Almamy Samori Touré: The West African Resistance Against French Colonies

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the remarkable resistance of Almamy Samori Touré against French colonial expansion in West Africa during the late 19th century. Samori, a brilliant military strategist and empire-builder, founded the Wassoulou Empire in the 1870s, uniting Mandinka peoples and modernizing his army with firearms and tactics. His confrontation with the French, who were pressing into the Niger River basin after the Berlin Conference of 1884-85, is a story of cunning diplomacy, shifting alliances, and fierce battles. The episode covers key events like the Treaty of Bissandugu (1887), the siege of Kankan, the scorched-earth retreat to the Bandama River, and Samori's eventual capture in 1898. It delves into his use of the tata (fortified villages), the role of the Mandinka griot tradition in preserving his legacy, and his influence on anticolonial movements. The discussion also touches on how Samori's resistance drew comparisons to other African leaders like Menelik II of Ethiopia and King Prempeh I of the Asante, and how his tactics foreshadowed later guerrilla warfare. #SamoriTour #WassoulouEmpire #Mandinka #FrenchColonial #WestAfrica #BerlinConference #Resistance #AfricanHistory #Bissandugu #Kankan #BandamaRiver #Griot #Tata #GuerrillaWarfare #MenelikII #Asante #Colonialism #FexingoHistory #ScrambleForAfrica #KingLeopold Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo