Volta-Bani War

1915-1917 uprising in French West Africa

Volta-Bani War

Part of World War I

Map of French West Africa, 1913
| Date| November 1915 – February 1917

|

Location|

Burkino Faso, Mali

Result|  French victory
Belligerents
France
French West Africa|  Marka, Bwa, Lela, Nuni and Bobo people
Commanders and leaders
François Joseph Clozel
Henri Maubert
Strength
5,000|  20,000–30,000[1]

* v
* t
* e

North African operations, World War I

* Somaliland campaign
* Zaian War
* El Herri
* Senussi campaign
* Wadi Marsit
* Gasr Bu Hadi
* Sidi Abu Arqub
* Wadi Seinab
* Wadi Majid
* Halazin
* Agagia
* Sollum
* Bir Hakeim
* Dakhla Oasis
* Siwa
* Tunisia
* Volta-Bani War
* Kaocen Revolt
* Darfur Campaign
* Ethiopia

The Volta-Bani War was an anti-colonial rebellion which took place in French West Africa (specifically, the areas of modern Burkina Faso and Mali) between 1915 and 1917. It was a war between an indigenous African force drawn from a heterogeneous coalition of local peoples who rose against the French Army. At its height in 1916 the rebels mustered from 15,000–20,000 men and fought on several fronts. After about a year and several setbacks, the French army defeated the insurgents and jailed or executed their leaders but resistance continued until 1917.[2]

The war started after the 1915 rainy season when a group of representatives from around a dozen villages gathered at Bona where they resolved to take up arms against the French occupiers.[3] This took place in the context of World War I and introduction of conscription for the French Army. There was also widespread optimism that the colonial government could be beaten at this moment of weakness. It went through various phases as the colonial army organised two suppression campaigns but initially failed in its purpose, in the face of fierce opposition and superior tactics. The Volta-Bani War is one of the most significant armed oppositions to colonial government anywhere in Africa. It was the main reason for the creation of the colony of Haute Volta (now Burkina Faso) after World War I, by splitting off seven districts from the large colony of Haut-Sénégal and Niger.[4]

The name "Volta-Bani War" was coined in the book West African Challenge to Empire: Culture and History in the Volta-Bani War (2002) by Mahir Saul and Patrick Royer. The book is an anthropological analysis and detailed description of these confrontations, on the basis of military archives documents and an elaborate understanding of the region based on ethnographic fieldwork and oral history. It won the Amaury Talbot Prize of the Royal Anthropological Institute for 2002.[4] A fictional account of the revolt was the subject of one of the important literary works of West Africa, Nazi Boni's Crépuscule des temps anciens (1962).[5]

## See also

[edit]

* African theatre of World War I

## Footnotes

[edit]

1. ^ Vennes 2018, p. 87.
2. ^ Chafer 2005, pp. 1–2.
3. ^ Royer 2003, pp. 35–51.
4. ^ a b Saul & Royer 2001, p. [page needed].
5. ^ Boni 1962, p. [page needed].

## References

[edit]

* Boni, N. (1962). Crépuscule des temps anciens; chronique du Bwamu [Twilight of Ancient Times: Chronicle of the Bwamu] (in French). Paris: Présence africaine. OCLC 895374.
* Chafer, Tony (2005). "Review: West African Challenge to Empire: Culture and History in the Volta-Bani Anticolonial War" (PDF). African Studies Quarterly (Book review). VIII (2). ISSN 2152-2448. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
* Royer, Patrick (2003). "La guerre coloniale du Bani-Volta, 1915–1916" [The Bani-Volta Colonial War 1915–1916] (PDF). Autrepart (in French). 26: 35–51\. doi:10.3917/autr.026.0035. ISSN 1278-3986. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
* Saul, Mahir; Royer, Patrick (2001). West African Challenge to Empire: Culture and History in the Volta-Bani Anticolonial War. Western African Studies. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press. ISBN 978-0-8214-1413-2.
* Vennes, Thomas (August 2018). "Understanding Colonial Violence: Military Culture, Colonial Context and the Civilizing Mission in the Volta-Bani War (1915-1916)". Strata. 8: 87–104.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Echenberg, M. (2005). "A Major Study of a Neglected Resistance War: West African Challenge to Empire: Culture and History in the Volta-Bani Anticolonial War" (PDF). The Journal of African History (Book review). 46 (2): 356–357\. doi:10.1017/S0021853705390815. Retrieved 12 November 2017.

