From “Armies of Africans” to “African Armies”: The evolution of military forces in Africa

The initial major eruption of African officers came in the Sudanese military intervention of 1958. External rule was established throughout Africa through force. African troops, recruited and trained to serve European ends, quelled indigenous resistance and maintained the local version of pax Britannica or pax Gallica. Nkrumah's remarks expressed what might best be regarded as a myth, namely the notion that soldiers in newly independent African states had been, and could continue to be, divorced from the political process. In fact, coercion had long played an important part in governing in Africa—and the concept of a "nonpolitical" army had been little more than a smokescreen for colonial domination. Practically all varieties of African states have experienced successful military intervention: the relatively populous, such as Nigeria and Zaire, as well as the least populous, such as Togo and Benin.