This paper discusses two historical events - the Anglo-Boer War and industrialization (and its link to mineral discoveries where relevant) - and two social changes, labor migrancy and urbanization, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Africa. It explores how these concepts and events contributed to popular political mobilization in the twentieth century. Moreover, it investigates the timing and efficacy of popular resistance to white rule, and the forces that divided black resistance. 4 pgs. Bibliography lists 5 sources.