Buganda
Buganda is a state in eastern Africa, to the west of the Lake of Many Names.
For a long time Buganda was an independent African kingdom. Once a vassal of Bunyoro it became independent after Bunyoro was defeated by the Ethiopians. Buganda was not occupied and was left sandwiched between Chinese East Africa and Ethiopia in the area that was referred to as the Borderland. Although technically independent, it used to pay tribute to the Chinese and thus was frequently regarded by non-Africans as a Chinese territory. The Chinese were interested in keeping this borderland neutral, however, and did not occupy Buganda.
Daudi Cwa II who became the Kabaka (king) of Buganda in 1897 attempted to modernize the country. He also knew about the aggression of China in the east and, later, about the rising Panafricanism in Africa that was centered in Ethiopia. These reasons led to the agreement with certain Slavs from Naujojo Vilniaus apskritis, a Lithuanian territory accross the lake. After the famine of 1936 there and because of the ban of SNOR, certain Snorist activists wanted to leave the area. They crossed the lake and were permitted by the Kabaka to settle in Buganda where a city of Slavograd was established in 1937. The exact reasons of the Kabaka's permission are disputed to this day with some modern historians claiming that he was blackmailed or threatened by Slavic leaders.
While Daudi Cwa II may have expected the Slavic community to help modernize the country and possibly secure Russian support in case of Chinese, Ethiopian or Lithuanian aggression, things started to get out of hand quickly. Miroslav Petrenko, the leader of the local Slavs, crowned himself tsar in 1938. The area not only saw an influx of Slavs from Naujojo Vilniaus apskritis, but also Slavs from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine who were being urged to settle secretly in Buganda. Miroslav Petrenko, while still formally a kind of vassal to the Kabaka of Buganda, referred to the whole country as the "Great Southern Slavic Tsardom" or the "Vanguard of SNOR" (supposedly guiding the SNOR to global domination). The Slavic community of Buganda increased to several percent of the whole population by 1939 mainly because of immigration from Russia as migration over the lake was controlled by the Lithuanian authorities. The Snorist states supported the Slavs of Buganda militarily. By 1939 the armed forces of the Bugandan Slavs had several airships and ships which were probably superior to the outdated forces of the Kabaka. In 1939, Daudi Cwa II died and Mutesa II was crowned the Kabaka of Buganda. Mutesa II was then also coerced into converting to Eastern Orthodoxy, taking the name of Mladoslav, and was pronounced the ruler of the Yugoslavic Tsardom of Buganda.
The Bugandan Slavs expected to welcome Russian troops into the area in 1940 but this did not happen as the Russians had not managed to occupy Naujojo Vilniaus apskritis. Since then the Slavic community of Buganda has become isolated and is no longer on Russia's primary agenda. The uprising in western Naujojo Vilniaus apskritis that was supported by the Bugandan Slavs was quelled and the air raid on Slavograd forced Buganda to sign the Modus Vivendi of Pakštuva and Buganda treaty. Support for the Slavs of newly independent Pakštuva became more restricted. Ethiopian and Chinese pressure became rampant with these countries also pressuring the Kabaka to expel the Slavs. In 1942, both Buganda and Pakštuva were partitioned by the Ethiopians and the Chinese in the Borderland War according to the Secret Treaty of Mogadishu.
The western and northern areas of Buganda were detached and attached to Ethiopia. Buganda remained confined to the actual boundaries of Baganda ethnicity. The Kabaka's role was further restricted and the country became pro-Ethiopian and joined the African Alliance. Slavs were persecuted although this process may have been made easier because of the Russian protests.
After the war the Bugandans wanted a return of the lost territories but the Allied powers decided against that.
This page was created by Abdul-aziz. |
