Interlude I: The Silent Continent
“Your map of Africa is really quite nice. But my map of Africa lies in Europe. Here is Russia, and here... is France, and we're in the middle — that's my map of Africa.”
-Otto von Bismarck
A regiment of soldiers from German Kamerun being inspected.
When the Great European powers plunged into the deadliest war mankind has ever condemned itself to, their colonial empires in Africa were surprisingly quiet. Throughout the entire Great War combat in Africa was primarily secluded to northern Africa, which was just south of the combat in Europe. While the epic chaos of Phase Two of the Great War obviously resulted in the absence of much of Africa from the conflict in Europe, the origins of African neutrality throughout Phase One is far more obscure and and not justified by the events of Phase Two.
For much of Europe, colonial empires were the backbone of their strength. The British alone had risen to power by subjugating one fourth of the planet and nearly every European state with colonies in Africa had ambitions to expand the extent of their colonial capabilities. Even so, when war broke out in 1914 the European colonies were poorly defended, especially when it came to the German Empire. Whatever military forces that were stationed in Africa were there not to fight rival empires but to rather maintain order and oppress natives. The Europeans who resided in the colonies were not enthusiastic about participating in the Great War, and one newspaper editorial even argued that the European colonists of Africa should not fight, but rather cooperate in the oppression of local cultures.
And so, from the very beginning Africa was in an awkward situation when the Great War began and consequently shocked the entire world. But the British were preparing for war against German holdings throughout the African continent, and the Committee of Imperial Defence planned to attack a German wireless station in the city of Dar Es-Salaam in German East Africa. However, the British prioritized the war against Germany in Europe over capturing any overseas colonial holdings and therefore Great Britain would have to rely on local colonial settlers to invade the German Empire’s territory in Africa.
The leading force in such an operation would be the Union of South Africa, a British dominion that inhabited the southernmost region of Africa and bordered German Southwest Africa. Since 1910 the leader of South Africa had been Prime Minister Louis Botha, who had fought in the name of the South African Republic, a nation inhabited by the Dutch-descended Boers of South Africa, against the British Empire. When the Great War broke out in Europe, however, Prime Minister Botha’s administration was seeking out further cooperation with Great Britain and Botha ensured the British that the Union of South Africa would participate in the Great War against Germany.
Prime Minister Louis Botha of the Union of South Africa.
While the government of South Africa was supportive of an invasion of German South West Africa, many Boers despised the very idea of fighting for the British imperialists who had forced them to swear allegiance to the Union Jack. To make matters worse, the German Empire had actually supported the Boer states in the Second Boer War and all of a sudden the conquerors of the Boers were ordering them to fight their former allies. As the South African military mobilized against Germany, anti-war sentiment amongst the Boers would grow as an awkward peace between South Africa and Germany occurred during a time of mobilization in Africa while the first invasions in Europe began. No fighting between the belligerents of the Great War happened in Africa throughout the August of 1914 and in this time period Boer opposition to the war effort increased and meetings between Boer secessionist movements occurred under the nose of the South African government.
By the time the September of 1914 began Louis Botha was still preparing for the invasion of German South West Africa, however, under advision from military commanders and Boers in the South African House of Assembly and Senate, hold off from going to war for the time being. On September 15th, 1914 two Boer generals, Christiaan Frederick Beyers and Koos de la Rey agreed to meet with Jan Kemp, another former Boer veteran of the Second Boer War who had amassed a force of two thousand trained men, in Potchefstroom.
To this day, it is not known what the true purpose of this meeting was. According to the government of South Africa, it was believed that the three military leaders were plotting to instigate a Boer rebellion while General Beyers claimed that the purpose was to encourage the resignation of Boer commanders from the South African military in protest of the upcoming war against the German Empire. On the way to the meeting, however, disaster struck. The car of Koos de la Rey was fired upon by a policeman and as a consequence De la Rey was killed. At the general’s funeral, rumors arose that the assassination was a plot of the government of South Africa, which further fueled the flames of the anti-war fire. If Louis Botha took no action, an open rebellion in South Africa could very well be just around the corner.
As September continued so did the uneasy peace between the Union of South Africa and German South West Africa. If South Africa went to war at this particular moment, the Boers would surely rise up in revolt. Regardless of the internal unrest within South Africa, Louis Botha assured the British that the Union of South Africa would aid Great Britain in the Great War and that an invasion of German South West Africa was still planned. Prime Minister Botha would promote going to war against Germany throughout the September of 1914 and pro-war propaganda sprouted up throughout South Africa. However, activities did not raise much support for the Great War and the Boers were only increasingly frustrated by the increasingly militant Botha.
Tensions between the Boers and Botha administration would reach a boiling point on September 29th, 1918 when Louis Botha was giving a speech in support of the Great War in Johannesburg. While the speech primarily attracted pro-war sympathizers a sizeable amount of protesters also resides in the crowd, one of which hated Louis Botha enough to bring a pistol and aim it at the prime minister’s head. Just a few minutes into Prime Minister Botha’s speech, two gunshots rang through the crowd in Johannesburg while Louis Botha laid dying on the ground while excessively bleeding. The man who had assassinated Botha was immediately arrested, but he had carried out his task. Louis Botha was never rushed to a hospital, for the wounds that had been inflicted upon him were so fatal that within just a few minutes the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa was declared dead.
After the assassination and consequential death of Louis Botha, a successor had to be found. While Jan Smuts was a popular choice, he was a supporter of the Great War like Botha and would likely only further infuriate the Boers. Instead, the South African Party selected Barry Hertzog as the successor of Louis Botha. Hertzog was critical of South African intervention in the Great War and ever since the end of the Second Boer War pursued a political career in fending off British imperialism towards the Boers, and was therefore very popular amongst the South African anti-war movement. Of course, Barry Hertzog wasn’t as popular amongst supporters of the Great War, including those within the South African Party, however, with a potential civil war looming over South Africa it was agreed that a man like Hertzog was needed and on September 30th, 1914 Barry Hertzog became the prime minister of the Union of South Africa.
Prime Minister Barry Hertzog of the Union of South Africa.
Prime Minister Hertzog quickly made it clear that he intended to continue cooperation with Great Britain, however, announced that the Union of South Africa would not go to war with the German Empire, at least against its African colonies, citing the immense unpopularity of the Great War amongst Boers. The British were infuriated that one of their dominions dared to not fight during one of the British Empire’s darkest hours, however, there wasn't really anything the United Kingdom could do to force South Africa to fight the Germans, or for that matter even punish Hertzog for refusing to go to war.
Prime Minister Hertzog would, however, ensure that the Great War would stay out of Sub-Saharan Africa. Hertzog would propose a meeting between representatives of the Entente and Germany to negotiate an agreement over the fate of warfare on the African continent. On October 7th, 1914 ambassadors of Great Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, and their respective African colonies arrived in Bloemfontein to reach an agreement that would maintain peace in Africa when Europe was plunged into death and destruction. While the Entente was insistent that it was the duty of their colonies to carry out the war effort in Africa, colonial representatives argued that it was within the interests of all colonies to maintain peace for the sake of suppressing native uprisings and the German Empire, which was geographically encased in enemy powers on all sides in Africa, supported colonial interests.
Days would pass in Bloemfontein with no formal agreement being reached. However, the Belgian delegation, which represented the exiled Belgian government in the Belgian Congo, concluded that suppressing local uprisings was a greater priority than continuing to carry out the Great War in Africa. Eventually, Britain and France would give into the demands of other delegates and on October 11th, 1914 the Treaty of Bloemfontein was signed, which proclaimed that no belligerents of the Great War would conduct direct warfare against their opponents in Africa unless a colony openly announced an end to its own neutrality in the Great War. However, all colonies would still be exploited for resources during the Great War and African soldiers could still be sent off to fight in Europe. For most in Africa, the Treaty of Bloemfontein was a victory. The German colonial empire would live on to see another day while the Boers of the Union of South Africa had finally achieved the neutrality that they desired. The majority of Europeans residing in Africa at the time were supportive of the Treaty of Bloemfontein and were happy that the bloodshed of Europe would be kept as far away from them as possible, while throughout European communities in Africa Prime Minister Barry Hertzog was declared a bringer of peace.
Of course, the Great War was not completely kept out of Africa. When the Ottoman Empire declared war on the Entente later in the October of 1914, the Sultan promised Germany that the Treaty of Bloemfontein would be respected, however, on October 30th, 1914 the Kingdom of Egypt, a British colony, declared war on the Ottomans after intense pressure from London as well as a massive Ottoman military buildup on the Egyptian-Ottoman border. From this point forward, Egypt and later Anglo-Egyptian Sudan would fight the Turks, with the Sinai Peninsula being used by the British as a place to deploy soldiers and fight the Ottomans.
British soldiers in front of the Sphinx and Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, circa 1916.
The rest of Africa would also experience at least some combat in the Great War, albeit no direct confrontations with major belligerents. Instead, nationalists seized the opportunity to break the chains of imperialist oppression when the occupiers of their homelands were distracted by the affairs in Europe. Throughout all of the Great War northern French colonies were plagued by Berber revolts that were usually suppressed by local armed forces. The Zaian Confederation in Morocco was actually funded by the Central Powers, mostly through intel and even a bit of leftover supplies, especially after Germany and Austria-Hungary were relieved of the war against Russia in 1918. Through vicious guerrilla tactics, as well as indirect aid from the Central Powers (which was technically permitted under the Treaty of Bloemfontein) the Zaian Confederation held on throughout all of Phase One and by the time chaos and revolution gripped revolution following the dawn of Phase Two the Zaian people were ready to intensify the fight for their liberation.
Throughout much of Africa, especially the French colonial empire, uprisings were small, yet common throughout the Great War and would often receive a bit of funding from the Central Powers. By 1919 a handful of guerrillas were persistently holding out and if Paris was captured the French feared that their colonial empire would explode into revolution and secession once the head was cut off the snake of imperialism. The British Empire, which could spare more men and resources, was considerably more stable, and Barry Hertzog even offered to deploy South African volunteer militias throughout Africa to suppress revolts, however, a few revolutions still held out. For example, throughout much of 1916 the Sultanate of Darfur, a British protectorate, would go to war with Great Britain following a dispute between the Sultan and the British, however, within a few months after the rebellion began in March the Sultanate of Darfur was defeated in the November of 1916 and was absorbed into Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.
An Anglo-Egyptian camel soldier of the Anglo-Egyptian Darfur Expedition.
Phase One of the Great War was a surprisingly quiet time in Africa, but was also influential as well. It was anticipated that whichever side came out on top in Europe would also triumph over Africa in any peace treaty that would redraw the African borders yet again. Of course, this dramatic peace treaty would not come. The Great War lasted entire decades longer than anyone expected and Europe would be plunged into chaos and warfare the likes of which the world had never before seen. Colonial dictates would quickly become useless and soon enough African nationalists would take another shot at freedom.
The sun was setting on the European empires and the sun of liberation was rising in its place.
The King’s African Rifles battalion of British East Africa, circa 1916.