European colonization of Africa in the 19th century. Annexation of Madagascar by France
Cape Colony (Dutch Kaapkolonie, from Kaap de Goede Hoop - Cape of Good Hope), a Dutch and then English possession in South Africa. It was founded in 1652 at the Cape of Good Hope by the Dutch East India Company. In 1795, the Cape Colony was captured by Great Britain, in 1803-1806 it was under the control of the Dutch authorities, and in 1806 it was again captured by Great Britain. The territory of the Cape Colony was constantly expanding at the expense of the lands of Africans: Bushmen, Hottentots, and Bantu peoples. As a result of a series wars of conquest Boer and English colonialists, the eastern border of the Cape Colony reached the Umtamvuna River by 1894. In 1895, it was included in the Cape Colony South part Bechuana lands annexed in 1884-1885.
The creation of the Cape Colony marked the beginning of mass European colonization of Africa, when many states joined the colonization struggle for the most valuable areas of the Black Continent.
Colonial policy from the very beginning was associated with wars. The so-called trading war XVII and the 18th centuries were fought by European states for colonial and commercial dominance. At the same time, they were one of the forms of primitive accumulation. These wars were accompanied by predatory attacks on foreign colonial possessions and the development of piracy. Trade wars also covered the coast of Africa. They contributed to the involvement of new overseas countries and peoples in the sphere of European colonial conquests. The reasons for the exceptional profitability of trade with colonial countries lay not only in its colonial nature. For the colonies, this trade was always unequal, and with the technological progress of European industry and the growing use of machines, this inequality steadily increased. In addition, the colonialists often acquired the products of the colonial countries through direct violence and robbery.
In the struggle of European states, the question was decided which of them would win trade, maritime and colonial hegemony and thereby provide the most favorable conditions for the development of their own industry.
The Dutch and British ended the maritime and colonial dominance of Spain and Portugal back in late XVI early XVI I century. As a model capitalist state of this time, Holland surpassed any other European state in the number and importance of its colonial acquisitions. At the Cape of Good Hope, Holland founded its “settler” colonies.
A struggle developed between Europeans for colonies in Africa. At the very beginning of the 19th century, the British captured the Cape Colony. The Boers, pushed northward, created the South African Republic (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State on lands taken from the indigenous population. The Boers then took Natal from the Zulus. Over the next 50 years, England waged wars of extermination against the indigenous population (Kaffir Wars), as a result of which it expanded its possessions of the Cape Colony to the north. In 1843, they ousted the Boers and occupied Natal.
The northern coast of Africa was mainly captured by France, which by the middle of the 19th century took possession of all of Algeria.
In the early 20s of the 19th century, the United States bought land on the west coast of Africa from the leader of one of the local tribes to organize a settlement of blacks. The colony of Liberia created here was declared an independent republic in 1847, but in fact remained dependent on the United States.
In addition, the Spanish (Spanish Guinea, Rio de Oro), the French (Senegal, Gabon) and the British (Sierra Leone, Gambia, Gold Coast, Lagos) owned strongholds on the west coast of Africa.
The division of Africa was preceded by a series of new geographical explorations of the continent by Europeans. In the middle of the century, large Central African lakes were discovered and the sources of the Nile were found. The English traveler Livingston was the first European to cross the continent from the Indian Ocean (Quelimane in Mozambique) to the Atlantic (Luanda in Angola). He explored the entire course of the Zambezi, Lakes Nyasa and Tanganyika, discovered Victoria Falls, as well as Lakes Ngami, Mweru and Bangweolo, and crossed the Kalahari Desert. The last of the big ones geographical discoveries in Africa was the exploration of the Congo in the 70s by the Englishmen Cameron and Stanley.
One of the most common forms of European penetration into Africa was the continuously expanding trade in industrial goods in exchange for products from tropical countries through unequal payments; despite the official prohibition, the slave trade was carried out; enterprising adventurers penetrated deep into the country and, under the banner of the fight against the slave trade, engaged in robbery. Christian missionaries also played a significant role in strengthening the positions of European powers on the Dark Continent.
European colonialists were attracted to Africa by its enormous natural resources - valuable wild trees (oil palms and rubber trees), the possibility of growing cotton, cocoa, coffee, and sugar cane here. Gold and diamonds were found on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, as well as in South Africa. The division of Africa became a matter of big policy for European governments.
South Africa, along with North Africa, Senegal and the Gold Coast, is one of those areas of the mainland where the colonists began moving inland. Back in the mid-17th century, Dutch and then German and French settlers acquired large areas in the Cape Province. The Dutch predominated among the colonists, so they all began to be called Boers (from the Dutch “boer” - “peasant”). The Boers, however, soon became far from peaceful farmers and herders who earned their own food by their own labor. The colonists - their number was constantly replenished by newly arrived settlers - by the beginning of the 19th century already owned vast fields and pastures and stubbornly infiltrated further into the interior regions. At the same time, they destroyed or expelled the desperately resisting Bushmen and other peoples of the Khoisan-speaking group, and took away their lands and livestock.
British missionaries, who sought to justify the colonial policy of England, wrote with indignation in their reports at the beginning of the 19th century about the brutal, inhumane destruction of the local population by the Boers. English authors Barrow and Percival portrayed the Boers as lazy, rude, ignorant people who cruelly exploited the “semi-savage natives.” Indeed, hiding behind the tenets of Calvinism, the Boers declared their “divine right” to enslave people with skin of a different color. Some of the conquered Africans were used on farms and were almost in the position of slaves. This applies primarily to the hinterland of the Cape Province, where the colonists had huge herds of cattle.
Most of the work was carried out on farms natural economy. The herd often numbered 1,500-2,000 head of cattle and several thousand sheep, and they were looked after by Africans who were forced to work. Near urban settlements - Kapstad, Stellenbosch, Graf-Rheinst - in addition, the labor of slaves was used, delivered from afar. They worked in households, agricultural enterprises, vineyards and fields, as dependent artisans. The Boers constantly pushed the boundaries of their possessions, and only the Xhosa with heroic efforts held them back on the Fish River. For the first hundred and fifty years of its existence, the Cape Colony served mainly as a way station for the Dutch East India Company on its way to India, but then the colonists escaped its control. They founded, primarily under the influence of the Great French Revolution, “autonomous regions”, where, while extolling freedom in words, in reality they carried out territorial expansion and exploitation of the African population. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Cape Colony was captured by Great Britain. Since 1806, the residence of the English governor was located in Kapstad. A struggle began between two groups interested in colonial expansion - the Boers and the British. Both of them pursued the same goal - to exploit the population of Africa, but they differed in their immediate objectives, motives and forms of their activities, because they represented different stages and driving forces of colonial expansion.
The Boers lost in this fight - they were unable to decisively switch to capitalist methods of exploitation. This was preceded by numerous disagreements and clashes, and many authors wrote the entire history of South Africa in the 19th century. even appears exclusively in the light of the “Anglo-Boer conflict”.
Soon after the Cape Colony became an English possession, administrative power passed from the Dutch authorities to English officials. Colonial forces were created, which included African “auxiliary” units. Boer farmers were heavily taxed. Since 1821, an increased influx of English settlers began. First of all, the administration provided them with the most fertile lands in the eastern part of the colony. From here they, having broken the decades-long resistance of the Xhosa, moved to the Kay River. By 1850, the area was annexed to the English colony, and then the entire Xhosa territory was conquered.
The British authorities supported capitalist colonization with appropriate measures, including the involvement of natives in the economy as labor. Slavery often continued to exist, although indirect form, in the form of forced labor or a system of labor. On large farms, it only gradually gave way to the capitalist exploitation of African rural workers and tenants that still exists today ("squatter systems"). These forms of exploitation were by no means more humane for the African population than Slave work and other forms of dependence on Boer farms. Boer farmers considered themselves to be deprived of their economic and political rights. They particularly protested the prohibition of slavery, the legislative acts of the British administration regarding the attraction and use of African workers, the transformation of Boer farms into concessions, the depreciation of the Dutch riksdaler and other factors of this kind.
By this time, the consequences of primitive, predatory methods of using the arable land and pastures of the Cape Province were also felt. Extensive cattle breeding and the existing order of land inheritance had previously pushed the colonists to move further into the interior of the country and capture new areas. In 1836, a significant part of the Boers moved away to free themselves from pressure from the British authorities. The “great trek” began, the resettlement of 5-10 thousand Boers to the north. In colonial apologetic historiography it is often romanticized and called the march of freedom. The Boers traveled in heavy wagons drawn by oxen, which served as their home on the way, and during armed skirmishes with Africans they turned into a fortress on wheels. Huge herds moved nearby, guarded by armed horsemen.
The Boers left the Orange River far behind, and here in 1837 they first met the Matabele. The Africans courageously defended their herds and kraals, but in the decisive battle of Mosig, their capital, in the south of the Transvaal, the Matabele warriors, who fought only with spears, could not resist the modern weapons of the Boers, although they fought to the last drop of blood. Thousands of them were killed. The Matabele as a whole hastily retreated north through the Limpopo and stole their cattle.
Another group of Boers, also carried away by a thirst for conquest, under the leadership of their leader Retief, crossed the Drakensberg Mountains into Natal. In 1838, they carried out a massacre among the Zulu living here, established themselves in their lands and in 1839 proclaimed the independent Republic of Natal with its capital Pietermaritzburg. It was governed by the people's council. They built the city of Durban (or Port Natal, after the name of the coast, in honor of the landing of Vasco da Gama on it on Christmas Day 1497) and thus provided themselves with access to the sea. The land was divided into large farms of 3 thousand morgen (morgen - about 0.25 hectares) or more each. However, the English colonial administration of the Cape Province also had its sights set on the fertile lands of Natal for a long time. The British occupied Natal and declared it a colony in 1843. Although the right of settlement was recognized for the Boer farmers, most of them left their homes. They again crossed the Drakensberg Mountains with their herds and wagons and rejoined the Boers of the Transvaal. Nearby, north of the Vaal River, they formed three republics: Leidenburg, Zoutpansberg and Utrecht, which united in 1853 to form the Republic of South Africa (Transvaal).
A year later, the Orange Free State was proclaimed to the south. The British government and the colonial authorities of the Cape Province were forced to recognize the sovereignty of the newly formed Boer states, but did everything to keep them under their influence. The Orange Free State and the Transvaal were republics, peasant in essence, religiously ascetic in external attributes. From the middle of the 19th century. Merchants and artisans also settled on the territory of the Orange Free State, and a number of English colonists appeared.
The Calvinist Church, following its principles of isolation, adopted ossified forms of dogma.
To justify the exploitation of the African population, she developed a unique system of racial discrimination and declared it “divine providence.” In reality, the Boers drove off the lands and enslaved the settled indigenous population and clan groups of the Suto and Tswana tribes, seized vast territories and turned them into farms. Some Africans were pushed into reserves, while others were doomed to forced labor on farms. The Tswana defended themselves against forcefully imposed “defense” measures; many went west, to waterless areas that resembled deserts. But here, too, their leaders experienced pressure from two sides very early on.
Great Britain realized that these areas, devoid of economic value, were of great strategic importance: whoever owned them could easily surround the Boer possessions and secure their interests in the neighboring Transvaal. Then the German Empire, which also encroached on central Bechuanaland, captured South West Africa, and this sealed the fate of the Tswana tribes. Great Britain hastened to take advantage of the "aid" treaties it had fraudulently concluded long ago with some of their leaders, and in 1885 a small force of British colonial units actually occupied their territory.
Another important enclave for years successfully resisted the armed detachments of the Boers and their “trek”, undertaken in search of rich pastures and cheap labor - the territory of the Suto, led by the tribal leader Moshesh.
The Southern Sutho tribes lived in the mountainous upper reaches of the Orange River in what is now Lesotho. Fertile and rich in mountain pastures, this area was densely populated. Naturally, she early became the object of desire of Boer cattle breeders, and then of English farmers. Here, during the defensive battles against the Zulu and Matabele, the unification of the Suto tribes formed and strengthened. Under Moshesh I, a brilliant military leader and organizer, his people were united in the fight against European colonialism. In three wars (1858, 1865-1866, 1867-1868) they managed to defend their rich pastures and the independence of Basutoland.
