Tatiana Houngbo

Africa and War World 2

Africa’s political freedom and Independence were sparked by the Second World War. The

conflict helped the development of strong African nationalism which culminated in all African

fighting for their liberation as a single aim. By influencing both Europe and Africa militarily,

mentally, politically, and economically, World War two resulted in the independence of Africa.

By attacking and occupying Poland in 1939, Nazi Germany started the Second World War.

Following the invasion of Poland, Nazi Germany moved on to Belgium, Holland, and France. It

tried to invade Britain but was unsuccessful. Fascist Italy joined Germany in 1940, and

imperialist Japan joined in 1941, completing the Axis forces. The Axis forces had been

successfully overpowering their opponents and winning wars until 1942. Nevertheless, after

1942, the Allied Powers, which consisted of the United Kingdom, the United States, and the

Soviet Union, actually fought back and won important victories. On both fronts, Nazi Germany

was cornered, and the war ended in May 1945. After the dropping of atomic bombs on

Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States, Japan surrendered months later. During this time,

Africa was not spared from the horrors of the war, fighting took place in two African regions: the

Horn of Africa and North Africa1. Not a single country in the continent was immune to the

consequences of a World War. In the terrible conflicts of WWII, millions of Africans from all

over the continent fought and died2. Millions of Africans were recruited to fight in both World

Wars I and II. They were at odds with the German empire. They fought for the independence of

the allied powers. They were waging a war to liberate the European countries when they were

barely free3. Even though WWII was not Africa's war, they fought, nonetheless. If not for the
1
Erin Myrice. The Impact of the second world war on the Decolonization of Africa. Africana Studies Student
Research Conference. Bowling Green State University.
2
Judith A. Byfield et al. African and World War II. 2015.
3
Erin Myrice. The Impact of the second world war on the Decolonization of Africa. Africana Studies Student
Research Conference. Bowling Green State University.
 Tatiana Houngbo

contribution of African both in people and in supplies, the war outcome would have been

different4. The Second World War was able to prepare Africans with the military expertise,

political understanding, and leadership capabilities they would need to fight for their

independence. The lack of unity among African countries and the peoples was one of the

numerous reasons why Africa was colonized by European countries in the first place.

Communication, equality, and the capacity to work together were crucial military skills that

Africans developed during the world wars. While Europe was focusing its attention entirely on

their conquest without distractions, African nations and countries were split. They were

frequently fighting each other while also resisting European invasion during the start of

European colonization. The lack of unity was no longer a worry after World War two, instead, it

reinforced African nationalism which aided them in ending the European colonialism in Africa.

The psychological changes brought about by World War II aided Africa's independence. People's

perceptions of ordinary life, themselves, and others around them altered as a result of the war.

The way Africans perceived Europeans changed as a result of the battle. Africans had long

believed in white supremacy as they have encountered white men in their colonial elite’s

arrogant dictatorial attitudes only, but they noticed in conflict while fighting together, that the

white man bled, screamed, was terrified, and died like anybody else when shot 5. Upon this

discovery, they realized that there was no difference between them, and the Europeans as

Africans were being regarded as monkeys6. Europeans were supposed to be unbeatable and

unstoppable. After a long and exhausting struggle for freedom and independence, Africans

finally succeeded. World War two began as a European battle, but it expanded somehow into an
4
Jacob Louis Money. 2017. Analyses of World War II’s Impact on African Nationalism. Africana Studies Student
Research Conference. Bowling Green State University.
5
Erin Myrice. The Impact of the second world war on the Decolonization of Africa. Africana Studies Student
Research Conference. Bowling Green State University.
6
Africa and the Second World War. 1985. The General history of Africa: studies and documents,10. UNESCO.
 Tatiana Houngbo

anti-colonial and anti-racist fight. World War two not only affected Africa, but the entire world,

military, psychological, economic, and political. In reconsideration, as violent and terrible as

World War two was, it helped Africans gain their political liberty and independence. The reign

of the European empire may have lasted for years if World War two had not happened, evil

resulted in some good. 

