Page 188 - Afrika Must Unite

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

N E O - C O L O N I A L I S M I N A F R I C A

T h e g r e a t e s t danger at present facing Africa is neocolonial­
ism and its m ajor instrument, balkanization. The latter term is
particularly appropriate to describe the breaking up of Africa
into small, weak states, since it arose from the action of the great
powers when they divided up the European part of the old
Turkish Empire, and created a num ber of dependent and com­
peting states in the Balkan peninsula. The effect was to produce
a political tinderbox which any spark could set alight. In fact,
the explosion came in 1914 when an Austrian archduke was
m urdered at Sarajevo. Because the Balkan countries were so
closely tied up with the great powers and their rivalries, the
m urder resulted in the First W orld W ar, the greatest war which
had been fought up to that time.
In the same way as alliances by the Balkan states with rival
powers outside the Balkans resulted in world war, so a world
war could easily originate on our continent if African states make
political, economic and military alliances with rival powers out­
side Africa. Already political commentators have referred to
Africa as a vast new battleground for the cold war.
As the nationalist struggle deepens in the colonial territories
and independence appears on the horizon, the imperialist
powers, fishing in the muddy waters of communalism, tribalism
and sectional interests, endeavour to create fissions in the national
front, in order to achieve fragmentation. Ireland is the classic
example, India another. The French dismembered the Federa­
tion of West Africa and that of Equatorial Africa. Nigeria was
broken into regions and is anticipating further partitions.
Ruanda-U rundi has been fragmented with independence.
Because we in Ghana survived pre-independence attempts to
split us, the British foisted on us a constitution that aimed at