But the Suto leaders could not resist for long the sophisticated tactics of the British colonial authorities, who sent traders, agents and missionaries from the Cape Province ahead of them. Moshesh himself even turned to the British asking for help in order to protect himself from the attacks of the Boers. In pursuance of the treaties, Great Britain established a protectorate over Basutoland in 1868, and a few years later directly subordinated it to the British administration of the Cape Colony. Then the Suto took up arms again. The Souto responded to the massive seizure of land, the introduction of a system of reserves, colonial taxation and the project of disarmament of Africans with a powerful uprising that lasted from 1879 to 1884. The British, not limiting themselves to punitive expeditions, somewhat modified and in some ways even weakened the protectorate system. As a result, they managed to bribe some of the leaders, make them more accommodating, and ultimately turn them into an important support for the colonial exploitation of Basutoland.
Thus, in the 70s, Great Britain established dominance over the Cape Colony, Natal and Basutoland. She now single-mindedly directed her actions against the Zulu state north of Natal, plotting both the encirclement and the capture of the Boer republics of Orange and Transvaal. The struggle of the colonial powers to take control of South Africa soon received a new powerful stimulus: on the hot summer days of 1867, the first diamonds were found on the banks of the Orange River. Thousands of miners, merchants and small entrepreneurs flocked here. New urban settlements emerged.
The area east of the Vaal River to Kopje and Vornizigt, named after the British Colonial Secretary Kimberley, was dotted with diamond deposits. The English colonial administration of the Cape Colony provided its entrepreneurs and merchants with control over the diamond mining zone and free access to it. In 1877, British troops attacked the Transvaal, but the Boers managed to repulse the attack, defend their sovereignty and retain their colonies, and in 1884 Great Britain again confirmed the Transvaal's limited independence.
However, the discovery of diamond deposits on the Orange River, and in the early 80s - rich deposits of gold near Johannesburg in the Transvaal, set in motion forces that the Boers, cattle breeders and farmers, and even more so the African tribes and peoples, could not resist, although the latter offered heroic resistance . From now on, colonial policy was determined by large English companies and associations of financial capital. Their operations were directed by Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902), who became rich from stock market speculation in mining stocks. It took him only a few years to acquire many diamond mining concessions and then monopolize all diamond and gold mining in South Africa. In the 80s and 90s, the Rhodes group occupied a dominant position in the rapidly developing South African industry. With the support of Lord Rothschild, Rhodes became the leading financial magnate of his time.
Since the 80s of the XIX century. The British monopolists dreamed of a continuous colonial complex in Africa “from Cape to Cairo.” Making these dreams a reality, they crushed Matabele resistance north of the Limpopo and forced tens of thousands of African miners and seasonal workers into work camps. Backbreaking work brought them to complete exhaustion, and sometimes to physical death.
The South African resistance unfolded under extremely difficult conditions. Because of the complex intrigues waged against each other by the British and the Boers, Africans sometimes did not understand that both of these colonial powers were equally dangerous to the independence of the indigenous people. Often they tried to maneuver between two fronts, concluding agreements with the invader who at that moment seemed less dangerous to them. Them they were worse consequences of such mistakes. While the Africans were gathering forces to repel one foreign conqueror, another, no less dangerous colonial robber, treacherously hiding behind the mask of an ally, approached the borders of their lands and villages and took them by surprise.
The Xhosa tribes were the first to rebel against Boer farmers who were seeking land grabs and the British colonialists. English settlers reached the Fish River in the 18th century and from this point filtered into the rich pastures of Xhosa pastoralists. The Xhosa, however, could not come to terms with the constant reduction of their pastures, the rustling of livestock, and the agreement imposed on them, which established the Fish River as their boundary of settlement. They invariably returned to their usual places of pasture and settlement, especially during periods of drought. The Boers then sent punitive expeditions against the Xhosa kraals.
The war of the Xhosa tribes, first against the Boer and then the English invaders, lasted for almost a hundred years. It appears in colonial historiography as the eight "Kaffir" wars. The first clashes with Europeans occurred in an atmosphere of hostility between individual tribal groups, in particular between the leaders of Gaika and Ndlambe. Thanks to this, the Boer, and most importantly, the British invaders successfully prevented the formation of a united front of Africans and were able to neutralize individual leaders. An example is the War of 1811, when, with the approval of Gaika, British troops took punitive action against some Xhosa groups under Ndlambe. Before this, the leaders Ndlambe and Tsungwa, bribed by extremist circles of the Boers and relying on the help of Hottentots fleeing forced labor, defeated the troops of the English general Vandeleur and approached the Keyman River. Therefore, the punitive actions of the British were characterized by cruelty; they did not take prisoners and killed the wounded on the battlefield.
It was necessary for the disparate Xhosa groups to unite and act together. This was the situation when a prophet named Nhele (Makana) appeared on the scene. Promoting his teachings and “visions” based on traditional African and Christian religious ideas, he tried to rally the Xhosa in the fight against the colonial exploiters. Only Ndlambe recognized him, and the British colonialists, capitalizing on this circumstance, concluded an “alliance agreement” with Gaika. In the battle with the allies, more than 2 thousand Xhosa warriors died and Nhele Xhosa itself lost all the territory up to the Keiskama River: it was annexed to the Cape Colony. This war, the fourth in a row, was an important turning point. The threat of colonial conquest forced the leaders of individual tribes to forget their feuds and henceforth act together. Defensive battles strengthened the combat capability of tribal alliances. In 1834, all the Xhosa who inhabited the border areas rebelled. They were well organized and used new tactical methods of warfare. Some colonial units were destroyed by partisans. However, the British eventually defeated the Xhosa again and annexed all the areas west of the Kei River to their colony (1847). The capture of Natal, first by Boer immigrants, and in 1843 by the British colonial administration, split the previously unified area of settlement of both Nguni peoples - Xhosa and Zulu.
From that time on, the British administration persistently strived for new territorial conquests and the final conquest of the Xhosa. All treaties with individual leaders were annulled, so war broke out again (1850-1852). The battles were particularly long and persistent. This was the longest and most organized Xhosa rebellion. Inspired by the new prophet, Mlandsheni, the Xhosa declared a “holy war” on the invaders. They were joined by thousands of Africans, forcibly dressed in the uniforms of colonial soldiers, and Hottentot policemen. Armed with modern weapons, they significantly strengthened the anti-colonial uprising. On Christmas Day 1850, thousands of Xhosa warriors crossed the borders of British Capraria.
These actions were led by the Galek leader Kreli. Let us emphasize that at the same time the supreme leader Suto Moshesh fought against the British troops, and in 1852 his cavalry numbering 6-7 thousand people inflicted a temporary defeat on the British. The rebels also negotiated with some Griqua and Tswana leaders about joint action against the colonialists.
And yet the moment was missed when the uprising could be crowned with victory, at least temporarily. The English colonialists again managed to attract the leaders to their side with false promises and take possession of last lands spit in Transkei. Now the borders of the English colonies rested on the territory tribal association Zulu.
The last time individual Xhosa tribes rose up against colonial enslavement and the complete loss of independence was in 1856-1857. The chiefs of Kreli and Sandili with their tribes on a small piece of land were besieged on all sides by English troops, and they were threatened with starvation. In this desperate situation, under the influence of the new prophet, they began to have chiliastic visions of the future: God’s judgment, they believed, would drive out the white foreigners; in the “future kingdom”, where the Christian doctrine will not find a place for itself, the dead will rise, first of all, immortal prophets and murdered leaders, and all the lost cattle will be reborn. This will put an end to any political and economic dependence. The Prophet Umlakazar called in his sermons: “Do not sow, next year the ears of corn will sprout on their own. Destroy all the maize and bread in the bins; slaughter the cattle; buy axes and expand the kraals so that they can accommodate all those beautiful cattle that will rise with us... God angry at the whites who killed his son... One morning, waking up from sleep, we will see rows of tables laden with food; we will put on the best beads and jewelry."
Succumbing to these religious suggestions, the Xhosa slaughtered all their livestock - European missionaries alone put an impressive figure: 40 thousand heads - and began to wait for the “final judgment”. After the "day of resurrection", expected on February 18-19, 1857, thousands of Xhosa starved to death. The European conquerors, who supposedly had to leave the country due to lack of food, did not even think about leaving. Thus, the active struggle against colonialism gave way to the expectation of the intervention of supernatural forces and the advent of the “kingdom of justice.” From her, undoubtedly, the trapped Xhosa, who did not know the laws of social development, drew strength and hope. Only when the Xhosa were convinced that their visions had not come true did they, in complete despair, take up arms again. The English troops easily defeated people half dead from hunger. Most of the Xhosa died during the war or starved to death. The rest submitted. Thus, almost a century of heroic resistance by the Xhosa ended tragically.
In the fight against the Xhosa, the colonialists usually encountered isolated isolated tribes, which only occasionally united to directly repel the conquerors. A much more dangerous enemy was the military alliance of tribes and the Zulu state.
The Zulu supreme leader Dingaan was at first very friendly towards the Boers and, not understanding their colonialist intentions, clearly in defiance of the English settlers and invaders, recognized the Boer ownership in southern Natal in the treaty. Soon, however, he realized his mistake and tried to correct it by ordering the killing of the Boer leader Piet Retief and his companions. War became inevitable. A stubborn bloody struggle began between the Zulu army and the Boer troops for lands and pastures in that part of Natal that belonged to the Zulu under Shaka. In 1838, with the support of the British, the Boers went on the offensive. In vain did Dingaan's army of 12 thousand people try to capture the Boer camp, protected by the Wagenburg. The Zulu suffered a heavy defeat. The battlefield was littered with the bodies of Africans, 3-4 thousand people died. The river in the valley of which the battle took place has since been called Bloody - Blood River. Dingaan was forced to withdraw his army north from the Tugela River. The Boers took possession of the huge herds that had previously belonged to the Zulu, and forced Dingaan to pay a large indemnity in cattle.
Subsequently, in this state there were many dynastic feuds, and there was a struggle for dominance between individual leaders and military commanders.
The Boers fueled discontent with the supreme leader Dingaan, and subsequently even took a direct part in the military actions of the contenders for the throne. In 1840, Dingaan was killed. A significant part of Natal fell into the hands of the Boer colonists, but the Zulu retained their independence, and even the English conquerors who appeared after the Boers for the time being did not dare to encroach on it.
However, the Zulu chiefs, unable to come to terms with the lack of grazing land and the threat of colonial annexation, again and again organized resistance. In 1872, Ketchwayo (1872-1883) became the main leader of the Zulu. Realizing the great danger looming over him, he tried to unite the Zulu tribes to fight back. Ketchwayo reorganized the army, restored military kraals and purchased modern weapons from European merchants in the Portuguese colony of Mozambique. By this time, the Zulu army numbered 30 thousand spearmen and 8 thousand soldiers under arms. But the conflict arose earlier than the supreme leader expected.
The English colonial authorities of Natal sought, in parallel with their advance in the Transvaal, to completely subjugate the Zulu. In 1878, they presented Ketchwayo with an ultimatum, essentially depriving the Zulu state of independence.
The British demanded to recognize the power of their resident, to allow missionaries into Zulu territory, to disband the combat-ready Zulu army, and to pay a huge tax. The Council of Chiefs and Military Commanders rejected the ultimatum. Then in January 1879, British troops invaded Zululand. This war, however, was destined to become one of the most difficult and bloody campaigns of English colonialism in the 19th century. According to official figures, military expenditure alone amounted to £5 million.
At first, the Zulu managed to inflict significant blows on the colonialists. Their successes sparked a series of uprisings on the borders of Natal and the Cape Colony, including among the Souto. Only after the British troops received significant reinforcements from the colonial administration were they able to defeat the Zulu. Ketchwayo was captured and sent to Robben Island. However, the British government has not yet decided to carry out a complete annexation of Zulu territory. By dividing the powerful Zulu state into 13 tribal territories that were constantly at war with each other, it thereby weakened it and established its indirect control over it. Ketchwayo was even temporarily returned from exile on the terms of his recognition of a de facto British protectorate. But subsequently Zululand was nevertheless annexed to the English possessions in Natal, and colonial relations of exploitation were established on its territory in the interests of European landowners and capitalists.
