The University of Botswana and The Botswana Society will hold an illustrated power-point lecture on Africa and the First World War, by historian Dr Jeff Ramsay billed “Black Power and the Fall of the Kaiserreich” in recognition of the Centenary of Armistice Day on November 1918, and Bechuanaland and Africa’s role in the First World War.
Even though a century has passed since the end of the ‘Great War’, the popular image of the war is that it was fought in Europe by Europeans. It ignores the half million African troops who fought on the Western Front and in the Middle East, and it dismisses as a sideshow the war fought in Africa at a horrific cost. The truth is that no armed conflict has had a greater impact on Africa than did the First World War.
Fighting took place in every corner of the continent, including Botswana. In Africa, millions were involved in military action, and up to three-quarter million African combatants perished, and in some areas the civilian population declined as much as 10 per cent. Without Africa’s participation, the final victory of the Anglo-French Alliance could not have been assured. In turn, the First World War transformed Africa in many ways, even up to today.
The lecture is free and open to the public.
For further information, contact: The Botswana Society, 184 Tlale House, First Floor, Tel: 391-9745, or email botsoc@info.bw