Ewe Unification Movement

385:, supported Ewe unification by proxy, because he required their favor for his goal of a Ghanaian-led unification with Togo, which would consequently place the Ewe under one country's administration— though he was ultimately still opposed to a fully independent Ewe state. This created tensions with Sylvanus Olympio, as both leaders, thereafter, had claims over the other's territories, and this resulted in a more restrictive border between the two newly independent countries. This tension briefly subsided with the rise of Gnassingbé Eyadéma to power in Togo, because his regime was more cooperative with Ghana — at least until the 1970s, when he began agitating for Ewe separatism and suggesting border readjustments. 145: 408:, or Tolimo Movement, which stemmed from the Togoland Congress. While its secessionist sentiments developed originally due to the 1956 plebiscite, this iteration was spurred by alleged Ewe repression by Kwame Nkrumah due to the more restrictive border with Togo, along with the generally poorer conditions which were common amongst the Ghanaian Ewe populations during the time. It had support from Gnassingbé Eyadéma in Togo, though this was only an expressed public support, and ultimately nothing substantive. 394: 17: 321:

other Togolese political parties. Despite these efforts, however, the French administration began to lose favor with the Togolese population, and, coupled with mounting pressures from the neighboring and ever more autonomous British colonies, began a process of autonomy granting, which eventually altogether ended their trusteeship over the territory in 1956, giving Togo independence, and placing Sylvanus Olympio in power as Togo's first president.

287: 212: 156: 340: 228:, which sought to exacerbate their various colonial subjects' cultural identities against each other to prevent larger political units from forming against their imperial hegemony. This manifested itself in German Togoland with the pitting of the Ewe peoples against other more allegedly barbaric groups, like the Ashanti, by 369:

in their Togoland mandate which resulted in the unification of it to the Gold Coast Colony. This drew opposition from many Ewe under the new administration, as while most of them supported the results, some instead still preferred to be reincorporated into a united Togoland — with this portion having

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Togoland between themselves. This ultimately only served as a partial unification of some Ewe — for while many in the west now found themselves essentially unified under two British colonial administrations, the rest in the east were placed under a French mandate. This tripartite division between the

320:

After the Comité de l'Unité Togolaise began gaining power in the territory's Representative Assembly in 1946, French administrators, from 1950 onward, attempted to subvert the movement's gains by arresting or restricting its leadership, limiting its legal political status, and sowing rivalries with

328:, did not focus on his predecessor's greater Togoland claims in the initial period of his leadership. However, after internal pressures of Ewe separatism in Ghana resurfaced, Gnassingbé Eyadéma's regime reaffirmed the claims and publicly lauded the Ewe's goals. However, this reorientation towards 75:

from 1874 to 1884. While there have been many efforts to bring about unification, none have ultimately been successful due to both the platform itself often being a secondary concern for political leadership, or inter/intrastate conflicts overshadowing them.

202:

It was with this division that the Ewe identity began to become politically salient, as many within their leadership protested the consequent restriction of movement through what they had begun to see as a unified Ewe territory.

317:. Both possessed political platforms that included the reunification of the separate British western and French eastern Togolands, and, for the Ewe, this implied a reunification of their eastern populations. 92:, but historical evidence for this specific tradition's basis in reality is lacking. The more accepted version of their history follows the group's 1600s westward migration from the town of 332:

was seemingly only rhetorical, as Gnassingbé Eyadéma's government was in practice cooperative with Ghana's efforts at suppressing the separatists due to Togo's heavy reliance on Ghanaian

753:"Putting the History Back into Ethnicity: Enslavement, Religion, and Cultural Brokerage in the Construction of Mandinka/Jola and Ewe/Agotime Identities in West Africa, c. 1650-1930" 615:"Putting the History Back into Ethnicity: Enslavement, Religion, and Cultural Brokerage in the Construction of Mandinka/Jola and Ewe/Agotime Identities in West Africa, c. 1650-1930" 305:

Around 1945, various members of Ewe and wider Togolese leadership began the construction of political organizations which sought to decolonize French Togo. These developed as the

411:

Following an attempted coup in 1975, which the Ewe were implicated in as having been its alleged primary backers, the Ghanaian government cracked down on Tolimo with a plan,

246:, and utilized it and the resulting linguistic studies to consolidate a shared Ewe identity based around a common language to loosely unify their disparate polities further. 262:, while those in Togoland mostly withheld loyalty from their own colonizer, in the hopes that the defeat of the Germans would unify the Ewe peoples under one government. 63:, however the ideal of unifying the group has been an identifiable sentiment present amongst the ethnicity's leadership and wider population ever since their initial 412: 362:

pursued the Ewe unification platform in the British colonies. Just the same, the British were antagonistic to the idea of granting them any special autonomy.

359: 136:

in the 1680s — Ewe nationalists eventually took advantage of the aforementioned shared traditions and moments of cooperation during the colonial period.

404:

In 1976, an Ewe-led movement formed in Ghana's former British Togoland provinces that sought secession and reunification with Togo called the

1655: 1457: 1351: 1326: 425:

While separatist groups do still exist, most of their independence efforts have been effectively stunted by the Ghanaian government.

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Amenumey, D. E. K. (1975). "The General Elections in the 'Autonomous Republic of Togo', April 1958: Background and Interpretation".

1202:

Amenumey, D. E. K. (1975). "The General Elections in the 'Autonomous Republic of Togo', April 1958: Background and Interpretation".

1102:

Amenumey, D. E. K. (1975). "The General Elections in the 'Autonomous Republic of Togo', April 1958: Background and Interpretation".

447:

Amenumey, D. E. K. (1975). "The General Elections in the 'Autonomous Republic of Togo', April 1958: Background and Interpretation".

1763: 1758: 275: 1717: 366: 908:

Meyer, Birgit (2002). "Christianity and the Ewe Nation: German Pietist Missionaries, Ewe Converts and the Politics of Culture".

865:

Meyer, Birgit (2002). "Christianity and the Ewe Nation: German Pietist Missionaries, Ewe Converts and the Politics of Culture".

565:

Meyer, Birgit (2002). "Christianity and the Ewe Nation: German Pietist Missionaries, Ewe Converts and the Politics of Culture".

692: 274:& French Togoland left many Ewe leaders dissatisfied, but voicing their concerns ultimately, having been brought by the 752: 614: 124:

in 1868. While no fully unified Ewe character had consolidated at this point, because conflicts between different

234: 84:

A loose conception of an Ewe identity has existed through a shared origin myth surrounding the Togolese town of

1773: 415:, that aimed to restrict cross-border Ewe travel. The organization was eventually outlawed officially in 1976. 1768: 780: 642: 1064:

Amenumey, D. E. K. (1969). "The Pre-1947 Background to the Ewe Unification Question: a Preliminary Sketch".

1029:

Amenumey, D. E. K. (1969). "The Pre-1947 Background to the Ewe Unification Question: a Preliminary Sketch".

951:

Amenumey, D. E. K. (1969). "The Pre-1947 Background to the Ewe Unification Question: a Preliminary Sketch".

716:

Amenumey, D. E. K. (1969). "The Pre-1947 Background to the Ewe Unification Question: a Preliminary Sketch".

527:

Amenumey, D. E. K. (1969). "The Pre-1947 Background to the Ewe Unification Question: a Preliminary Sketch".

485:

Amenumey, D. E. K. (1969). "The Pre-1947 Background to the Ewe Unification Question: a Preliminary Sketch".

1608: