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Throughout history, nations' narratives have been shaped by their encounters with external forces, with the struggle for sovereignty and identity at the forefront. The stories of Ethiopia and Liberia offer valuable insights into how diplomacy, military strategy, and geographical advantages played key roles in maintaining independence against colonial powers. These podcast highlight the resilience and strategic acumen of these nations and enrich our understanding of resistance in Africa.
Listen to our latest podcast to explore these compelling stories, or read more by clicking here (https://abusonadustyroad.com/african-nations-uncolonized/) .
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hi this is Anita from the dusty roads
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podcast you know throughout history
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Nations have been affected by those who
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have come to colonize them or those who
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have come on their lands so many years
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ago perhaps no other place in the world
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has or continent has been as affected as
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Africa and in Africa there are two major
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countries which have really not been
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colonized and we're going to talk a
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little bit about those African countries
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that have not been
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colonized it was Ethiopia and Liberia
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who were able to manage to avoid
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colonization during the Scramble for
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Africa the rest of Africa in one way or
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another had
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colonization but it was these two
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countries that were able to are believed
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to be the two countries with without
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Africa that have withstood
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colonization you know Ethiopia leverages
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long-standing diplomatic ties with
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European powers particularly Italy
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France and Britain and they skillfully
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navigated these relationships playing
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one power against another to safeguard
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Ethiopian sovereignty so you know
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Ethiopia was um you know between the
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1889 to
1:25
1913 they were quite clever in how they
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handled the European powers and they
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were able to basically skillfully
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navigate their way around it they uh
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modernized their military acquired
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military weapons and trained uh that
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later that trained you know crucial in
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resisting Italian evasions and they were
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you know basically able to keep
1:47
themselves as a Sovereign
1:49
Nation Liberia's story of avoiding colon
1:53
pivots from its unique Origins as a
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settlement by freed American and
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Caribbean slaves the American
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Colonization Society pivotal in the
2:02
country's foundation in
2:04
1822 established Liberia as a place for
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freed slaves so as though it's not
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directly resulting as an eternal
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strategy to avoid colonization the fact
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that they they their founding principles
2:17
and ties the United States help provide
2:18
them some protection so they you know
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sort so essentially they were kind of
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protected because they were sort of
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known as the status for uh the freed
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Slavs geography also was known to have
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play a role in these two countries
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Ethiopia's a very rugged terrain made
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navigating and conquering difficult for
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the European armies the country has
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mountains valleys and you know plateaus
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were natural fortresses during conflicts
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similarly at least temporarily the dense
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forest and fever ridden climates of
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certain West Africa regions acted as
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deterrence to European occupations you
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know this is a very harsh country a very
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harsh place for them to be able to
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colonize so you know essentially maybe
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some of the col colonizers just sort of
3:05
gave up you another aspect was the
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Eternal cohesion of these regions both
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Ethiopia and Liberia managed to maintain
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a relatively High degree of political
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Unity compared to other parts of Africa
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you know where European powers once
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exploited intertribal rivalries and
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conflicts in Ethiopia the central
3:25
Authority you know was very you know was
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was sort of like very centralized so
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they had more of a a centralized
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government that they able to withstand
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it more and you know Liberia maintained
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a compact Community with strong ties
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back to the United
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States so you know it's it's it's very
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interesting that the that these you know
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these are the two countries they're not
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necessarily the countries that have done
3:47
the best in Africa you know today of
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course Ethiopia has had a lot of issues
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and a lot of problems with you know
3:54
famine and other things and and other
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types of factions but it's interesting
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the fact that they were too countries
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that were able that they were not
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colonized by European or other other
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forces that they were able to remain as
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free and sovereign states what is
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interesting about both of these
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countries is the fact that they were not
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colonized has really had an impact on
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their uh national identity
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today you know um you know Ethiopia has
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been able to identify a great sense of
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identity and pride among its citizens
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and you know this Dee rooted pride has
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been critical in Ethiopia's postcolonial
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development it's looked to leverage its
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unique history and sense of unity and
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resilience among its diverse ethnic
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groups though you know not without some
4:44
challenges like we've said we've
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acknowledged straight out there's been
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challenges
4:49
here you know despite its relationship
4:52
with the United
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States Liberia also has had been
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afforded some protection