At all stages of pre-imperialist colonial expansion, African peoples and tribes who became victims of the first colonial conquests resisted them. Among the glorious traditions of African peoples, of which modern Africans are rightly proud, are the defensive wars of the Ashanti, Xhosa, Basotho and Zulu, and also the Hajj of Omar and his followers in the first two-thirds of the 19th century. Unfortunately, they usually arose spontaneously. Individual tribes or tribal unions led by the aristocracy, i.e. semi-feudal nobility, often opposed foreign conquerors in disunity.
As in previous centuries, many anti-colonial movements and uprisings either took place under the religious banner of Islamic renewal or, as in South Africa, took on the character of Christian-animist messianism or prophetic preaching. Belief in the supernatural powers of leaders did not allow Africans to realistically assess the military superiority of their opponents. The visions and prophecies reflect the immaturity of the anti-colonial movement caused by the social conditions of the period. In addition, the resistance carried out by the tribes invariably aimed at restoring the old order. Even the liberation movement of the educated merchants, intellectuals and some of the leaders of West Africa could demand reforms and participation in government mainly on paper.
Although Africans resisted colonialism with determination and courage, their struggle was doomed to failure. The social and, consequently, military-technical superiority of Europe was too great for the peoples and tribes of Africa, who were at the stage of a primitive communal or early feudal system, to win not a temporary, but a lasting victory over it. Due to rivalry between different ethnic groups and infighting within the tribal aristocracy and the feudal stratum, resistance to foreign invaders usually had an inconsistent, contradictory nature, and most importantly, was devoid of unity and isolated from other speeches of this kind.
By the seventies of the XIX century. on the African continent, European powers owned 10.8% of the total territory. Less than 30 years later, by 1900, the possessions of European states in Africa already amounted to 90.4°/0 of the continent's territory. The imperialist division of Africa was completed. Hundreds of thousands of Africans who defended their land and independence died in an unequal struggle with the colonialists. The imperialists received ample opportunities to plunder the country's natural resources, unbridled exploitation of its peoples and unprecedented enrichment.
1. Africa on the eve of partition
Indigenous people of Africa
Historically, Africa has been divided into two main parts, differing from each other ethnically, in terms of socio-economic development and in form. political structure. Northern Africa, right down to the great deserts, has long been closely connected with the Mediterranean world. Its population is Arab and Arabized, and is characterized by relative ethnic homogeneity. Egypt, Tunisia, Tripoli and Cyrenaica were part of the Ottoman Empire: Morocco was an independent state. The social system of the countries of North Africa was a complex complex social relations- from emerging capitalism in urban centers to the tribal system of nomads. However, despite all the diversity of social orders, feudal relations prevailed.
Another part of the continent, located south of the Sahara, represented! presents a more complex picture. The northeast (the northern part of Eastern Sudan, Ethiopia, the countries of the Red Sea coast) was inhabited primarily by peoples speaking Semitic-Hamitic languages. Negroid peoples speaking Bantu languages, as well as various Sudanese languages, inhabited vast areas of tropical and southern Africa. In the far south lived the Koikoin (Hottentots) and San (Bushmen) tribes. A special place among the African peoples was occupied by the population of Madagascar, who anthropologically belong to the Mongoloids and speak the Malagasy language (Malayo-Polynesian group).
The socio-economic system and forms of political organization in this part of Africa were very diverse. In a number of regions of Western Sudan, as well as in Madagascar, feudal orders constituted the main type of social relations, combined, as a rule, with significant elements of the slaveholding and primitive communal system. Along with feudal states, which in certain periods achieved significant centralization (Ethiopia, the state of Imerina in Madagascar, Buganda, etc.), tribal unions and embryonic state formations arose, disintegrated, and were revived again. Such were the alliances of the Azande and Mangbettu tribes in Western tropical Africa, and the Zulu in South Africa. Many peoples in the central zone of Western Sudan, in the northern bend of the Congo and other areas did not even know the rudimentary forms of state organization. There were no clearly defined boundaries. Intertribal wars that never stopped were a constant phenomenon. Under these conditions, Africa became easy prey for the colonialists.
European penetration into Africa
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to settle on the African continent. Back at the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th centuries. they explored the African coast from Gibraltar to the eastern protrusion of the mainland north of Mozambique and founded colonies: Portuguese Guinea and Angola in the west and Mozambique in the east. In the second half of the 17th century, the Dutch (Cape Colony) gained a foothold in the extreme south of Africa, partly exterminating and partly enslaving the San and Koikoin. Following the Dutch, colonists from France and other European countries headed here. The descendants of these first colonists were called Boers.
A struggle developed between the Europeans themselves for colonies in Africa. At the very beginning of the 19th century. The British captured the Cape Colony. The Boers, pushed north, created the South African Republic (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State on new lands forcibly taken from the indigenous population. Soon after this, the Boers took Natal from the Zulus. In wars of extermination against the indigenous population that lasted almost 50 years (the “Kaffir Wars”), England expanded the possessions of the Cape Colony to the north. In 1843, the British captured Natal, displacing the Boers from there.
The northern coast of Africa was the object of colonial conquests mainly by France, which, as a result of long wars against the Arab population, by the middle of the 19th century. took possession of all of Algeria.
In the early 20s of the XIX century. The United States of America bought land on the West Coast of Africa from the leader of one of the local tribes to organize the settlement of blacks released by individual slave owners. This was an attempt to create a base for further expansion in Africa and at the same time for the settlement of free blacks who posed a threat to the existence of slavery in the United States . The colony of Liberia created here was declared an independent republic in 1847, but in fact it remained dependent on the United States.
In addition, the Spanish (Spanish Guinea, Rio de Oro), the French (Senegal, Gabon) and the British (Sierra Leone, Gambia, Gold Coast, Lagos) owned strongholds on the west coast of Africa.
The division of Africa at the end of the 19th century. preceded by a number of new geographical research continent by Europeans. In the middle of the century, large Central African lakes were discovered and the sources of the Nile were found.
The English traveler Livingston was the first European who managed to cross the continent from the Indian Ocean (Quelimane in Mozambique) to the Atlantic (Luanda in Angola). He explored the entire course of the Zambezi, Lake Nyasa and Tanganyika, discovered the majestic phenomenon of African nature - Victoria Falls, as well as lakes Ngami, Mweru and Bangweolo, crossed the Kalahari Desert. The last of the major geographical discoveries in Africa was the exploration of the Congo in the 70s by the Englishmen Cameron and Stanley.
Geographical exploration of Africa made a major contribution to science, but European colonialists used their results for their own selfish interests. Christian missionaries also played a significant role in strengthening the positions of European powers on the “Dark Continent”.
The most common form of European penetration into Africa was the ever-expanding trade in manufactured goods in exchange for the products of tropical countries on the basis of unequal calculations. The slave trade continued on a large scale, despite its official prohibition by the European powers. Enterprising adventurers equipped armed expeditions into the depths of Africa, where, under the banner of the fight against the slave trade, they engaged in robbery, and often hunted for slaves themselves.
European colonialists were attracted to Africa by its enormous natural wealth - significant resources of valuable wild trees, such as oil palms and rubber trees, the possibility of growing cotton, cocoa, coffee, sugar cane, etc. Gold was found on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, and then in South Africa and diamonds.
The division of Africa became a matter of “big policy” for European governments.
2. Capture of Egypt by England
Economic enslavement of Egypt
By the mid-70s, Egypt was already experiencing the consequences of the country's involvement in the world capitalist economy. The capitulation of Muhammad Ali in 1840 and the extension of the Anglo-Turkish trade convention of 1838 to Egypt led to the abolition of previously existing trade monopolies. Foreign industrial goods gained wide access to the country. The process of introducing export crops, especially cotton, was underway. The industry for the primary processing of agricultural products developed, ports were refurbished, and railways. New classes emerged - the national bourgeoisie and the proletariat. However, the development of capitalism was hampered feudal relations in the countryside and the increasing penetration of foreign capital. The Egyptian government, due to the large expenses caused by the construction of the Suez Canal, ports and roads, was forced to resort to external loans. In 1863, Egypt's public debt reached 16 million pounds. Art.; the payment of interest alone absorbed a significant part of the country's income. The loans were guaranteed by the main revenue items of the Egyptian budget.
After the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the struggle of the capitalist powers, primarily England and France, to establish their dominance over Egypt became especially intense.
In November 1875, as a result of the financial bankruptcy declared by the Ottoman Empire, the rate of Egyptian securities fell catastrophically. The British government took advantage of this to force the Egyptian Khedive Ismail to sell his shares in the Suez Canal Company to England for next to nothing.
Foreign creditors began to openly interfere in Egypt's internal affairs. The British government sent a financial mission to Cairo, which compiled a report on the difficult financial situation of Egypt and proposed establishing foreign control over it. After lengthy Anglo-French disputes, the Egyptian Debt Commission was formed from representatives of England, France, Italy and Austria-Hungary; English and French controllers received the right to manage the income and expenses of Egypt. In 1878, the so-called European cabinet was formed, headed by the English protege Nubar Pasha. The post of Minister of Finance was taken by an Englishman, and the post of Minister of Public Works by a Frenchman.
Foreign ministers levied heavy taxes on the fellahs (peasants) and increased taxation on landowners' lands. In February 1879, they fired 2,500 Egyptian officers, which accelerated the outbreak of indignation in the army, which resulted in a demonstration by officers. In April 1879, the Khedive was sent an appeal signed by more than 300 ulemas, pashas, beys and officers demanding the immediate removal of foreigners from the government. Khedive Ismail was forced to satisfy this demand. The new cabinet was composed only of Egyptians, headed by Sherif Pasha.
In response to the removal of foreigners from the government, England and France obtained from the Turkish Sultan the removal of Ismail and the appointment of a new khedive, Tevfik. He restored Anglo-French control over finances and reduced the size of the Egyptian army to 18 thousand people.
The rise of the national liberation movement
The omnipotence of foreigners offended the national feelings of the Egyptians. Representatives of the young Egyptian national bourgeoisie, the Egyptian intelligentsia, officers, and patriotic landowners became the leaders of the national liberation movement. They all united under the slogan “Egypt for Egyptians” and created the first in Egypt political organization Hizb-ul-Watan (Homeland Party, or National Party).
In May 1880, a group of officers protested against the obstacles to the promotion of Egyptian officers, the forced use of soldiers in labor, and the systematic withholding of salaries.
At the beginning of 1881, officers led by Colonel Ahmed Arabi sent a petition to the Egyptian government demanding the resignation of the Minister of War and an investigation into his promotions. Arabi, a fellahi, was a talented and energetic leader of Hizb-ul-Watan. He understood the importance of the army as the only organized force in the country and tried to find support among the peasantry. In February 1881, soldiers under the command of patriotic officers seized the War Ministry building and arrested the Minister of War.
The success of the Arabi group caused fear among the government and its foreign advisers. An attempt to remove patriotic regiments from Cairo met with resistance. The Vatanists demanded the resignation of the cabinet, the development of a constitution and an increase in the Egyptian army. The armed uprising of the army in September 1881 forced the Khedive to accept all the demands of the Vatanists.
These events increased the anxiety of the colonialists. British and French diplomacy tried to organize Turkish intervention in Egypt. When this failed, France put forward a project to establish joint Anglo-French military control over Egypt. England, which sought to independently capture Egypt, refused to accept this proposal.
Meanwhile, the new government of Sherif Pasha, formed after the September uprising, decided to hold parliamentary elections (based on the very limited electoral law of 1866). Most of the Vatanists entered parliament. They insisted that the future constitution should give parliament the right to fully control at least that part of the state budget that was not intended to pay off the national debt. The draft constitution developed by Sherif Pasha provided parliament with only advisory rights in this matter. The majority of deputies of the Egyptian parliament at the session that opened on December 26, 1881 expressed dissatisfaction with this project. Arabi put forward a proposal to form a new cabinet.
