During the course of WWI, about 750'000 Africans lost their lives for the cause of colonial powers, such as the UK, France, Germany, Belgium and Portugal. Apart from the "many thousands" of Africans who were "recruited into imperial troops both for France and for Britain", African people also contributed "all sorts of necessary crops" to the demands of the colonial states, according to Prof. Roger Southall, Professor of Sociology at Witwatersrand University. However, the colonial empires "felt that having Africans with experience of arms" could pose a threat.
"For instance, when General Smuts was leading British troops in what was German East Africa, which is now Tanzania, Africans [were] recruited in significant numbers, although not in a combat role, but they were used widely as so-called native labor as porters to carry all the stuff that armies have to carry around. So they played a very, very significant role," Prof. Southall explains.
A factor that was "not anticipated" by colonial empires was the result of Africans "engaging in conflict" alongside Europeans.
"Remember that if you were coming from a colony like Gold Coast, Ghana or Nigeria, most Africans had not really come into direct contact with whites [...] But once you're in an army, you come into very direct conflict with white superiors and you're subjected to strict discipline and everything. And I think this undoubtedly fueled racial resentment, which then feeded over into the nationalist cause," the professor says.
World War I had a profound impact on the formation of nationalist movements and the subsequent protests carried out by Africans in their pursuit of independence and sovereignty. This global conflict served as a catalyst, awakening a sense of political consciousness and empowering Africans to challenge colonial rule.
"The consequence of that were political movements and agitations by Africans against the new policies of taxation, overtaxation, the new policies of dispossession, and the new policies of totally separating families and making sure that men are not at home to do what they should be doing to promote the family or to promote the economy," Prof. Macharia Munene, Professor of History and International Relations, United States International University, Nairobi, explains.
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