African Military History and Politics PDF Download

Author: Y. Alex-Assensoh
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0312292724
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
Africa's former colonial masters, including Great Britain; France, Portugal and Spain, trained members and leaders of the various colonial Armed Forces to be politically non-partisan. Yet, the modern-day Armed Forces on the continent, made up of the Army, Police, Air Force and Navy, have become so politicized that many countries in Africa are today ruled or have already been ruled by military dictators through coups d'etat, occasionally for good reasons as the book points out. This book traces the historical-cum-political evolution of these events, and what bodes for Africa, where the unending military incursions into partisan politics are concerned.

Author: A. B. Assensoh
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312238933
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description
Africa's former colonial masters, including Great Britain France, Portugal and Spain, trained members and leaders of the various colonial armed Forces to be politically non-partisan. Yet, the modern day armed forces on the continent, made up of the army, police, air force and navy, have become so politicized that many countries in Africa are today ruled or have already been ruled by military dictators through coups d'etat, occasionally for good reasons, as this book points out. The authors trace the historico-political evolution of these events, and their implications for Africa, where the military incursions into partisan politics are seemingly unending.

Author: John Lamphear
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351960377
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 600

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Book Description
This collection of essays on pre-colonial sub-Saharan African military history is drawn from a number of academic journals and includes some which are considered milestones in African historiographical discourse, as well as others which, while lesser known, provide remarkable insight into the unique nature of African military history. Selections were made so as to produce an introduction to the understudied field of pre-colonial African military history that will be useful to specialists and non-specialists alike. The volume also contains an introduction which presents one of the first significant reviews of pre-colonial African military historiography ever attempted.

Author: Simon Baynham
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000347516
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
First published in 1986, Military Power and Politics in Black Africa explores many themes that concerned military power and politics in sub-Saharan Africa at the time of publication. Adopting a thematic approach, the book considers the nature of both intervention and disengagement and looks at the relationship between civilian and military institutions. The final chapters put forward arguments for the importance of foreign intervention in the politics and civil-military relations of African states.

Author: Richard J. Reid
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521195101
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 211

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Book Description
This book examines the role of war in shaping the African state, society, and economy by tracing shifts in the culture and practice of war.

Author: Ian van der Waag
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1612005837
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description
The story of a century of conflict and change—from the Second Boer War to the anti-apartheid movement and the many battles in between. Twentieth-century South Africa saw continuous, often rapid, and fundamental socioeconomic and political change. The century started with a brief but total war. Less than ten years later, Britain brought the conquered Boer republics and the Cape and Natal colonies together into the Union of South Africa. The Union Defence Force, later the SADF, was deployed during most of the major wars of the century, as well as a number of internal and regional struggles: the two world wars, Korea, uprising and rebellion on the part of Afrikaner and black nationalists, and industrial unrest. The century ended as it started, with another war. This was a flash point of the Cold War, which embraced more than just the subcontinent and lasted a long thirty years. The outcome included the final withdrawal of foreign troops from southern Africa, the withdrawal of South African forces from Angola and Namibia, and the transfer of political power away from a white elite to a broad-based democracy. This book is the first study of the South African armed forces as an institution and of the complex roles that these forces played in the wars, rebellions, uprisings, and protests of the period. It deals in the first instance with the evolution of South African defense policy, the development of the armed forces, and the people who served in and commanded them. It also places the narrative within the broader national past, to produce a fascinating study of a century in which South Africa was uniquely embroiled in three total wars.

Author: Timothy J. Stapleton
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1279

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Book Description
A detailed and thorough chronological overview of the history of warfare and military structures in Africa, covering ancient times to the present day. A Military History of Africa achieves a daunting task: it synthesizes decades of specialized academic research and literature—including the most recent material—to offer an accessible survey of Africa's military history, from the earliest times to the present day. The first volume examines the precolonial period beginning with warfare in ancient North Africa including ancient Egypt and Carthage and continues through the cavalry-based Muslim empires of the trans-Sahara trade and the wars of the slave trade in West and East Africa. The second volume focuses on the wars of European colonial conquest and African resistance during the late 19th century, African participation in both world wars, and the early violent struggles for independence from the 1950s and early 1960s. The third volume explores warfare in postcolonial Africa, including coverage of the impact of the global Cold War, conflicts in Southern Africa from the 1960s to 1980s, the development of postcolonial African armed forces, and civil wars sparked by the discovery of precious resources, such as diamonds in Sierra Leone. Readers of this three-volume work will understand how warfare and military structures have been consistently central to the development of African societies.

Author: Robert Edgerton
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0786740094
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 349

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Book Description
Africa's Armies traces the military history of sub-Saharan Africa from the pre-colonial era to the present. Robert Edgerton begins this sweeping chronicle by describing the role of African armies in pre-colonial times, when armed forces or militias were essential to the maintenance and prosperity of their societies. During the colonial era, African soldiers fought with death-defying courage, earning such respect as warriors that they were often recruited into the colonial armies not simply to enforce colonial rule in Africa, but to fight for the European homelands as well. After independence swept through Africa, African military men seized political power in country after country, ruling dictatorially for their own benefit and for that of their kinsmen and cronies. The author describes the post-colonial civil wars that have devastated much of sub-Saharan Africa -- catastrophes marked by genocide, famine, disease, economic collapse, and steadily declining life expectancy. He closes by describing the role that Africa's military forces can and must play if the future is to bring better times to the continent's many peoples.

Author: Maggie Dwyer
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190876077
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
Soldiers in Revolt examines the understudied phenomenon of military mutinies in Africa. Through interviews with former mutineers in Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, and The Gambia, the book provides a unique and intimate perspective on those who take the risky decision to revolt. This view from the lower ranks is key to comprehending the internal struggles that can threaten a military's ability to function effectively. Maggie Dwyer's detailed accounts of specific revolts are complemented by an original dataset of West African mutinies covering more than fifty years, allowing for the identification of trends. Her book shows the complex ways mutineers often formulate and interpret their grievances against a backdrop of domestic and global politics. Just as mutineers have been influenced by the political landscape, so too have they shaped it. Mutinies have challenged political and military leaders, spurred social unrest, led to civilian casualties, threatened peacekeeping efforts and, in extreme cases, resulted in international interventions. Soldiers in Revolt offers a better understanding of West African mutinies and mutinies in general, valuable not only for military studies but for anyone interested in the complex dynamics of African states.

Author: Sabella Ogbobode Abidde
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031314271
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
This edited volume examines the cases of four African military leaders who had enormous impact on the continent and beyond. These military officers, and later heads of state -- Jerry Rawlings of Ghana; Moammar Gaddafi of Libya; Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso; and Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt – were provocative and polarizing figures, beloved domestically but mostly viewed with suspicion and hostility by foreign governments. This volume studies these leaders as a group, engaging in a critical but systematic examination of their personalities, leadership styles, official performance, legacies, and their continuing impact on the future and political destiny of the continent. Providing a survey of controversial but important African political figures, this volume will be of use to scholars and students in the social sciences, especially those interested in African history, African studies, military science, Black studies, political science, leadership studies, and the politics of developing nations.