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80 Years Ago in West Africa

An Islamic revolt breaks out in Nigeria in February 1905. The followers of the movement, made up of many slaves and ex-slaves saw the British and French armies as agents of Baggal, a figure of evil who was to appear before the coming of the Madhi, a descendant and servant of the prophet Mohammed who would drive out the non- Muslim invaders. The Madhists won a first battle over the British, even capturing a Gatling machine gun. However, the rebels, like the earlier Madhist movement in the Sudan, refused to use modern weapons which they viewed as evil, preferring to rely on a charge of spear- and sword-armed warriors. In a second battle, the Madhist charge is slaughtered, with 2000 rebels killed, and the rebellion is put down. During the whole war, the traditional Fulani nobility had supported the British, as the Madhist movement threatened their rule as much as it had the rule of the British.

Gold Coast (the colonial name of Ghana) sees a boom in the export of cocoa around 1910. However, the economy of the colonies, whether British or French are fragile as most rely on the production and export of one or two products. The colonial rulers encourage little industrialization or general economic development. The collapse of the colonial export prices in 1930, following the start of the Great Depression in 1929 in the United States, results in economic disaster for most of West Africa.

Although African culture at this time is disparaged by the Europeans, after 1900, African art, especially sculpture, has a great influence on European visual arts. African sculpture ranges from very life like portraits to highly symbolic pieces depicting people, animals or spirits, with features exaggerated to the point of abstraction. It was these later sculptures that greatly interested the new wave of European art. This is especially seen in the paintings and sculptures made by the Cubists school, led by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and others.

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