War & Political Essays

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1 Would you agree that the nineteenth century witnessed a revolution in the culture and practice of warfare in Africa? The long nineteenth century witnessed unparalleled transformations in thought, technology, and territory across the globe. From the Industrial Revolution to the rise of cities and urbanization to the impact of two global wars and the undoing of colonialism, much of the focus of this time period has been on Western Europe and the Americas. Nonetheless, during this time, Africa also responded to the evolving world and the accelerating European encroachment on their world. The magnitude of these changes, however, varied greatly depending on the region and in many cases were not nearly as revolutionary as they appeared. While the spread of modern weapons (guns and breechloaders) and the increased use of transportation (canoes) in military pursuits undoubtedly impacted African societies and political structures in some capacity, it is African continuity—not African complete transformations—that should be notable during this time. Proponents of nineteenth century Africa as a time of revolutionary change often cite the introduction of firearms as a major altering force in Africa, but the firearm has been in circulation in African society since as early as the 16 th century. 1 In the 1570s, the Portuguese armed Africans living near their trading posts along the Gold Coast (Elmina, Shama, Axim) with firearms to protect their posts from European competitors and local rulers. 2 As more European nations attempted to establish their own entrepôts along Africa’s Gold Coast, they recruited more local Africans to defend and expand their trading power. 3 While the volume of firearms traded during this time is almost negligible compared to the peak volumes in the mid- to late-nineteenth century, firearms were by no means new—or revolutionary—to African societies. Furthermore, in the decades prior to the nineteenth century, “both private and official records…estimate that

2 between 283,000 and 394,000 guns per annum were imported into West Africa between 1750 and 1807,” 4 which would be in line with the “1,000,000 fire-arms” 5 reported in the “revolutionary” nineteenth century period of 1885-1902. In this regard, the importation and utilization of firearms in the nineteenth century can be better viewed on a path of continuous growth from the sixteenth century more so than a sudden rupture or an explosion in the firearms during this century. The volume of firearms entering the continent is perhaps less as important as how frequently they were used for their purpose in war—or more, how infrequently they were used. Arguably, firearms were more integrated into African societal practices than actual warfare with guns being used “merely for show” and not being “fired for years.” 6 As most of the weapons sold to Africans were older, heavier, and louder (and often faulty or non-functional), in tribal warfare, Africans would use the noise of the muzzleloaders as a deterrent. In the context of Buganda, even though Mutesa and other chiefs considered guns superior to weapons they currently had at their disposal and considered them to be vital to the kingdom’s military development, “the enormous influence of the gun was grossly out of proportion to its successful utilization.” 7 Similarly, despite Buganda’s ferocious demand for more firearms and the belief that this weapon would allow the Ganda an advantage in their expansionary pursuit, their “most successful period of expansionism… can be accredited to the pre-eminence of specialist spearmen” 8 —not as some would assert, the firearm. There was also a greater number of spearmen in the 1850s than riflemen in the 1890s, and riflemen were not as skilled as their spearmen counterpart, which fittingly resulted in the spear as the predominant weapon for the Ganda even after 1890. 9 Another frequently referenced advent in nineteenth century Gandan history is the transformation of the canoe from a fishing tool to a tool to fulfill military goals, but this too can

3 be seen within a greater trend of continuity of military advances and developments to protect or expand economic gains. Just like the firearm, the “Ganda had used canoes on a smaller scale before the nineteenth century” 10 and had been used in battle as early as the 1720s or 1730s. 11 The Ganda’s location at the point of convergence of several societies gave it economic significance as traders would concentrate there, which gave it military importance. 12 As its military capabilities on land weakened, however, the Ganda expanded its already established canoe fleet—in order (in part) to protect and solidify its economic power. While some historians may point to Buganda’s relationship with the Sesse as an instance of societal change brought on by the canoe, tributary states and relationships have existed long before the nineteenth century. During the centuries of the slave trade, if tributary subjects failed to comply with the rulers, they could be sold into slavery or forced into the kingdom’s military. 13 The exploitation of the Sesse in order to produce canoes for the Ganda can be viewed in the same light. The Sesse served as oarsmen on Gandan canoes and were taxed in the form of canoe labor instead of with raw goods or metals. 14 Even the governmental positions—the Gabunga —created as part of the expanding canoe fleet wielded nominal authority and were simply “honorary position[s].” 15 Consequentially, if military developments were by no means revolutionary, then neither were the cultural changes. War had always been fundamental to Buganda’s development, and Buganda had territorial struggles from its earliest history. 16 As such, domestic political success was influenced by and depended on military successes. The Ganda’s mission to Rwanda “had failed miserably,” 17 which resulted in a decrease in respect and loyalty from chiefs to Mutesa. Conversely, Kabaka Kamanya’s success and ability to consolidate the kingdom’s borders “was due in large part to the high pedigree of military chiefs who had supported his colours.” 18 Military and political success were intertwined in Gandan culture, and weakness in one sphere

