ABSTRACT
The years between 1930 and 1945 may be called ‘the middle colonial period’. These ‘middle years’ were sandwiched between the early period of conquest and ‘pacification’, and the later period of colonial withdrawal. We have looked at their main features. For a majority of Africa's peoples, they were years of loss rather than gain. First, there was the Great Depression, lasting through most of the 1930s. Then came the Second World War with all its misery for many communities.
