The partition of Africa

Between 1880 and 1900 90% of the territory of Africa was appropriated by a handful of European powers.

Britain acquired nearly 5 million square miles of land. France gained 3.5 million. Germany, Belgium and Italy shared 2.5 million between

them.

Britain and the partition of Africa

Before the Partition, Britain's involvement in Africa was on a relatively small scale.

In 1880 there were no plans to extend the British Empire in Africa.

Yet in 1882 in a startling about face Gladstone, the Prime Minister, ordered the occupation of Egypt.

This turned out to be the starting point of the Partition of Africa.

North Africa: the occupation and defence of Egypt

The Ottoman Empire had captured Egypt in 1517 and thereafter had expanded along the North African coast to Tripoli, Tunis, Algeria and Morocco.

But by the late 19th century the Ottoman Empire was in decline.

This worried the British government which feared that Ottoman possessions in North Africa would fall into the hands of rival European powers and thereby threaten British interests in the area.

North Africa: the occupation and defence of Egypt

In 1860 British politicians wished that Egypt should have been attached to the Turkish Empire.

The French took a different view. They encouraged Egypt to break away from the

Ottoman Empire and French investors poured money into the country after 1850.

The most dramatic example of French investment was a bold plan to construct the Suez Canal, which opened in 1869.

North Africa: the occupation and defence of Egypt

The completion of the Suez Canal led to a large influx of British investment.

British banks offered the Egyptian government enormous loans which were used for economic development.

Between 1863 and 1879 Egypt's foreign debt increased from £3 million to £100 million.

In 1878 an Anglo-French rescue plan emerged. French government officials and British financial experts would take control of the Egyptian economy.

North Africa: the occupation and defence of Egypt

The plan restored financial stability. But, in the process, it brought misery to the vast majority of the Egyptian people and led to starvation, increased unemployment, street rioting and, finally, a rebellion in the army.

On 11 June 1882 a national riot in Alexandria led to the death of 50 Europeans.

This prompted the British government to order the formal occupation of Egypt.

By October 1882 Britain became 'the Government of Egypt'.

North Africa: the occupation and defence of Egypt

The British quickly ended Anglo-French 'dual control', much to the annoyance of the French, and stayed in Egypt until 1922.

The occupation of Egypt by the British led to bitter recriminations between Britain and France which were to last for over 20 years.

West Africa

The British government viewed West Africa with a great deal of detachment once the slave trade was outlawed in 1807.

The only reason Britain remained interested was due to the trade in palm oil.

However the leading forces in the Partition of West Africa were France, Germany and Belgium.

West Africa

In 1884 representatives of the major European powers met in Berlin in order to reach a settlement of the boundaries, trade and the rules of occupation of West Africa.

The British gained a monopoly over the palm oil trade on the Niger River and created Nigeria.

West AfricaGeorge Dashwood Taubman Goldie

Sir George Dashwood Taubman Goldie (20 May 1846 – 20 August 1925) was a Manx administrator who played a major role in the founding of Nigeria.

He conceived the idea of adding to the British Empire the then little known regions of the lower and middle Niger.

For over twenty years his efforts were devoted to the realization of this conception.

The method by which he determined to work was the revival of government by chartered companies within the empire - a method supposed to be buried with the East India Company.

East Africa

The major British interest in the region was trade with the island of Zanzibar.

East Africa was divided by diplomatic agreement into British and German 'spheres of influence' between 1885 and 1895.

At first, the British government left the administration of East Africa to the British East Africa Company.

This proved beyond it. By 1895 Britain was in formal control of a largely unwanted East African Empire.

East AfricaThe shortest war in history

The Anglo-Zanzibar War was fought on 27 August 1896. The conflict lasted approximately 38 minutes The immediate cause of the war was the death of the pro-

British Sultan Hamad bin Thumaini on 25 August 1896 and the subsequent succession of Sultan Khalid bin Barghash.

The British authorities preferred Hamud bin Muhammed, who was more favourable to British interests, as Sultan.

In accordance with a treaty signed in 1886, a condition for accession to the sultanate was that the candidate obtain the permission of the British Consul, and Khalid had not fulfilled this requirement

Southern Africa

The Partition of southern Africa was really a tale of Anglo-Boer rivalry and the ambitions of Cecil Rhodes, a British multi-millionaire who arrived in South Africa in 1870, aged 17, and quickly made a fortune from diamond mining.

He developed a 'big idea' for the expansion of the British Empire.

Standing in the way of Rhodes' 'impossible dream' were the independent Boer republics.

The Boer Wars

The Boer wars were two wars fought between the UK and the two independent Boer republics, the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (Transvaal Republic). The first was fought between 1880-1881, and the second was fought between 1899-1902.

The First Anglo-Boer War (1880–1881),

Also known as the "Transvaal War," was a relatively brief conflict in which Boer settlers successfully resisted a British attempt to annex the Transvaal, and re-established an independent republic.