Ghana, previously known as the Gold Coast, was the first colony to win independence in 1957.

Kwame Nkrumah, well-educated social activist-led farmers, and workers in a nationwide strike

for a new colonial constitution in the late 1940s. Within ten years, Britain has had to grant Ghana

complete independence on March 06, 1957, because of how much the movement have grown.

This was marked the formal start of decolonization. While some countries gained their

independence peaceably other had to fight for it 7, like in Kenya and Algeria, where they had to

use their military expertise and combat experience to drive out the French and British armies.

They both gained their independence in 1962 and 1964. However, after most colonies gained

their independence, they were faced with tough challenges establishing functioning economies

because of the damages of the war. 

 World War two had a significant effect on the integration of Africa's economy into the global

capitalist system. After World War two Africa's economy was fully incorporated into the

capitalist system. African countries were put at difficulty in the global economic system

especially African agriculture was changed in part, to produce needed commodities and food for

Europe. Rationing was practiced across the empires, and an ongoing attempt was made to get the

colonies to provide what Europe most needed. New food items were developed with Europeans

in mind, and new raw materials were produced on the outskirts with Europe's industries as the
7
Jacob Louis Money. 2017. Analyses of World War II’s Impact on African Nationalism. Africana Studies Student
Research Conference. Bowling Green State University.
 Tatiana Houngbo

target market8. Africa was valuable to Europe because it provided raw materials for industry and

a ready market for completed goods. After and even during the war demand for African-

produced items decreased, causing a serious slump in several regions of Africa, like in Abeokuta

a Yoruba town in western Nigeria that served as colonial Nigeria’s capital. In the harsh economic

situation of Abeokuta, men and women tried to control and protect themselves. During the war,

the battle for food made the market a very contested area. It revealed battles between the state

and local producers in the process, as authorities attempted to get goods at a lower cost of

production while farmers attempted to oppose this exploitation 9. Local foodstuffs and the retail

end of the textile trade were controlled by women. They also controlled the lucrative indigo-dyed

fabric sector, known as adire,(one of Abeokuta’s major economic activities) in terms of

production and sales. Women merchants were associated with the global markets through the

import or export of goods as a result of their diverse business activity. The loss of foreign

markets, as well as the limited supply of shipping capacity, impacted women merchants

severely. 

The town of Abeokuta made a significant contribution to the production of agricultural goods

for the war as well as supplies for the civilian and military populations in Lagos and Abeokuta.

Rice was high on the priority list because it was in short supply, plus it was needed to feed mine

employees and boat boys. Nigeria was tasked with supplying rice to help feed the rest of the

world also they provided salt, groundnut oil, egusi oil, ghee, gari, potatoes, and onions in

addition to rice10. Senegal was also tasked with producing rice to help feed the European troupes

as shown in the movie Emitai by Ousmane Sembene, a white officer was sent to a Senegalese
8
Durodola Samuel Tosin. 2016. World War II and the Economic Situation in Africa. Academia.
9
Judith A. Byfield et al. Africa and World War II. Women, Rice, and War: Political and Economic Crisis in
Wartime. p148-164.
10
Judith A. Byfield et al. Africa and World War II. Women, Rice, and War: Political and Economic Crisis in
Wartime. p148-164.
 Tatiana Houngbo

village to collect rice as a tax payment from its population. Palm oil was also in high demand as

it was highly valued as a lubricant for machines, as well as a food and soap component. Other

commodities like rubber, cotton, copper, as well as cash crops like cocoa, coffee, tea, and

tobacco, were likewise in high demand during and after the War 11. Africa's resources had a

significantly bigger impact on Allied arming and wartime weapons manufacturing than the

continent's political importance or general economic growth. Indeed, because of its superiority in

the supply of some important minerals, it is reasonable to claim that African production was

critical to the Allies' war effort. Africa contributed 50% of the world's gold, 9% of the world's

manganese, 39% of the world's chromite, around 24% of vanadium, about 7% of copper, close to

1% of cobalt, all of the uranium, and, probably most crucially, 98 percent of the world's

industrial diamonds during the war's peak years12.

