On this day: December 11 in African history

French Upper Volta gained self-government within the French Community on 11 December 1958, becoming the Republic of Upper Volta, now Burkina Faso; French Dahomey, now Benin, had taken the same step a week earlier, on 4 December 1958.

Sources: Lefaso.net ; Digithèque MJP, Université de Perpignan

Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed

Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Italy withdrew from the League of Nations amid international condemnation of its invasion of Ethiopia.

Sources: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian (FRUS 1937, Vol. I, Doc. 111) ; il Dolomiti ; Il Messaggero

French police violently cracked down on pro-independence protesters in Algiers during a visit by French President Charles de Gaulle.

Sources: Middle East Eye ; Le Monde diplomatique

Two car bombs exploded in Algiers, Algeria, targeting the Supreme Constitutional Court and United Nations offices.

Sources: UN News ; U.S. Government Publishing Office

Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Naguib Mahfouz, the Egyptian novelist who became the first Arabic-language writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, was born.

Sources: Nobel Foundation ; BBC News ; The Guardian

U.S. Department of State, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Macky Sall, who became the fourth President of Senegal, was born.

Sources: Africa Confidential ; Senegel (Senegalese Next Generation of Leaders)

Sir Bartle Frere's representatives presented an ultimatum to Cetshwayo's envoys, demanding among other terms the abolition of the Zulu military system within thirty days. It expired on 11 January 1879.

Sources: Internet Archive ; Internet Archive