British colonies of East Africa

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• Africa
• History of Great Britain

Composition of colonies: Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika

By the beginning of World War II, the British colonies of East Africa occupied an area of ​ ​ 1766 thousand square meters. km, or an area equal to the area of ​ ​ Great Britain, Germany, Italy, France and Spain, combined. The total population of Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika, according to the 1948 census, was about 18 million^[1].

The structure of colonial administration in all British possessions of East Africa was approximately the same, although there were some features in each of them. The colony itself was considered the main part of Kenya; its 10-mile-wide coastal strip, rejected by England from the Sultan of Zanzibar by an 1895 treaty, was considered a protectorate.

Uganda was also listed as a protectorate. Tanganyika, formerly a German colony, was placed under English administration as a League of Nations mandate territory in 1920.

Despite these purely formal differences, all three countries were dominated by the colonial regime. In the hands of the governor, appointed by the English government, all legislative and executive power was concentrated. The legislative and executive councils available in the colonies served as advisory bodies to the governor. Their members were senior colonial officials; no African was part of them.

Economy before the outbreak of World War II

The economy of British East Africa before the war was typically colonial in nature. Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika were a source of agricultural and mineral raw materials and a market for industrial products of the metropolis. The English colonialists contributed in every way to the development of export crops in the colonies and the extraction of minerals, while the interests of the African population cared least of all. Agricultural production in the African village remained extremely primitive. The colonial nature of the economy manifested itself primarily in foreign trade. Mainly sisal, cotton and coffee were exported, accounting for 62% of all East African exports; tea, pyrethrum, oilseeds were also exported.

In addition to agricultural raw materials, a significant amount of gold was exported from British East Africa before the war (in 1938, gold worth 1255 thousand pounds was exported. Art., which amounted to 10.8% of the value of all exports).

The main imports were all kinds of industrial goods: cotton fabrics, machines and equipment, trucks and cars, gasoline, kerosene, lubricants, etc. The vast majority of imported goods were for European-owned businesses. Machinery, transportation facilities, and industrial equipment were bought by European entrepreneurs, planters, or railway and port management. And only a small part of the imports, mainly cotton fabrics, were used to meet the needs of the African population. It is no coincidence that half of all goods imported to East Africa came to Kenya, where the largest number of Europeans lived. In 1938, Kenya's share in East African imports was 50%, Tanganyika's share was 29%, and Uganda's share was 21%. All foreign trade was concentrated in the hands of English monopolies.

Colony involvement in World War II

Internment of Germans and transfer of their assets to British companies

By 1937, about 3 thousand Germans lived in Tanganyika, which amounted to about 1/3 of the European population of the territory. In the years immediately preceding the war, German immigration to Tanganyika grew rapidly, which greatly worried the English authorities, especially since in the pre-war years Germany persistently sought the return of its former colonies.

In 1938-1939 Germans intensified fascist propaganda in Tanganyika among both European settlers and Africans. In early 1939, East Africa and Rhodesia reported that portraits of Hitler, posters with a swastika and fascist slogans were hung in German schools in Mbeya (province of the Southern Highlands). On school maps, the territory of Tanganyika was designated as German Eastern Africa and was painted in the same color as Germany.

When the war began, the first step of the English authorities was to internment and place German colonists in special camps. Farms and plantations owned by German settlers were transferred to various British companies and became their property after the war.

African auxiliaries and labor companies

When the Second World War began, the English government faced the question of how to use African colonies for military purposes. A significant number of people could be mobilized in East Africa, but the English ruling circles feared, no matter how the Africans turned the received weapons against their enslavers. Therefore, the colonizers sought primarily to maximize the production of agricultural goods and the extraction of mineral raw materials.

