The Forgotten Front

The First World War began in East Africa in July 1914 and did not end until November 13, 1918. In its scale and impact, it was the largest conflict yet to take place on African soil. Four empires and their subject peoples were engaged in a conflict that ranged from modern Kenya in the north to Mozambique in the south, leaving hunger and devastation in its trail. Yet the East African campaign has languished in undeserved obscurity over the years, with many people only vaguely aware of its course of events. Africans bore the brunt of the fighting and few escaped the impact of the war.