Brazil, the last country in the western hemisphere to abolish the slave trade alone enslaved up to four million dark-skinned Africans from present-day Angola. With the colonial enterprise that followed the 1884-1914 Scramble for Africa, Europe's derogation of Black people only continued. Up to two million Africans actively took part in the war as either soldiers or bearers across Europe and Africa. In both World War I and World War II (1939-45), the Europeans sought to give the impression that the Africans committing to fight and die for their respective sides were ‘volunteers’ motivated by the lure of filthy lucre. And the blame for this sorry state of affairs is hardly or sufficiently put on the governmental co-players in these Russian-enlisted fighters' home countries.

Source: Standard Digital March 22, 2026 23:26 UTC