However, the urgent need for human power still forced the British military command to resort to the creation of relatively small African military units. Most Africans were in auxiliary units and labor companies. In July 1940, after entering the war Italy and the emergence of an immediate threat to the East African possessions of England, the East African Military Labor Service was established. Labor teams, considered military formations, were equipped by mobilization. They were engaged in the construction of roads, airfields and other military facilities. In 1941, there were 6.5 thousand Africans in the military labor service. After entering the war Japan , the number of these units increased significantly, and the service life in them was increased from 1.5 to 2.5 years.

An important role in the hostilities of the English army in Asia and Africa was played by the African Auxiliary Labor Corps, consisting mainly of Africans in East Africa. Operating as part of the 8th Army in Egypt, parts of this corps served military bases, built roads, and unloaded ships in Tobruk. Africans performed this kind of work on other fronts: in East Africa, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Burma. All command posts in the labor corps were occupied by the British. The highest position to which the African was admitted was the post of sergeant - division commander.

In addition to serving in auxiliary units, Africans also participated in hostilities on various fronts. The 11th and 12th African Divisions, manned from the Africans of East and West Africa, played a crucial role in the expulsion of Italians from and Somalia later from. Ethiopia

In 1942, the 22nd East African Brigade, staffed mainly from Africans of Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, captured the island of Madagascar.

Training in driving royal African riflemen. British possessions in East Africa, 1943.

In 1944-1945 were formed, in addition to the previously staffed 21st and 22nd East African Brigades, the 25th, 26th and 28th Brigades, which took part in hostilities in Burma. In total, nine battalions, consisting of Africans of Kenya, Tanganyika and Uganda, fought in Burma. By May 1945, the total number of Africans in regular military formations, both combat and auxiliary, was 374 thousand people. Of these, 228 thousand, or 60%, were mobilized in East Africa (including Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland).

Growing importance of the region after the seizure by Japan of the territories of Britain in the Far East

During the war years, England experienced an acute need for food products and strategic raw materials. As a result of the Japanese aggression in the Far East in 1941-1942, England lost territories that supplied it with such important types of raw materials as rubber, tin, tungsten, lead, and such products as sugar, tea, rice, and oilseeds. That is why the increase in the production of food, industrial crops and strategic raw materials in the colonies remaining under English control took on great importance.

The use of food resources of the East African colonies freed, in addition, a large number of English ships from long-distance transportation to supply troops with food. In June 1942, Assistant Colonial Secretary G. Macmillan, speaking in the House of Commons, stressed: "Every ton of food received in East Africa and delivered to armies in the Middle East gets rid of the long journey around the Cape."

After the capture of Indonesia and Malaya by Japan, the importance of African colonies increased even more. "After the defeat in the Far East," said Stanley, the English colonial minister, "we must call on East and West Africa to fill a significant gap in our military economy; rubber, sisal and pyrethrum have become some of the most important products we need. "

Beginning in 1942, sisal production in East Africa grew rapidly. In 1941, Tanganyika and Kenya produced 107 thousand tons of sisal, and in 1945 - 143.9 thousand tons. The English colonial authorities were especially interested in increasing the collection of rubber in Tanganyika and Uganda. In Tanganyika, the collection of rubber was 144 tons in 1942, 571 tons in 1943, 1539 tons in 1944, and 1443 tons in 1945 (in 9 months); in Uganda in 1942 - 540 tons. About 20 thousand workers were employed on rubber plantations.

The cultivation of pyrethrum was important during the war. The powder, made from pyrethrum flowers, was used in the army to exterminate malaria mosquitoes.

Reducing coffee and cotton production

The production of a number of crops, which occupied an important place in the economy of East Africa, decreased during the Second World War. This applies primarily to the cultivation of coffee, cotton and food crops used by Africans as food products. The main reason for this was the lack of workers mobilized either in the army or to work on European plantations. If in 1939 coffee production in East Africa amounted to 49.2 thousand tons, then in 1944 it decreased to 40.2 thousand tons. Cotton exports from East Africa in 1938 amounted to 82.7 thousand tons, and in 1944 - 40.9 thousand tons.

