Consequences of African resistance

1Why this matters

Apart from Ethiopia, every armed resistance in the Scramble era ended in military defeat. Does that mean resistance was pointless? Historians say no. Resistance had terrible costs, but it also forced changes in colonial policy, protected some rights and left a memory that inspired the independence movements of the twentieth century. This lesson helps you weigh those consequences and explain why most resistance failed.

2Negative consequences

• Loss of life. Tens or hundreds of thousands died in Maji Maji; the Herero and Nama suffered genocide.
• Famine and disease, often deliberately caused by scorched-earth tactics.
• Destruction of villages, crops, livestock and property.
• Depopulation and displacement: survivors fled or were moved, leaving regions empty for decades.
• Loss of independence anyway, often on harsher terms than if a ruler had collaborated.
• Leaders killed or exiled: Mwanga, Kabalega and Yaa Asantewaa to the Seychelles, Samori to Gabon; Koitalel shot; Mkwawa dead by his own hand.
• Loss of land: land of resisting peoples was often taken and given to collaborators or settlers. Bunyoro lost counties to Buganda.
• Collapse of traditional institutions in defeated kingdoms.

3Positive or long-term consequences

• Reforms. After Maji Maji, Germany ended forced cotton growing and softened its rule.
• More cautious colonial rule. Colonisers learned that brutal methods provoked risings, which encouraged indirect rule and some consultation of local leaders.
• African pride and identity. Resistance showed that Africans did not accept foreign rule, and it preserved a sense of dignity.
• Inspiration for nationalism. Later movements drew on these memories: Tanzanian nationalists recalled Maji Maji, and Zimbabwe's liberation war was called the Second Chimurenga.
• Independence preserved. Ethiopia's victory at Adwa kept it independent and made it a symbol of African freedom; many African flags later used its colours.

4Why most resistance failed

1. Inferior weapons against rifles, artillery and machine guns.
2. Disunity: African states were often rivals, and some helped the Europeans.
3. African soldiers in colonial armies did most of the fighting for the Europeans.
4. Weakness from disasters such as rinderpest, smallpox, drought and famine in the 1890s.
5. Poor co-ordination within risings.
6. Reliance on beliefs such as the maji, which collapsed under gunfire.
7. European resources: reinforcements, money and supplies from a whole empire.

5Why Ethiopia succeeded

Menelik II had built a large army of about 100,000 men armed with modern rifles bought from abroad; Ethiopia's regions were united against the invader; its mountainous terrain favoured the defenders; and the Italian commanders made serious mistakes, dividing their forces and underestimating the Ethiopians. At Adwa, on 1 March 1896, Italy suffered one of the worst defeats of any colonial army, and in the Treaty of Addis Ababa (1896) it recognised Ethiopia's independence.

Worked example: answering "Was resistance worthwhile?"

In the short term, most resistance brought disaster: death, famine, exile of leaders and loss of land, and it did not prevent colonial rule. But judging only by military results misses its wider effects. Risings such as Maji Maji forced colonial powers to change their methods, and the memory of resistance gave twentieth-century nationalists proof that Africans had never accepted foreign rule. In Ethiopia, resistance preserved independence itself. So resistance was costly and usually unsuccessful at the time, but it shaped colonial policy and inspired the later struggle for independence.

Practice

Solution. Any four of: loss of life; famine and disease; destruction of property and crops; depopulation; loss of independence; leaders killed or exiled; loss of land; collapse of traditional institutions.

Solution. Nationalists used the memory of resistance to show that Africans had always opposed foreign rule and to unite people; Tanzanian leaders recalled Maji Maji, and Zimbabwe's liberation war was called the Second Chimurenga.

Solution. Any three of: inferior weapons; disunity and rivalries between African states; African soldiers fighting for the colonial powers; weakness from disease, drought and famine; poor co-ordination; reliance on beliefs that failed; European reinforcements and resources.

Solution. A large army with modern rifles, unity under Menelik II, favourable mountain terrain and Italian mistakes.