The Fruits of Freedom in British Togoland

Literacy, Politics and Nationalism, 1914–2014

Kate Skinner

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781107074637
• eBook ISBN: 9781316309612
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: African History
• Index: History

The end of World War I saw the former German protectorate of Togoland split into British- and French-administered territories. By the 1950s a political movement led by the Ewe ethnic group called for the unification of British and French Togoland into an independent multiethnic state. Despite the efforts of the Ewe, the United Nations trust territory of British Togoland was ultimately merged with the Gold Coast to become Ghana, the first independent nation in sub-Saharan Africa; French Togoland later declared independence as the nation of Togo. Based on interviews with former political activists and their families, access to private papers, and a collection of oral and written propaganda, this book examines the history and politics behind the failed project of Togoland unification. Kate Skinner challenges the marginalization of the Togoland question from popular and academic analyses of postcolonial politics and explores present-day ramifications of the contingencies of decolonization.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Dedication
• Series information
• Title page
• Copyright information
• Table of contents
• List of Maps
• List of Figures
• Acknowledgements
• A Note on Orthography
• 1 Ablopenod-taile: African Political History, from Below and from Within
• 2 Godly Teachers and Clever Rascals: Southern British Togoland´s Intelligentsia
• 3 Education, Citizenship and the `Sacred Trust´
• 4 Revealing Stepfather´s Secrets: Making and Losing the Case for Togoland Reunification
• 5 Activists in Exile: Political Possibility in the Post-Colony
• 6 `No-One Will Hear Your Name Again´: The Terms of the Union
• 7 Of Elephants and Umbrellas: Able in Ghana´s Political Traditions
• Bibliography: Primary Sources
• Index