Africa and the First World War: Remembrance, Memories and Representations after 100 Years

The First World War was a widespread conflagration in world history, which, despite its European origins, had enormous effects throughout the world. Fettered to European politics and diplomacy through colonialism, Africa could not claim a position of neutrality, meaning that it mobilised human and natural resources to support the imperial war effort. Fighting both within and outside Africa, colonised Africans who were compelled or coaxed by the colonial regimes of the warring European countries fought Europeans and Africans too. The soldiers fought with great dedication and contributed significantly to successes attained by the belligerent European colonialists. Similarly, African non-combatants, like carriers, brought zeal and enthusiasm to difficult wartime tasks. The impact of the war on Africa was immense with far-reaching consequences in specific colonies, and touched the lives of all Africans under colonial rule. Although the continent’s connections to the war were immense and diverse, these experiences are not widely known among scholars and the general public. This is because, over the years, most studies and commemorative events of the war have centred on the European theatre of the war and its outcomes. This book brings together interesting essays written by scholars of African history, society, and military about African experiences of the war. It complements and problematises some key themes on Africa and the First World War, and offers a stimulating historiographical excursion, providing possibilities for reconsidering normative conclusions on the war. The volume will be of interest to general readers, as well as students and researchers in different areas of scholarship, including African history, war studies, postcolonial studies, cultural studies, labour history, and the history of memory, among others.


De-Valera NYM Botchway, PhD, is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. His research and teaching expertise converge within the social and cultural history of Africa and the African and global historic and cultural exchanges. He was a Fellow of the Centre of African Studies at the University of Cambridge, UK (2006-2007), a Visiting Scholar at the University of South Florida, USA (2010), and Exchange Faculty at Grand Valley State University, USA (2012), and received the AHP Fellowship award (2013/2014) from the American Council of Learned Societies. He is on the editorial board of three journals, Drumspeak, Asemka and Abibisem, and belongs to the Historical Society of Ghana.

Kwame Osei Kwarteng is an Associate Professor in History and the Head of Department of History at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. He holds a BA (Hons) degree and MPhil in History from Cape Coast and a PhD in African Studies from Birmingham University, UK. He has authored two books, A History of Ahafo 1719 -1958: Ahafo from the earliest Times to 1958 (2011) and A History of the Elephant in Ghana in the Twentieth Century (2011), and co-authored A History of the University of Cape Coast: Fifty Years of Excellence in Tertiary Education, 1962-2012 (2012), A History of CHASS: Fifty Years of Providing Quality Leadership in Secondary Education in Ghana, 1962-2012 (2012), and A History Of University of Cape Coast: Forty Years of Resilience 1962-2002 (2002).

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ISBN: 1-5275-0546-4

ISBN13: 978-1-5275-0546-9

Release Date: 26th January 2018

Pages: 273

Price: £64.99

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