Mobilising Britain's African Empire for War: Pragmatism vs Trusteeship

Abstract

Britain's African territories provided a reservoir of manpower that was heavily exploited during the First World War to aid the imperial war effort. Africans were recruited for service as labourers on the Western Front and, more importantly, staffed the vast logistics organisation that sustained multiple campaigns in Africa. Mobilising African subject populations raised difficult questions about the nature of British rule, particularly the racial hierarchies that sustained it. Voluntary recruiting was the model espoused by the colonial state, but in reality local systems of governance were exploited to impress men into service. Once on campaign African labourers suffered from high casualty rates as disease ravaged the lines of communication. This brutal wartime experience was not confined to those living under British rule, with German forces also sustained by poorly-treated African labourers. Mobilisation for the imperial war effort and the negligence of commanders during campaigns reveals the extent to which African colonial subjects were viewed as an exploitable resource during the First World War; an attitude that would leave a complex post-war legacy for the colonial powers in Africa.