Despite the fall in cotton production, the colonial authorities of Uganda made significant profits from its exports during the war due to the large difference between the extremely low prices received by African producers and export prices. If, before the war, an African cotton farmer was paid approximately 60% of the cotton export price, since 1942, the share paid to an African cotton producer was approximately 38% of the export price. According to the statement of the English Minister of Colonies, Hell, cotton exports gave the Ugandan government by the end of 1944 approximately 3 million pounds. Art. Income.

Reduction of corn crops and food export. Thousands of Africans starve to death

By maximizing the production of important agricultural sectors for wartime needs, the colonial authorities completely ignored the interests of the African population. The mobilization of the working part of the male population into the army and labor work had a hard effect on the situation of African agriculture. Low yields led to constant malnutrition and hunger. One of the main foods of Africans is corn. Maize was grown in all provinces of Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika. A significant number of it was also produced on European plantations in Kenya. Almost the entire corn crop was consumed locally. There are no exact statistics on corn production in East Africa before and during World War II. Nevertheless, it is known that corn crops during the war years decreased significantly. Combined with the general crop failure of 1942, this caused severe famine in East Africa.

The living standards of the African population of British East Africa, which had always been extremely low, reached the level of starvation during the war years. In 1942 - 1943 famine raged in East Africa, which claimed thousands of people. The English colonial authorities circulated the version that the famine in East Africa was caused by lack of rain and a raid of locusts. The Governor of Kenya and the English Minister of the Colonies Stanley spoke about this. This version was refuted by a commission set up to investigate the causes of food difficulties in Kenya. In her report, she acknowledged that food difficulties were caused by declining maize crops. But the commission did not reveal the main reason for the famine, which was that the colonial authorities did not want to take into account the vital needs of the indigenous population. As noted above, a large number of various products were exported from East Africa for the needs of the British army. This could not but cause acute food shortages, because before the war, a significant amount of food products, on the contrary, were imported into East Africa from other countries.

Even more important was that the African village lost its working-age male population during the war years. In Kenya, for example, in 1943, out of 642 thousand working Africans, 370 thousand, or 57%, were either mobilized into the army and for labor, or worked for hire outside the reserves.

In addition, the European farms of Kenya, which grew a significant amount of corn before the war, during the war much reduced the crops of this crop, as it was more profitable for them to grow sisal, pyrethrum, wheat, linen. Naturally, for these reasons, food production in the African village has sharply decreased.

Dramatic increase in livestock slaughter

Heavy damage was done to cattle breeding. The English colonial authorities sought to maximize the purchase of livestock to provide the army and the metropolis with meat products. If in 1938 the total number of cattle purchased in Tanganyika amounted to 72 thousand heads, then in 1943 279 thousand heads of cattle were purchased. Mass slaughter of cattle could not be covered by its natural growth, and this had a detrimental effect on the further development of cattle breeding.

Take-off forest destruction

During the war, the destruction of forest resources took on a wide scope. In 1942, timber production in East Africa quadrupled. Many forests were exported to the Middle East and Burma. Forest consumption has also increased on site. In East Africa, where forest is one of the most important factors in the preservation of soil fertility, predatory extermination of forest resources led to soil erosion and caused enormous damage to agriculture.

Reduced gold production and increased diamond production

Mining in East Africa was poorly developed before the war. The most important was the extraction of gold and tin. During the war years, the development of the mining industry was hampered by a lack of labor, a lack of machinery and other equipment for mines. Therefore, at many mining enterprises, production was either reduced or completely suspended. The production of gold and tin ore was especially noticeably reduced. By the end of the war, gold exports had more than halved.

But at the same time, during the war, the extraction of minerals that were important for the military economy, Great Britain primarily diamonds, increased. In 1940, Canadian geologist Williamson discovered large diamond deposits in Mwadui (Tanganyika). Since that time, despite the difficulties caused by the war, diamond production in Tanganyika has grown rapidly. If in 1940 6 thousand carats of diamonds worth 12 thousand rubles were exported. Art. then in 1945 - 115.2 thousand carats in the amount of 638.4 thousand f. Art. The export of diamonds from Tanganyika by the end of the war turned into one of the most important items of foreign trade, exceeding the export of gold in value terms.

