Historical connections: Appreciating the impact of the African Past on its present and future through the ‘3 Cs’ of the First World War

Abstract

History is principally concerned with the accurate description and explanation of the causes, the courses and the consequences of past events. This view of history shows unequivocally that there are connections between past events (causes), on the one hand, and present (course) and future developments (consequences), which establish a process of change in continuity. These relationships indicate that past events influence present and future developments to a considerable degree. Relying on both primary and secondary data, this study uses the causes, course and consequences of the First World War to illustrate the connections between past (historical) events, present developments and future trends in Africa. It maintains that since all the causes of the war had already happened by July 28, 1914 when Austria declared war on Serbia, the First World War was fought largely on the basis of historical factors. It insists that certain developments that took place in the course of the war were either directly or indirectly related to the causes of the war. The paper further argues that the immediate and major consequences of the war were direct and indirect products of the causes and course of the war, and that certain developments that occurred long after the war were also influenced in one way or the other by the war and so were also either directly or indirectly related to the causes and courses of the war. The paper stresses that the First World War, thus, establishes a chain of connections between the African generations that lived before (past-causes), during (present course) and after (future-consequences) the war, inasmuch as there were connections between the causes (past), the course (present) and the consequences (future) of the conflict. Finally, in the light of these observed connections and their implications, the paper concludes that it is crucial for the contemporary African generation to pay more attention to the systematic study and reconstruction of the past in order to understand the present and the future in their appropriate contexts