Acceso usuarios
Gian Paolo Calchi Novati
The horizon of the process towards independence of the African peoples after the colonial experience was affected by the territorial solutions which stemmed from the Scramble. Colonialism as a state-maker did not respect the pre-existing order. African states and empires were disrupted in search of loyalties that the European powers deemed more docile. On the other hand, the leaderships who were apt to manage the tools for the “liberation” – before they became the core of the anti-colonial upsurge – had shared with their colonial masters the principles of nation and nationalism. The souvenir of the pre-colonial past didn’t vanish but it was mainly trusted to the “traditional” elite who lost ground in the confrontation with the Westernized elite. The article focuses on two regions – the Maghreb and the Horn – where the colonial geopolitics had to cope with the historical remains and memoirs. The Great Morocco design refused the colonial fragmentation although with only a partial success. The claims on large portions of former French colonies were validly rebuffed and the controversial case of Western Sahara is still open. The state ideals of Ethiopia and Somalia had opposite requisites and targets. Hence a long struggle with Ogaden as its most visible stake. Conservationism (in territorial terms) was challenged by revisionism. Ironically, whereas decolonization tried to re-establish the long-durée of local history, the post-colonial conflicts restored the colonial boundaries both in the space of the Abyssinian empire and in the Sudan.
