 132 years of occupation, France signed an agreement leading to Algerian independence. (Rahal 2022)

From 1975 to 2002, Angolan rebels fought the bloodiest and longest liberation war since World War II. At stake were abundant natural resources, including oil, iron, copper, bauxite, diamonds, and uranium. The rebellion was preceded by multiple complaints by workers regarding violations. As discontent mounted, the workers decided to go on strike and demand better working conditions and higher wages. Over time, these complaints were utilized by the Congolese PSA (African Solidarity Party) to bolster a riot by the indigenous population. As violence escalated, rebels attacked security forces, which resulted in 9 deaths on February 2, 1961, as a result of a dispute regarding labor conditions faced by the workers. The Angolan War of Independence was launched on March 15, 1961, as Holden Roberto led between 4,000 and 5,000 armed rebels. They attacked farms, government outposts, and trading canters.   Further attacks over the next few months resulted in the Angolan forces taking several towns and villages. After several attempts, the Portuguese military regained control of several of these areas by mid-September. Still, a June 9^th resolution of the United Nations Security Council declared that Angola was a "non-self-governing territory" and called for Portugal to halt its repression against the Angolan people. During this period, the Angolan Independence Movement had control of a large portion of the colony. Portugal retaliated, forcing the rebels into a guerrilla war. A military stalemate had been reached by the early 1970s. A military coup overthrowing the dictator in 1974 opened the floodgates toward Angolan political liberalization. The period rocked with violence targeting native Angolans, only intensified the call for independence. Open combat by Angolan forces reemerged in Luanda in July of 1975. Portugal began ceding control to the militants. In 1974, rebel forces formally forced the Portuguese governor, Estado Novo, to leave the country. A coalition government was established, merging the various African liberation movements. Portugal. Within a year, had ceded the colony and agreed to withdraw all troops from its African territories, including Sao Tome and Principe, Cape Verde, Mozambique, East Timor, and Angola. (Samson 2021)  

Time precludes discussing all the African nations that declared their independence. In 1960 alone, called the Year of Africa, 17 African nations gained independence. The last African countries to achieve their autonomy were Guinea-Bissau (1974), Mozambique (1975), Djibouti (1977), Zimbabwe (1980) and Namibia (1990). (Wilson 1994) Because of the sacrifices, courage, and vision of so many Africans who looked forward and not backward, Africa was liberated. Liberation was fiiled with both promises and problems, possibilities and probabilities.