12/24/2022 0 Comments Upper volta colonial history![]() Problems of national unity and cohesion: Overview and Case Studies We shall discuss below the major problems that have affected West African countries since the attainment of independence. However, these impressive developments were soon overshadowed by many problems, some of which have still not been solved. The road network was expanded and hospitals and clinics were built. School enrolment, for example, increased substantially in the first decade of independence. They formulated good policies for the social and economic development of their people. They hoped to transform their newly independent countries so that their citizens would enjoy the fruits of independence, as colonial rule had brought only few benefits to the majority of the people. Most West African leaders were very optimistic about their countries’ future at independence. ![]() Continuous migration toward Ivory Coast, first imposed by the French and now a sour legacy of colonization, is a constant source of tension between the two countries.Please click this link to download the chapter. In power from 1983 to 1987, he renames the country Burkina Faso ('Country of Honest Men'), in a spirit of nationalism and pan-Africanism. ![]() However, the country suffers from political rivalries that endure long after 1960 and culminate in rebellion, even revolution, by young officers led by Thomas Sankara. The march toward independence takes place smoothly within the AOF framework. It is reborn in 1947, when the colonial administration, disturbed by the close relations between Ivorian politicians and the French communist party, restores a reputedly politically conservative colony. In 1932, Upper Volta is wiped from the map after being redistributed among its three neighbours, Niger, French Sudan (modern Mali) and especially Ivory Coast. The rigidity of the French colonial system and the jobs and salaries available in the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) attract many of the young to emigrate to the English colony, to the great displeasure of French plantation owners in Ivory Coast and to the detriment of post war development projects. The colony is created officially in 1919 when it becomes part of French West Africa (AOF). Such bravery by the Voltaic peoples convinces the French army to recruit them en masse to serve in the First World War, causing a 1916 insurrection the French found difficult to crush. 'Pacification' takes a long time, stymied by strong and widespread resistance. French colonization penetrates the territory using extreme brutality, the most well known episode being Voulet-Chanoine's violent 1897 mission to establish control. In Ouagadougou itself, the Mogho Naba continues the royal rituals of bygone days. While the Mossi Kingdoms, including Ouagadougou, maintain their local cult beliefs even while Islam spreads across West Africa, the 'joking relationships' that bind all Burkinabé peoples and their neighbours, from Senegal to Niger, attest to long-established collective familiarity and exchanges. Among these political entities, 'independence' does not at all translate into antagonism and conflict. ![]() However, perhaps it's no wonder, given the persistence of the remarkably organized and independent political units of the great empires and kingdoms – Ghana, Mali, Songhai, Ségou and Macina – that mark nearly a thousand years of West African history, from the 10th century to the 19th century. If any country can be called a miraculous survivor of colonization, it's Upper Volta (the colonial name of Burkina Faso). ![]() Languages: Mosi or Mooré and approximately 60 national ones, including Fulfulde, Diula, Bisa, Lobi, Lyélé and Marka (former French colony / colonial language French) ![]()
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