In January 1882, the Khedive was presented with a joint Anglo-French note demanding the dissolution of Parliament and the suppression of Arabi's activities. Despite this pressure, the Egyptian parliament forced the resignation of Sherif Pasha's government in early February. Ahmed Arabi entered the new cabinet as Minister of War. The creation of a national government was marked by large gatherings in its support. The new cabinet adopted a draft constitution, which provided for the approval of the budget by the government together with a parliamentary commission (except for the part intended to pay off the public debt).
After an unsuccessful attempt to bribe Arabi, England and France on May 25, 1882 presented the Khedive with notes demanding the resignation of the cabinet, the expulsion of Arabi from the country and the removal of prominent Watanists from Cairo. The national government resigned in protest against gross foreign interference, but this caused such serious unrest in Alexandria and Cairo that Khedive Tewfik was forced to restore Arabi as minister of war on 28 May.
Occupation of Egypt by England
At the international conference on the Egyptian question convened in Constantinople in June 1882, the British delegates were forced to accede to a protocol obliging all European powers not to resort to annexation or occupation of Egyptian territory.
Without waiting for the approval of the protocol of this conference, the commander of the English squadron stationed on the Alexandria roadstead, Vice Admiral Seymour, sent a provocative demand to the military governor of Alexandria to stop the construction of forts by the Egyptians. The English ultimatum, delivered on July 10, 1882, proposed that this demand be fulfilled within 24 hours.
On July 11, 1882, the English fleet subjected Alexandria to a fierce 10-hour bombardment. Then the British ground units, numbering 25 thousand people, landed on the shore and occupied the city. Khedive Tewfik, betraying the interests of his people, fled from Cairo to Alexandria, occupied by the British. An Extraordinary Assembly of representatives of the nobility, clergy and Watanist officers was formed in Cairo to govern the country and organize its defense against British aggression. An extraordinary assembly declared Khedive Tewfik deposed and appointed Arabi commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
Arabi had about 19 thousand regular troops and 40 thousand recruits at his disposal. The Egyptian army had a significant amount of ammunition and weapons, including about 500 cannons. A strategic plan for the defense of Egypt was developed.
However, in implementing the defense plan, Arabi made serious military-political miscalculations: he did not strengthen the Suez Canal zone, hoping that the British would not violate the convention on neutralizing the canal; entrusted the most important defensive positions to undisciplined Bedouin troops, whose leaders the British managed to bribe. Without taking into account the neutralization of the Suez Canal, the British transferred troops from India to Port Said and Ismailia, thus ensuring an attack on Cairo from two directions.
English forces broke through the front, stretched and weakened by the betrayal of the Bedouin leaders. On September 13, 1882, Arabi's troops were defeated at Tel-ay-Kebir. On September 14, British troops captured Cairo and subsequently occupied the entire country. Arabi was arrested, put on trial and expelled from Egypt. At that time there was no social force capable of leading a victorious popular struggle against foreign conquerors. The weak, barely emerging national bourgeoisie hoped to achieve expansion of its rights through compromises and was not interested in a revolutionary war. The feudal elements who joined Arabi at the most acute moment of the struggle against the English aggressors took the path of open betrayal. All this taken together led to the defeat of the national movement and facilitated the transformation of Egypt into an English colony.
3. French colonial expansion in the Maghreb countries
In the Maghreb countries (Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco), large tracts of land in the agricultural coastal zone belonged to landowners and were cultivated by peasants who paid feudal rent. Communal land ownership also remained on a noticeable scale here. The steppe regions adjacent to the desert were inhabited mainly by nomadic tribes, in which the process of feudalization was at the initial stage and elements of the tribal system played a significant role. Handicraft and small-scale production was developed in the cities.
The Maghreb was not only one of the first targets of French colonial expansion in Africa, but also the gateway through which this expansion spread to other parts of the continent.
Back in 1830 french army invaded Algeria, but more than two decades passed until France, in a bloody war against the Algerian people, established its colonial rule in the country. The privileged elite of the European population in Algeria - landowners, speculators, military personnel - barely numbered 10 thousand people. They seized the best lands and became the main support of the French colonial regime, the inspirers of further expansion, which was directed from Algeria to the west and east.
The next target of this expansion was Tunisia. The capture of Tunisia by France in 1881 sparked a rebellion that spread throughout almost the entire country. Only after a difficult war were the colonialists able to break the stubborn resistance of the Tunisian people.
The French authorities created a new system of government in Tunisia. The French Resident General, while retaining only nominal power, was also the Prime Minister of Tunisia. The post of Minister of War was taken by the commander of the French expeditionary force.
French generals, senators, ministers, and newspaper editors became major Tunisian landowners. On their estates, which reached 3-4 thousand hectares, Arab peasants were forced to work on sharecropping terms. In total, about 400 thousand hectares of the best lands were captured.
At the expense of the Tunisian people, the French colonialists built strategic railways, highways, and ports. When large reserves of minerals - phosphates - were discovered in the bowels of the country, iron ore and non-ferrous metal ores, French industrial companies and banks began to take part in the exploitation of Tunisia.
In North Africa by the end of the 19th century. only Morocco still retained its independence. This was mainly due to the fact that the intense rivalry between several European powers did not allow any of them to establish dominance over a country that occupied an important strategic position and had rich natural resources.
For a long time, the Moroccan Sultanate was divided into two unequal zones: one included the main cities and their surroundings, which were actually controlled by the Sultan’s government, and the other was an area inhabited by tribes that did not recognize the authority of the Sultan and were often at enmity with each other. On the territory of Morocco there were those captured by Spain back in the 15th century. the cities of Ceuta and Melilla. France, having strengthened itself in Algeria and Tunisia, began to intensively penetrate into Morocco!
4. British colonial conquests in South Africa
European colonization of South Africa
Southern Africa, along with the Maghreb, was one of the oldest areas of European colonization, a springboard for expansion into the interior of the continent. The western part of South Africa was inhabited by the Koikoin and San, as well as related tribes speaking Bantu languages.
The main occupation of most Bantu tribes was cattle breeding, but they also developed hoe farming. On the eve of the clash with the Europeans, and especially during the resistance to the colonialists, the Bantu formed more or less stable tribal alliances.
The colonialists managed to cope with the Koikoin and San tribes with relative ease, partly exterminating them and partly pushing them into desert areas. The conquest of the Bantu turned out to be more difficult and lasted for several decades.
The situation in South Africa was significantly complicated by the fact that, along with the main conflict between the colonialists and the indigenous population, there were acute contradictions between the two main European population groups: the British and the descendants of the Dutch colonists - the Boers, who had lost all contact with the mother country. This second conflict sometimes took on extremely acute forms. Initially, it developed as a clash of interests between the English, mainly commercial and industrial, population, as well as the English administration and the Boer farmers.
By the 70s of the XIX century. England owned Basutoland, Cape Colony and Natal. English possessions, like a huge horseshoe, stretched along the coast, blocking the Boers from further spreading to the east. The object of European colonization in southern Africa was the lands of the Zulu in the northeast, the Bechuana, Matabele and Mashona in the north, the lands of the Herero, Onambo, and Damara in the northwest.
In the summer of 1867, near the Hopetoun trading post on the banks of the river. The first diamonds in South Africa were accidentally discovered in Orange. A stream of prospectors poured into Orange. The previously deserted desert came to life. The number of miners quickly increased to 40 thousand people. New villages and cities arose around the diamond mines.
For diamond mining, joint-stock companies began to be created, using cheap labor from the indigenous population. In the competition, one of the companies, De Beers, led by Cecil Rhodes, managed to monopolize diamond mining.
Anglo-Zulu War 1879
A serious obstacle to English expansion in the direction of the Boer republics was the Zulu state.
From the beginning of the 70s, when Ketchwayo became the leader of the Zulus, in the Zulu state (Zululand), which was acutely aware of the lack of grazing land, preparations began for a war of liberation, for the reconquest of territories captured by the colonialists. Ketchwayo restored the Zulu army, updated its organization, and purchased weapons in Mozambique. However, the Zulus failed to complete the necessary preparations.
On December 11, 1878, British colonial troops in Natal sent Ketchwayo an ultimatum, the acceptance of which would mean the liquidation of the independence of the Zulu state. The Council of Tribal Chiefs and Elders rejected the ultimatum.
On January 10, 1879, British troops crossed the river. Tugela and invaded Zululand. The cruel thing has begun bloody war. The English army consisted of 20 thousand infantry and cavalrymen and had 36 guns. Nevertheless, the Zulus repeatedly dealt serious blows to the invaders. Soon after the war began, the British had to retreat to the Natal borders.
Ketchwayo repeatedly turned to the British with a peace proposal, but the British command continued hostilities. Despite the enormous superiority of forces, England achieved victory in this inglorious colonial war only six months later. Fierce, organized by the British, began in the country. internecine wars, which for another three years drenched Zululand in blood. In January 1883, the unity of Zululand was restored under the supreme rule of Ketchwayo on the terms of recognition of the British protectorate. In 1897, Zululand was officially incorporated into Natal.
Worsening Anglo-Boer relations
In 1877, British troops invaded the Transvaal; The British organized a government of British officials in Pretoria. During the Anglo-Zulu War, the Boers did not take advantage of England's predicament. Common interests the colonialists in the fight against the Zulu tribal union - the most serious force opposing European expansion in South Africa - turned out to be more powerful than their contradictions. The situation changed after the end of the Anglo-Zulu War.
At the end of 1880, the Boer uprising against the British began. Soon, at the Battle of Mount Majuba, the Boer militia inflicted a serious defeat on the British forces advancing from Natal.
Gladstone's liberal cabinet, which came to power in England at that time, preferred to resolve the conflict peacefully. Self-government for the Transvaal was restored. According to the London Convention of 1884, England recognized the independence of the Transvaal, which, however, was deprived of the right to conclude treaties with foreign powers without the consent of England (this did not apply to the Transvaal’s relations with the Orange Republic) and to develop territorial expansion to the west or east - to the coast. But even after the conclusion of this convention, England persistently continued the policy of encircling the Boer republics with its possessions.
German expansion also began in this area. Despite the protests of the British government, Germany declared in April 1884 a protectorate over the territories from the mouth of the Orange River to the border of the Portuguese colony - Angola. Following this, German agents began to advance into the interior of the mainland, securing German dominance over vast possessions through “agreements” with the leaders. The strip of these possessions (German South-West Africa) was approaching the Boer republics.
In 1887, England annexed the Tsonga lands, north of Zululand. Thus, a continuous chain of English possessions closed along the east coast and came close to Portuguese Mozambique. The Boer republics were completely cut off from access to the east.
Further development of British expansion to the north
Germany's annexation of South-West Africa sealed the fate of Bechuanaland, a vast territory that occupied a significant part of the Kalahari Desert. The infertile lands of Bechuanaland, where no mineral resources had yet been discovered, were of no independent value. However, the threat of contact between German and Boer possessions prompted England at the beginning of 1885 to proclaim its protectorate over Bechuanaland, thus driving a wide wedge between its rivals. The seizure was carried out on the basis of agreements with several leaders of the Bechuana tribes and under the pretext of countering the aggressive plans of the Boers. After this, the British dismembered Bechuanaland: the southern, more fertile part was declared British possession and later included in the Cape Colony, while the northern, deserted part was formally left under British protectorate.
In 1884-1886. Rich gold deposits were discovered in the Transvaal. Gold miners flocked to the Transvaal. Within a few years, the center of the gold mining industry, Johannesburg, grew near Pretoria. The establishment of monopoly dominance in the gold mining industry took place much faster than in its time in the diamond industry. This was partly due to the fact that monopolistic enterprises, already established in the diamond industry, immediately expanded their scope of activity to gold-bearing areas. The powerful owners of the De Beers company, led by Rhodes, bought gold-bearing areas from farmers on a large scale and invested large amounts of capital in gold mining.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the Rhodes group, having gained a dominant position in key sectors of the rapidly developing industry, secured complete control over the British administration of South Africa. In 1890 Rohde became Premier of the Cape Colony (he remained so until 1896). From isolated, sometimes random annexations in the south of the African continent, England moved in the 80-90s to the consistent and persistent implementation of the Rhodes Plan, which provided for the creation of a continuous strip of British possessions in Africa from Cairo in the north to Cape Town in the south.
