Resistance to colonial rule is a dominant topic in the historical study of Africa. But resistance to attempted transfer of colonised peoples and territories, to promote peace in Europe, has not gained similar attention in African and colonial historiographies. This article looks at how rumours and reports of Nazi Germany's colonial demands in Africa, and the ambiguous reactions of British officials to them, shaped conversations among colonised peoples about their dignity under British colonialism and in intra-European diplomacy. The article argues that the prospect of Nazi rule and its spectre of slave-labour concentration camps for Africa's Western-educated elites, and other colonial subjects, bound these segments of colonial society closer to British, and French, imperialism than they relished at an uncertain, but critical moment in African and international history. They became the defenders of colonial systems they deplored, and opponents of a ruthless regime they feared.

Postwar politics in British-occupied Somalia is usually reduced to the activities of the Somali Youth League, the foremost anticolonial nationalist movement. However, by 1947, smaller associations, pejoratively nicknamed the pro-Italia, came together in an effort to return Somalia to Italy under international mandate. Drawing upon new archival sources, the article argues that this movement did not stem from arguments supporting colonial rule, but rather from objections to the nationalist agenda and military occupation. Closer attention to these voices sheds light on the deeper meanings of political alignment during the change of regime and enhances our understanding of political developments in postwar Somalia.

By recovering from obscurity the life story of an early Zambian historian, this paper makes a case for the adoption of a biographical approach to the study of Africa's colonial history. It argues that Simon Jilundu Chibanza III's trajectory provides valuable insights into the ambivalent social location and intricate motivations of the Zambian intelligentsia during colonial rule. An examination of his background and variegated career accounts for the complexity of his identity and the imprints which its multiple strands left upon his literary output and profound understanding of the politics of history-writing.

This article describes the debilitating illness of Menilek and its effects upon the Ethiopian state. Prior to his incapacity, the old emperor established a European-style cabient, reformed the appelate judiciary, named Lij Eyyasu as his heir, and appointed Ras Bitwodded Tessema Nado as regent. The latter two actions were opposed by Empress Taitou, who hoped to become the real ruler of Ethiopia, operating behind the scenes. As the emperor weakened, she managed to concentrate many of his functions and much of his authority in her own hands. Given the confusion caused by Menilek's condition, she went unchallenged for a time, during which she attempted futilely to construct a viable power base in the north. Finally, in reaction, the Shoan, southern faction, which had much to lose if Menilek's settlement was upset, united and successfully deposed the empress in 1910. A regency government, composed of Menilek's council of ministers and the more important provincial governors, operated more or less functionally until April 1911, when the Ras-Regent died. At the time Lij Eyyasu became chairman of the regency council, and by 1913 he was exercising more or less full authority over the empire. Contrary to contemporary official European expectations and calculations, Menilek's empire did not crack apart upon his removal, nor from regional and personal rivalries. The diplomats showed complete ignorance about the effectiveness of the administrative and military occupation of the newly annexed parts of the empire; they grossly undervalued the strength of Amhara–Tigrean nationalism; they misunderstood the vitality of the mythology of the Solomonic dynasty; and they failed to consider the veneration which Menilek elicited from his people. More than any other point, this article demonstrates the transcendent vitality of the empire which Menilek constructed.