The Nile Valley - Topic 7.3 Flashcards
The problem of Sudan and its conquest
What problems did Britain have with Sudan?
As Ottoman rulers became less powerful and Egyptian rulers more powerful, from 1821, Egyptian control over Sudan had changed from charging tribute to full occupation and administration. In 1873, Khedive Ismail appointed General Gordon to rid the slave trade which was embedded in Sudanese society. This proved destabilising to the economy and society and Gordon resigned in 1880 and subsequent governors had limited control afterwards.
How did the mahdi of Sudan destabilise the province?
Muhammad Ahmad was a charismatic leader who capitalised on Sudanese resentment about Egyptian taxes and authority and his support grew rapidly. An inadvertent result on the attack on slavery by Gordon was that it left an important gap in traditional society by removing the only local leadres who might have provided effective opposition to mahdists forces. The Egyptian army was unsuccessful against the mahdi, especially the 1883 expedition led by Sir Hicks at Kashgil.
What were Gladstone’s concerns and policy towards Sudan?
Gladstone and Baring judged that the Egyptians wouldn’t be effective to rule Sudan. Although they didn’t like the mahdi’s ideas, they were prepared to cut Sudan loose in the interests of maintaining stability and control in Egypt. Gladstone saw no reason to be drawn into Sudanese problems and had no strategic interests in the region. The rise of radical Islam made Gladstone more cautious about the possibility of being drawn into a long and expensive campaign.
General Gordon was dispatched to Sudan to organise the evacuation. At Khartoum, the entire garrison was wiped out.
Describe Gordon’s mission in Sudan
1884-85
Historians have debated what Gordon was trying to achieve when dispatched in 1884 since his death. His dispatches and extracts from his time in Khratoum in many ways suggest that his intention was to try to generate enough publicity to change government policy from one of evacuation to one of intervention, but it’s also possible that the orders themselves were impossible to carry out without adequate reinforcement.
Gordon focused on wiring plans to London instead of withdrawing the garrison when he first arrived. He wanted to hand over authority to an anti-mahdist popular figure and a notable ex-slave trader as well as sending messages asking for more troops. Gordon refused to leave Khartoum as the mahdi drew close as there were still more people to be evacuated from outlying areas and he fortified the city. He had copies of his diary smuggled out.
The siege of Khartoum was followed by newspapers and there was a big campaign to have a relief expedition sent. Gladstone reluctantly sent one, but it arrived two days late. Gordon was decapitated and his entire garrison was killed.
How did the public react to the death of Gordon?
The public blamed Gladstone for dragging his feet in dispatching the rescue mission too late, and the uncoded telegram from Queen Victoria rebuked Gladstone for Gordon’s death. Gladstone’s nickname ‘GOM’ was replaced with ‘MOG’ (murderer of Gordon) and the events in Sudan contributed to the defeat of the Liberals in 1885.
The desire to avenge Gordon made a deep impact on important decision-markers like Kitchener and played a crucial part in the way in which the reconquest of Sudan was conducted. Culturally, Gordon’s last stand in Khartoum became one of the central parts of the imperial story, like Nelson.
How was the conquest of Sudan conducted?
1896-1898
Lord Salisbury ordered a campaign in Sudan to secure the source of the Nile in 1896. Kitchener led the campaign and was to result in the annexation of Sudan and crush the mahdi. The partition of Africa at the Berlin Conference in 1884 led to a considerable body of opinion that held that, in order to protect British interests in Egypt, it was necessary to control the source of the Nile.
There were two threats to British interests in Sudan:
- The French, which claimed the control of the source of the Nile
- Fears of newly emergent mahdist forces in the region and further problems of pan-Islamic nationalism in Egypt
Convinced by the defeat of the Italians by the mahdi at the Battle of Adwa in 1896, Salisbury saw that the time was right and wanted to reassert European superiority in Sudan. The expedition were to proceed with care, ensuring supply lines remained intact at all times.
Why did fears of French occupation lead to the conquest of Sudan?
In 1890, Britain declared the Nile Valley under its sphere of influence. Italy, Belgium and Germany recognised their sphere, however the French didn’t. As the partition of Africa continued, Salisbury viewed that, at some point, British interests must move forward from declaring a sphere, to visible presence in Sudan to thwart French expansion and protect the amount of water available to irrigate the cotton fields.
France wanted to link its colony of Djibouti to its western colonies in Chad and Kongo, following the Niger, then the Blue Nile. The White Nile linked Egypt with Britain’s colonies in East Africa.
Describe the events at Fashoda in 1898
A tiny French force of about 120 men under the leadership of Major Marchand had reached Fashoda after a 14-month expedition from Brazzaville. They awaited an expedition from Djibouti when Kitchener arrived, accompanied by five gunboats and fresh from Omdurman. Salisbury’s letter to Kitchener claimed that any rivals claims to the area were repudiated, and Britain (in the name of the Khedive and the Ottomans) were to establish a claim over the whole White Nile.
The matter was refered to London and Paris after a dialogue between Marchand and Kitchener. The press and public of both nations wound themselves up in jingoist frenzy as the troops in Fashoda partied. The navies were mobilised, but as the French were aware of British naval supremacy and already caught up in its own internal crisis sparked by the Dreyfus Affair, they were prepared to back down. The French quietly dropped their claim to Fashoda, and the British claimed all of the White Nile.
How was Kitchener influenced by Gordon?
Despite Gordon being a highly fanatical and highly individualistic kind of soldier, Kitchener was pure army and his personally exhibited the self control which Gordon lacked.
Kitchener’s early career took place in the Middle East and the Mediterranean and was a part of the relief effort that failed to reach Khartoum. The evangelical Gordon made a deep impression on Kitchener as a young man and Kitchener learned the lessons of the original relief campaign to rescue Gordon.
When Khartoum was retaken, Kitchener’s actions demonstrated his deep hatred for the mahdi and his veneration of Gordon. There was a memorial service and then he ordered the bombing of the mahdi’s tomb. Kitchener decapitated the dead mahdi’s head and the desecration of the tomb was debated in Parliament and Baring had to intervene to ensure the mahdi’s head was buried and treated with decency.
What was the role of General Kitchener in Sudan?
Kitchener’s campaigns were methodical, equipped the the most modern technology and supported by light-gauge railways and gunboats. The initial objective was Dongola, however the mahdi was defeated at Ferkeh and Salisbury expanded the objective to include retaking the entirety of Sudan. Kitchener won at Atbara before proceeding to the mahdi’s capital of Omdurman.
Kitchener’s actions in Sudan and later use of concentration camps in the Boer War outraged anti-imperialists and had powerful critics. However, he was hugely popular with the public and was secretary of war from the outset of WWI until his death.
Why is the battle of Omdurman significant?
2nd September 1898
Salisbury always held the destruction of the mahdi to be the long-term goal. Kitchener’s careful advance and the vast advantage of the new weapon the British carried, the Maxim gun, meant that this objective was achieved at Omdurman.
- of the mahdist forces; ~10,000 dead, 13,000 taken prisoner and 5,000 wounded
- of the British forces; 47 dead and 382 wounded
Winston Churchill wrote a detailed account of the entire campaign and the destruction that took place at Omdurman, as the mahdist were mowed down by machine guns. Atrocities were commited against mahdist wounded, criticising Kitchener for not reissuing the order before the Battle of Atbara that wounded soldiers should be spared.
Following the defeat at Omdurman, the British had effective control over the whole Nile Valley and Sudan became a part of the British Empire, although ruled by the veiled protectorate.
