BRITISH EXPANSION IN AFRICA Flashcards
from 1857-1914, including chartered companies
strategic motives for British expansion in South Africa
- 1888 - British annex Bechuanaland and Bastuoland which would mean that 3/4 sides of the Transvaal were protected from German expansion in the West, to create a buffer zone
- Battle of Majuba Hill in 1882 was triggered by a British desire to unite the Cape Colony and Natal with the Transvaal
- British wanted to conquest the Zulu Kingdom in the Battle of Rorke’s drift in 1879 to establish majority British control against the Boers
- British established a naval base at Simonstown which would fuel boats and trading to establish British military dominance in South Africa
- British wanted to establish the Fort Sailsbury railway which would go from the Cape to Bechuanaland
delamere equator ranch
- 2 million acres of land were occupied for white farmers in the equator ranch under delamere to maximise profits and exploitation of the land
- eliot and lord delamre requested to have control of 100,000 acres of land to maximise profits and the production of wheat, which forced the migration of the masai (1903)
- delamere cultivated 3000 areas worth of wheat (european crop)
- it was initially thought that private individual grants must not encroach on rift valley land of masai
- 1904 = treaty that masai would vacate rift valley for european settlement
- this treaty pushes the masai into an area on a straight land border, so cultivating land is difficult
- delamere attempted to forge relations a masai for them to work in intelligence along german borders
describe the work of the BSAC
british south africa company
- established the southern rhodesia protectorate in 1901 and northern rhodesia protectorate in 1911
describe the work of the RNC
royal niger company = goldie (its chartered areas under british rule in 1900 + 1906)
- founded in 1886
- comes under british rule in 1900 for 800,000 pounds
civilising mission being the motive for british expansion in east africa
- the East African Scottish Mission was launched, the British settled in Kibwezi, but it was decided there were not enough people so they migrated to more populous areas
- Queen Victoria claiming that an “empire without religion is like building a house on sand”
- the British solved disputes between the Maasai and Kikuyu tribes
- British saved 300 Maasai from the incident at Fort Smith in 1893
- British construct the McKinnon-Scalter Road in 1890, which was 600 miles from Mombassa to Busia
- East African Kikuyu Mission - converted 17 pastors into teaching christianity with the Tumutumuk Kirk session
- grey makes a speech in uganda in 1894, which claimed that if Britain had not taken Uganda, the slave trade would have returned
- Livingstone is the first non-African to see Lake Nyasa in 1859
- Livingstone publishes Missionary Travels in 1857
describe british expansion into uganda
- european missionaries were entering buganda and king mwanga had 30 europeans executed in 1886 (causes civil war)
- to stop the war, mwanga hands over some of his sovereignty to the british (IBEAC) (in order to have their support)
- peters (german) took an expedition into east africa, in which he signed a treaty in earlu 1890 with mwanga in buganda
- in 1890, mwanga signs a treaty with lugard to give british power over revenue + administration
- the IBEAC lose control over uganda after tensions between IBEAC, natives and missionaries grew to a small war in 1892
- uganda was under control of the BEAC from 1890(ish)
- it became a protectorate under empire in 1894
infrastructure / development in uganda
- lunatic, mombassa to indian oceanshore railway line 1896
- british invest 5 million (justifying these funds for having access to new markets, encouraging settlement, consolidating power, protecting strategic needs etc)
- it is over 600 miles long
- british obtain 60,000 a year - 16 mile communication strip from 1894 established by grey in the commons
motivations for the british in egypt
- economic desires
- access to cotton / diverse market (lancashire - empire at home)
- reduce isma’il’s debt - strategic concerns
- access to india / easier administration
- limit french and italian influence (ie fashoda - limit the influence of marchand) - civilising mission
- 1896 defeat at adawa and going back into sudan
- prevent the arab slave trade
what did the british government do in 1921
- add kenyans to the local legislative council in an attempt to promote a more multi-racial kenya
(1923 = devonshire white paper = kenya is a predominantly african region)
*concessions of 1920s
when was gold discovered in the witwatersrand and when were diamonds discovered in west griqualand
gold in W: 1886
diamonds in WG: 1867
describe the relations between the masai and kikuyu people, and british involvement
- the british preferred to establish relations with the masai people over the kikuyu tribes, giving them cattle and land
- in 1893, the british help 300 masai at fort smith - british prioritising establishing relations - british facilitate a truce between the two regions
- 1895, the british adopt a policy of appeasement toward maasai for being security in railway (uganda)
DISMISSIVE AND INFERIOR POLICIES TO MASAI:
- however, the british stop their concessive policies toward the masai after the war of Morijo and finished construction of uganda railway, and want more material gain from their relations - can be seen by:
*1903 equator ranch by delamere - 100,000 acres - push masai out
* 1902 the british enforce taxation measures in masai protectorate areas, in order to have more stability of income
* 1902 = introduce military force
* 1904 treaty w masai - push them out of rift valley so the area can be used for european expansion - british similarly push them out of the white highlands, only paying the masai minimal rent whilst they reside in the area
actions of goldie in expansion into west africa
- signed 450 treaties with local palm oil production companies to make significant margins on palm oil products
- force them to only trade with the National African Company and with their merchants - monopoly - purchased all of the African Association’s assets to decrease competition in 1893
