In the Scramble for Africa in the 1880s the Europeans started to colonise the inland of West Africa, they had previously mostly controlled trading ports along the coasts and rivers. Samory Ture's newly founded Wassoulou Empire was the last to fall, and with his capture in 1898, military resistance to French colonial rule effectively ended.

Post-colonial West Africa

Following World War II, campaigns for independence sprung up across West Africa, most notably in Ghana under the Pan-Africanist Kwame Nkrumah (1909–1972). After a decade of protests, riots and clashes, French West Africa voted for autonomy in a 1958 referendum, dividing into the states of today; most of the British colonies gained autonomy the following decade. Ghana became the first country of sub-Saharan Africa to achieve independence in 1957, followed by Guinea under the guidance Sekou Touré the next year.^[71] Out of the 17 nations that achieved their independence in 1960, the Year of Africa, nine were West African countries.^[71] Many founding fathers of West African nations, like Nkrumah, Touré, Senghor, Modibo Keïta, Sylvanus Olympio, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Siaka Stevens and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, consolidated their power during the post-independence 1960s by gradually eroding democratic institutions and civil society.^[72] In 1973, Guinea-Bissau proclaimed its independence from Portugal, and was internationally recognised following the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Portugal.
West African political history has been characterised by African socialism. Senghor, Nkrumah and Touré all embraced the idea of African socialism, whereas Houphouët-Boigny and Liberia's William Tubman remained suspicious of it.^[73] 1983 saw the rise of socialist Thomas Sankara, often titled the "Che Guevara of Africa", to power in Burkina Faso.^[74]
Since independence, West Africa has suffered from the same problems as much of the African continent, particularly dictatorships, political corruption and military coups. At the time of his death in 2005, for example, Togo's Étienne Eyadéma was among the world's longest-ruling dictators. Inter-country conflicts have been few, with Mali and Burkina Faso's nearly bloodless Agacher Strip War being a rare exception.

Post-Colonial civil wars

The region of West Africa has seen a number of civil wars in its recent past including the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970), two civil wars in Liberia in 1989 and 1999, a decade of fighting in Sierra Leone from 1991–2002, the Guinea-Bissau Civil War from 1998–1999 and a recent conflict in Côte d'Ivoire that began on 2002 ending 2007 and a second conflict in 2010–11.

Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970)

After gaining full independence from the British Empire in 1963, Nigeria established the first republic. The republic was heavily influenced by British democracy and relied on majority rule.^[75] The first republic fell after a successful coup d'état lead by southern Nigerian rebels on 15 January 1966.
The fall of the first republic left behind apparent political division between North and South Nigeria. This led to the military governor of south-eastern Nigeria, Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu, deeming that because of northern massacres and electoral fraud, the Southeast of Nigeria should be an independent state. The independent state became known as the Republic of Biafra.^[76]
Northern Nigeria opposed the claim of southern secession. The Nigerian government called for police action in the area. The armed forces of Nigeria were sent in to occupy and take back the Republic of Biafra. Nigerian forces seized Biafra in a series of phases. The phases were, the Capture of Nsukka, the Capture of Ogoja, Capture of Abakaliki, and the Capture of Enugu. All of the perpetrated phases and campaigns were successful due to the advantaged army of Nigeria.^[77] By 1970, Biafraian general, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu, fled to the neighboring nation of Côte d'Ivoire. After the flee, Biafra, facing no other option, surrendered due to lack of resources and leadership. Biafra quickly united with the northern Nigeria on 15 January 1970.^[78] The conflict is estimated to have killed roughly 1 million people.^[79]

First Liberian Civil War (1989–1997)

Second Liberian Civil War (1999–2003)

Sierra Leone Civil War (1991–2002)

The civil war began on 23 March 1991 as a result of an attempted overthrow against the administration of president, Joseph Saidu Momoh. The rebels went under the guise of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) lead by Foday Sankoh a previous army corporal.^[80] The Sierra Leoneian government called for action and soon the Sierra Leone Army (SLA) was sent in to control the situation and take back RUF occupied territory.
By 1992 president Joseph Momoh was ousted by a successful military coup lead by Captain Valentine Strasser. Capitan Strasser, soon established multi-party democratic elections in the region.
On 18 January 2002, the civil war was officially ended by former president Kabbah. During the 11 year conflict, roughly 50,000 Sierra Leoneians were killed with 2,000,000 displaced.

Guinea-Bissau Civil War (1998–1999)

Before the civil war began, an attempted coup d'état took place led by military Brigadier General Ansumane Mané. Mané leading the coup, blamed the presidency of Joao Bernardo Vieira for the poverty and corruption of Guinea Bissau. President Vieira, controlling the armed forces, soon fired Mané from his position of Brigadier General.^[82] He was fired on charges of supplying Senegal rebels.
On 7 June 1998, a second coup d'état began. The coup once again failed. Soon after, rebels received aid from the neighboring nations of Senegal and Guinea-Conakry.
The conflict sparked a civil war. Many soldiers in the armed forces of Guinea-Bissau joined the side of the rebels. This was in part, due to the soldiers not being paid by the government. The rebels continued to fight from 1998 to 1999. President Vieira was ousted on 7 May 1999. By 10 May 1999, the war ended when President Vieira signed an unconditional surrender in a Portuguese embassy.
Approximately 655 were killed as a result of the conflict.

First Ivorian Civil War (2002-2007)

 

In the early 2000s, the Ivory Coast (also known as Côte d'Ivoire) experienced an economic rescission. The rescission began as a result of the previous economic boom crashing the economy as a whole. This led to the predominately Muslim north and predominately Christan south of the Ivory Coast becoming politically divided.^[86]
The southern Ivory Coast was in control of the Ivorian government. The north however, was under the power of the rebel movement. The civil war between the two began officially on 19 September 2002 when rebels launched a series of attacks on the south. The city of Abidjan was primarily targeted. Northern rebels were successful in the attacks. As a result of the chaos, president Robert Guéï was killed in the rebellions.^[87]
The south retailed with military action. France supported the south and sent 2500 soldiers to the region and called for United Nations action. French action in the area went under the guise and codename of Operation Unicorn.
By 2004 most fighting in the region ceased. On 4 March 2007 the civil war official ended with the signing of a peace treaty.