1920s–1950s: (Sub-Saharan Nationalism — The ANC as the Oldest Movement, the Tanganyikan African Association Founded in 1929, Swahili as a Vehicle of Territor…

1920s–1950s: (Sub-Saharan Nationalism — The ANC as the Oldest Movement, the Tanganyikan African Association Founded in 1929, Swahili as a Vehicle of Territorial Political Unity, Western Education Fostering New Elites Who Sought to Recreate European Nation-States in Africa, Women as Energetic Champions of Liberation, and Nationalism Needing to Be More Than Mere Opposition to Colonialism): The oldest sub-Saharan movement discernibly nationalist was at the other end of the continent — in South Africa, where the South African Native National Congress was formed in 1912, becoming the ANC in 1923. Territorial political action was relatively rare before the Second World War, though it was possible in smaller territories bearing some resemblance to pre-colonial states, or in Tanganyika where the widespread use of Swahili provided linguistic unity enabling territory-wide political action — the Tanganyikan African Association was founded in 1929 with branches throughout the territory. The war pushed nationalism forward on the back of socioeconomic hardship and heightened political awareness. Western education, however restricted, fostered new political elites who sought to recreate the European nation-state in Africa, but they also had to bridge the gap between themselves and the broader populace — the crucial task was to harness popular urban and rural unrest into a broad political platform. Many nationalist parties sought to broaden their social bases: women found roles as organizers and activists, campaigning for liberation and social reform, though the promise of gender equality was not always fulfilled after independence. Critically, nationalism needed to be more than mere opposition to colonialism — it could not merely be a negative force articulating only what it was against, but also a positive one, uniting and creating common identity for diverse peoples within a given territory. It usually failed to be, ultimately, but the experience of colonialism itself fostered some degree of common identity that nationalist leaders sought to develop.