Africa During the Scramble: The Years without Food

[Gary Oswald]

Discuss this article here

 

[Hendryk]

In Ubangi-Shari, modern day Central African Republic, the French had granted many private companies concessions of control in the territory. This lead to Free State esque brutality as companies such as French Forestière would take villages hostage to demand forced labour as taxes. Many labourers would die from the poor conditions when collecting cash crops and building infrastructure such as the Congo-Ocean railway.

The brutal exploitation of the region by French colonizers has cast a long shadow: the Central African Republic is an economic basket case to this day.

It's another country that my mother has spent a lot of time in: during much of the 1990s she was involved in a humanitarian programme to train local health workers, and at one point, in 1996, she had to be evacuated along with other foreigners when the CAR military mutinied over unpaid salaries. The civil wars of the 2000s have undone most of her NGO's work.

 

[Omi]

• I always thought that the tsete flies existed pre 19th century as south of niger cattle and horses had a very hard time surviving. ( thats why the oyo empire kept its calvary in peace time illorin rather than further south.) I didn't realise it actually expanded the reach .
Also i didn't realise that the portugese and italians took advantage of the disease. situation to do their inasion not really talked about . Why were the Ethiopian jews affected dispropationaly

 

[Omi]

The brutal exploitation of the region by French colonizers has cast a long shadow: the Central African Republic is an economic basket case to this day.

It's another country that my mother has spent a lot of time in: during much of the 1990s she was involved in a humanitarian programme to train local health workers, and at one point, in 1996, she had to be evacuated along with other foreigners when the CAR military mutinied over unpaid salaries. The civil wars of the 2000s have undone most of her NGO's work.

yes its one of those countries that cant seem to catch a break same with chad

 

[Ricardolindo]

The brutal exploitation of the region by French colonizers has cast a long shadow: the Central African Republic is an economic basket case to this day.

It's another country that my mother has spent a lot of time in: during much of the 1990s she was involved in a humanitarian programme to train local health workers, and at one point, in 1996, she had to be evacuated along with other foreigners when the CAR military mutinied over unpaid salaries. The civil wars of the 2000s have undone most of her NGO's work.

yes its one of those countries that cant seem to catch a break same with chad

In both cases, being landlocked and in no important trade routes also contributes. In the case of Chad, aridity also contributes.

 

[Gary Oswald]

• I always thought that the tsete flies existed pre 19th century as south of niger cattle and horses had a very hard time surviving. ( thats why the oyo empire kept its calvary in peace time illorin rather than further south.) I didn't realise it actually expanded the reach .

Honestly that bit was a nightmare to research cos I kept finding completely contradictory reports from normally reliable sources.

My best guess is the consequences varied depending on the region. So less flies in South Africa, no difference in Nigeria and much more in Uganda and Kenya. Which is why the reports differed so much.

 

[Gary Oswald]

Why were the Ethiopian jews affected dispropationaly

Just got unlucky. Areas in the north with the most jews were where the virus was worse.

 

[Ricardolindo]

• I always thought that the tsete flies existed pre 19th century as south of niger cattle and horses had a very hard time surviving. ( thats why the oyo empire kept its calvary in peace time illorin rather than further south.) I didn't realise it actually expanded the reach .
Also i didn't realise that the portugese and italians took advantage of the disease. situation to do their inasion not really talked about . Why were the Ethiopian jews affected dispropationaly

Honestly that bit was a nightmare to research cos I kept finding completely contradictory reports from normally reliable sources.

My best guess is the consequences varied depending on the region. So less flies in South Africa, no difference in Nigeria and much more in Uganda and Kenya. Which is why the reports differed so much.

Didn't the tse tse fly only exist in the forest zone? That's why Sahelian and Sudanian empires didn't expand there.

 

[Redolegna]

One of these articles, like the series on the Congo, where every paragraph could begin with "it got worse". A thoroughly depressing but needed read, thank you Gary.

 

[Charles EP M.]

It's a very sobering reminder of Empires Make Everything Bad Worse

 

[Hendryk]

It's a very sobering reminder of Empires Make Everything Bad Worse

Not an unnecessary reminder, considering how frequently one comes across colonial apologia in the AH community.

 

[Omi]

Didn't the tse tse fly only exist in the forest zone? That's why Sahelian and Sudanian empires didn't expand there.

yes but illorin was in the grey area between the forest and the savannah. which is why it was a battleground between sahelian and forest empires

 

[Ricardolindo]

yes nut illorin was in the grey area between the forest and the savannah. which is why it was a battleground between sahelian and forest empires

Do you mean Illorin in Nigeria? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilorin

 

[Omi]

Do you mean Illorin in Nigeria? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilorin

Yes