After the annexation of Bechuanaland, there was only one vast area of South Africa that had not yet been subjected to European colonization - lands Mashona and Matabele. By the end of the 80s, a large knot of contradictions had arisen here: not only England and the Boer republics, but also Germany and Portugal intended to seize these lands, which, as was believed at that time, were not inferior to the Transvaal in terms of mineral wealth.
In February 1888, the British authorities managed to get the Matabele leader Lobengula to sign a friendship treaty. Lobengula undertook not to enter into negotiations with anyone or enter into agreements for the sale, alienation or cession of any part of his country without the sanction of the British High Commissioner. Thus, the Matabele and Mashona lands subject to Lobengula were included in the British sphere of influence.
In September of the same year, a new embassy headed by Rhodes's companion, Rudd, arrived to Lobengula in his capital Bulawayo. During six weeks of negotiations, Rudd managed to deceive Lobengula into signing a treaty, the contents of which he had the vaguest idea of. For a thousand guns of an obsolete design, a gunboat and a monthly pension of 100 pounds. Art. Lobengula gave the Rhodes company the full and exclusive right to develop all the mineral wealth of the country, “to do whatever they (i.e., the company) may think necessary to extract it,” as well as the right to expel all their competitors from the country.
In 1889, the British government granted the British South Africa Company created by Rhodes a royal charter, i.e., broad privileges and government support to implement the treaty with Lobengula.
The company established its own administration on the occupied lands. The company's employees behaved like conquerors. Bloody massacres of the local population became increasingly frequent. The situation was heating up. In October 1893, the British moved their troops from the areas they occupied in Mashonaland to Bulawayo. In November, Bulawayo was captured and burned. The Matabele army, which heroically defended its country, was almost completely exterminated: the advantage of the British, who widely used machine guns, was felt. Lobengula fled from the advancing British troops and died in January 1894.
The defeat of the last organized military force that the indigenous population of South Africa could oppose to the colonialists provided the Rhodes Company with the opportunity for unchecked plunder. Since the spring of 1895, she introduced in her official documents the new name of the country is Rhodesia, in honor of the inspirer and organizer of its capture, Cecil Rhodes. The confiscation of land and livestock belonging to the local population began at an extremely rapid pace. Preparations began for the eviction of a significant part of the residents to areas specially designated for them - reservations. Forced labor was widely used.
In March 1896, a rebellion began in Matabeleland, which spread to Mashonaland a few months later. The fierce struggle continued until September 1897 and ended in victory for the British troops. The uprising, however, forced the British to make some concessions to the rebels: the Matabele were allowed to return to the areas from which they had previously been evicted; The less well-organized Mashona tribes were unable to achieve similar results.
After the capture of the Limpopo-Zambezi interfluve by Rhodes's company, the conquest of South Africa by England was almost complete. The last obstacle to the implementation of the imperialist plan to create a continuous strip of British possessions from Cape Town to Cairo remained only two Boer republics.
5. European expansion in West Africa
French colonial conquests
If the main direction of English colonial expansion in Africa was determined by the Cairo-Cape Town plan, then French policy was imbued with the desire to create a continuous strip of possessions from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. In the late 70s and early 80s, three main directions of the French offensive deep into the continent were outlined: to the east from Senegal, to the northeast from the region of the river. Ogowe and the opposite direction - to the west from French Somalia. The French possession of Senegal was the main springboard for this offensive.
Another area from where European colonialists advanced into the interior of the continent was the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, where a bitter struggle began between France and England. Later, Germany also joined this fight.
In 1890, the French authorities in Senegal, concerned about the rapid advance of England and Germany from the Guinea coast, considered that the time had come to put an end to the independence of the states led by the emirs Samori and Ahmadou. In 1890-1893 The state of Ahmad was defeated, in 1893 Djenne, the center of the Masina region, was taken, in 1894 French rule extended to Timbuktu - the ancient center of caravan trade routes crossing West Africa. The further advance of France to the east was stopped for about a year and a half by the Tuaregs, who in 1594 defeated a large detachment French troops.
The colonial war with Samori dragged on. Only in 1898 was the armed resistance to the invaders in Western Sudan, which had lasted for about 50 years, broken.
In the 80s, on the site of scattered trading posts located at a great distance from each other, significant colonial possessions of France were formed - first in Guinea, and then on the Ivory Coast.
French expansion met serious resistance in Dahomey (Slave Coast), the strongest of the states in West Africa. Dahomey had a constant regular army, part of which was formed from women. The army was replenished by trained reserves, and, if necessary, by general militia. In 1889, clashes began between Dahomey and French troops. The Dahomeans dealt a number of serious blows to the colonialists, and in 1890 a peace treaty was concluded, according to which France undertook to pay 20 thousand francs annually for the possession of Cotonou and Porto-Novo. However, in 1892 the war resumed. This time France sent a formidable force to Dahomey, and by the end of the year the Dahomey army was defeated.
Colonial conquests of England and Germany
On the eve of the final division of West Africa, England owned small settlements at the mouth of the river. The Gambia, Sierra Leone with its natural harbor Freetown, the Gold Coast and Lagos. The Ashanti state offered particularly stubborn resistance to the British colonialists. In an effort to weaken their enemy, the British colonialists fueled conflicts between the Ashanti and the Fanti people inhabiting the coastal areas. The Fanti lands became a springboard for the English offensive into the interior of the country. In 1897, the invaders managed to capture the Ashanti capital, Kumasi, but in 1900 they found themselves faced with a powerful popular uprising. For four months the English garrison was besieged in Kumasi, and only the arrival of significant reinforcements changed the balance of forces. It took England several more years to extend its dominance to the northern territories of the Gold Coast.
Advancing up the Niger, the British encountered French expansion moving in the opposite direction. The final demarcation of British and French possessions in West Africa was fixed by a series of agreements concluded in 1890. A British protectorate was declared over Northern and Southern Nigeria.
The Muslim sultanates in the west and east of Lake Chad seemed tempting prey not only to the British and French colonialists. In the mid-80s, Germany began expanding in the same direction, striving to get ahead of its competitors. Territorial conquests were prepared by the creation of German trading posts in West Africa, as well as by the activities of scouts and explorers who entered into agreements with tribal leaders. In July 1884, the German traveler Nachtigal, on behalf of Bismarck, hoisted the German flag in a number of points in Togo and Cameroon, after which Germany officially declared its protectorate over the coastal strip of these regions.
From Cameroon and Togo, Germany sought to advance to Niger and Lake Chad parallel to the directions of British and French expansion. In this competition the old colonial powers had a number of advantages and, above all, great experience. With the final settlement of the borders, carried out diplomatically in the 90s on the basis of actual seizures, Germany got a narrow strip in Togo, limited in the east by French Dahomey, and in the west by the English Gold Coast. In Cameroon, Germany managed to assert a territory five times larger than Togo and advance north all the way to Lake Chad, but the regions of Niger and Benue remained outside German possessions. The rule of the German imperialists already in the 90s caused a number of uprisings of the local population.
Completion of the partition of West Africa
By 1900, the division of West Africa was completed. The predominant part went to France. French acquisitions merged with possessions in the Maghreb and formed a continuous colonial territory from the Mediterranean Sea to the Gulf of Guinea.
English possessions remained like islands - albeit sometimes of impressive size - among the array of French colonies. Economically, as well as in terms of population, the British colonial possessions in West Africa, located along the lower reaches of the most important rivers - the Gambia, Volta and Niger, significantly surpassed the French ones, among which the barren Sahara occupied the largest area.
Germany, which took part in colonial conquests later than others, had to be content with a relatively small part of West Africa. Economically, the most valuable of Germany's African colonies were Togo and Cameroon.
A small territory of Guinea was retained by Portugal and Spain.
6. Division of Central Africa
Belgian colonial expansion
In the 70s of the XIX century. Belgium's colonial expansion also intensified. Belgian capital sought to accept Active participation in the Africa section.
In September 1876, on the initiative of King Leopold II, who was closely connected with the influential financial circles of the country, an international conference was convened in Brussels, in which, along with diplomats, experts in international law, economists, travelers - explorers of Africa, etc. participated. Belgium, Germany, Austria-Hungary, England, France, Italy and Russia were represented. The organizers of the conference in every possible way emphasized the scientific and philanthropic goals it supposedly pursued - the exploration of the continent and the introduction of its people to the benefits of “civilization.”
The conference decided to found an Association designed to organize expeditions and set up trading posts in Central Africa. To conduct ongoing work, national committees were created in individual countries and a commission heading the entire enterprise was created. The Association's funds were to come from private donations. Leopold II personally contributed large sums to the Association's fund. The Belgian National Committee was the first to be formed, already in November 1876. Similar committees were soon created in other countries.
The Brussels Conference of 1876 was the prologue to the division Central Africa. A certain part of the ruling circles of Belgium associated plans for the creation of a Belgian colonial empire with the activities of the Association. On the other hand, it seemed to the governments that took part in the Brussels Conference and in the founding of the Association that such a method would allow them, under the guise international organization secure their own interests in Central Africa.
The Belgian committee organized several expeditions to the Congo Basin, but managed to create only one trading post there. The Englishman Stanley, who entered the service of the Association, launched energetic colonial activities in the Congo.
In 1879-1884. Stanley and his assistants founded 22 factories in the Congo Basin - strongholds of the Association's economic, political and military dominance - and concluded about 450 treaties with tribal leaders to establish a protectorate of the Association (in fact, a protectorate of the Belgian king). In cases where the diplomatic dexterity of Leopold's agents could not ensure desired results, military expeditions were undertaken to force tribal leaders to sign the required treaties. Thus, within a few years, the Association became the sovereign of a vast, although not clearly defined, territory in the Congo Basin.
Belgium failed to seize the planned areas without hindrance; its interests collided with the interests of other powers, primarily France and Portugal.
Conflicts between colonial powers
When in 1880 the Stanley expedition reached a small lake that the Congo River forms near its confluence with the Atlantic Ocean and which later became known as Stanley Pool, it was to its surprise to see a French flag on the right bank.
Back in 1875, the French began advancing from previously captured Gabon towards the Congo River. In September 1880, Savorgnan de Brazza, acting on behalf of the French national committee of the Association, concluded an agreement with the chief Makoko, whose domains extended around Stanley Pool, to grant France “special rights” to the lower reaches of the Congo and thereby cut off the Belgian Association’s access to to the sea. On November 30, 1882, the French Chamber of Deputies secured the acquisition of de Brazza for France. All French possessions in Equatorial Africa were united into a colony called French Congo.
A threat to the possessions of the Belgian Association also arose from another side. In 1882, Portugal protested against Stanley's seizures. She accused the Association of seizing “other people's property” and contrasted it with her “historical rights.”
England actually stood behind Portugal. In February 1884, an Anglo-Portuguese treaty was signed, according to which England recognized the coastal strip for Portugal, and Portugal provided British subjects, ships and goods in this strip with the same rights that the Portuguese had.
The implementation of the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty would deal a crushing blow to Belgian colonial plans. However, in April 1884, the French government, alarmed by the strengthening of the position of its main colonial rival, England, chose to partially resolve its conflict with the Association in order to present the latter as a shield against Anglo-Portuguese claims. In the agreement concluded with the Association, France actually recognized its sovereignty over the captured lands, although without clearly specifying the boundaries. Soon the Association's position was also supported by Germany, which stated that it did not recognize the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty.
England thus found itself in a state of isolation. This prevented the implementation of its plans in other areas of the African continent (for example, along the lower reaches of the Niger), where British interests were more significant than in the Congo Basin, and where its main competitors were the same France and Germany. England also feared that the economic strangulation of the Association, which could result from the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty, would lead to the strengthening of France. In view of all this, the British government did not submit the treaty with Portugal for ratification to Parliament, and in June 1884 it was annulled.
Berlin Conference
By the mid-80s of the XIX century. The struggle for the division of Africa has intensified noticeably. Almost every attempt by one or another colonial power to occupy new lands ran into similar aspirations of other states.
