Togo is a 2019 American drama adventure film directed by Ericson
Core and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. The film centers on Leonhard Seppala
and his titular sled dog in the 1925 serum run to Nome to transport diphtheria
antitoxin serum through harsh conditions during an epidemic of diphtheria.
There is so much of history in that !
The Slave
Coast is a historical name formerly used for that part of coastal West Africa
along the Bight of Benin that is located between the Volta River and the Lagos
Lagoon. The name is derived from the region's history as a major source of
Africans that were taken into slavery during the Atlantic slave trade from the
early 16th century to the late 19th century.
World War I - the First World War, was a global war that
lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously described as
"the war to end all wars", it led to the mobilisation of more than 70
million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of
the largest wars in history. It is also
one of the deadliest conflicts in history, with an estimated nine million
combatant deaths and 13 million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war, while
resulting genocides and the related 1918 influenza pandemic caused another
17–100 million deaths worldwide. It all
started with 28 June 1914, when Gavrilo
Princip, a Bosnian Serb Yugoslav nationalist, assassinated the Austro-Hungarian
heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, leading to the July Crisis. In
response, Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia on 23 July. Serbia's
reply failed to satisfy the Austrians, and the two moved to a war footing.
Even small Nations
– not on the main firing line too were involved and fought !
Togo is a country in West
Africa bordered by Ghana, Benin and Burkina Faso. The country extends south to the Gulf of
Guinea, where its capital Lomé is located. Togo covers 57,000 square kilometres
(22,008 square miles), making it one of the smallest countries in Africa, with
a population of approximately 7.9 million, as well as one of the narrowest
countries in the world with a width of less than 115 km (71 mi) between Ghana
and its slightly larger eastern neighbor, Benin.
From the 11th to the 16th
century, various tribes entered the region from all directions. From the 16th
century to the 18th century, the coastal region was a major trading center for
Europeans to purchase slaves, earning Togo and the surrounding region the name
"The Slave Coast". In 1884, Germany declared a region including present-day
Togo as a protectorate called Togoland. After World War I, rule over Togo was
transferred to France. Togo gained its independence from France in 1960. In
1967, Gnassingbé Eyadéma led a successful military coup d'état after which he
became president of an anti-communist, single-party state. Eventually, in 1993,
Eyadéma faced multiparty elections, which were marred by irregularities, and
won the presidency three times. At the time of his death, Eyadéma was the
longest-serving leader in modern African history, having been president for 38
years. In 2005, his son Faure Gnassingbé was elected president.
Togoland was a German Empire
protectorate in West Africa from 1884 to 1914, encompassing what is now the
nation of Togo and most of what is now the Volta Region of Ghana. At the outbreak of the First World War in
1914, the colony was invaded and quickly overrun by British and French forces
during the Togoland campaign and placed under military rule. In 1916 the
territory was divided into separate British and French administrative zones,
and this was formalised in 1922 with the creation of British Togoland and
French Togoland.
The colony was established
towards the end of the period of European colonisation in Africa generally
known as the "Scramble for Africa". In 1899, Germany and Great Britain traded
territory in the Samoan Islands for the Northern Solomon Islands and control in
Tonga, using the Togoland Neutral Zone (Yendi) and the Volta Triangle as
bargaining chips. In 1914,
French and British troops invaded unopposed. No military personnel were stationed in the
protectorate. The Entente forces
occupied Lomé, then advanced on a powerful new radio station near Kamina, east
of Atakpamé. The colony surrendered on 26 Aug 1914, after
the German technicians who had built the radio installation destroyed the
station during the night of 24/25 August. In the weeks before the destruction,
Kamerun, German Southwest Africa, German East Africa and 47 ships on the high
seas were sent reports of Allied actions, as well as warnings of trouble ahead.
On 27 Dec 1916, Togoland was separated into French and British administrative
zones. After the end of World War I, newly established Czechoslovakia tried
unsuccessfully to acquire the colony. Following the ratification of the Treaty of
Versailles, on 20 July 1922, Togoland formally became a League of Nations. The British area of the former German colony
was integrated into Ghana in 1957 after a May 1956 plebiscite in which 58% of
British-area residents voted to join Ghana upon its independence, rather than
remaining under British-administered United Nations Trusteeship.
The film Togo mentioned at
the start flashes between musher Leonhard Seppala raising his dog Togo and the
1925 serum run to Nome. Leonhard "Sepp" Seppala was a
Norwegian-American sled dog breeder, trainer and musher who played a pivotal
role in the 1925 serum run to Nome and participated in the 1932 Winter
Olympics. Seppala introduced the work dogs used by Native Siberians at the time
to the American public; the breed came to be known as the Siberian Husky in the
English-speaking world. The Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award, which honors
excellence in sled dog care, is named in honour of him. The 1925 serum run to Nome, also known as the
Great Race of Mercy and The Serum Run, was a transport of diphtheria antitoxin
by dog sled relay across the U.S. territory of Alaska by 20 mushers and about
150 sled dogs across 674 miles (1,085 km) in 5 ½ days, saving the small town of
Nome and the surrounding communities from a developing epidemic.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
26.8.2020
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