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because of its ability to be able to to
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basically have this relationship with
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the United States but this has sort of
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been a double-edged sword for them
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because it even though it gave them some
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protection against some of the um
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European powers at the time for the
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colonization at the same time they there
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was this indirect influence going on
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from the United States so you know
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Liberia's government system and
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political development has been heavily
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influenced by the relationship of
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affecting everything from State
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institutions to National Economic
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structure by the United
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States economic paths have been very
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different both Nations have embarked on
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economic um development largely on their
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terms e um Ethiopia's lack of
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colonization meant it navigated the
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postcolonial era without overhauling its
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econ um Colonial economic
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system but yet it's really been able
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it's suffered a lot from being able to
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preserve social cohesion among various
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ethnic groups as a side note here I'd
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like to just say you know having lived
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in Thailand that was never colonized and
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having lived in other parts of Asia
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which were colonized you know sometimes
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for some of the Nations the colonizers
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did bring things into those Nations
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which helped those Nations to later be
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able to grow things such as roads
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infrastructure uh legal systems and
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other things where the colonizers
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brought in from their own country
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to help them grow where other countries
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that didn't have that
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colonization sometimes have struggled
6:35
with um deep grps of corruption and and
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other things within their political
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system because they didn't have this
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ability to draw upon the knowledge that
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they received from the colonial powers
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of course the downside of all
6:48
colonization was the fact that you know
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in the process of this many of the those
6:54
that were being colonized or resisted
6:56
they they died or they lost part of
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their culture they lost part of their
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Heritage so colonizations always sort of
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had this two-edged sword this is just my
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own observation one of the things that
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I've seen from countries that have been
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colonized is sometimes today those
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countries have been able to build upon
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their colonization to be able to grow
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their economies grow their
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infrastructure grow grow their
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government and grow their laws other
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times though it's had the opposite
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effect where you have a country which is
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deep rooted in corruption because they
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learned Corrupt Practices from their
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colonizers and that is why in both
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countries like Ethiopia or Liberia
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you've seen that they've had conflicts
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which has you know destabilized their
7:39
government of course that's happened in
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other parts of Africa too so you know
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when you look at colonization you know
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as a whole of course a country doesn't
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necessarily like or enjoy being
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colonized they you know Vietnam Where I
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Live Now is a great example of that the
7:55
Vietnamese were under the Chinese for a
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thousand years they were under the
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French for a hundred years they of
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course fought the very bloody Vietnamese
8:03
War to be able to become free they're
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very proud of their country and being
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free and you know being basically
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Vietnamese you know so many of these
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same other countries as you know
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Ethiopia Liberia and others they're very
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proud of their countries and what
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they've been able to accomplish as
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basically being uncolonized and not
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having a colonial power over them so I
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do believe that every country wants to
8:31
be able to govern themselves that they
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this is sort of this innate belief that
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we all want to be able to govern
8:37
ourselves and not have another you know
8:40
power come in and tell us what we want
8:42
to do and one of the dangers of course
8:44
of colonization was that the you know
8:47
the the rich that were came over here
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you know the rich that came over and
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colonized these areas were living very
8:54
very extravagant lives you know they had
8:57
their own their own clubs their own
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houses their own schools where you know
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the local people were suffering they
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weren't getting the education other
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things that they needed so even though
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you know maybe colonization has helped
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them some today the colonization itself
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did do a lot of danger in these areas
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and did did hurt them so if you'd like
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to be able to read a bit more about
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Africa about the two countries that have
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not been colonized you could read our
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blog post African nations
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uncolonized and it know St of both
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Ethiopia and Liberia and you can be able
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to read about them and understand a
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little bit more about these two African
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nations who were able to remain
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independent and free Despite All Odds
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this is Anita from the dusty roads
9:45
podcast we' hope you've enjoyed this
9:47
podcast and that you know subscribe to
9:49
us and become part of our community
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thank you so much for listening we
9:53
appreciate you and we appreciate you
9:56
joining with us to live life as a global
9:58
citizen
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