☰ Contents · World history

Africa, 1918–1939

Lessons 14 · 1 lessons · Sh. Ergashev, B. Xodjayev, J. Abdullayev. World history (1918–1991), Grade 10, 1st edition. Turon-Iqbol Publishing House, Tashkent, 2017
14

African countries, 1918–1939

Textbook: pp. 62–66
GoalDescribe colonial rule in Africa in 1918–1939, the national movements of North Africa and the emergence of Pan-Africanism.
New words
colony · mustamlakamandated territory · mandat hududiPan-African movement · Panafrika harakatimetropole · metropoliya
Explanation

After the First World War almost all of Africa was in the hands of European states – Britain, France, Belgium, Portugal, Italy and Spain; only Ethiopia and Liberia stayed independent (Egypt was formally independent from 1922). Former German colonies were divided under League of Nations mandates (for example Tanganyika to Britain, Ruanda-Urundi to Belgium, South West Africa to the Union of South Africa). The metropoles built railways, ports and administration and used compulsory or cheap local labour on plantations and in mines; traditional chiefs were often incorporated into colonial rule. In North Africa Egypt declared independence in 1922 (Britain kept some powers) and adopted a constitution in 1923; national movements against French rule grew in Algeria, Tunisia (Habib Bourguiba) and Morocco; in Libya resistance to Italian conquest was suppressed with the execution of Omar Mukhtar in 1931. In tropical Africa political organisations appeared: in South Africa the African National Congress had been formed in 1912, and the Pan-African congresses (from 1919; W. E. B. Du Bois) demanded an end to racial discrimination. In 1926 the League adopted the Slavery Convention. In the Second World War Africa gained strategic importance and hundreds of thousands of Africans served at the fronts.

Worked examples
The mandate system in practice: Tanganyika was placed under British administration, but the mandate was called a “trust” and the League required reports. Many historians regard the mandates as a new form of colonialism.
A note on the textbook: it says the African National Congress was formed in 1920, but the ANC was founded in 1912 (as the South African Native National Congress); a National Congress of British West Africa was founded in 1920.
Class activity

Map: colour Africa as of 1939: Britain (red), France (blue), separate colours for Belgium, Portugal, Italy, Spain and independent states.

Practice
1
Which states were independent in Africa in the 1930s?
2
What did the 1926 Slavery Convention condemn?
3
Which leaders of the Pan-African movement do you know?
4
Why were European states interested in African raw materials?