A valuable strategic raw material, the extraction of which the colonial authorities paid great attention to, was tungsten ore. In 1942, 9.6 tons of tungsten ore were exported from Uganda; in 1944 its exports reached 80.4 tons.

Manufacturing industry remains backward

As for the manufacturing industry, the Second World War did not lead to any significant changes in this area. Before the war, manufacturing in the British colonies of East Africa was poorly developed. There were only small enterprises for the processing of some types of agricultural raw materials.

During the war years, new soap factories, factories for the manufacture of leather products, woolen blankets, bags for grain, ropes, etc. appeared. However, the emergence of all these small enterprises could not change the backward, colonial nature of local industry.

Introduction of forced labour for Africans

During the war, the need for labor increased significantly. The healthiest part of the African population was taken into the army. Tanganyika alone gave the army 86,740 men. To provide labor for industrial enterprises and plantations, the colonial authorities embarked on the path of widespread use of forced labor.

The use of forced labor in Tanganyika was carried out on the basis of the law on forced labor, adopted in 1940, and in Kenya on the basis of the so-called Defensive Order of 1942. In Uganda, during the war, no new legislative provisions were adopted to introduce forced labor, since the forced labor system existed here before the war. In Buganda (Uganda Province), every adult male was required to work community service without any payment of 30 days a year. Forced labour could be replaced by a cash contribution of 10 to, 14 shillings, known as "luwalo."

Now, due to a lack of statistics, it is difficult to establish how many Africans were mobilized for forced labor in East Africa during the war years. In the study already cited by us on the economic resources of Tanganyika, the number of people mobilized for labor in Tanganyika in 1940-1945. is determined at 22-23 thousand people per year. According to another researcher, O. Brown, the number of people mobilized for labor in Kenya ranges from 10 to 22 thousand per year.

Responses from officials from the Ministry of the Colonies to requests from MPs in the Commons cited higher numbers. Thus, the representative of the Ministry of Colonies E. Yvance in May 1945 told the House of Commons that at the end of November 1944 26,032 Africans were employed in forced labor in Kenya, and 26,256 people in Tanganyika at the end of December 1944.

By the end of the war, approximately 10% of all African workers were working forcibly. The mobilization of Africans for forced labor was very difficult to affect the state of agriculture. All the while, African families could not cultivate their piece of land due to the lack of workable men.

Unbearable living conditions combined with a hungry existence led to a high mortality rate among workers mobilized for forced labor. It is no coincidence that Africans fled their jobs at the earliest opportunity. As McMillan told MPs in November 1942, there were 545 cases of desertion in Kenya that were adjudicated. In Tanganyika rubber plantations, 468 people defected in 15 months (October 1942 to December 31, 1943).

Exploitation of young children

On a wider scale, child labor began to be used during the war. In violation of international labor conventions, planters exploited young children, assigned them hard and unhealthy work, and forced them to work more than the established time. Child labor was especially widely used on pyrethrum plantations, tea and coffee plantations. The use of child labor brought additional young ladies to planters, as it was paid twice as much as the labor of adult workers.

Using the labor of Italian prisoners of war and Polish refugees

During the war years in East Africa, the labor of Italian prisoners of war and refugees from Poland was also widely used. After the defeat of the Italian army in Ethiopia, a large number of Italian prisoners of war were deployed in British East Africa. In Kenya alone, there were about 55,000 of them. A significant part of the prisoners of war was used in various jobs, and their wages were equal to those of Africans: an unskilled worker received 15, a qualified one - 25 shillings per month.

In Tanganyika and Uganda, camps were created for 15 thousand Polish refugees (8 thousand of them lived in Tanganyika, 7 thousand in Uganda). These were mostly women and children, many of whom worked on agricultural farms or elsewhere.