In November 1884, on the initiative of Germany and France, an international conference of 14 states with “special interests” in Africa was convened in Berlin. The association did not directly participate in the conference, but its representatives were part of the Belgian and American delegations. The conference lasted until the end of February 1885.
The Berlin Conference adopted decisions on free trade in the Congo Basin and on freedom of navigation on African rivers, but its real goal was the division of Central Africa between the imperialist powers.
During the negotiations conducted by representatives of the Association with the countries participating in the conference, international recognition of the Association and its vast possessions in the Congo Basin was achieved. In November 1884 - February 1885, the Association concluded relevant agreements with Germany, England, Italy and other countries, and mention of it as a new state in the Congo Basin was included in the General Act of the Conference.
On August 1, 1885, a few months after the end of the Berlin Conference, the International Association of the Congo was transformed into the Congo Free State. Formally, ties with Belgium were limited to a personal union carried out by King Leopold II, but in fact the Congo Basin became a Belgian colony.
7. Enslavement of the peoples of East Africa
Beginning of the Northeast Africa section
Of the European powers that began conquests in Northeast Africa in the 70s and 80s, England was in the most advantageous position. Even before the occupation of Egypt, she tried to gain a foothold in Eastern Sudan, which, like Egypt that conquered it, was considered an integral part Ottoman Empire. The administration of Eastern Sudan was carried out at the expense of the Egyptian budget. However, the actual power here belonged to the English General Gordon, who was officially in the Egyptian civil service.
By enslaving Eastern Sudan, England thereby asserted its dominance over Egypt, whose agriculture was entirely dependent on the supply of Nile waters.
On the coast of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, England met its rival, France, which relied on a small territory around the city of Obock, which occupied a commanding strategic position at the exit from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. In the 80s, France captured the entire coast of the Gulf of Tadjoura, as well as the city of Djibouti, which became the main stronghold of French expansion in Northeast Africa. However, the main danger to British plans in this area was not these small territorial acquisitions of France, but the growing ties of the French with Ethiopia. In the late 1980s, Djibouti became the main port through which Ethiopia's foreign trade was carried out. A French military mission was invited to the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.
At the same time, Italian expansion began in Northeast Africa. Back in 1869, immediately following the opening of the Suez Canal, the Genoese shipping company acquired Assab Bay and the Damarquia Islands from Sultan Raheita to establish a coal depot on a sea route that was destined to become one of the busiest in the world. Ten years later, the Italian government bought its rights from the company. Assab became an Italian colony and was occupied by Italian troops in 1882 and formally annexed. Assab was the main bridgehead from which Italy later launched an attack on Ethiopia.
The British government supported Italian claims in Northeast Africa, seeing them as a counterbalance to the colonial aspirations of France. Thanks to this, Italy was able to significantly expand its possessions to the south and north of Assab. In 1885, the city of Massaua, previously captured by England, was transferred to Italy. In 1890, these territories were united into the colony of Eritrea.
Even earlier, in 1888, Italy declared a protectorate over the vast territory of Somalia. Most of the Italian acquisitions took place in the heat-dried desert, but they were of strategic importance, because they cut off Ethiopia from the coast. England's colonial conquests in northeast Africa were relatively small. In 1876, she established a protectorate over the island. Socotra, which occupies a key position at the entrance to the Indian Ocean, in 1884 captured part of the lands inhabited by Somalis on the coast of the Gulf of Aden.
The division of Northeast Africa by European powers was completed after the uprising in Sudan - the largest event in the history of the liberation struggle of African peoples against the colonialists.
Mahdist uprising in Sudan
In August 1881, during the Muslim fast of Ramadan, a young preacher Muhammad Ahmed, a native of the Nubian Dangala tribe, by that time already widely known in Sudan, declared himself the Mahdi - the messiah, the messenger of Allah, called to restore true faith and justice on earth. The Mahdi called on the people of Sudan to rise to a holy war - jihad - against foreign oppressors. At the same time, he proclaimed the abolition of hated taxes and the equality of all “in the face of Allah.” The peoples of Sudan were asked to unite to fight a common enemy. " Better than a thousand graves than paying one dirham of tax” - this call spread throughout the country.
Muhammad Ahmed, under the name Mahdi, soon became the recognized leader of the popular liberation uprising that unfolded in Sudan.
The ranks of the rebels, poorly armed but determined to fight the conquerors, grew rapidly. A year after the start of the uprising, by September 1882, only two heavily fortified cities remained under the control of the Anglo-Egyptian authorities in Kordofan - Bara and El Obeid. In January - February 1883, these cities, besieged by the rebels, were forced to surrender. The establishment of the Mahdists in El Obeid, the main city of Kordofan, was their greatest political victory. The uprising spread to the provinces of Darfur, Bahr el-Ghazal, and Equatoria. A particular danger to British rule was the spread of the uprising to the Red Sea coast of Africa - in close proximity to the main communications connecting England with its colonies.
In March-April 1884, the population of the Berbera and Dongola regions rebelled. In May, the Mahdists took possession of Berber. The route from Khartoum to the north was cut off. In January 1885, after a long siege, Khartoum, the capital of Eastern Sudan, was stormed and Governor General Gordon was killed. In the summer of the same year, the expulsion of Anglo-Egyptian troops from Sudan was completed.
The Mahdist uprising, directed against the British colonialists and the Egyptian feudal bureaucracy, had a pronounced liberation character. However, soon after the victory of the Mahdists and their conquest state power There were major social changes in the rebel camp.
The deep upheavals that Sudan experienced in the 1980s undermined previous tribal ties. After the expulsion of the foreign administration, the tribal nobility came to power; the tribal union that arose during the uprising gradually turned into a class-type state organization. The Mahdist state was formed as an unlimited feudal theocratic monarchy.
Muhammad Ahmed died in June 1885. The Mahdist state was headed by Abdallah, a native of the Arab Bakkara tribe, who accepted the title of caliph. He owned all the power - military, secular and spiritual. Abdullah's closest companions were subordinated individual industries government controlled. Taxes were not only maintained despite the Mahdi's promise, but new ones were introduced.
At the same time, the joint struggle brought the various peoples of Sudan closer together. The collapse of the tribal system was facilitated by the beginning of the formation of nationalities connected by an ethnic community.
The Mahdist uprising had echoes beyond Sudan. The beginning of the uprising coincided with the national liberation struggle of the Egyptian people. At least a third of the Egyptian soldiers who participated in the battles went over to the side of the rebels. Subsequently, the existence of an independent Sudan had a huge impact on enslaved Egypt. The echoes of the Mahdist uprising swept across the entire African continent and penetrated into distant India. The victories of the Mahdists inspired many peoples of Africa and Asia to resist the colonialists.
British capture of Eastern Sudan
After the fall of Khartoum, the British colonialists did not take active action against the Mahdist state for over 10 years. During this decade political situation in East Africa has changed dramatically. Sudan found itself surrounded by the possessions of a number of European countries, each of which sought to gain a foothold in the Nile Valley. Eritrea and most of Somalia were captured by Italy. German agents conducted feverish activity in Eastern and Western Tropical Africa. Leopold II energetically developed expansion from the Congo he captured to the northeast, to the southern provinces of Sudan.
France quickly expanded its colonial empire in this area, approaching Sudan from the west. Its influence has noticeably strengthened in Ethiopia.
From now on, France could launch an offensive towards the Nile Valley also from east to west and thus complete the creation of a continuous strip of French possessions from the Atlantic to the Red Sea.
All this posed a great threat to British colonial plans. The British government found it necessary to take decisive action in Sudan. In December 1895, Salisbury publicly announced that the destruction of Mahdism was the task of the British government. Following this, it was decided to occupy the Dongola region and from there launch an offensive to the south. The commander-in-chief (sirdar) of the Egyptian army, the English General Kitchener, was entrusted with leading the campaign.
By the beginning of the resumption of hostilities against Sudan, Kitchener had a ten-thousand-strong, well-armed Anglo-Egyptian army. There were about 100 thousand people in the Mahdist army, but only 34 thousand of them had guns. The advance of the Anglo-Egyptian troops proceeded very slowly. The capture of Dongola took more than a year. A major battle took place in April 1898 at Metemma. Despite the desperate bravery of the Sudanese troops, who marched in dense ranks to meet machine-gun fire, military technology and organization brought victory to the British. On September 2, 1898, the main forces of the Mahdists were defeated at the walls of Omdurman, losing more than half of their strength in killed, wounded and prisoners. Kitchener entered Omdurman. The victors subjected the defenseless city to a terrible defeat. The severed heads of prisoners were displayed on the walls of Omdurman and Khartoum. The ashes of the Mahdi were removed from the mausoleum and burned in the firebox of the steamship.
In January 1899, British rule over Eastern Sudan was legally formalized in the form of an Anglo-Egyptian condominium. All real power in Sudan on the basis of this agreement was transferred to the governor-general, who was appointed by the Egyptian khedive on the proposal of England. Egyptian laws did not apply to Sudanese territory. The independence that the people of Sudan defended with arms in their hands for 18 years was destroyed. Abdallah, who retreated with the remnants of his troops, continued to fight until 1900.
Fashoda
The defeat of the Mahdists in 1898 did not yet mean the establishment of England throughout the Nile Valley. Having captured Omdurman and Khartoum, Kitchener quickly moved south to Fashoda, where a French expeditionary force led by Captain Marsha had arrived earlier.
Kitchener categorically demanded Marchant's resignation. Marchand no less resolutely refused to comply with this demand without an order from his government. Since France was in no hurry to meet British claims halfway, the British cabinet took measures of pressure. The English press took an extremely militant tone. Military preparations began on both sides. “England is on the verge of war with France (Fasoda). They are robbing ("dividing") Africa" ( V. I. Lenin, Notebooks on imperialism, M., 1939, p. 620.), - V.I. Lenin later noted.
The matter did not reach the Anglo-French colonial war. The French government saw that the balance of forces was not in favor of France: Marchand’s small detachment was opposed by Kitchener’s army; it tried to negotiate some kind of compensation from the British for the withdrawal of Marchand's detachment, but the British government stated that any negotiations were possible only after the evacuation of Fashoda by Marchant. Ultimately, France had to give in. In November 1898, Marchand left Fashoda. In March 1899, an agreement was concluded on the delimitation of British and French possessions in Eastern Sudan. The border passed mainly along the watershed of the Nile and Lake Chad basins. France was finally removed from the Nile Valley, but secured the previously disputed region of Wadai (northeast of Lake Chad).
Section of Eastern Tropical Africa
By the beginning of the 80s, Eastern Tropical Africa became a field of fierce rivalry between British, German and French colonialists. Germany was especially active in this area, striving to create a continuous array of its possessions in Africa - from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, on both sides of the equator. The invasion of East Africa was carried out by a private company created in 1884 - the Society for German Colonization, headed by K. Peters. Based on the “rights” acquired by Peters under 12 treaties with local chiefs, the German East Africa Company was founded in February 1885, exercising sovereignty over a large territory.
Two weeks after the founding of the company, an imperial charter (similar to the royal charter granted to British colonial societies) placed both the rights and possessions of the company under the protection of the German state. At the beginning of 1885, a representative of the company concluded new agreements, according to which a coastal strip stretching several hundred kilometers north of Portuguese possessions would come under its control. The rich Bitu Sultanate found itself in the German sphere.
The emergence of vast German colonial possessions in the east of the African continent in an extremely short period of time caused alarm in London. In April 1885, at the direction of the British government, the Sultan of Zanzibar protested against the German invasion of his possessions. The German government objected that the Sultan was not carrying out the “effective occupation” in the disputed territories prescribed by the decisions of the Berlin Conference. In August 1885, the Sultan was forced to recognize the German protectorate over the areas captured by the Peters company. Not content with this, Petere came up with plans to create a vast German colony in East Africa, equivalent to British India. These plans, however, met resistance from a strong competitor - the Imperial British East African Company, which acted by similar methods (treaties with leaders, setting up trading posts, etc.). A motley stripe of English and German possessions arose in East Tropical Africa.