- limit competition with liverpool merchants and oil river protectorate - establishes 30 trading posts across the Niger river
- in 1900, when the company was sold to the royals for 850,000 pounds - idea of being too valuable to lose money
- Goldie buys Liverpool Merchant companies to prevent competition and monopolise British interests
what was the racial composition of kenya
1916 = 8000 white settlers in africa
1920 = 23,000 indians in kenya due to the construction of the lunatic line
3 million local africans in the area
when did britain take the following territory in south africa:
1. transvaal
2. nyasaland
3. rhodesia
4. griqualand west
5. zululand
transvaal = 1877 and is under british occupation (ie military control)
nyasaland = initially led by the BSAC, formal protectorate in 1907
rhodesia = initially taken in 1895
griqualand west = british settle there in 1873, then it is a part of the cape colony in 1880
zululand =
describe british involvement in sudan
- a mahdist revolt breaks out against the egyptian governments in sudan in 1881
- gordon is sent to be governor-general and impose peace
- ahmad declares himself as the mahdi in 1881 against gordon
- ahmad expands his army into a Jihadist army and in 1882 has control over khartoum (MAHDIST WAR)
- in 1883, the british attempt to retaliate under hicks to Ahmad’s army, and hicks is killed
- in 1884, gladstone forces british and egyptian troops to withdraw from sudan and gordon is killed (queen victoria doesn’t like gladstone for this)
- sailsbury believes sudan + egypt were vital to strategic concerns, and also to prevent french / german control over the nile
- sailsbury uses the 1896 defeat of the italians at adowa to re-enter Sudan against ‘barbarism’
- kitchener leads the egyptian army in the battle of omdurman in 1898 to exert control
- this angered the French, leading to fashoda in 1898
- the French are poorly organised and back out, leading to sudan becoming a british sphere of influence
imperial rivalry being the motive for British expansion in West Africa
1897 - Lugard establishes the WAAF force - a paramilitary force to limit French military threats
1879 - the Royal Niger Company is established to create a sole British sphere of influence
- goldie seizes the niger river with 20 gunboats - constant french and german threats
- establishment of the General Acts from the Berlin Conference of 1884 + 1885 and Brussels conference in 1876
1889 - Akassa Uprising
- the Kirk Plan was implemented to make the nation isolated and immune to foreign political influence
- the kirk plan - the rnc would become administrative, because this would consolidate british control in the region, beyond non legally binding treaties and local agreements - would ensure french and germans cannot enter, because the british are legally there
- King Jaja of Opobo was extradited to St Vincent in 1888 due to his receptive nature to other countries purchasing palm oil - British want to limit the presence of foreign nations to establish dominance
3. Battle of Sokoto in 1903 within Nigeria to prevent increasing French influence
describe the work of the IBEAC
imperial british east africa company
- led by william mackinnon
- a large charter created to represent the british government in africa
- the 1888 charter was agreed with germany - imp rivalry
given power to:
- administer zanzibar and exercise political power
- become a british sphere of influence
- promote trade and commerce
- advance civilisation
- promote the interests of the majority
do not:
- religiously interfere
economic motives for british expansion in west africa (5)
- in 1887, Johnston attempted to settle with Jaja of Opobo to convince him to stop taxing the British on palm oil + sell through empire - he was extradited in 1888 to St Vincent due to his refusal
- 50% of Nigerian revenue was given back to the British government - opportunity for profit to create a European stronghold
- Goldie signed 450 treaties
- limit french + liverpool merchant influence - Goldie purchased all of the African Association’s assets in 1893
- Goldie establishes 30 trading posts across the Niger river
- in 1900 = company was sold to the royals for 850,000 pounds - idea of being too valuable to lose money
examples of european missionaries in africa / their work
- henry stanley (in Through the Dark Continent) - portraying Africans as cannibals
- King Leopold - builds a 250 mile road between Matadi and Leopoldville
how much had the british paid for developments in east africa by 1913
- british paid 2.8 million pounds, earn 60,000 back a year
- british investments were fuelled by the kenyan hut and wife tax
history of west griqualand
- west griqualand is eventually taken over by waterboer in 1830s
- diamonds are discovered in west griqualand in 1867 (diggers move in)
- 1870 = diamonds fields were declared as boer property
- 1870 = british take west griqualand due to exploitation by parker
- british then enter the klipdrift republic and it is placed under british control
- british take west griqualand in 1871
- 2000 griqua people under adam kok march to form griqualand east in 1873
battle of tel-el-kabir
- woseley defeats arabi pasha’s forces by securing the suez canal
- this battle allowed the british to re-take cairo
- occured and ended in 1882
describe mwanga challenging british rule
mwanga (uganda)
- makes an attempt to regain lost territories in 1897 and 1898
- the british exile him to seychelles (MAKE LINKS DRAWN WITH KING JAJA)
imperial rivalry being the motive for British expansion in South Africa
1899-1902 - Second Boer War, led by Milner an Chamberlain against Kruger due to German relations with the Boers - the British were willing to invest 450,000 troops, cost 230 million and ignore the advice of the cabinet to limit German influence
British occupy Bechuanaland in 1888, which would cover 3/4 sides of the Transvaal and limit German westward expansion - willing to invest 700,000 pounds into doing this
Rhodes makes treaties in Damaraland and Narmara to prevent the Germans forming alliances with local tribes
1896 Jameson Raid - attempt for the British to stage an uprising, which would encourage Uitlanders to rise with the British, forcing Kruger and the Germans to recognise their weaknesses and leave South Africa