Ghana during the First World War: The Colonial Administration of Sir Hugh Clifford

Abstract

Ghana during the First World War: The Colonial Administration of Sir Hugh Clifford. By Elizabeth Wrangham. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2013. Pp. xxvii, 310; appendices, footnotes, bibliography. $50.00 paper.Through a comprehensive scouring of the Colonial Office records relating to the Gold Coast 1912-1919, Elizabeth Wrangham, Senior Research Fellow of Roehampton University, has produced a meticulously documented and interesting new history of the Hugh Clifford colonial governorship of Ghana. Wrangham's overarching argument is that Clifford had noble intentions for development of the colony when he arrived in late 1912, but that these admirable plans were thwarted by the strictures of the war: no money, shrinking personnel, and lack of essential imports (railroad stock, building materials, fuel). She maintains that Clifford's blueprint for development was sound and he has not received sufficient credit for his vision, which was instead operationalized by his successor, the disappointingly middle-class, albeit blessed with better timing, Governor Guggisberg, who has received much more (Wrangham implies undeserved) recognition from historians. The book is clearly and systematically organized with three chapters on Ghana's prewar situation and Clifford's initial goals as governor, six chapters on the war years, and a post- war conclusion. The war chapters are thematically focused on shipping, the economy, revenue and finance, social welfare, and governance issues.Several themes emerge early and are reiterated throughout the book. The British administration was thin: limited numbers of personnel in political administration, medical service, military and police officers, and government inspection. The numbers of colonial officials, incredibly small for the size of the colony and territories, were reduced by another third during the war. This is not new information about British colonial rule, but Wrangham provides detailed evidence year after year to leave no doubt. A meager administration however was sustainable, according to Wrangham, because Ghanaians were prospering economically. She depicts a colony whose economy was expanding rapidly from global trade, arguing that while Ghanaians had become overly dependent on a single export (cocoa) and simultaneously imported goods (food, soap, fuels, tools), they were reaping an increased standard of living. Such was clearly the view of the colonial government at the time also, but one does wonder if the economic welfare of a whole country is best defined solely by success in external trade, and Wrangham makes only minimal effort to explore internal exchange.The book implicitly engages a wider argument about colonialism. Wrangham argues that export-import profits, despite periodic constriction due to the wartime vagaries of ocean shipping (submarine warfare) facilitated Ghanaian acquiescence and even positive support of the British during the war. …