Western Africa
Modern-day Countries in this region
Antiquity
During antiquity, Western Africa saw the development of larger political entities and trade networks. The trans-Saharan trade routes expanded, with caravans exchanging gold, salt, and slaves for goods like textiles and spices from North Africa.
The region's societies became more hierarchical, with the emergence of powerful local chieftains and early states. In the Sahel, the Ghana Empire emerged.
Ancient history
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages witnessed the rise of the first major West African empire: the Ghana Empire. Centered in present-day southeastern Mauritania and western Mali, Ghana controlled key trade routes and amassed wealth through the trade of gold and salt.
Nigeria saw the establishment of the first Hausa Kingdoms.
Early Middle Ages
Reconquista
Were a series military campaigns from the 8th century until 1492 by the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula to reconquer the region from the Islamic rulers that had conquered it during the Umayyad conquest of Hispania.
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages marked the expansion of West African empires and trade. The Mali Empire rose to prominence, overshadowing Ghana as the dominant power in the region.
Some of the Dynasties ruling in Morocco expanded also into West Africa.
This period also saw the establishment of the Yoruba Kingdoms and the Akan States.
Berber Kingdoms
Kingdoms created by Berber people in the Medieval and Modern era.
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High Middle Ages
Establishment and expansion of the Almohad Caliphate
Were the conquests of Abd al-Mu'min, founder of the Moroccan Almohad Caliphate.
Akan States
Complex of precolonial african polities, founded by the Akan people of West Africa between 15th and 18th century.
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Late Middle Ages
The Songhai Empire began to form during this period, eventually becoming a major power in the Sahel. Coastal communities expanded their trade activities, connecting the Atlantic with the Sahel and interior regions.
Coastal regions saw increased trade with European explorers, particularly the Portuguese, who began establishing trading posts along the Atlantic coast.
Late Middle Ages
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Tuareg Polities
Polities created by Tuareg people in the Middle Ages and the Modern Era.
European Enclaves in North Africa before 1830
All the Europeans enclaves in North Africa before 1830.
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Late Middle Ages
Early modern period
The early modern period saw the fall of the Songhai Empire, which was defeated by a Moroccan invasion in 1591. This defeat fragmented the Sahelian empires, leading to the emergence of smaller states and sultanates. Coastal regions became increasingly involved in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, as European powers established forts and trading posts.
The Asante Empire in modern Ghana rose to prominence during this time, becoming a powerful state through its control of gold resources and involvement in the slave trade. Other states, such as the Oyo Empire in present-day Nigeria, also became significant regional powers.
This period saw the establishment of many local polities and chieftaincies.
This period also saw the start of the Fula jihads, a series of jihads that established Muslim states across Western Africa.
Early modern period
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Conquests of Mohammed ash-Sheikh
Expansion during the rule of Mohammed ash-Sheikh of the Saadi dynasty.
Dutch-Portuguese War
Was a global conflict between the Portuguese Empire and the Dutch Empire. The conflict primarily saw the Dutch companies invading Portuguese colonies in the Americas, Africa, and the East Indies.
Portuguese Restoration War
Was a revolution organized by the Portuguese nobility and bourgeoisie sixty years after the crowning of Philip I (Philip II of Spain), the first "dual monarch", that ended the Iberian Union.
French conquest of Senegal
Was the graudal French conquest of modern-day Senegal that started in 1659 when France established the trading post of Saint-Louis.
Anglo-Dutch Wars
Were a series of conflicts mainly fought between the Dutch Republic and England (later Great Britain) from mid-17th to late 18th century.
Stuart Era
Early modern period
English Chieftancies in Sierra leone
Several independent polities in Sierra Leone that were created by Englishmen in the 19th century.
Conquests of Opoku Ware I
Expansion during the rule of Opoku Ware I in the Ashanti Empire.
Seven Years' War
Was a global conflict that involved most of the European great powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. At the end of the war the main winner was Great Britain, that obtained territories in North America, the Caribbean and India, becoming the most powerful maritime and colonial of the European powers.
American Revolutionary War
Was the war of independence of the United States of America (at the time the Thirteen Colonies) against Great Britain.
