Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare: A Guide to the Armed Phase of the African Revolution.

by Kwame Nkrumah

nothing additional

Genres: History, Africa, Politics, Nonfiction, Theory, War, Race

122 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1968

About the author

Kwame Nkrumah PC was a Ghanaian politician and revolutionary. He was the first prime minister and president of Ghana, having led it to independence from Britain in 1957. An influential advocate of Pan-Africanism, Nkrumah was a founding member of the Organization of African Unity and winner of the Lenin Peace Prize in 1962.

Reviews

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clear, concise, and readable explanation of a scientific socialist position as it relates to people of the African continent, with continued relevance for those using a dialectical materialist method and taking a historical materialist position. The biggest reason I gave less than five stars is the sections on women are pretty essentialist, but I'm not sure whether that was a blindspot of Nkrumah's or a temporally-specific attempt to win over his intended audience. Either way, it didn't make sense to me to be explicitly prescribing roles for women that conveniently map onto patriarchal gender norms rather than pressuring people to go beyond those norms and engage in crucial tasks that are otherwise outside of their comfort zone. In one example, he speedily discussed women doing work with food since men would be involved in military activity. Plenty of revolutionary women have been at the forefront of armed struggle. It seemed very out of sync with what was presented in the discussion of the characteristics of and appropriate response to imperialist capitalism.

[Salifu · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mission is so clear.

[Nathanael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to get a quick understanding of imperialism and its stages within the imperial core and outside of the imperial core. With this understanding we are then taught how to fight it.

[rayon · Rating 4 out of 5]

my crush sending me this book and suggesting we read it together is the reason why they’re my crush. this is one of the books that is so real you can’t even write a public review properly LOOOL. as in i understand why the CIA filched the first version and kwame is lowkey writing like a snitch is hiding underneath the table (bc why is he stopping short on some of those examples PLS). we forgive the gender stuff because of the times yada yada. i can’t actually speak too much on here but this shook my practice awake in such a real and lovingly militant way. i was reading this while the edl were running up and down the country and it was quite the anchor. i will say this. getting caught up on borders inside of this nation is a colonial inheritance and pan-africanism is not only a praxis but a translatable framework for communal diasporic mobilising no matter the place. essentially kwame is saying fuck your ends, how do we become aware of where everyone is, what the fight is there, how we’re doing based on location and how we mobilise together to bring each other what we need depending on that knowledge. in doing so he has managed to articulate my forever nagging annoyance in the geographic cultural competition people love to run up over here (looking at you lond*n), because it’s truly all one big belly to me and we’re all disintegrating inside of it sameway. no five star because he’s still got his silly little gender glasses on but yes none of the strategy is actually hindered and this caught me towards the end of the aqua new moon and i used it to supercharge a friend who was feeling listless in their practice too. would definitely recommend if you’re in a phase of, what is the point of it all etc, especially if you’re in cultural production. as kwame writes, it should always be clear to us why we are fighting. this helped jumpstart my direction in a car battery kind of way right when i needed it. also he finally helped me to accept the fact that movements do in fact need leaders but greatly comforted by the fact that leadership should never be hierarchical and can be earned through merit, s/o the cubans for that one (leadership should always be learnable to avoid movements crumbling on spearheads). spectacular, yummy!

[Frosti · Rating 3 out of 5]

tl'dr: Das Buch ist als zeitgeschichtliches Dokument zur Guerillakriegsführung und Panafrikanismus sicher interessant, bietet aber wenig, was man nicht auch aus anderen Büchern deutlich konkreter und fundierter lernen kann.

Inhalt
Nkrumahs Buch besteht aus 2 Teilen. Im ersten Teil analysiert er das Wesen des Kolonialismus und trennt ihn in 2 Phänomen:

- den historischen Kolonialismus, mit Extraaktionswirtschaft, direkter Kontrolle durch eine Kolonialmacht und politische Abhängigkeit.

- den Neokolonialismus, bei dem afrikanische Staaten formelle Unabhängigkeit erreicht haben, de facto aber immer noch keine Souveränität besitzen, da ihre Wirtschaft und Ressourcen weiterhin von verschiedenen westlichen Imperialisten kontrolliert wird.

Dieser Wandel erfolgte laut ihm aufgrund des stärker werdenden Drucks der Arbeiter in den westlichen Industrienationen und dem Erstarken nationaler Befreiungsbewegungen auf dem afrikanischen Kontinent. Um das eigene Proletariat mit sozialstaatlichen Vorteilen und Lebensstandart zufrieden zu stellen und den nationalen Befreiungsbewegungen den Wind aus den Segeln zu nehmen wird den afrikanischen Kolonien Unabhängigkeit zugesprochen, dabei aber gleichzeitig die wirtschaftliche Ausbeutung intensiviert und durch ihre informelle Natur verschleiert. Die anfallenden Profite können in sozialstaatliche Programme investiert werden und gleichzeitig fällt die kostspielige militärische Besetzung, Verwaltung und Befriedung einer Kolonie weg.

Um diese Fremdherrschaft zu brechen schlägt Nkrumah vor die "wahren" sozialistischen Unabhängigkeitsbewegungen und Staaten in einer Pan-Afrikanischen Föderation/Partei zu vereinigen. Der Pan-Afrikanische Staat kann so seine wirtschaftliche Autonomie schneller erreichen und strategische Ressourcen sammeln um eine kontinentale Unabhängigkeitsbewegung zu organisieren, die dann in einem Guerillakrieg die verbleibenden Kolonien und neokolonialistischen Marionettenregime sukzessiv befreien kann.

Der zweite Teil besteht aus allerlei Anweisungen zur Führung, Ausbildung und Ausrüstung der "All-African People's Revolutionary Army" (AAPRA). Große Teile davon sind Wort für Wort aus "150 preguntas a un guerrillero" von Alberto Bayo abgeschrieben, aber enthalten einige interessante Weglassungen.

Fazit
Obwohl Nkrumah nicht fundamental falsch liegt, ist das Buch wenig interessant. Andere Autoren bieten deutlich ausgefeiltere und modernere Erklärungsansätze zum Neokolonialismus. Der militärische Teil ist wenig konkret und enthält so gut wie keine nützlichen Information. Moderne Werke zu (Counter-)Insurgency sind deutlich gewinnbringender zu lesen.

[Jody Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much of the general sections are still very relevant today. Wonderfully clear and concise, written scientifically but in a style accessible to anyone. A brilliant revolutionary, we can learn a lot from this.

[Jmg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brilliant insight in to contemporary ideals and concerns. A short read, worthwhile and interesting, plus far more readable than Che Guevara.

[Micheal Marshal]

good but outdated

Africa is now fighting itself.

[Tunde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great outline of the movement for African liberation in the time of Nkrumah.

[Jyothis James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a critical book to show how strategic and holistic revolutionary organizing can work

[Moss · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant

[Joe Caltagirone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Obviously great ideas in neocolonialism but in your ideal socialist society you're still making the women do all the dishes and laundry for your revolutionary army 😭😭

[Britney Cooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goated

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kwame Nkrumah treaty on revolution is a fervent plea for Pan-Africanism - put our differences aside - realize that the key to controlling our future starts with controlling our resources - understand that there will be a 'residual' group of the elite who benefited from colonialism who will do anything to maintain 'Animal Farm' cooperation with the those who have left a vacuum of power across the continent. Highest recommendation.