History discussion paper Military
Military/Activities Checklist - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
201774 Activities Checklist 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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To meet the learning objectives for this topic, you will complete these activities. Print this page and use it as a checklist.
Review the Introduction and Objectives page. Read pages 360404 in your textbook. Read the lesson, The War to End All Wars. Read the lesson, Ethiopia and World War II. Read the lesson, Civil Wars. Complete all activities on the Learning Activities page. Read the Spotlight: Libya page. Participate in Discussion: Military. Post any questions about the course or assignments in the Help! Discussion.
Military/Civil War - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
201774 Civil War 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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With the exception of Syria, African countries currently get the worst rep when it comes to violence and conflict. Virtually every story coming out of the continent of Africa seems to showcase one atrocity or another. This narrative is both true and false. In 2014, Africa experienced more than half of worldwide conflict incidents, despite having only about 16 percent of the world population. This is a slightly larger share of the world’s conflicts than even during the chaotic years of the postCold War 1990s.
But there are two important caveats. One, the absolute number of conflicts worldwide has greatly decreased over the last two decades. So despite shouldering a larger share of the conflict burden, in absolute terms, Africa has become more peaceful as well. And secondly, the remaining conflicts seem to cluster in specific regions and involve only a few of Africa’s 54 nationstates. According to the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, 12 African countries experienced armed conflict in 2014. Three additional countries — Burundi, Niger and Chad — will likely be added to the list for the 2015 data.
Geographically Africa’s conflicts are tightly clustered along an arc stretching from northern Mali through southern Algeria and Libya into Egypt, extending into the Sinai Peninsula. The Boko Haram conflict in northeastern Nigeria is another epicenter and situated in relative proximity to an area of conflict hot spots in the Central African Republic, Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, South Sudan and Darfur. On Africa’s eastern coast, the Somali civil war is still going strong in its third decade.
Modern conflicts in Africa are thus highly localized, and they defy simplistic explanations based on stereotypes. That being said, these are our predictions for Africa’s conflicts in 2016.
Boko Haram
Frequent conflict between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government throughout 2015 has been reported. The insurgency is the deadliest conflict that Africa is currently experiencing and has now spread firmly into neighboring countries as well. Still, there is some hope. Monthly deaths in Nigeria are at their lowest levels in years.
Nigeria, like neighboring countries, still lacks a longterm strategy on how to deal with the insurgency. Current military successes in combating the diverse groups labeled as Boko Haram are dependent on spending billions on modern military gear that none of the countries involved can actually afford, riding all of them into serious debt. France and the United States are providing critical assistance, both in terms of intelligence and combating other terrorist groups farther north, so that Niger’s army can focus on the Boko Haram threat
In the near future, Boko Haram insurgency will likely continue to be a substantial source of violence in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon, although not on the extreme level experienced in 2014 and early 2015.
Mali, Algeria and Libya
The other international terrorist hot spot in Africa is the MaliAlgeriaLibya triangle. With many groups — including Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb — being active across some of the most arbitrary borders in
201774 Civil War 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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the world, these conflicts are interrelated. But their resolution will still require primarily national approaches.
Libya officially has a new peace deal, but with the country in open civil war, it will take more than a signed piece of paper to end the violence. The Islamic State also seems to have put its eye on Libya as a potential refuge, should its position in Syria and Iraq come under threat.
Mali is only held together by the presence of international troops and donor money, while still becoming more insecure even in the country’s south. The corrupt and inept political elite has learned nothing from the near collapse experienced in 2012, and there is little hope that it will in the near future. The international community is too invested to let Mali collapse, but the population will nonetheless experience widespread insecurity and fighting in the north, while the south will see further terrorist attacks on government institutions and targets associated with the West.
Algeria is a really interesting case. Its politics are so elitedriven and tightly interwoven with the security establishment that they are virtually impenetrable from the outside. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika consolidated power since 2014, but he is a very old man with a confirmed history of serious illnesses.
Algeria’s internal power balance is heavily predicated on using funds generated by the country’s rich endowment with hydrocarbons to buy for its military apparatus, thus keeping officers and enlisted men happy and able to suppress public discontent. With oil prices in a slump and internal conflicts over Bouteflika’s succession, the worst case scenario would see anger over low living standards and lack of opportunity boil over and mix with elite factionalism.
Source: https://warisboring.com/thesearethewarsthatwillrageinafricain2016 aa3d792954d5#.8dt7ez7gt
Military/Ethopia and World War II - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
201774 Ethopia and World War II 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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When Britain and France declared war on Germany in 1939, their African colonies were once again drawn into a European conflict, not of their making. Dictatorships known as fascism and Nazism were established in Italy, Germany, Portugal and Spain in the 1920s and 1930s which believed in the seizure of power by military force, the denial of basic freedoms for the people, and the racial inferiority of subject people (huh, sounds a LOT like what was going on in Africa). While Europe, Asia, and north America were drawn into full scale war between 1939 and 1941, for Africa the war against fascist aggression had begun in 1935 with the Italian invasion of Ethiopia.
Besides Liberia, Ethiopia was the only remaining independent African nation which had not been colonized by Europeans. In 1936, rads safari became emperor of Ethiopia and took the title of hailee Selassie. Ethiopia was a member of the League of Nations (precursor to the United Nations) and Haile Selassie expected the other countries of the United Nations to protect his country from Italian aggression. Yet, they did not. In October 1935 an Italian army of 120,000 men crossed the Somali and Eritrean borders into Ethiopia.
Despite a modern military, it took many months for the conquest of Ethiopia was semicomplete.. During which time, the Italians wrecked havoc on the Ethiopian countryside by bombing villages and spreading poison gas. While the Italians occupied much of Ethiopia, they never occupied the entire country. Pockets of resistance continued throughout the fiveyear occupation. Resistance that was aided by a large number of women who had been raped by members of the Italian army.
In May 1936, Haile Salassie went into exile in Europe. While there he had an opportunity to address the General Assembly of the League of Nations. He reminded the members of their inactivity during Italian occupation of his country and argued that the very purpose of the League was to protect the smaller nations from aggression by more powerful nations, He warned that International Morality was at stake that "God and history [would] remember your judgment" Then, he asked "are the states [members of the League] going to set up the terrible precedent of bowing before force?" The dominant powers of the League, France and Britain (the United States was not a member) did virtually nothing which left the Ethiopian patriots to continue their resistance. Meanwhile, Hitler followed the Italian example by aggressively exerting its power actions that eventually led to World War II.
In August 1940, Italian forces occupied British Somaliland and invaded British controlled Egypt from Libya. Facing the threat to the Suez Canal and her route to India, Britain reacted to Italian aggression in North Africa. By December, the British had pushed the Italians back into Libya and began their invasion of Ethiopia the following month, By May 1941, Haile Salassie was able to reestablish his throne and the British recognized Ethiopian independence (Shillington, 2005).
Military/Introduction and Objectives - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
201774 Introduction and Objectives 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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Introduction
An often forgotten venue for both World War I and World War II is the continent of Africa.
When these Wars broke out, African nations were still an integral port of European nations colonial empires. Therefore, when the conflicts broke out in Europe, they quickly spilled over onto the world stage. Several hundred thousand native Africans were functioned in roles to support both the efforts of the Allies and the Axis powers. These roles both included combat and auxiliary support roles (Casualties of War).
Objectives
After completing the learning activities for this topic, you will be able to:
Articulate the how African nations were impacted by European aggression during both World Wars. Compare Fascism and Nazism in Europe to the effects of colonialism in Africa. Understand how Ethiopia withstood European aggression. Evaluate the impact of PanAfricanism on African resistance to colonization.
Military/Learning Activities - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
201774 Learning Activities 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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Explore Resources
For further information and insight, look at these links.
Ethiopia in World War II Marcus Garvey
Military/question.docx
Please answer the following question. Your answer should be thorough and demonstrate your understanding of the material.
War is often a double-edged sword for nations that participate. When nations of Africa were pulled into World War I and II, what worked out well for them? What were the negative and lingering effects manifested themselves across the continent, as a result of these wars?
Make sure you support your answer with evidence from the readings.
Military/Spotlight_ Libya - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
201774 Spotlight: Libya 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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including access to clean drinking water, medical services, and safe housing, have all declined as the civil war has caused more people to become internally displaced, further straining local resources. Extremists affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) attacked Libyan oilfields in the first half of 2015 and ISIL has a presence in many cities across Libya including near oil infrastructure, threatening future government revenues from oil and gas
Nation's Modern Day Significance to the World
Libya is a destination and transit country for men and women from subSaharan Africa and Asia subjected to forced labor and forced prostitution; migrants who seek employment in Libya as laborers and domestic workers or who transit Libya en route to Europe are vulnerable to forced labor; private employers also exploit migrants from detention centers as forced laborers on farms and construction sites, returning them to detention when they are no longer needed; some subSaharan women are reportedly forced to work in Libyan brothels, particularly in the country’s south; since 2013, militia groups and other informal armed groups, including some affiliated with the government, are reported to conscript Libyan children under the age of 18; largescale violence driven by militias, civil unrest, and increased lawlessness increased in 2014, making it more difficult to obtain information on human trafficking.
Military/The War to End All Wars - 17.SU.HIS.2215.pdf
201774 The War to End All Wars 17.SU.HIS.2215.500 SURVEY OF AFRICAN HISTORY
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When war broke out in Europe in 1914, it was a first a European conflict. But, the fact that each of the major European powers had a significan colonial presence in Africa, battles quickly unfolded in African nations. The British joined their French allies attacking the German troops in the German colonies of Togoland (modern day Togo) and Kamerun (modernday Cameroon), Togoland quickly fell to the invading Allies, but the battles in Kamerun lasted for nearly two years. Meanwhile, in SouthWest Africa (modernday Namibia) the British government of South Africa had occupied the German territory. The success of British SouthAfrica gave control to the British for seventyfive years.
The longest conflict was in German EastAfrica (modernday Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda). Here South African troops united with British east and west African troops against the Germans in campaigns that lasted nearly four years. Once this territory had been occupied by the north and the Belgians from the west, the Germans commander led the German troops into Mozambique, Nyansaland, and eastern Rhodesia (modern Malawi ans Zimbabwe).
The destruction caused by the Kamerun and eastAfrican campaigns caused severe problems for the native peoples. Native homelands were often burned and the food supply and labor was often seized by opposing armies for the armies benefit, An estimated 1 million Kenyan and Tanzanians served as porters during the east African campaign, with nearly 100,000 falling to disease, malnutrition, and/or overwork.
It should be noted that most of the troops on both sides of the War were in tropical Africa were in fact Africans recruited or forced into service by their European rulers. The Germans in east Africa recruited (I hate using that word here) from peoples conquered. such as the Ngoni. The British enlisted 50,000 troops from Sierra Leone, Gold Coast and Nigeria which were used in east Africa. The South Africans recruited native Africans, but did not permit them to carry rifles because (after all) the enemy was white. (Think about that!) In addition, the the French conscripted 150.000 west Africans to fight on the Western Front in Europe, over 30,000 of whom were killed (Shillington, 2005).
The devastation of World War I in Africa was followed by famine and influenza which raved the continent in 1918. Along the coast and along the railway lines, influenza struck hardest where the people and land was already weakened by warfare, in adequate food supply and inadequate employment. In areas of east, west and central Africa, up to 3 percent of the population was lost. While in Rhodesia about 7 percent of the mineworkers were lost to the disease.
Former German colonies were formally taken over by other European powers. While the Europeans nations were mandated by the newly formed United Nations to safeguard the interests of the native population and prepare them for eventual selfgovernment, the reality was that the colonial powers treated their new territory the exact same way they treated their old colonies. The French and British shared Togo and Cameroon, the Belgians got Rwanda and Burundi, the British Tanzania and British SouthAfricans were awarded South WestAfrica.