French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Period (1789-1815)
West Africa was only marginally affected by the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Period. Most of the French possessions in the area were occupied by British forces.
The creation of local polities continued during this period.
French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
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French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
Were a series of conflicts between France and several European monarchies between 1792 and 1815. They encompass first the French Revolutionary Wars against the newly declared French Republic and from 1803 onwards the Napoleonic Wars against First Consul and later Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. They include the Coalition Wars as a subset: seven wars waged by various military alliances of great European powers, known as Coalitions, against Revolutionary France - later the First French Empire - and its allies.
19th Century
The 19th century was a transformative period for Western Africa, marked by the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the rise of colonialism. European powers, driven by the Scramble for Africa, established colonial control over much of the region by the century’s end.
In this period the American Colonization Society established Liberia to resettle Afro-Americans in the area.
XIX Century
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US Colonies in Liberia
Polities founded by American Entrepreneurs and by the American Colonization Society In Liberia in early 19th century.
Anglo-Ashanti Wars
Were a series of wars between the British Empire and the Ashanti Empire (in present-day Ghana) that resulted in the latter becoming a British protectorate.
XIX Century
Mandingo Wars
Were a series of conflicts from 1883 to 1898 between France and the Wassoulou Empire.
Franco-Dahomean Wars
Were two conflicts between France and the Kingdom of Dahomey (in Benin) that ended with the French conquest of the latter.
From 1900 to the End of World War II
Colonial rule dominated Western Africa in the first half of the 20th century. French, British, and Portuguese colonial administrations exploited the region's resources and imposed new systems of governance, often disrupting traditional structures.
During World War I, French and British troops occupied all the German possessions in the region.
1900-1945
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1900-1945
World War I
Was a global conflict between two coalitions, the Allies (primarily France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, Japan, and the United States) and the Central Powers (led by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire). It was mainly caused by the competition of the western countries over domain in Europe and in the rest of the world with their colonial empires. The war ended with the defeat of the Central Powers. The war also caused the Russian Revolution and the ensuing Russian Civil War.
World War II
Was a global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945 (it started sooner in certain regions) between the Axis Powers (mainly Germany, Japan and Italy) and the Allies (mainly the Soviet Union, the U.S.A., the U.K., China and France). It was the war with more fatalities in history. The war in Asia began when Japan invaded China on July 7, 1937. The war in Europe began when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. The war ended with the complete defeat of the Axis powers, which were occupied by the Allies.
Vichy France Colonies
Cold War Period
The post-war period saw the decolonization of Western Africa. Ghana became the first sub-Saharan African nation to gain independence in 1957, followed by others like Nigeria, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire in the 1960s. The Cold War shaped political dynamics, with newly independent states navigating alliances with the United States, Soviet Union, and non-aligned movement.
The region faced significant challenges, including military coups, civil wars, and economic instability. However, it also saw the rise of regional organizations like the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), promoting cooperation and development.
Cold War
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Algerian War
Was a conflict fought between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria winning its independence from France.
Postcolonial Africa
Guinea-Bissau War of Independence
Was an armed independence conflict that took place in Portuguese Guinea between 1963 and 1974.
Chadian-Libyan conflict
A series of conflictes between Libya and Chad caused by border disputes over the Aouzou stripe.
Western Sahara War
Was a conflict of Marocco and Mauritania (until 1979) against the Sahrawi Indigenous Polisario Front that followed the Spanish withdrawal from Spanish Sahara. The Sahrawi indigenous Polisario Front established the Sahrawi Republic and engaged in a guerrilla warfare with Moroccan forces. Morocco did also build several walls in the region to consolidate its control. The conflict ended with a ceasefire in 1991 with most of former Spanish Sahara under Moroccan control.
Liberian Civil Wars
Were two related civil wars in Liberia.
Post-Cold War Period (1990-2010)
In the Post Cold War Period, several countries in the region were affected by Civil Wars (Ivory Coast, Sierra Leona, Guinea Bissau).
Post–Cold War era
2010s and 2020s
The 2010s and 2020s saw further instability in the region with the Northern Mali conflict, as well as other wars like the Second Ivorian Civil War and the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon.
