World War 1 was aboutconquest and empire, nota defence againstGermanyThe biggest prize of WWI for Britainwas getting hold of the oilfields inthe Middle East, someJames Willson, the author ofGuerrillas of Tsavo, stands next toone of the structures at Maktaucemetery in Taita Taveta County onAugust 1, as he takes journaliststhrough the events that unfoldedduring the First World War in EastAfrica from 1914 to 1918. A numberof events have been scheduled inthe county for the coming four yearsin commemoration of the war.PHOTO | KEVIN ODITADVERTISEMENTOn August 11, you carried acentre-spread informing us of therelics of World War 1 in TaitaTaveta County.I am sure that, like me, manyfellow Kenyans were not aware ofthe existence of this colonialmemorabilia. I personally believethat such relics should bepreserved as it is part of Kenya’s(hi)story.(READ: First World War 100thmemorial to be held in Taita)In the same vein, I think it is veryimportant to get that (hi)storycorrect, and a correct (hi)story isone that is written from a people’spoint of view.Normally (hi)story is written bythe victor, in this case our colonialmasters; it is our responsibility toreinterpret it from ourperspective.World War I was fought from 1914to 1918 and resulted in the deathof 10 million men, 15 millioninjured, while nine million becameprisoners of war.Almost all were working classpeople. It was a war betweenEuropean powers, so why did weget involved?Because some of these powers(Britain and Germany) hadinvaded and grabbed ourterritories, just as they had doneon the Indian sub-continent andelsewhere.EXCUSE FOR WARThus it is that our territoriesbecame a terrain for the fight andthat our men, African and Indian,died in these battles. And let it beclear — we did not ‘volunteer’ tofight for ‘a great cause’, we wereforced into it.WWI was hailed in bourgeois(hi)story as a ‘war to end allwars’. Well, events since haveproved otherwise. The excuse forthe war ran through a wholecatalogue of pretexts: from ahumanitarian war through astruggle for survival and a defenceagainst Germans.The reality was very different. Thewar was a clash of empires, a warto re-divide the globe foughtbetween great capitalist states, andof these, the British Empire wasthe largest, the most rapacious andthe most powerful.In the course of the 19th century,the British state had extinguishedthe independence of morecountries than the rest of the greatpowers put together. This wasaccomplished by massacre, rapeand pillage.The Indian subcontinent, Burma,Afghanistan, Tibet and othercountries had been invaded andconquered. The British-controlledopium trade in China stands asone of the worst crimes of the 19thcentury. The biggest prize of WWIfor Britain was getting hold of theoilfields in the Middle East, someof the richest in the world.Our own continent had beenarbitrarily divided andapportioned in the 1885 Scramblefor Africa. In our region, WWIenabled victorious Britain to takeover the German controlledterritory of Tanganyika andincorporate it into British EastAfrica. The rest is history!And what about our valiant menwho were coerced and forced intothis war between Europeanpowers, and for which many died?We know that white soldiers werematerially rewarded with ourlands, our labour, etc. The Nationarticle informs us of thebeautifully maintained graves ofBritish soldiers in the Voi, Maktauand Taveta cemeteries. What aboutall the African soldiers who died?‘There is no graveyard for Africansoldiers,’ the writer states. Yettheir role as soldiers and porterswas an essential to the war effort.FIRST SOLDIER TO DIECorporal Murimu Mwiti whobecame the ‘first “British” soldierto be killed in action’, how is hecommemorated? Did he evenknow what he was dying for? Washis family compensated for theloss of its breadwinner? Was heawarded the Victoria Cross?Germany’s defeat has beenpresented by military historians as‘a hard fought struggle to thebitter end’. The truth lieselsewhere. It was the gradualchange of attitude by the frontlinesoldiers resulting in waves of draftdodging, desertions, mutinies andvoluntary surrenders which finallyended the war.The revolutions that followed thismass disobedience brought downthree European empires and theOttoman Empire of the Turks. Bythe time the Americans joinedWWI in April 1917, almost half theFrench army had overstayed itshome leave, deserted or mutinied.Draft-dodging in Germany hadbecome so common that enrolmentin 1917 fell from 1.4 million to 0.6million. The working class, in andout of uniform, were quitting thewar and the war leaders wereforced to call for an armistice. Onedeserting soldier wrote:It’s all a Swindle:‘The War is for the Wealthy,The Middle Class must give way.The People provide the corpses.’While the victors celebrate andcommemorate WWI, the rebellionof the soldiers and the wanton andmeaningless havoc, wounding andkilling of our colonisedcompatriots is neither recorded inour history books nor included inour school curricula.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 02:05:03 +0000
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