Several historians have claimed that African military service was mostly voluntary, or that where

compulsion did exist it was most often instigated by village chiefs. From allowances to

kidnapping, there were various examples of coercion. A difference must be drawn between

fighters and non-combatants, as in many other aspects of West African warfare historiography.

Regional chiefs were given allowances by the British, which played a crucial role in combatant

recruitment. While the Colonial Office opposed official soldier recruitment from 1939, because it

was an expensive and wasteful means to get trustworthy soldiers in wartime, this did not stop

British authorities from pressuring local chiefs, who were forced to satisfy their requests to

continue in power. There were plenty of incentives: since 1936, chiefs in the Gold Coast's

Northern Territories had been given monthly payments, and this connection meant that military

11
Between World Wars (1914-1945). The Story of Africa. BBC World Service.
12
Ewout Frankema. 2015. How Africa’s colonial history affects its development. World Economic Forum.
 Tatiana Houngbo

recruiting fitted perfectly into the current structural hierarchy of colonial administration 13.

Though quota-enlistment was mostly on a local level, it was an important aspect of British

military recruiting in West Africa. British forces kidnapped young guys and drove them to

military camps, according to oral testimony in Ghana. In Accra, one man remembers being

kidnapped from the street by troops in 1942( this was depicted in the movie Emitai by Ousmane

Sembene, where at the start of the movie, black soldiers were hiding in bushes and ambushing

mostly young man that was passing through forcing them to join the recruitment), in Sierra

Leone, individuals imprisoned for illegal mining were transferred to the army, and the courts

gave defendants the option of going to prison or serving in the military. Despite extensive

coercive resources, including statutory conscription, British authorities were obliged to persuade

Africans to voluntarily enroll by using anti-fascist propaganda, which was aired on the radio

where the R.W.A.F.F’s achievements in East Africa were told and specific acts of gallantry by

Gold Coast soldiers were detailed through newspapers and poster campaigns, using dramatic

caricatures and paintings representing what life under German domination might look like. They

also had a film that depicted the entrance of recruits with tattered uniforms and their

transformation into stylish ones.

Nevertheless, the recruiting effort received such a low response, even with the use of propaganda

and intimidation, that the authorities were highly dissatisfied and alarmed. Recruiters frequently

claimed that blacks were uninterested, tepid, complacent, and unenthusiastic. For a variety of

reasons, black men were discouraged from enrolling. First Black males saw no justification

pledging their loyalty to the White people. They didn't understand why they should defend a

country where everything meaningful is a privilege of the white man and the conflict's eventual

13
Olivier Coates. 2020. New Perspectives on West African and World War Two. Journal of African Military
History. Brill.
 Tatiana Houngbo

outcome would not be in their favor because it was a white man's fight. As a result, black

indifference toward recruiting drives was formed by a rising suspicion of whites in general and

the government in particular14. Uneven compensation rates were also brought up by potential

recruiters. The evident racial discrimination exposed by the substantial racialized discrepancies

in pay rates between British and African workers. African soldiers became acutely aware that

they were paid far less than British troops, and this, along with the more widespread experience

of racism in the military, sparked outrage 15. The movie Camp de Thiaroye by Ousmane Sembene

perfectly depicts the kind of racial discrimination African soldiers were subjected to during the

colonial period. The movie showed how African soldiers were treated in their own country.

While staying at a military camp, the food served to them was not good and when ready to leave

the camp and receive their military compensation, they were cheated out of their money.

Although high-ranking army authorities realized that troops' pay was insufficient, they decided to

eradicate them rather than giving them the actual pay.