Limiting the political activism of Africans

During the war, the English colonial authorities carried out a number of measures to limit the political activity of the indigenous people of East Africa. Before the war, there were no all-territorial African political parties. Attempts to create them were resolutely stopped by the colonizers.

In Kenya, before the war, there were many local tribal organizations (in Ukamba, Teita, Kavirondo and other places). Most significant among these was the "Kikuyu Central Association" (CAC), led by Jomo Kenyata. The CAC became the center of the anti-colonial movement not only among the Kikuyu people, but also among other peoples of Kenya. Branches of this organization existed in various areas of the country. In 1940, an attempt was made to unite local organizations into a single political party. Three of the most influential organizations: the CAC, the "Ukamba Association" and the "Teita Association" - formed the Joint Council. However, the colonial authorities banned the activities of the newly created organization; 23 members of the Joint Council were arrested. The CAC was also banned, thousands of whose members were mobilized for forced labor.

In Tanganyika and Uganda, as in Kenya, there were many local African organizations. But even here the colonial authorities in every possible way prevented the formation of all-territorial political parties. Despite this, it was during the war years that the first attempts to create mass political parties were made in all three colonies of East Africa.

During the war years, the role of the working class of Eastern African colonies in the anti-imperialist movement increased markedly. The working class became one of the main social forces in the struggle against the English colonialists. The English colonial authorities from the very beginning tried to put the labor movement under their control. Speaking to colonial officials in 1939, Colonial Minister M. MacDonald said: "As long as the labor movement is carefully governed by the government, it will be the best means of combating the unrest resulting from the inevitable growth of industry."

To ensure the peaceful resolution of conflicts between entrepreneurs and workers, the Ministry of the Colonies instructed the creation of labor departments in the colonial administration system. In Kenya, such a department was created before the war. In Uganda and Tanganyika, labor departments were formed during the war years.

The growth of the labor movement in the colonies was reflected in the emergence of the first trade unions. In 1939, the Association of African Chauffeurs was established in Uganda. In Kenya and Tanganyika, the first unions arose among railway workers. In 1944, the Kenya African Employees Union was established. All these were just the first steps of the trade union movement in East Africa. It became widespread only after the end of World War II.

Strikes by workers' ports and railways

Despite the lack of mass political and trade union organizations, the working class during the war years fought to improve their financial situation, using the means of struggle tested by the international labor movement - strike.

If minor conflicts were silenced in the press, then major strikes were difficult to silence, and they were the subject of discussion both in the press and in the English parliament. In 1939, a major strike of port workers broke out in Mombasa, Kenya. The reason for it was the difficult housing conditions. Most temporary port workers were not provided with housing, although, according to the current regulations, the heads of both government and private enterprises were obliged to provide workers with comfortable dwellings. The leading role in this strike was played by Africans closely associated with the CAC. The commission investigating the reasons for the strike found the workers' demands fair.

In mid-1940, African railway workers went on strike in Kenya. The conflict has become acute. The colonial administration had to make some concessions to the workers.

In October 1942, a strike of railway workers broke out again in Mombasa, in which not only Africans, but also Arabs participated. Workers demanded an increase in basic wages and an increase in salaries for food and housing due to the general increase in food prices and an increase in rent. An arbitration tribunal was created to resolve the conflict. The workers went to work only when they received assurances that their demands would be carefully considered in a spirit favorable to them. The arbitration tribunal decision, published in December 1942, provided for a slight increase in the monthly salary for food, housing and fuel. The decision of the arbitration tribunal also provided for a salary increase for African and Arab railway employees.

A similar conflict between workers and the railway administration was considered by the Nairobi Arbitration Tribunal. Here, too, workers "demands were found to be fair. However, the increase in salary for Nairobi railway workers was somewhat less than in Mombasa. If in Mombasa additional payments amounted to 5 shillings, then in Nairobi they amounted to only 3 shillings.