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4 directly correlated with sinking support in the other. Additionally, the so-called proliferation of violence during the nineteenth century is not unique to this time or to Buganda. As Reid plainly states, “a carelessness for human life…has been an abiding characteristic of most of human history.” 19 During this age, the causes and magnitude of retaliation for this carelessness may have varied from earlier periods, but it nonetheless represented a continuity from arguably the dawn of time. In South Africa, neither Shaka nor the changing hands from Dutch to British rule completely altered South African culture and warfare. Despite Shaka’s reputation as “the most mythical figure in South African history,” he was “only one of a clutch of South African leaders who…founded or greatly enlarged states.” 20 Moreover, the political system he founded was simply an “extension of the standard structures of the region,” 21 and the political units themselves were pre-Shakan KwaZulu foci for loyalty. 22 This new state that Shaka had famously created borrowed heavily from his predecessors’ cultures, and their political ideas were fundamental to the structure and organization of his government. When Britain took the Cape Town colony from the Dutch, many elements of the preexisting colony remained. Britain kept the Roman-Dutch law of pre-revolutionary Netherlands (which still remains South Africa’s legal system to this day) and the alliance system with major landowners. 23 Though there was greater commercialization of the colony and wool replaced wheat and wine as the main export 24 , the South African region had a substantial exporting economy prior to British rule. Though the nineteenth century witnessed substantial changes across the globe, there were many instances of resistance, which prevented sweeping, grand transformations to take over Africa. As a region with preexisting history, the fabric of African societies and kingdoms pushed back against external and internal forces, and wars and violence between Africans and Europeans

5 can be viewed as opposition to revolutionary transformations. Within the South African context, when the Zulu were unable to accept the Natal government’s assertion of supremacy over the Zulu and attempts to acquire their land 25 , a massive war ensued. For many African kingdoms, warfare had often been used defensively; with greater contact between African societies and foreign powers during this time, there were upticks in the frequency of violence, but this was, again, not a novel phenomenon. The idea of this time period being a uniquely transformative one in African history could be rooted in “Orientalist” thinking which negates the depth of Africa’s history prior to interactions with and colonialism from Europe. Like the transition from the slave trade to legitimate commerce, Africa was not fundamentally transformed during the nineteenth century. From warfare being often rooted in the protection or expansion of economic gains to using tools and weaponry that had been around for centuries, the fabric and basis of African culture and warfare resisted attempts to alter it completely, and continuity—not rupture—should serve as the remarkable over-arching theme of this period.

6 Notes

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1 Kea, R.A. "Firearms and Warfare on the Gold and Slave Coasts from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries." The Journal of African History 12, no. 2 (1971): 186-87. 2 Kea, “Firearms and Warfare”, 186-187. 3 Kea, “Firearms and Warfare”, 188. 4 Richards, W. A. "The Import of Firearms into West Africa in the Eighteenth Century." The Journal of African History 21, no. 1 (1980): 43. 5 Beachey, R. W. "The Arms Trade in East Africa in the Late Nineteenth Century." The Journal of African History 3, no. 3 (1962): 467. 6 Beachey, “Arms Trade in East Africa”, 452. 7 Reid, Richard. “War and Militarism in Pre-Colonial Buganda.” AZANIA: Journal of the British Institute in Eastern Africa 34:1 (1999): 53. 8 Reid, “War and Militarism”, 54. 9 Reid, “War and Militarism”, 54. 10 Reid, Richard. "The Ganda on Lake Victoria: A Nineteenth-Century East African Imperialism." The Journal of African History 39, no. 3 (1998): 351. 11 Reid, “Ganda on Lake Victoria”, 351-52. 12 Reid, “Ganda on Lake Victoria”, 353. 13 Ajayi, J. F. Ade & Crowder, M. (eds.), A History of West Africa (London, 1974), Vol 2, chapter 2 14 Reid, “Ganda on Lake Victoria”, 360. 15 Reid, “Ganda on Lake Victoria”, 361. 16 Reid, “War and Militarism”, 45. 17 Reid, “War and Militarism”, 49. 18 Reid, “War and Militarism”, 48. 19 Reid, “War and Militarism”, 55. 20 Ross, R. A Concise History of South Africa (Cambridge, 1999): 28. 21 Ross, South Africa , 28. 22 Ross, South Africa , 28. 23 Ross, South Africa , 35. 24 Ross, South Africa , 35-7. 25 Ross, South Africa , 63.