Page 174 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V

warfare—africa 1951

Life has meaning only in the struggles.Triumph or defeat
is in the hands of the Gods. So let us celebrate the
struggles. • Swahili Warrior Song

Dupuy, T. N., & Dupuy, R. E. (1986). The encyclopedia of military his- while at the same providing means of defending the pop-
tory from 3500 BC to the present (2nd Rev. ed.). New York: Harper ulace from any external threats. In some cases these
Collins.
France, J. (1999). Western warfare in the age of the Crusades. Ithaca, NY: threats involved political challenges to established lead-
Cornell University Press. ership or efforts to subsume additional people into either
Fussell, P. (2000). The Great War and modern memory. Oxford, UK:
Oxford University Press. an established or a new sociopolitical orbit. But fre-
Hedges, C. (2002). War is a force that gives us meaning. Boulder, CO: quently the point of such traditional conflict was acquir-
Public Affairs. ing wealth, often cattle. In eastern Africa, for example,
Keegan, J. (1993). A history of warfare. New York: Knopf.
McNeill, W. The pursuit of power: Technology, armed force and society Jomo Kenyatta recalled that for the Kikuyu, warfare was
since AD 1000. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. sometimes little more than “a form of stealing by force of
McPherson, J. (1988). Battle cry of freedom:The Civil War era. New York:
Ballantine. arms” (Kenyatta 1938, 198).
Murray, W., & Millet, A. (2000). A war to be won: Fighting the Second For many Africans the mystique of warfare was bound
World War, 1937–1945. New York: Harvard University Press. up with ritual and magic. Warriors frequently displayed
Parker, G. (1995). The Cambridge illustrated history of warfare. Cam-
bridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. their prowess both in ceremonies, including dance and
Wawro, G. (2000). Warfare and Society in Europe, 1792–1914. London: musical performances, and in more private rituals, some-
Routledge.
times associated with limited-membership groups or
secret societies.The exploits of traditional African military
leaders were often extolled in public recitation of their
deeds. Frequently these included magical explanations of
Warfare—Africa their successes calling upon the spirit sources of their
strength and other abilities. Such were the stories told of
s has been true for human societies everywhere, the great warrior and national leader Sundiata (d. 1255),
Aalmost all African societies have had many experi- founder of the Mali empire, by the Malian griot (story-
ences of conflict that escalated into various forms of war- teller), Mamadou Kouyate. Despite significant traditional
fare. A few behavioral theorists have speculated that the support for warfare, there was little in the experiences of
earliest hominid and human communities, which arose in traditional warfare to prepare Africans for the challenges
Africa, were initially formed in the crucible of violent con- of warfare presented by expanding external demands for
flict.While controversial, such theories have had a major economic advantage or political power.
impact on the public imagination since the late twentieth
century; these ideas may well have shaped the stereotype Impact of the Slave Trade
that Africans have—from earliest times until the present While some African wars traditionally resulted in the cap-
century—been almost hopelessly trapped in cycles of ture of human beings and the absorption of those indi-
communal war and violence. The history of warfare in viduals as productive members of their captors’ societies,
Africa, however, does not bear out this gloomy vision. external demands for slaves occasioned a transformation
in these patterns of African warfare. Islamic sources make
Traditional Warfare clear that African societies were from an early time will-
Many African societies have held a special place for mar- ing to adjust their patterns of war to encourage the cap-
tial specialists, or warriors. In and of itself, however, the ture of people who could be sold as slaves. But it was the
role of such specialists is not necessarily evidence of wide- almost insatiable demand of European traders for slaves
spread warfare on the continent before the arrival of from the sixteenth century onward that transformed
Europeans.At the same time, it does suggest that Africans African warfare in material ways. In particular regions,
were prepared for various wars and other violent con- such as the eastern frontiers of the kingdom of Kongo
flicts.The warrior classes often provided training and test- and the grasslands and scrub forests of West African
ing grounds for societally valued traits of masculinity south of the Sahara, the devastation caused by increased