War in Africa: a list, reasons, history and interesting facts

The most unstable region on our planet in terms of wars and numerous armed conflicts is, of course, the African continent. Over the past forty years, there have been more than 50 similar incidents, which killed more than 5 million people, 18 million became refugees, and 24 million were left without a roof over their heads. Perhaps, still nowhere in the world of war and endless conflicts did not lead to such large-scale sacrifices and destruction.

General information

From the history of the Ancient World, it is known that major wars in Africa were conducted from the third millennium BC. They began with the unification of Egyptian lands. In the future, the pharaohs constantly fought for the expansion of their state, then with Palestine, then with Syria. There are also known three Punic Wars, lasting for more than a hundred years.

In the Middle Ages, armed conflicts contributed significantly to the further development of aggressive policy and perfected the art of war. Africa only in the XIII century experienced three Crusades. A long list of military confrontations to which this continent was subjected in the XIX and XX centuries, is simply amazing! However, the First and Second World Wars became the most destructive for him. Only one of them killed more than 100 thousand people.

The First World War in Africa

The reasons for the military actions in this region were quite weighty. As you know, the first world in Europe was unleashed by Germany. The Entente countries, opposing its pressure, decided to take away its colonies in Africa, which the German government had acquired quite recently. These lands were still poorly protected, and given that the British fleet at that time dominated the sea, and were altogether cut off from its metropolis. This could only mean one thing - Germany was not able to send reinforcements and ammunition. In addition, the German colonies were surrounded on all sides by territories belonging to their opponents - the Entente countries.

Already at the end of the summer of 1914 the French and British troops managed to capture the first small colony of the enemy - Togo. The further invasion of the Entente forces in South-West Africa was somewhat suspended. The reason for this was the Boers uprising, which was suppressed only by February 1915. After that, the South African army began to move forward quickly and in July forced the German troops deployed in South West Africa to surrender. The following year, Germany had to withdraw from Cameroon, whose defenders fled to a neighboring colony - Spanish Guinea. However, despite such a victorious advance of the Entente troops, the Germans still managed to give serious resistance in East Africa, where fighting continued throughout the war.

Further fighting

The First World War in Africa affected many of the colonies of the Allies, as the German troops had to retreat to the territory belonging to the British Crown. The German army in this region was commanded by Colonel P. von Lettow-Forbeck. It was he who led the troops in early November 1914, when the largest battle took place near the city of Tang (Indian Ocean coast). At this time, the German army numbered about 7 thousand people. With the support of the two cruisers, the British managed to land a dozen transports of assault on the shore, but despite this Colonel Lettov-Vorbek managed to win a convincing victory over the British, forcing them to leave the shore.

After that, the war in Africa turned into a guerrilla war. The Germans attacked the English forts and undermined the railways in Kenya and Rhodesia. Lettov-Forbek enlarged his army by recruiting volunteers from among the local residents, who had good training. In total, he managed to recruit about 12 thousand people.

In 1916, united in one army, the British, Portuguese and Belgian colonial forces launched an offensive in eastern Africa. But no matter how hard they tried, they failed to defeat the German army. Despite the fact that the allied forces greatly exceeded the number of German troops, Lettov-Vorbeku helped to hold out two factors: knowledge of the climate and terrain. And at this time, his opponents suffered heavy losses, and not only on the battlefield, but also because of illnesses. At the end of the autumn of 1917, persecuted by the allies, Colonel P. von Lettow-Forbeck found himself with his army in the territory of the colony of Mozambique, then owned by Portugal.

End of hostilities

The First World War was nearing completion. Africa and Asia, like Europe, suffered great human losses. By August 1918, German troops surrounded from all sides, avoiding encounters with the main enemy forces, had to return to their territory. By the end of the same year, the remnants of the Lettov-Vorbek Colonial Army of no more than 1,500 people were in Northern Rhodesia, which at that time belonged to Britain. Here the colonel learned about the defeat of Germany and was forced to lay down his arms. For showing courage in the battles with the enemy, he was met at home as a hero.

Thus ended the First World War. Africa it cost, according to some estimates, at least 100 thousand human lives. Although the fighting on this continent was not decisive, however, they continued throughout the war.

World War II

As you know, the large-scale military operations deployed by fascist Germany in the 30s and 40s of the last century affected not only the territory of Europe. Two more continents were not spared by the Second World War. Africa, Asia, too, were involved, albeit in part, in this grand conflict.

Unlike Britain, Germany by that time no longer had its own colonies, but always claimed them. In order to paralyze the economy of its main enemy - England, the Germans decided to establish control over North Africa, since only this way it was possible to reach other British colonies - India, Australia and New Zealand. In addition, the probable cause, which pushed Hitler to conquer the North African lands, was his further invasion of Iran and Iraq, where there were significant oil deposits controlled by Britain.

