Films such as All Quiet On The Western Front portrayed WWI as a clash of massive armies across a hellish European landscape of trenches, blast craters, and enormous death. Most of us do not know that the conflict naturally spilled over into the European colonies in Africa. In fact, WWI is the historical context for the movie The African Queen in which the lead characters attempt to sink a fictitious German warship, Marie-Louisa.

Prior to WWI, European colonies were geographically intermixed and freely traded with each other in relative peace. However, with WWI, small numbers of colonial troops led by European officers and equipped with outmoded rifles and a few machine guns, together with colonial police, began to fight across the jigsaw of colonial frontiers. Since there was little interior transport infrastructure, a huge human investment was needed to portage the food, weapons, and ammunition through jungle and savannah. Nearly 1 million porters died in this effort from disease and malnutrition.

In this course, we will explore the historical context and actual events of WWI in Africa through lectures, photographic and film elements, as well as in-class discussion.

This course will combine lecture with class discussions.