The period of colonial administration
The First World War
The First World War was a struggle for the redistribution of Africa, but the lives of most African countries, it affected not particularly strong. The fighting spread to the territory of the Germanic colonies. They were conquered by the Allied forces after the war by the decision of the League of Nations handed over to the Entente countries as mandated territories: Togo and Cameroon were divided between Britain and France, Germanskaya South West Africa went to Union of South Africa (South African), part Germanskoy East Africa - Rwanda and Burundi - was handed over to Belgium, the other - Tanganyika - the United Kingdom.
With the acquisition of long-cherished dream come true Tanganyika British ruling circles: there was a continuous strip of British possessions from Cape Town to Cairo. After the war, the process of colonial development in Africa has accelerated. Colonies have become increasingly an agricultural commodity appendages metropolises. Agriculture is increasingly export oriented.
Interwar period
In the interwar period dramatically changed the composition of crops grown by Africans - a sharp rise in the production of export crops: coffee - 11 times, tea - in 10, the cocoa beans - 6, peanut - more than 4, tobacco - 3 times and t . e. A growing number of colonies became countries monoculture farming. On the eve of World War II in many countries, two-thirds to 98% of the value of total exports accounted for on any one culture. In The Gambia, Senegal and the culture has become such a goober, Zanzibar - carnation, Uganda - Cotton, Gold Coast - cocoa beans, in French Guinea - bananas and pineapples in Southern Rhodesia - tobacco. In some countries, had two export crops: the Ivory Coast and Togo - coffee and cocoa, in Kenya - coffee and tea, etc. In Gabon, and some other countries have become valuable species monoculture forests.
Created industrial - primarily mining - was an even greater extent intended for export. She developed rapidly. In the Belgian Congo, for example, extraction of copper from 1913 to 1937 increased by more than 20 times. By 1937, Africa remained in the capitalist world's an impressive place in the production of mineral raw materials. It accounted for 97% of all mined diamonds, 92% - cobalt, 40% gold, chromite, lithium minerals, manganese ore, phosphate, and over a third of the total production of platinum. In West Africa, as well as in most parts of East and Central African export products are produced mainly in the farms of the Africans themselves. European plantation there has not caught on due to climatic conditions, difficult for the Europeans. The main exploiters of African producers were foreign companies. Agricultural exports was made on farms owned by Europeans, located in the Union of South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, part of Northern Rhodesia, Kenya, South-West Africa.
World War II
During World War II hostilities in Tropical Africa were only in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Italian Somaliland. In 1941, British troops with the Ethiopian guerrillas and with the active participation of Somalis have taken in these countries. In other countries of tropical and South Africa military action was not conducted. However, in metropolises army were mobilized hundreds of thousands of Africans. Even a greater number of people had to serve the troops, to work for military purposes. The Africans fought in North Africa, Western Europe, the Middle East, Burma, Malaya. On the territory of the French colonies was a struggle between supporters of Vichy and the Free French, not caused, as a rule, to military clashes.