African History · Unit 6
Armed Struggle
When negotiation failed and colonized peoples fought their way to independence instead
Not every African nation reached independence through referendum or negotiated transfer of power. This unit examines three wars fought when colonial powers refused to leave voluntarily: Algeria's brutal eight-year war against France, Kenya's Mau Mau uprising against Britain, and the thirteen-year Portuguese Colonial War fought simultaneously in Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau.
Learning Objectives
- •Students will be able to explain why Algeria, Kenya, and the Portuguese African colonies pursued armed struggle rather than negotiated independence, and identify the specific colonial policies that made peaceful transition unlikely in each case.
- •Students will analyze primary source evidence of colonial-era torture, detention, and civilian suppression, and evaluate how each colonial power's own government responded when these practices became public.
- •Students will compare the political and military strategies used by the FLN, the Kenya Land and Freedom Army, and the PAIGC/MPLA/FRELIMO liberation movements, identifying both shared patterns and important differences.
- •Students will trace the long-delayed process of historical acknowledgment and reconciliation in each case, evaluating what factors led governments to eventually admit wrongdoing decades after the events themselves.