British Empire

Britain and the Scramble for Africa

Main article: Scramble for Africa.

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In 1875 the two most important European holdings in Africa were Algeria and the Cape Colony. By 1914 only Ethiopia and the republic of Liberia remained outside formal European control. The transition from an "informal empire" of control through economic dominance to direct control took the form of a "scramble" for territory by the nations of Europe. Britain tried not to play a part in this early scramble- being more of a trading empire rather then a colonial empire, however it soon became clear it had to gain its own African empire to maintain the balance of power.

Related Topics:
1875 - Algeria - Cape Colony - 1914 - Ethiopia - Liberia

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As French, Belgian and Portuguese activity in the lower Congo River region threatened to undermine orderly penetration of tropical Africa, the Berlin Conference of 1884–85 sought to regulate the competition between the powers by defining "effective occupation" as the criterion for international recognition of territorial claims, a formulation which necessitated routine recourse to armed force against indigenous states and peoples.

Related Topics:
Belgian - Portuguese - Congo River - Berlin Conference - 1884 - 85

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Britain's 1882 military occupation of Egypt (itself triggered by concern over the Suez Canal) contributed to a preoccupation over securing control of the Nile valley, leading to the conquest of the neighbouring Sudan in 1896–98 and confrontation with a French military expedition at Fashoda (September 1898).

Related Topics:
1882 - Egypt - Suez Canal - Nile - Sudan - 1896 - 98 - Fashoda - September

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In 1899 Britain completed her takeover of what is today South Africa, this had begun with the annexation of the Cape in 1795 then in the late 19th century following the Boer Wars the conquest of the Boer Republics. Cecil Rhodes was the pioneer of British expansion north into Africa with his privately owned British South Africa Company, Rhodes expanded into the land north of South Africa and established Rhodesia, Rhodes' dream of a railway connecting Cape Town to Alexandria passing through a continent covering British Africa is what led to his company's presure on the government for further expansion into Africa.

Related Topics:
1899 - South Africa - Cape - 1795 - Boer War - Boer Republics - Cecil Rhodes - British South Africa Company - Rhodesia - Cape Town - Alexandria

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British gains in southern and East Africa prompted Rhodes and Alfred Milner, Britain's High Commissioner in South Africa, to urge a "Cape to Cairo" empire linking by rail the strategically important Canal to the mineral-rich South, though German occupation of Tanganyika prevented its realisation until the end of World War I. In 1903, the All Red Line telegraph system communicated with the major parts of the Empire.

Related Topics:
East Africa - Alfred Milner - Cairo - Tanganyika - World War I - All Red Line

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Paradoxically Britain, the staunch advocate of free trade, emerged in 1914 with not only the largest overseas empire thanks to her long-standing presence in India, but also the greatest gains in the "scramble for Africa", reflecting her advantageous position at its inception. Between 1885 and 1914 Britain took nearly 30% of Africa's population under her control, compared to 15 per cent for France, 9 per cent for Germany, 7 per cent for Belgium and 1 per cent for Italy: Nigeria alone contributed 15 million subjects, more than in the whole of French West Africa or the entire German colonial empire.

Related Topics:
1914 - 1885 - Italy - Nigeria - French West Africa

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