The beginning of hostilities

The Second World War in Africa lasted for three years - from June 1940 to May 1943. The opposing forces in this conflict were Britain and the United States on one side, and Germany and Italy on the other. The main military operations took place on the territory of Egypt and the Maghreb. The conflict began with the invasion of Italian troops in Ethiopia, which greatly undermined Britain's dominance in the region.

Initially, 250,000 Italian soldiers took part in the North African campaign, to which later 130,000 German soldiers, who had a large number of tanks and artillery guns, came to their aid. In turn, the allied army of the United States and Britain numbered 300,000 American and more than 200,000 British troops.

Further developments

The war in North Africa began with the fact that in June 1940 the British began to strike point-like blows on the Italian army, as a result of which it immediately lost several thousand of its soldiers, while the British - no more than two hundred. After such defeat, the Italian government decided to give the command of the troops in the hands of Marshal Graziani and was not mistaken with the choice. Already on September 13 of the same year he begins an offensive, forcing British General O'Connor to retreat due to the considerable preponderance of his opponent in manpower. After the Italians managed to capture the small Egyptian town of Sidi Barrani, the offensive was suspended for three long months.

Unexpectedly for Graziani in late 1940, the army of General O'Connor went on the offensive. The Libyan operation began with an attack on one of the Italian garrisons. Graziani clearly was not ready for such a turn of events, so he could not organize a worthy rebuff to his opponent. As a result of the impetuous advance of the British troops, Italy has forever lost its colonies in the north of Africa.

The situation changed somewhat in the winter of 1941, when the Nazi command sent the tank corps of General Rommel to the aid of his ally. Already in March, the war in Africa broke out with renewed vigor. The combined army of Germany and Italy dealt a heavy blow to the British defense, completely destroying one of the enemy armored brigades.

The end of World War II

In November of the same year, the British launched a second attempt at a counteroffensive, launching an operation code-named "Crusader." They even managed to repel Tripolitania, but already in December they were stopped by Rommel's army. In May 1942, the German general struck a decisive blow to the enemy's defenses, and the British were forced to retreat deeper into Egypt. The victorious offensive continued until the 8th Allied Army interrupted him under Al-Alamein. This time, despite all the efforts, the Germans never managed to break through the defenses of the British. At that time, General Montgomery was appointed Commander of the Eighth Army, who began to develop another offensive plan, while successfully continuing to repel Hitler's attacks.

In October of the same year, British troops inflicted a powerful blow to the military units of Rommel, stationed under Al-Alamein. This entailed a complete defeat of the two armies - Germany and Italy, who were forced to retreat to the borders of Tunisia. In addition, to help the British came Americans, landed on the African coast on November 8. Rommel made an attempt to stop the allies, but it did not succeed. After this, the German general was recalled to his homeland.

Rommel was an experienced military commander, and his loss meant only one thing: the war in Africa ended in complete defeat for Italy and Germany. After that, Britain and the United States significantly strengthened their positions in this region. In addition, the liberated troops they threw on the subsequent capture of Italy.

Second half of the 20th century

With the end of the Second World War, the confrontation in Africa did not end. One after another, revolts broke out, which in some countries developed into full-scale military operations. So, once the outbreak of civil war in Africa can last for years and even decades. An example is the domestic armed confrontations in Ethiopia (1974-1991), Angola (1975-2002), Mozambique (1976-1992), Algeria and Sierra Leone (1991-2002), Burundi (1993-2005), Somalia (1988 ). In the last of the above countries, the civil war did not end until now. And this is only a small part of all the military conflicts that existed on the African continent and which continue to this day.

The causes of the emergence of numerous military confrontations lie in local specifics, as well as in the historical situation. Since the sixties of the last century, most African countries have gained independence, and one third of them immediately began armed clashes, and in the 90's, fighting was already on the territory of 16 states.

Modern wars

In the current century, the situation on the African continent has not changed. Here, a large-scale geopolitical reconstruction continues, in the conditions of which there can be no question of any increase in the level of security in this region. The difficult economic situation and the acute shortage of finances only aggravate the situation.

Smuggling, illegal supplies of arms and drugs are flourishing here, which further exacerbates the rather complex criminogenic situation in the region. In addition, all this takes place against the backdrop of extremely high population growth, as well as uncontrolled migration.

Attempts to localize conflicts

Now it seems that the war in Africa is endless. As practice has shown, international peacekeeping, trying to prevent numerous armed clashes on this continent, proved ineffective. For example, we can take at least the following fact: UN troops participated in 57 conflicts, and in most cases their actions did not affect their end.

It is generally assumed that the blame for this is the bureaucratic slowness of peacekeeping missions and poor awareness of the rapidly changing real situation. In addition, UN troops are extremely small and are withdrawn from war-torn countries even before the effective government begins to be formed there.