In 1886, an attempt was made to resolve the mutual claims of England, Germany and France in East Africa. The Zanzibar Sultan, that is, in fact, England, retained the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba, as well as a coastal strip ten miles wide and a thousand miles long. The German East Africa Company received exclusive rights to lease the coastal areas from the Sultan, and the Imperial British East Africa Company was given corresponding rights to the north. Germany retained Bita, surrounded by English possessions. France was recognized as having freedom of action in Madagascar.
The agreements of 1886 were extremely fragile. A significant part of the lands divided by the European powers had not yet been captured by them. The lack of a sufficiently clear boundary between spheres of influence raised a large number of controversial issues. Germanic colonial companies remained cut off from the ocean by the possessions of the Zanzibar Sultan, who increasingly became an obedient toy in the hands of England. On the other hand, the British were unhappy that the German possessions in Bitu were wedged into the British sphere. The situation was complicated by the fact that France did not abandon attempts to create its own colonies in this part of the mainland. Belgium tried to penetrate here from the west. In 1888, in the territories controlled by Germany, the Arabs united with the Bantu peoples and rebelled. Soon the colonialists were expelled from almost all the lands they had captured. The rapidly growing uprising posed a danger to all imperialists. Therefore, all the powers that had colonial interests in East Africa - Germany, England, France, Italy - united in the fight against the rebels. A naval blockade of the coast was organized. Taking advantage of this support and drawing up significant forces, Germany suppressed the uprising with incredible cruelty.
In 1889, having intervened in the internecine struggle in Buganda (part of Uganda), England subjugated this country. In the same year, it captured vast areas in the south, which later formed the territory of the British colony, called Northern Rhodesia. Thus, German possessions in East Africa were reduced to a minimum size. Peters' ambitious plans for a “German India” in Africa did not come true.
The final demarcation of English and German possessions in East Tropical Africa took place in 1890, when the so-called “Heligoland Treaty” was concluded. Having lost to Germany about. Heligoland, England included in its sphere of influence Zanzibar, Bita, Pemba, Kenya, Uganda, Nyasaland, as well as some disputed territories in West Africa, on the border of the Gold Coast and Togo.
Italian defeat in Ethiopia
The only African country that was able to successfully repel European colonialists and defend its independence was Ethiopia (Abyssinia).
In the middle of the 19th century. in Ethiopia, fragmented into many feudal principalities, the formation of a centralized state began. Besides economic processes, this was facilitated by political factors: the growing threat of aggression from European colonialists required the consolidation of forces to protect the country's independence.
By 1856, the regions of Tigre, Shoa and Amhara were united under the rule of Feodor II, who assumed the title of Negus (emperor) of all Ethiopia. Conducted by him in 1856-1868. Progressive reforms contributed to the weakening of feudal separatism, strengthening the power of the Negus, and the development of the country's productive forces. A single army was created instead of the fighting squads of the feudal lords. The tax system was reorganized, government revenues were streamlined, and the slave trade was banned.
In the 1980s, Ethiopia attracted increased attention from Italian colonial circles. Italy made the first attempt to significantly expand its possessions in Northeast Africa at the expense of Ethiopia in 1886. However, in January 1887, the Ethiopians inflicted a heavy defeat on the Italian expeditionary force.
At the beginning of 1889, when a struggle broke out between the major Ethiopian feudal lords for the crown of the Negus, Italy supported the ruler of Shoa, who ascended the throne under the name Menelik I. In May 1889, Menelik and the Italian representative signed the Ucchial Treaty, which was extremely beneficial for Italy a treaty that assigned a number of territories to it. Not content with this, the Italian government resorted to outright fraud. In the text of the treaty, which remained with the Negus and was written in Amharic, one of the articles (17th) indicated that the Negus could use the services of Italy in diplomatic relations with other states. In the Italian text, this article was formulated as an obligation of the Negus to turn to the mediation of Italy, which was tantamount to the establishment of an Italian protectorate over Ethiopia.
In 1890, Italy officially informed the powers that it had established a protectorate over Ethiopia and occupied the Tigray region. Menelik made a strong protest against the Italian interpretation of the Treaty of Ucchiale, and in 1893 he announced to the Italian government that from 1894, when the treaty expired, he would consider himself free from fulfilling all obligations under it.
Ethiopia was preparing for an imminent war. An army of 112 thousand was created. Menelik managed to achieve a unification of individual regions unprecedented in the history of the country.
In 1895, Italian troops moved deep into Ethiopia. March 1, 1896 near Adua happened general battle. The Italian invaders suffered a crushing defeat. In October 1896, a peace treaty was signed in Addis Ababa, according to which Italy unconditionally recognized the independence of Ethiopia, renounced the Treaty of Ucchiala and pledged to pay indemnity to Ethiopia. The 1889 border was being restored, which meant Italy lost the Tigre region.
Results of the division of East Africa
By 1900, the partition of East Africa was completed. Only Ethiopia managed to maintain independence. The richest areas of East Africa were captured by England. The array of English colonial possessions stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the sources of the Nile. In the north, Egypt, Eastern Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and part of Somalia came under British rule; in the south, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, adjacent to English possessions in South Africa. Rhodes's plan was close to fruition. Only German East Africa and Ruanda-Urundi were wedged into the territories subject to England. Portugal retained its possessions in Mozambique.
The example of Ethiopia and Eastern Sudan showed that the consolidation of African peoples and the establishment of state centralization help protect their independence and make it possible to resist the power of colonial powers. For the peoples of the African continent, this was a most valuable historical experience.
8. Annexation of Madagascar by France
Madagascar was a centralized feudal monarchy, the core of which was the state of Imerina, which was formed on the basis of the Merina people. The dominant position was occupied by the feudal class, which had large land. The largest part of the population were individually free peasants, united in communities. At the end of the 19th century. the community, previously a stable economic and social unit, entered a stage of disintegration.
In the last decades of the 19th century. Important reforms were carried out in Madagascar. In order to finally break the remnants of feudal separatism, the country was divided into eight provinces led by government-appointed governors. Central power was exercised by the king and the cabinet of ministers, headed by the prime minister, as well as the royal council. The army and judicial system underwent transformations.
Some progress also occurred in the field of cultural development. In 1881, a decree was issued on compulsory education for all children aged 8 to 16 years, although real conditions for its implementation existed only in Imerina, where up to 2 thousand schools were opened. The formation of a national intelligentsia began in the country. Newspapers and books began to be published in Malgash.
Colonial invasion
Back in the 30s of the XIX century. France concluded a series of “protectorate” treaties with tribal leaders, who transferred several points to it on the west coast, in the lands of Sakalava. In subsequent decades, French colonialists sought to expand their sphere of influence.
Relations between Madagascar and France deteriorated sharply in the early 80s. In 1882, the French government demanded that Madagascar recognize the French protectorate. At the same time, France opened military operations: the French squadron bombed seaside towns, landings of French troops captured Majunga, an important port on the west coast, Diego Suarez Bay in the northeast, as well as the port of Tamatave. The Malgash people put up armed resistance. In September 1885, the colonialists were defeated at Farafati. However, the forces were too unequal, and the Malagasy government had to sign a peace treaty in December 1885, which satisfied the basic demands of France.
War 1882-1885 and the unequal treaty that completed it were the first stage on the path to the annexation of Madagascar by France.
Transformation of Madagascar into a French colony
In September 1894, the French Resident General presented Queen Ranavalona III with a draft of a new treaty; according to its terms, control over external and internal politics the country was handed over to the French authorities and armed forces were introduced into the territory of Madagascar in quantities that the French government “deems necessary.”
The rearmament and reorganization of the Malgash army, begun after 1885, had not yet been completed, but the Malgash troops heroically defended the independence of their country. The march of the French troops from Majunga to Tananarive took about six months. Only 30 September 1895 French expeditionary force approached Tananarive and bombed the capital of Madagascar.
The next day, October 1, a peace treaty was signed, establishing French dominance over Madagascar. The power of the queen and her government was still nominally preserved, but the exercise of the country's diplomatic representation was entirely transferred to France; Internal management was also subject to its control.
At the end of 1895, a wave of popular resistance to the colonialists arose. The uprising spread throughout the country. Communication routes between Majunga and Tananariva were cut off. In May 1896, the rebels were 16 km from the capital. Guerrilla rule was established in most of the country.
In the summer of 1896, France decided to throw away all conventions: an act of the French parliament declared the annexation of Madagascar. In February 1897, the French deposed the queen and exiled her, and the country was divided into military districts. The colonialists established their unlimited power over the population. However, partisan warfare in a number of areas of the island continued until 1904.
A series of circumstances accelerated European expansion and colonization of Africa, and also led to the rapid division of the continent.
Africa at the beginning of the 19th century
At the beginning of the 19th century, the interior of Africa was not yet widely known, although trade routes had already passed through the entire continent for centuries. With the onset of colonization and the spread of Islam, everything changed quickly. Port cities such as Mombasa have acquired great importance. This was facilitated by trade in goods and, above all, slaves, due to which the number of contacts with the rest of the world sharply increased.
At first, Europeans were present only on the coast of Africa. Driven by curiosity, the search for raw materials, and sometimes a missionary spirit, they soon began organizing expeditions into the continent. European interest in Africa began to grow, and the maps drawn by the pioneers served as the basis for the accelerated colonization that was not long in coming.
Outlines of the African continent
At the beginning of the 19th century, Europe's attitude towards colonialism underwent significant changes. Initially, Europeans were content with their trading posts in Africa and small colonies. However, when new competitive states began to be created and economic relations began to change, competition arose between them for the possession of the best territories. As soon as one state began to lay claim to any territory, others immediately responded to this. First of all, this applies to France, which created a powerful colonial empire with bases in Western and Equatorial Africa. The first colony of France was Algeria, conquered in 1830, and the last - Tunisia in 1881.
The unification of Germany during the reign of Bismarck led to the creation of another state that aspired to have colonial possessions. Under the pressure of Germany's colonial ambitions, the existing colonial powers in Africa were forced to intensify their expansion. Thus, Britain annexed to its possessions the territories of West Africa, on the coast of which only a few forts belonging to it were still located. At the end of the 19th century, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and the Gambia became British colonies. The annexation of the country began to be viewed not only as an economic necessity, but also as an act of patriotism.
At the end of the 19th century, Belgium and Germany initiated a process called the “race for Africa.” Since Germany's claims were aimed at southeast and east Africa, other governments immediately felt disadvantaged. Bismarck convened a conference on the Congo in Berlin, where the issue of dividing spheres of influence in Africa was resolved. King Leopold's claim to Belgian Congo were satisfied, which caused fears in France, which resulted in the annexation of part of the Congo, which became known as the French Congo. This, in turn, started a chain reaction in which each government rushed to realize its interests.
On the Nile, the French organized opposition to the British, who wanted to occupy territories claimed by France. This major international conflict was settled only after the French agreed to retreat.
Boer Wars
The conflict of interests of European countries escalated into the Boer Wars in Africa, which lasted from 1899 to 1902. Large deposits of gold and diamonds were discovered in South Africa. These lands were inhabited by the descendants of the Dutch colonists, the “Afrikaans” or “Boers” (“free citizens”). When the British took their colonies from the Dutch during the Napoleonic Wars, the Boers created their own states: the Transvaal and the Orange Republic. Now gold miners flocked to the region from everywhere and speculation began. The British government feared that the Boers would unite with the Germans and control the routes to the east. The tension grew. In October 1899, the Boers defeated British troops who were massing on their border. However, they lost the next war. After that, they fought a guerrilla war for two more years, but were finally defeated by the British army.
GENERAL OVERVIEW OF AFRICA
The name "Africa" comes from the Latin africus - frost-free,
from the Afrig tribe who lived in northern Africa.
The Greeks have “Libya”.
AFRICA, the second largest continent after Eurasia. 29.2 million km2 (with islands 30.3 million km2).
