Nigeria and World War II : colonialism, empire, and global conflict

Britain's declaration of war on Germany on 3 September, 1939, made Nigeria, like many other African societies, active participants in the war against the Axis powers. Leading to large-scale mobilization of human and materials resources, it transformed lives and societies in irrevocable ways. Of the 90,000 West African soldiers deployed to South East Asia after 1943, over half came from Nigeria. In this important, revisionist history, Chima J. Korieh examines how the lives of Nigerian producers, workers, merchants, men, women, and children from across society were affected. It recounts the extraordinary and often neglected story of the Nigerian people who were drawn into a global war, the enormous demands it made on their resources, and the way it would change both their lives and the societies they lived in. By placing the role that African societies played in the war within the contextual and theoretical frameworks of colonialism, race, gender, identity, labour, intellectual, and social history, Korieh challenges the dominant perception that World War II was primarily a European conflict and reveals the global impact of ordinary Nigerians on the war effort. Contents 6 Figures 7 Maps 8 Tables 9 Acknowledgments 10 Abbreviations 13 Introduction Colonialism, Imperialism, and Global Conflict 14 1 Fighting for the World Imperialism, Wartime Policy, and Colonial Subjects 46 2 For King and Country Colonial Subjects and Wartime Intellectualism 85 3 The Home Front Colonial Subjects and the Burden of Empire 124 4 Voices of Protest Austerity, Regulations, and Social Protest 177 5 The Second World War and Its Aftermath 219 Conclusion 265 Bibliography 278 Index 300 "In the months following the beginning of the Second World War, increasing numbers of Nigerians offered moral support to Britain. But they did much more, including producing needed agricultural and mineral products, entering the army, and meeting the labor needs in several other areas. While Nigeria did not directly experience the conflict on its soil, the war nevertheless had a knock-on effect on its population and every small village and hamlet in Nigeria."-- Provided by publisher Recounting the extraordinary and often neglected story of the Nigerian people in World War II, this history of colonial interactions in Nigeria during the largest global conflict of the twentieth century draws on hitherto unexplored archival resources, challenging the perception that it was primarily a European conflict. A Sophisticated History Of Colonial Interactions In Nigeria During World War Ii Drawing On Hitherto Unexplored Archival Resources.