## External links

[edit]

* Book review: West African Challenge to Empire: Culture and History in the Volta-Bani Anticolonial War: Tony Chafer
* Book review: West African Challenge to Empire: culture and history in the Volta-Bani anticolonial war: James Currey

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World War I

* Outline
* Military engagements
* Aftermath
* Economic history
* Geography
* Historiography
* Home fronts
* Memorials
* Opposition
* Popular culture
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* Puppet states
* Technology

Theatres|

| European|

* Balkans
* Serbia
* Western Front
* Eastern Front
* Romania
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|

Middle Eastern|

* Gallipoli
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* Caucasus
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African|

* South West
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* North

Asian and Pacific|

* Tsingtao
* German Samoa
* German New Guinea

Naval warfare|

* U-boat campaign
* North Atlantic
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Principal
participants

| Entente Powers|

* Leaders
* Belgium
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* France
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* United Kingdom
* British Empire
* United States

|

Central Powers|

* Leaders
* Germany
* Austria-Hungary
* Ottoman Empire
* Bulgaria
* Senussi
* South African Republic
* Darfur

Timeline|

| Pre-War conflicts|

* Franco-Prussian War (1870–71)
* Scramble for Africa (1880–1914)
* Russo-Japanese War (1905)
* Tangier Crisis (1905–06)
* Bosnian Crisis (1908–09)
* Agadir Crisis (1911)
* Italo-Turkish War (1911–12)
* First Balkan War (1912–13)
* Second Balkan War (1913)

|

Prelude|

* Origins
* Historiography
* Sarajevo assassination
* Anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo
* July Crisis

1914|

* German invasion of Belgium
* Battle of the Frontiers
* Battle of Cer
* Battle of Galicia
* Russian invasion of East Prussia
* Battle of Tannenberg
* Siege of Tsingtao
* First Battle of the Masurian Lakes
* Battle of Grand Couronné
* First Battle of the Marne
* Siege of Przemyśl
* Race to the Sea
* First Battle of Ypres
* Black Sea raid
* Battle of Kolubara
* Battle of Sarikamish
* Christmas truce

1915|

* Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes
* Battle of Łomża
* Second Battle of Ypres
* Sinking of the RMS Lusitania
* Battle of Gallipoli
* Second Battle of Artois
* Battles of the Isonzo
* Gorlice–Tarnów offensive
* Great Retreat
* Bug-Narew Offensive
* Siege of Novogeorgievsk
* Vistula–Bug offensive
* Second Battle of Champagne
* Kosovo offensive
* Siege of Kut
* Battle of Loos
* Battle of Robat Karim

1916|

* Erzurum offensive
* Battle of Verdun
* Lake Naroch offensive
* Battle of Asiago
* Battle of Jutland
* Battle of the Somme
* first day
* Brusilov offensive
* Baranovichi offensive
* Battle of Romani
* Monastir offensive
* Battle of Transylvania

1917|

* Capture of Baghdad
* February Revolution
* Zimmermann telegram
* Second battle of Arras
* Second battle of the Aisne
* Kerensky offensive
* Battle of Mărăști
* Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele)
* Battle of Mărășești
* Third Battle of Oituz
* Battle of Caporetto
* Southern Palestine offensive
* October Revolution
* Battle of La Malmaison
* Battle of Cambrai
* Armistice of Focșani
* Armistice between Russia and the Central Powers

1918|

* Operation Faustschlag
* Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
* German spring offensive
* Zeebrugge Raid
* Treaty of Bucharest of 1918
* Battle of Goychay
* Second Battle of the Piave River
* Second Battle of the Marne
* Hundred Days Offensive
* Vardar offensive
* Battle of Megiddo
* Third Transjordan attack
* Meuse–Argonne offensive
* Battle of Vittorio Veneto
* Armistice of Salonica
* Armistice of Mudros
* Armistice of Villa Giusti
* Second Romanian campaign
* Armistice with Germany
* Naval Victory Bulletin
* Armistice of Belgrade

