20th Century Western Wars in Africa

By the time World War I loomed on the horizon, most of Africa had already been colonized by European nations. Naturally, European countries demanded that their colonies contribute to the war effort. Armies conscripted and recruited Africans as soldiers, porters, and servants, and hundreds of thousands of Africans lost their lives. At the same time, European powers taxed African nations heavily to pay for war-time expenses. Combined with food shortages and epidemics, the economic struggles during WWI caused widespread rural poverty among Africans that lasted for years.

Africans were unable to avoid conscription during WWII, either; however, WWII provided Africans with glimpses of European weakness, an advantage that nationalist leaders used after the war to push for independence.

When the Italians invaded Ethiopia in 1935, Africans reacted with shock and anger. They saw it as an attempt to destroy the last remaining stronghold of African independence. The European practice of conscripting Africans into the military, as if they were expendable objects with no free will, along with the practice of forcing Africans to increase the production of exports, which deepened rural poverty and upsetting family life, caused deep-seated anger and resentment. All of this fanned the flames of independence. Africans who fought in World War II soon discovered that they could defeat armies who had defeated the British, such as when they defeated the Japanese. Africans also drove Italian troops out of Somalia and restored Ethiopia's independence. All of this proved that colonial powers were not undefeatable, as they had claimed. India and Pakistan's post-war independence gave nationalists the offensive they needed to agitate for independence.

But independence, which many African countries gained in the two decades following WWII, did not stop the super powers from fighting their battles over ideology and politics on African soil.

Africa, after all, had mineral wealth, fertile lands, and an exploitable market. It was a strategic location for major oil-shipping routes and had considerable strength as a political bloc in the UN. Africa was vulnerable because it was desperate for money and weapons, which the Western and Eastern blocs could provide in return for economic or political advantages. These factors led to continuing political and military conflict in Africa during the 1970's and 1980's. Some African nations looked to the West for help, such as President Mobutu of Zaire. Others looked to the East for help, such as Robert Mugabe, then fighting a war for liberation in Zimbabwe.

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