Seminar: Forged in War: the Establishment of Colonial Rule in Zambia, 1890-1920

The territories that would make up what is today the Republic of Zambia officially became British in 1891. However, this did not equate to an on-the-ground presence of colonial authority capable of affecting the destiny and daily lives of people. Prof. Jan-Bart Gewald's work, as published in Forged in the Great War: People, transport, and labour, the establishment of colonial rule in Zambia, 1890 – 1920 (Leiden, 2015) indicates that the establishment of effective colonial rule in Northern Rhodesia only came about on account of the unique conditions that developed in the First World War (1914-1918); conditions that led to the massive application of human labour, obtained through the intercedence of Chiefs and Headmen in exchange for goods and money. Inadvertently this bound the Chiefs and Headmen ever further to the incipient colonial administration.

In contrast to the work of those who argue that the colonial state was threatened and nearly collapsed during the course of the First World War, Prof. Gewald argues that it was precisely on account of the war, and in particular the limitless funding made available by the War Office during the course of the war, that the British South Africa Company (BSAC) was able to establish an effective administration in colonial Zambia.

World War I did not weaken the colonial administration in Northern Rhodesia, instead it provided the BSAC with an opportunity to extend and impress its authority across the territory.

Prof. Gewald's book on this subject is entitled Forged in the Great War. People, transport, and labour, the establishment of colonial rule in Zambia, 1890-1920. It is published by the ASC as volume 61 of the African Studies Collection and can be ordered (€ 10,-) in the ASC bookshop. Download the book here.