Cold War and Decolonization in Guinea, 1946–1958 — 2007 ·

By Elizabeth Schmidt

“A compelling narrative of the history of nation building in Guinea.... Schmidt deftly portrays the events from an African perspective, using colonial archives, interviews with activists, the era’s popular political songs, and photographs.... What simultaneously emerges in this nuanced treatment is a richer understanding of the pragmatic rather than purely visionary leadership of the famous Sékou Touré.”

CHOICE

“Supported by clear and strong historical evidence, (Elizabeth Schmidt)shows that political decision making in Guinea was far more influenced by the bottom rather than the top.... (Cold War and Decolonization in Africa) is rich with data and empirical examples that illustrate some of the major themes in the history of decolonization, African nationalism, and the rise of one-party states in Africa.”

International Journal of African Historical Studies

“For students and scholars of diplomacy, Schmidt demonstrates how activists on the local level, in this case Guinean activists, shaped and determined their own destiny in the face of high-level Cold War politics, rather, as is often supposed, than being manipulated by the Great Power actors.”

H-Diplo

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In September 1958, Guinea claimed its independence, rejecting a constitution that would have relegated it to junior partnership in the French Community. In all the French empire, Guinea was the only territory to vote “No.” Orchestrating the “No” vote was the Guinean branch of the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain (RDA), an alliance of political parties with affiliates in French West and Equatorial Africa and the United Nations trusts of Togo and Cameroon. Although Guinea’s stance vis-à-vis the 1958 constitution has been recognized as unique, until now the historical roots of this phenomenon have not been adequately explained.

Clearly written and free of jargon, Cold War and Decolonization in Guinea argues that Guinea’s vote for independence was the culmination of a decade-long struggle between local militants and political leaders for control of the political agenda. Since 1950, when RDA representatives in the French parliament severed their ties to the French Communist Party, conservative elements had dominated the RDA. In Guinea, local cadres had opposed the break. Victimized by the administration and sidelined by their own leaders, they quietly rebuilt the party from the base. Leftist militants, their voices muted throughout most of the decade, gained preeminence in 1958, when trade unionists, students, the party’s women’s and youth wings, and other grassroots actors pushed the Guinean RDA to endorse a “No” vote. Thus, Guinea’s rejection of the proposed constitution in favor of immediate independence was not an isolated aberration. Rather, it was the outcome of years of political mobilization by activists who, despite Cold War repression, ultimately pushed the Guinean RDA to the left.

The significance of this highly original book, based on previously unexamined archival records and oral interviews with grassroots activists, extends far beyond its primary subject. In illuminating the Guinean case, Elizabeth Schmidt helps us understand the dynamics of decolonization and its legacy for postindependence nation-building in many parts of the developing world.

Examining Guinean history from the bottom up, Schmidt considers local politics within the larger context of the Cold War, making her book suitable for courses in African history and politics, diplomatic history, and Cold War history.

Elizabeth Schmidt is a professor of history at Loyola College in Maryland. Her previous books include Mobilizing the Masses: Gender, Ethnicity, and Class in the Nationalist Movement in Guinea, 1939–1958; Peasants, Traders, and Wives: Shona Women in the History of Zimbabwe, 1870–1939; and Decoding Corporate Camouflage: U.S. Business Support for Apartheid.