Author Description

Since 2005, there has been an upsurge in publications dealing with Zambia's past, yet none of these publications deals explicitly with the manner in which the colonial state came to be established in Zambia, let alone the central role and importance of World War One in the establishment of colonial rule in Zambia. In essence, this book seeks to discover and describe how British colonial authority came to be imposed in colonial Zambia between 1890 and 1920, and argues that the unique circumstances associated with the prosecution of World War One in Central Africa facilitated and enabled the establishment of the colonial state in Zambia. Three points underscore this work: (1) The establishment of colonial rule in Zambia took place along lines that differ substantially from the manner in which colonial rule came to be established in Zimbabwe or South Africa; (2) On account of the specific conditions that exist in Zambia, there is a complex dialectical relationship between labour and transport in the territory; (3) British Colonial rule only came to be effectively established in Zambia in the course of, and on account of, World War One. [ASC Leiden abstract]"