Southern Africa

The Boers' insatiable desire for land created a great deal of antagonism, not only with Britain, but also with a large number of African tribal peoples.

The most important were the Zulus, proud people, skilled in war and diplomacy.

The Boers became so frightened of the Zulu threat that they called on the British government.

In 1877 Britain took control of the Transvaal and then issued an ultimatum to the Zulus.

Southern Africa

The Zulus choose war and were eventually defeated in 1879 after a valiant struggle.

Shortly after the Zulu defeat the Transvaal asked Britain to restore its independence.

The British refused and the Transvaal responded by attacking and defeating British forces at Majuba Hill in 1881.

The Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902)

By contrast, was a lengthy war - involving large numbers of troops from many British possessions - which ended with the conversion of the Boer republics into British colonies (with a promise of limited self-government).

These colonies later formed part of the Union of South Africa.

Unlike many colonial conflicts, the Boer War lasted three years and was very bloody. The British fought directly against the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. The bloodshed that was seen during the war was alarming and many of the British soldiers faced terrible conditions.

As Boer farms were destroyed by the British under their “Scorched Earth" policy.

This included the systematic destruction of: Crops Slaughtering of livestock Burning down of homesteads and farms Poisoning of wells and salting of fields

This was done to prevent the Boers from re-supplying from a home base many tens of thousands of women and children were forcibly moved into the concentration camps.

This was not the first appearance of internment camps.

Concentration camps (1900 - 1902) The English term “concentration camp" was first used

to describe camps operated by the British in South Africa during this conflict.

The camps had originally been set up by the British Army as “refugee camps" to provide refuge for civilian families who had been forced to abandon their homes for one or other reason related to the war.

The Spanish had used internment in the Ten Years’ War that later led to the Spanish –American War, and the United States had used them to devastate guerrilla forces during the Philippine-American War.

But the Boer War concentration camp system was the first time that a whole nation had been systematically targeted, and the first in which some whole regions had been depopulated.

Eventually, there were a total of 45 tented camps built for Boer internees and 64 for black Africans.

Of the 28,000 Boer men captured as prisoners of war, 25,630 were sent overseas.

The vast majority of Boers remaining in the local camps were women and children.

Over 26,000 women and children were to perish in these concentration camps.

However, when Kitchener succeeded Roberts as commander-in-chief in South Africa in 29 November 1900, the British Army introduced new tactics in an attempt to break the guerrilla campaign and the influx of civilians grew dramatically as a result. Kitchener initiated plans to…..

"flush out guerrillas in a series of systematic drives, organized like a sporting shoot, with success defined in a weekly 'bag' of killed, captured and wounded, and to sweep the country bare of everything that could give sustenance to the guerrillas, including women and children....”

It was the clearance of civilians - uprooting a whole nation - that would come to dominate the last phase of the war."

Emily Hobhouse

Emily Hobhouse (April 9, 1860 – June 8,1926) was a British welfare campaigner, who is primarily

remembered for bringing to the attention of the

British public, and working to change, the appalling

conditions inside the British concentration camps in

South Africa built for Boer women and children

during the Second Boer War.

Who is this?

Quotes

"I contend that we are the first race in the world, and that the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race...If there be a God, I think that what he would like me to do is paint as much of the map of Africa British Red as possible...

“We must find new lands from which we can easily obtain raw materials and at the same time exploit the cheap slave labour that is available from the natives of the colonies. The colonies would also provide a dumping ground for the surplus goods produced in our factories.”

"To be born English is to win first prize in the lottery of life.”

What’s this?

The link?

De Beers

Cecil Rhodes was the founder of the diamond company De Beers.

Which today markets 40% of the world's rough diamonds.

At one time marketed 90%.

Conclusion

The argument that Britain's reasons for becoming involved in the Partition of Africa were a mixture of power politics and economic necessity appears impossible to deny.

This view fits most British actions during the Partition.

It particularly seems to make sense of the events that led up to the occupation of Egypt.

It was a fear that the Suez Canal might fall into the hands of a rival power which lay behind much of what was done.

Conclusion

The issue that remains unresolved is the balance between political and economic motives.

Perhaps the judgment whether Britain acted more from a desire to protect and/or increase her power than from a wish to protect and/or add to her wealth will always have to be made depending on the observer's values and prejudices.

Certainly there is plenty of evidence to support both point of views.

Conclusion

Any argument which sees the British as a 'reluctant' participant in the Partition is persuasive

The slow and deliberate way in which the British government reacted both to events in Africa and to the activities of rival European powers during the early stages of the Partition certainly adds weight to this interpretation.

However, it must be remembered that there was never any doubt that the vast growth of British investment in north and southern Africa was going to be protected, and therefore too much should not be read into the reluctance.

Conclusion

The Victorian 'frame of mind' was never passionate, always appeared reluctant, but in practice never flinched from defending British economic interests whenever and wherever they were felt to be threatened.