It should be noted that the increase in salaries for food, housing and fuel did not compensate for the increase in the cost of living during the war. Therefore, the workers demanded that the railway administration provide African and Arab workers with food, housing and fuel not with money, but in kind.

Two major strikes took place in Tanganyika in 1943 - at the ports of Dar es Salaam and Lindi. Of a particularly serious nature was the strike of the port workers of Dar es Salam; it was attended by 1,100 civilians and Africans mobilized for labor. It began on August 23 and lasted 12 days. All work in the port was stopped. The central bodies of colonial government intervened in the conflict. An arbitration court was formed, headed by the Supreme Justice of Tanganyika, who during the week, from August 30 to September 6, considered the conflict between workers and the port administration.

The investigation found that the main reason for the strike was the extremely difficult living conditions of the workers. Workers demanded: 1) an increase in basic wages; 2) establishment of additional payment due to an increase in the cost of living; 3) cancellation of unfair deductions from salaries for absenteeism; 4) the guaranteed right of workers to medical care and to pay for days missed due to illness; 5) granting workers the right to receive severance pay; 6) establishing a break during the working day for food and rest.

These demands indicated that the front line of the working class of Tanganyika had a thoughtful program of struggle to improve its economic situation. The arbitration court was forced to recognize the demands of the workers as fair.

The Lindy port workers' strike was due to the same reasons as the Dar es Salaam strike. It also ended with a victory for the workers. The wages of permanent workers were increased by an average of 25%, and temporary - by 33%.

In 1943, Uganda's Labor Department reviewed 184 conflicts between European entrepreneurs and African workers.

1945: Suppression of Uganda Uprising

The largest in importance was the speech of Ugandan workers in early 1945. It is significant because the working class has shown itself to be the vanguard and the main driving force behind the anti-colonial movement.

In January, a general strike unfolded in Uganda, which escalated into an armed uprising against English colonial oppression. It went beyond the usual strikes of an economic nature and was pronounced political in nature. On January 18, regular military units arrived in Kampala, where the movement gained a particularly wide scope. With their help, the speech of Africans was suppressed. Weapons against the rebels were used in other places.

Informing MPs in the House of Commons about the events in Uganda, the Colonial Minister, for example, reported that 8 people were killed and 15 injured there during the "riots." In fact, there were many more victims among Africans. Even according to the Ugandan governor, 8 Africans were killed and 12 injured in Koca alone.

The British colonial authorities widely applied mass repression against the rebels. In Kampala, 319 people were arrested, of whom 212 were convicted. In Jinja and East Kyagwa, 239 people were arrested, of whom 123 were convicted.

Instead of Wamal, who was considered involved in organizing the speech of Africans, Nsibirwa was appointed Prime Minister of Buganda. However, on September 5, 1945, Nsibirwa was killed. After that, the terror of the colonizers intensified even more.

The bloody suppression of the 1945 general strike in Uganda showed the whole world that the English imperialists, despite the solemnly proclaimed by the Atlantic Charter the right of nations to self-determination and independence, did not intend to abandon the system of colonialism. Realizing, however, that the repressions alone could not retain power, the colonizers partially satisfied the demands of the workers. By the fall of 1945, the wages of Ugandan workers were extremely slightly increased and the African representation in the governing bodies was expanded.

The uprising of 1945, despite the defeat, was important in the history of the post-war struggle of the peoples of Uganda and all of East Africa for their independence. It showed Africans the power of organized speech and the ability to pursue their fair demands. It marked the beginning of a massive anti-colonial movement in British East Africa, which eventually led to the conquest of political independence by the peoples of these countries in the early 1960s.

1956: Suppression of the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya. More than 50 thousand Kenyans died, 300 thousand were thrown into concentration camps

According to official figures, during the hostilities during the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya in 1952-1956, 11.5 thousand were killed from the actions of the British armed forces and 1.1 thousand rebels were executed; according to international organizations, more than 50 thousand were killed, 250-300 thousand Africans^[2] were thrown into concentration camps and prisons. Read more here.

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