Co-belligerent conflicts|

* Somaliland campaign (1900–1920)
* Mexican Revolution (1910–1920)
* Maritz rebellion (1914–15)
* Muscat rebellion (1913–1920)
* Zaian War (1914–1921)
* Kurdish rebellions (1914–1917)
* Ovambo Uprising (1914–1917)
* Kelantan rebellion (1915)
* Senussi campaign (1915–1917)
* Volta-Bani War (1915–1917)
* National Protection War
* Arab Revolt (1916–1918)
* Central Asian Revolt (1916–17)
* Invasion of Darfur (1916)
* Easter Rising (1916)
* Kaocen revolt (1916–17)
* Russian Revolution (1917)
* Finnish Civil War (1918)

Post-War conflicts|

* Russian Civil War (1917–1921)
* Ukrainian–Soviet War (1917–1921)
* Armenian–Azerbaijani War (1918–1920)
* Armeno-Georgian War (1918)
* German Revolution (1918–19)
* Revolutions and interventions in Hungary (1918–1920)
* Hungarian–Romanian War (1918–19)
* Greater Poland Uprising (1918–19)
* Estonian War of Independence (1918–1920)
* Latvian War of Independence (1918–1920)
* Lithuanian Wars of Independence (1918–1920)
* Polish–Ukrainian War (1918–19)
* Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919)
* Egyptian Revolution (1919)
* Polish–Lithuanian War (1919–1920)
* Polish–Soviet War (1919–1921)
* Irish War of Independence (1919–1921)
* Turkish War of Independence
* Anglo-Turkish War (1918–1923)
* Franco-Turkish War (1918–1921)
* Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)
* Turkish–Armenian War (1920)
* Iraqi Revolt (1920)
* Vlora War (1920)
* Franco-Syrian War (1920)
* Soviet–Georgian War (1921)

Aspects|

| Warfare|

* Aviation
* Strategic bombing
* Chemical weapons
* Cryptography
* Horses
* Logistics
* Naval warfare
* Convoy system
* Trench warfare

| Conscription|

* Australia
* Canada
* Ottoman Empire
* United Kingdom
* Ireland
* United States

|

Casualties /
Civilian impact

* British casualties
* Parliamentarians
* Ottoman casualties
* Sports
* Rugby
* Olympians

| Disease|

* 1899–1923 cholera pandemic
* 1915 typhus epidemic in Serbia
* Spanish flu

|

Occupations|

* Austro-Hungarian occupation of Serbia
* Bulgarian occupations
* Albania
* Serbia
* German occupations
* Belgium
* Luxembourg
* Northeast France
* Ober Ost
* Occupied Enemy Territory Administration
* Russian occupations
* Eastern Galicia
* Western Armenia

POWs|

* Germans
* in the United States
* Italians
* POW locations
* Canada
* Germany / camps
* Switzerland

Refugees|

* Belgian refugees
* Netherlands
* United Kingdom

War crimes|

* Allied blockades
* Eastern Mediterranean
* Mount Lebanon famine
* Germany
* Deportations from East Prussia
* Destruction of Kalisz
* Sack of Dinant
* Late Ottoman genocides
* Armenian genocide
* Assyrian genocide
* Pontic Greek genocide
* Rape of Belgium
* Urkun (Kyrgyzstan)
* Massacres of Albanians
* Internment of Ukrainian Canadians

Diplomacy

| Entry into the war|

* Austria-Hungary
* France
* Germany
* Italy
* Japan
* Ottoman Empire
* Russia
* United Kingdom
* United States

|

Declarations of war|

* Austria-Hungary against Serbia
* UK against Germany
* Ottomans against the Triple Entente
* Jihad
* USA against Germany
* USA against Austria-Hungary

Agreements|

* Constantinople Agreement
* Treaty of London
* Damascus Protocol
* Bulgaria–Germany treaty
* Treaty of Darin
* Sykes–Picot Agreement
* Sazonov–Paléologue Agreement
* Paris Economy Pact
* Treaty of Bucharest
* Agreement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne

Peace treaties

* Modus vivendi of Acroma
* Treaties of Brest-Litovsk
* Russia–Central Powers
* Ukraine–Central Powers
* Treaty of Bucharest
* Paris Peace Conference
* Treaty of Versailles
* Treaty of St. Germain
* Treaty of Neuilly
* Treaty of Trianon
* Treaty of Sèvres
* Treaty of Lausanne

Other|

* Arrest of a Suspect in Sarajevo
* Mutilated victory
* The Golden Virgin
* They shall not pass

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