The islands of Fernando Pó and Annobón were colonized by Portugal in 1474. In 1778, Queen Maria I of Portugal and King Charles III of Spain signed the Treaty of El Pardo which ceded the Bioko, adjacent islets, and commercial rights to the Bight of Biafra between the Niger and Ogoue rivers to Spain.
Between 1778 and 1810, the territory of Equatorial Guinea was administered by the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, based in Buenos Aires. From 1827 to 1843, the United Kingdom had a base on Bioko to suppress the transatlantic slave trade, which was then moved to Sierra Leone upon agreement with Spain in 1843.
Between 1778 and 1810, the territory of Equatorial Guinea was administered by the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, based in Buenos Aires. From 1827 to 1843, the United Kingdom had a base on Bioko to suppress the transatlantic slave trade, which was then moved to Sierra Leone upon agreement with Spain in 1843.
Between 1778 and 1810, the territory of Equatorial Guinea was administered by the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, based in Buenos Aires. From 1827 to 1843, the United Kingdom had a base on Bioko to suppress the transatlantic slave trade, which was then moved to Sierra Leone upon agreement with Spain in 1843.
Between 1778 and 1810, the territory of Equatorial Guinea was administered by the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, based in Buenos Aires. From 1827 to 1843, the United Kingdom had a base on Bioko to suppress the transatlantic slave trade, which was then moved to Sierra Leone upon agreement with Spain in 1843.
In 1844, on restoration of Spanish sovereignty, it became known as the "Territorios Españoles del Golfo de Guinea".
Catholic penetration was furthered by two small insurrections protesting the conscription of forced labour for the plantations, in 1898 and 1910, which led to the Bubi being disarmed in 1917 and left them dependent on the missionaries. Towards the end of the 19th century Spanish, Portuguese, German and Fernandino planters started developing large cacao plantations.
The Treaty of Paris in 1900 left Spain with the continental enclave of Rio Muni, a mere 26,000 km2 out of the 300,000 stretching east to the Ubangi River, which the Spaniards had claimed. ===Spanish colonial territory=== At the beginning of the 20th century, the plantations of Fernando Po were largely in the hands of a black Creole elite, later known as Fernandinos.
New land regulations in 1904-5 favoured Spaniards, and most of the big planters of later years arrived in the islands from Spain following these new regulations.
Catholic penetration was furthered by two small insurrections protesting the conscription of forced labour for the plantations, in 1898 and 1910, which led to the Bubi being disarmed in 1917 and left them dependent on the missionaries. Towards the end of the 19th century Spanish, Portuguese, German and Fernandino planters started developing large cacao plantations.
The Liberian labour agreement of 1914 favoured wealthy men with ready access to the state, and the shift in labour supplies from Liberia to Rio Muni increased this advantage.
A Labour Treaty was signed with the Republic of Liberia in 1914, the transport of up to 15,000 workers was orchestrated by the German Woermann-Linie.
Catholic penetration was furthered by two small insurrections protesting the conscription of forced labour for the plantations, in 1898 and 1910, which led to the Bubi being disarmed in 1917 and left them dependent on the missionaries. Towards the end of the 19th century Spanish, Portuguese, German and Fernandino planters started developing large cacao plantations.
Military campaigns were mounted to subdue the Fang people in the 1920s, at the time that Liberia was beginning to cut back on recruitment.
The Liberian labour supply was cut off in 1930 after an International Labour Organization (ILO) commission discovered that contract workers had "been recruited under conditions of criminal compulsion scarcely distinguishable from slave raiding and slave trading". Between 1926 and 1959 Bioko and Rio Muni were united as the colony of Spanish Guinea.
There were garrisons of the colonial guard throughout the enclave by 1926, and the whole colony was considered 'pacified' by 1929.
There were garrisons of the colonial guard throughout the enclave by 1926, and the whole colony was considered 'pacified' by 1929.
The Liberian labour supply was cut off in 1930 after an International Labour Organization (ILO) commission discovered that contract workers had "been recruited under conditions of criminal compulsion scarcely distinguishable from slave raiding and slave trading". Between 1926 and 1959 Bioko and Rio Muni were united as the colony of Spanish Guinea.
However, Rio Muni had a small population, officially put at a little over 100,000 in the 1930s, and escape over the frontiers into Cameroun or Gabon was very easy.
By 1968 there were almost 100,000 Nigerians in Spanish Guinea. ===Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939=== At the beginning of the Spanish Civil War the colony remained loyal to the Republican government.
On July 24, 1936, the Republican cruiser Méndez Núñez arrived at Santa Isabel; on its way back to Spain the officers planned to join the rebellion, but the Spanish government, knowing this, ordered the ship to go back to the colony; on August 14 the Méndez Núñez was back in Fernando Po, where the sailors took control of her; on September 21 the ship arrived in Málaga (Republican Spain).
In 1940, it was estimated that only 20 per cent of the colony's cocoa production remained in African hands, nearly all of it in the hands of Fernandinos. The greatest constraint to economic development was a chronic shortage of labour.
The number of clandestine contract workers on the island of Fernando Po grew to 20,000 in 1942.
The Liberian labour supply was cut off in 1930 after an International Labour Organization (ILO) commission discovered that contract workers had "been recruited under conditions of criminal compulsion scarcely distinguishable from slave raiding and slave trading". Between 1926 and 1959 Bioko and Rio Muni were united as the colony of Spanish Guinea.
The first local elections were held in 1959, and the first Equatoguinean representatives were seated in the Cortes Generales (Spanish parliament).
Under the Basic Law of December 1963, limited autonomy was authorized under a joint legislative body for the territory's two provinces.
A decision of 9 August 1963, approved by a referendum of 15 December 1963, introduced the territory to a measure of autonomy and the administrative promotion of a 'moderate' grouping, the Movimiento de Unión Nacional de la Guinea Ecuatorial (MUNGE).
By 1968 there were almost 100,000 Nigerians in Spanish Guinea. ===Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939=== At the beginning of the Spanish Civil War the colony remained loyal to the Republican government.
Independence was conceded on 12 October 1968 and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea came into being with Francisco Macías Nguema elected as president. ==Independence== In March 1968, under pressure from Equatoguinean nationalists and the United Nations, Spain announced that it would grant independence to Equatorial Guinea.
However at the time of independence, the number of African doctors and lawyers was in the single digits. In July 1970, Macias created a single-party state and by May 1971, key portions of the constitution were abrogated.
However at the time of independence, the number of African doctors and lawyers was in the single digits. In July 1970, Macias created a single-party state and by May 1971, key portions of the constitution were abrogated.
In 1972 Macias took complete control of the government and assumed the title of President for Life.
All schools were ordered closed in 1975, and the country's churches were also closed in 1978.
Nigerian contract labourers on Bioko, estimated to have been 60,000, left en masse in early 1976.
All schools were ordered closed in 1975, and the country's churches were also closed in 1978.
Many of the island residents population consisting of Nigerian labourers and traders were forced to evacuate. In August 1979 Macias' nephew from Mongomo and former director of the infamous Black Beach prison, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, led a successful coup d'état; Macias was arrested, tried, and executed.
Obiang assumed the presidency in October 1979.
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Page generated on 2021-08-05