Introduction

This module is divided into fourteen blocks which are organised as follows.

To begin with, we take up again the question, which has been controversial for a long time: to know if Africa, Black Africa in particular, has a history. We present the prejudices that this continent has been subject to, before examining the sources currently used by historians: written sources in connection with periodisation, ethno cultural regions, their classification, oral traditions, complementary sources to the history.

Secondly, we study prehistory. For a better understanding of this block, we have deemed necessary to provide a short outline on the geographical aspects of Africa before talking about hominisation which has gone through a long and constant evolution in this part of the world.

The third block of this module is about Mediterranean Africa before the advent of Islam. We attach a particular importance to Egypt (Pharaonic, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine) and to the Libyco-Berber world with the apogee of Carthage and to Nilotic Sudan.

Devoted to the expansion of Islam in North Africa, the fourth block mainly explores the conquest of Egypt by Arabs, the resistance of the Maghreb to Islamization, to end up with the penetration of the Islamic religion in Nubia and Ethiopia.

The fifth block lingers justifiably over the great empires of Western Africa whose political and social organisation has extensively been studied by historians. Those empires include Ghana, Mali, Songhaï and  Mossi.

The sixth block focuses on Central and Southern Africa through Bantu kingdoms (Kongo, Angola, Louango, Bamoun, Fang, Mangbetu, Zande, Kuba, Luba, Lunda, Zimbabwe, Monomotapa). Eastern Africa is also the focal point: our concern is to analyse the relationship between the littoral of the Indian Ocean, vector of Swahili civilisation and the kingsoms of the Great Lakes region.

The seventh block attempts to describe the arrival of Europeans on the African coasts and the transatlantic Black Trade. It aims at showing determining relationships that marked Black Africa and the West between the 16^th and the 19^th centuries.

The eighth block is devoted to the history of Madagascar.

The ninth block analyses the exploration and the dividing- up of Africa. It indicates the reasons behind this European initiative and lingers over the Conference of Berlin (1884-1885).

The tenth block discusses the various military conquests and the ways the Africans tried to resist.

The eleventh block analyses the transformations of Africa during colonisation on political, economic, social and cultural points of view.

The twelfth block evokes how Africa entered and participated in both world wars and the consequences which followed on the continent.

The thirteenth block discusses the main forces of the African nationalism and the various steps towards independence.

The last block analyses two important problems of contemporary Africa: its marginalisation in a globalizing world and the nature of the postcolonial African State.

This module aims at helping you to understand major historical events which happened in the African continent, to have essential knowledge of the great African changes of the 20 ^th century, to assess the role that Africa played in the world history.

What is in this module? 

There are 14 blocks in this module:

Block 1: Sources in African History

Block 2: Prehistory

Block 3: Mediterranean Africa before the advent of Islam

Block 4: The expansion of Islam in North Africa

Block 5: Great Empires of West Africa

Block 6: Central, Eastern and Southern Africa (12^th_ 19^th c.)

Block 7: Africa and the West from 1500 to 1800

Block 8: Madagascar

Block 9: Explorations and dividing- up Africa  

Block 10: Military conquest and African Resistances to Colonisation

Block 11: Transformations of Africa during Colonisation

Block 12: The World Wars and their consequences in Africa

Block 13: The Nationalism and the African Independences

Block 14: Problems of Contemporary Africa

How will I assess my learning?

In each module, there are activities meant to test how much you have learnt from each section.

Attempt them after each section before moving on to the next block. If you find the activity difficult, read the section again et attempt it a second time. If the second attempt doesn’t yield much, consult your colleagues or subject tutor.

The answers to each activity are provided at the end of each block. In order to assess yourself effectively, exercise some degree of discipline by not lokking to the answers before attempting the activity. You will also do a Tutor Marked Assessment (TMA) for 40% and the final exam for 60%.

How much do I know?

What did you retain from the course on the history of Africa that you had at secondary school? Did this course interest you? Can you answer the following questions?

Activity !

1. What are the main sources used in writing history? 
2. Why is it said that Africa is the cradle of humanity?
3. How were the kings of Old Egypt called? Which monuments had they built?
4. What does the expression ‘Punic Wars’ refer to? How many of them did take place? 
5. Name two great empires of Western Africa
6. What do you know about Bantu migrations? 
7. What does the term "swahili" mean?
8. Name four kingdoms of the Great Lakes regions.
9. What does the expression ‘triangular trade’ refer to?
10. Which Malagasy kingdom did impose itself on others starting from the 18^th century?
11. Name five important explorers of Africa
12. Who initiated the Conference of Berlin?
13. Who is the theorist of the British Indirect Rule?
14. What are the two most important external forces during the claim for African independences?
15. Which is the first country to get independence in the Black Africa

Answers

1. In writing history, historians make use of written, oral and material sources.
2. It is said that Africa is the cradle of humanity because it is in this continent that the oldest fossils of hominids have been found.
3. They were called Pharaohs. They had built pyramids.
4. The Punic Wars are conflicts, which opposed Carthage and Rome. There were three of them.
5. Ghana and Mali.
6. The expression Bantu migrations refers to people who, at the start, lived in the area that stretches from Chad to Benoue. Having discovered the metallurgy of iron, they multiplied and began migrating towards the East and the South of the continent.
7. The term "Swahili" means at the same time a language, a half-caste population and a civilisation.
8. Rwanda, Burundi, Buganda, Bunyoro.
9. It is a trade, which linked up Europe, Africa and America. Europeans brought cheap and nasty goods in Africa, bought slaves and transported them to America, from where they obtained food commodities (sugar, cotton, tobacco) produced by a servile labour.
10. It is Merina kingdom.
11.  Henri Barth, Mungo Park, Savorgnan de Brazza, Richard Burton, John Speke, Henry Stanley, David Livingstone
12. Frederick Bismark initiated the Conference of Berlin
13. Frederick Lugard
14. The United Nations Organisation and the super powers (USA, USSR)
15. Ghana