The Atlantic is washed from the west. approx., from the north - Mediterranean, from the north-east. - Red m., with E. - Indian approx. The banks are slightly indented; max. cr. hall. - Guinean, Somalia Peninsula. Geologically, it is advantageous. platform with a Precambrian crystalline base overlain by younger sedimentary rocks. Fold mountains are located only in the north-west. (Atlas) and to the south (Cape Mountains). Wed. altitude 750 m. The relief is dominated by high stepped plains, plateaus and plateaus; in internal districts - extensive tectonic depressions (Kalahari in South Africa, Congo in Central Africa, etc.). From Krasny m. and to the river. The Zambezi A. is fragmented by the world's largest system of fault basins (see East African Rift System), partially occupied by lakes (Tanganyika, Nyasa, etc.). Along the edges of the depressions are the Kilimanjaro volcanoes (5895 m, highest point A.), Kenya, etc. Minerals of world importance: diamonds (Southern and Western A.), gold, uranium (Southern A.), ores of iron, aluminum (Western A.), copper, cobalt, beryllium , lithium (mainly in South Africa), phosphorites, oil, natural gas(Northern and Western A.).
In A. to the N. and S. from the eq. zone. climate zones follow: subequivalent, tropical. and subtropical climate. Wed.-Mon. summer temperatures approx. 25-30oC. In winter, high temperatures also prevail. temperatures (10-25 oC), but in the mountains there are temperatures below 0 oC; Snow falls annually in the Atlas Mountains. Naib. amount of precipitation in eq. zone (average 1500-2000 mm per year), on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea. up to 3000-4000 mm. To the north and south of the equator, precipitation decreases (100 mm or less in deserts). Basic the flow is directed to the Atlantic Ocean: rivers: Nile (the longest in Africa), Congo (Zaire), Niger, Senegal, Gambia, Orange, etc.; cr. river bass Ind. OK. - Zambezi. OK. 1/3A. - internal area drain in main time watercourses. Naib. cr. lakes - Victoria, Tanganyika, Nyasa (Malawi). Ch. vegetation types - savannas and deserts (the largest is the Sahara), occupying approx. 80% square A. Wet eq. evergreen forests are characteristic of eq. zones and coastal areas subeq. zones To the north or south of them are sparse tropics. forests turning into savannas and then into desert savannas. In the tropics A. (main sample in nature reserves) - elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, zebras, antelopes, etc.; lions, cheetahs, leopards, etc. predators. Monkeys, small predators, and rodents are numerous; in dry areas there is an abundance of reptiles. Many birds, including ostriches, ibises, flamingos. Damage to the farm is caused by termites, locusts, and tsetse flies.
Africa political map
History of African colonization
Even at the end of the 19th century, there were only a few feudal monarchies in Africa (in Morocco, Ethiopia, Madagascar); the territories of Egypt, Tripolitania, Cyrenaica, and Tunisia were formally part of the Ottoman Empire. Sub-Saharan Africa (in Sudan, Mali, Benin) has also developed early feudal states, however, weaker than in northern Africa. The majority of the population lived in a primitive communal system at the level of tribal unions. The Bushmen and Pygmies lived in the Stone Age. In general, the history of sub-Saharan Africa is poorly understood.
It began with Vasco da Gama's journey to India in 1498. Initially, only coastal territories were developed, where Europeans established trading posts and bases for trading slaves, ivory, gold, etc. In the 17th century, the Portuguese founded colonies in Guinea, Angola, Mozambique, in the so-called. Zanzibar (the coast of modern Kenya), etc., the Dutch - small lands in the Gulf of Guinea and the Cape Colony in southern Africa (it was inhabited by the Boers - descendants of the Dutch in 1806, conquered by Great Britain, the Boers went inland, where they founded the Transvaal, Natal and Orange Free state. In 1899-1902 conquered by Great Britain), the French - in Madagascar. By the middle of the 19th century, there was no significant increase in the area of occupied territories in Africa; only new colonialists appeared, primarily the British, who began to develop in full force a little later. By 1870, the Portuguese possessions were localized (Portuguese Guinea, Angola, Mozambique), the Dutch disappeared, but the French expanded (Algeria, Senegal, Coast Ivory, Gabon). The Spaniards penetrated into northern Morocco, Western Sahara and Rio Muni (Equivalent Guinea), the British - into the Slave Coast, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, southern Africa.
The massive penetration of Europeans into the interior of Africa began in the late 70s of the 19th century. The British captured the Zulu lands, Northern and Southern Rhodesia, Bechuanaland, Nigeria, and Kenya in 1881-82. Egypt (formally remaining subordinate to the Turkish Sultan, Egypt was an English colony), in 1898 Sudan (formally Sudan was an Anglo-Egyptian co-ownership). In the 1880s, the French conquered vast but sparsely populated territories in the Sahara, Sahel and equatorial Africa (French West Africa, French Equatorial Africa), as well as Morocco and Madagascar. Belgium got Ruanda-Urundi, the huge Belgian Congo (from 1885 to 1908, the personal possession of King Leopold II). Germany captured South-West Africa and German East Africa (Tanganyika), Cameroon, Togo, Italy - Libya, Eritrea and most of Somalia. There were no US possessions. By 1914, when I World War for the redistribution of the world, there were only 3 independent states in Africa: Ethiopia (never a colony, only in 1935-41 occupied by Italy and included in Italian East Africa), Liberia (in December 1821, the American colonization society bought from local leaders Kwa tribe a plot of land and settled on it freed slaves - blacks from the United States. In 1824, the settlement was named Monrovia after US President J. Monroe. Later, the territory of a number of settlements was named Liberia, and on July 26, 1847, a republic was proclaimed there. American capital firmly occupied key positions in the economy of the republic, the United States stationed military bases in Liberia.) and South Africa (since 1910, a British dominion; since 1948, the National Party (Afrikaner) began to pursue a policy of apartheid (separate living), based on the concentration of all political and economic power in the hands of whites. In 1961, it left the Commonwealth and became South Africa). After World War I, the German colonies were transferred to Great Britain (Tanganyika), South Africa (South-West Africa), and France (Cameroon, Togo).
Egypt was the first country to free itself from colonialism in 1922.
| Before 1951 | Until 1961 | Before 1971 |
| Libya 12/24/1951 | Sierra Leone 04/27/1961 | |
| Sudan 01/1/1956 | Burundi 07/1/1962 | |
| Tunisia 03/20/1956 | Rwanda 07/1/1962 | |
| Morocco 03/28/1956 | Algeria 07/3/1962 | |
| Ghana 03/6/1957 | Uganda 09/09/1962 | |
| Guinea 10/2/1958 | Kenya 09/09/1963 | |
| Cameroon 01/1/1960 | Malawi 07/6/1964 | |
| Togo 04/27/1960 | Zambia 10/24/1964 | |
| Madagascar 06/26/1960 | Tanzania 10/29/1964 | |
| DR Congo (Zaire) 06/30/1960 | Gambia 02/18/1965 | |
| Somalia 07/1/1960 | Benin 08/1/1966 | |
| Niger 08/3/1960 | Botswana 09/30/1966 | |
| Burkina Faso 08/5/1960 | Lesotho 10/4/1966 | |
| Cote d'Ivoire 08/07/1960 | Mauritius 03/12/1968 | |
| Chad 08/11/1960 | Swaziland 09/06/1968 | |
| CAR 08/13/1960 | Eq. Guinea 10/12/1968 | |
| Congo 08/15/1960 | ||
| Gabon 08/17/1960 | ||
| Senegal 08/20/1960 | ||
| Mali 09/22/1960 | ||
| Nigeria 10/1/1960 | ||
| Mauritania 11/28/1960 |
The history of Africa dates back thousands of years; it is from here, according to the scientific world, that humanity originated. And here many peoples returned, however, only in order to establish their dominance.
The proximity of the north to Europe led to the fact that Europeans actively penetrated the continent in the 15-16th century. Also the African West, at the end of the 15th century it was controlled by the Portuguese, they began to actively sell slaves from the local population.
Other states from Western Europe followed the Spaniards and Portuguese to the “dark continent”: France, Denmark, England, Spain, Holland and Germany.
As a result of this, East and North Africa found themselves under European yoke; in total, more than 10% of African lands were under their rule in the mid-19th century. However, by the end of this century, the extent of colonization had reached more than 90% of the continent.
What attracted the colonialists? First of all, natural resources:
- wild valuable trees in large quantities;
- growing a variety of crops (coffee, cocoa, cotton, sugar cane);
- precious stones (diamonds) and metals (gold).
The slave trade also gained momentum.
Egypt has long been drawn into the capitalist economy at the global level. After the Suez Canal was opened, England actively began to compete to see who would be the first to establish their dominance in these lands.
The English government took advantage of the difficult situation in the country, prompting the creation of an international committee to manage the Egyptian budget. As a result, an Englishman became the Minister of Finance, a Frenchman was in charge of public works. Then difficult times began for the population, which was exhausted from numerous taxes.
The Egyptians tried in various ways to prevent the creation of a foreign colony in Africa, but eventually England sent troops there to take over the country. The British were able to occupy Egypt by force and cunning, making it their colony.
France began the colonization of Africa from Algeria, where for twenty years it proved its right to rule by war. The French also conquered Tunisia with prolonged bloodshed.
Agriculture was developed in these lands, so the conquerors organized their own huge estates with vast lands on which Arab peasants were forced to work. Local peoples were convened to build facilities for the needs of the occupiers (roads and ports).
And although Morocco was a very important object for many European countries, it remained free for a long time thanks to the rivalry of its enemies. Only after strengthening power in Tunisia and Algeria did France begin to subjugate Morocco.
In addition to these countries in the north, Europeans began to explore southern Africa. There, the British easily pushed the local tribes (San, Koikoin) into uninhabited territories. Only the Bantu peoples did not submit for a long time. 
As a result, in the 70s of the 19th century, the English colonies occupied the southern coast, without penetrating deep into the mainland.
The influx of people into this region is timed to coincide with the discovery in the river valley. Orange diamond. The mines became centers of settlements, and cities were created. Formed joint stock companies have always used the cheap power of the local population.
The British had to fight for Zululand, which was included in Natal. The Transvaal could not be completely conquered, but the London Convention implied certain restrictions for the local government.
Germany also began to occupy these same territories - from the mouth of the Orange River to Angola, the Germans declared their protectorate (southwest Africa).
If England sought to extend its power in the south and then France directed its efforts inland in order to colonize the continuous strip between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. As a result, the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Guinea came under French rule.
The British also owned some West African countries - mainly the coastal territories of the Gambia, Niger and Volta rivers, as well as the Sahara.
Germany in the west was able to conquer only Cameroon and Togo.
Belgium sent forces to the center of the African continent, so Congo became its colony.
Italy got some lands in northeast Africa - huge Somalia and Eritrea. But Ethiopia was able to repel the attack of the Italians; as a result, it was this power that was practically the only one that retained independence from the influence of Europeans.
Only two did not become European colonies:
- Ethiopia;
- Eastern Sudan.
Former colonies in Africa
Naturally, foreign ownership of almost the entire continent could not last long; the local population sought to gain freedom, since their living conditions were usually deplorable. Therefore, since 1960, the colonies quickly began to be liberated.
This year is 17 African countries became independent again, most of them were former colonies in Africa of France and those that were under UN control. In addition to this, they also lost their colonies:
- UK - Nigeria;
- Belgium - Congo.
Somalia, divided between Britain and Italy, united to form the Somali Democratic Republic.
And although Africans mostly became independent as a result of mass desire, strikes and negotiations, in some countries wars were still fought to gain freedom:
- Angola;
- Zimbabwe;
- Kenya;
- Namibia;
- Mozambique.
The rapid liberation of Africa from colonists has led to the fact that in many created states the geographical boundaries do not correspond to the ethnic and cultural composition of the population, and this becomes the cause of disagreements and civil wars.
And new rulers do not always comply with democratic principles, which leads to massive dissatisfaction and a deterioration of the situation in many African countries.
Even now in Africa there are such territories that are governed by European states:
- Spain - Canary Islands, Melilla and Ceuta (in Morocco);
- Great Britain - Chagos Archipelago, Ascension Islands, St. Helena, Tristan da Cunha;
- France - Reunion, Mayotte and Eparce islands;
- Portugal - Madeira.
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