The conflict between colonialism and interaction with the West-shaped contemporary ideals and

ancestral values is not unique to Africa. While materialism and rationality are taken for granted

in the West, they have minimal impact on the worldviews that shape life in much of Africa. The

ghosts of heinous acts like murder, rape, and robbery may only be appeased by the captivity of

young virgins from the offender's family in the shrines of traditional priests, according to ancient

Ewe religious custom however, lawmakers have been debating how to end a practice that might

affect up to 10,000 girls. There are still other ancestral beliefs that exist in other apart of Africa,

like in Sierra Leone, where a group of women has been campaigning to eradicate female genital

14
Judith A. Byfield et al. Africa and World War II. The Military, Race, and Resistance. The Conundrums of
Recruiting Black South African Men during the Second World War. p71-88.
15
Olivier Coates. 2020. New Perspectives on West African and World War Two. Journal of African Military
History. Brill.
 Tatiana Houngbo

mutilation also known as circumcision, a practice that consists of the removal of the clitoris and

the cutting of other genital organs in order to reduce sexual pleasure and, allegedly to ensure a

woman's devotion to her husband. According to women’s rights activist Zainab Bangura in

Sierra Leone, you can't introduce a Western attitude and lecture people about their practices, the

more you decide to take on something like this, the more opposition you will encounter 16, which

his true because, in the movie Moolaade by Ousmane Sembene, the female lead who was trying

to end female genital mutilation in the village was getting opposed by not only the men of the

village but also by the female in charge of doing the practice. The blame was put on the

colonizer, for the men believed they were brainwashing their women into adopting their western

cultures. Papa Nnukwu also had blamed colonizers for brainwashing his son papa Eugene for his

erratic behavior toward him because of his traditional beliefs, from the book Purple Hibiscus by

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Traditions in Africa have developed over many centuries.

Persuading individuals to alter their habits takes a long time and a lot of patience.

World War Two is widely regarded as one of the most significant events in history, not only

because of its near-incomprehensible destruction but also because it altered social and political

norms in practically every country on the planet, including Africa.

Work Cited

16
Howard W. French. 1997. Africa’s Culture War: Old Customs, New Values. The New York Times.
 Tatiana Houngbo

 Africa and the Second World War. 1985. The General history of Africa: studies and
documents,10. UNESCO.
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000065161

 Between World Wars (1914-1945). The Story of Africa. BBC World Service.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/13chapter11.shtml

 Durodola Samuel Tosin. 2016. World War II and the Economic Situation in Africa.
Academia.
https://www.academia.edu/27209265/World_War_II_and_the_Economic_Situation_in_A
frica

 Ewout Frankema. 2015. How Africa’s colonial history affects its development. World
Economic Forum.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/07/how-africas-colonial-history-affects-its-
development/

 Erin Myrice. The Impact of the second world war on the Decolonization of Africa.
Africana Studies Student Research Conference. Bowling Green State University.
https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1048&context=africana_studies_conf.

 Howard W. French. 1997. Africa’s Culture War: Old Customs, New Values. The New
York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/02/weekinreview/africa-s-culture-war-old-customs-
new-values.html

 Judith A. Byfield et al. Africa and World War II. The Military, Race, and Resistance. The
Conundrums of Recruiting Black South African Men during the Second World War. p71-
88.

 Judith A. Byfield et al. Africa and World War II. Women, Rice, and War: Political and
Economic Crisis in Wartime. p148-164.

 Jacob Louis Money. 2017. Analyses of World War II’s Impact on African Nationalism.
Africana Studies Student Research Conference. Bowling Green State University.
https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1112&context=africana_studies_conf

 Olivier Coates. 2020. New Perspectives on West African and World War Two. Journal
of African Military History. Brill.
https://brill.com/view/journals/jamh/4/1-2/article-p5_2.xml?language=en&ebody=full
%20html-copy1#ref_FN000007