Conflicts from Imperialism in Africa

Conflicts Because of Imperialism South Africa1 was originally inhabited by cultural groups from the Bantu2 family. Dutch3 settled on the southern tip of Africa, called Cape Colony4, in 1652. They used it as a stopping place on the way to Asia  

Cape Colony

Conflicts Because of Imperialism cont’d The Bantus5 fought for their land but were defeated6 and forced to work for the Dutch. They basically became slaves7 on their own land.

Conflicts Because of Imperialism cont’d

Conflicts Because of Imperialism cont’d In 1806, Britain8 bought the Cape Colony from the Dutch. They did not ask the Bantu9! From 1836 – 1840 some 10,000 Dutch10, wishing to escape from British rule11, set out on the Great Trek12 and settled in the northern13 regions of South Africa.

The Great Trek

Covered Wagons

Conflicts Because of Imperialism cont’d In 1867, diamond and gold14 deposits were found near these northern15 regions. Because of this, the British and Dutch16 came into conflict again.

Conflicts Because of Imperialism cont’d British prospectors17 fought Dutch farmers18 – known as Boers19. Thus the war, which lasted from 1899 – 1902 was known as the Boer War20.

British Troops

British Artillery

Boer’s at War

Three Generations of Fighting Boers

Boers: Guerrilla Fighting

Boers in their trenches

Change in strategy!! The British eventually won21 the war and gained control of South Africa. But it came at a great cost. The British set up the first ever concentration camps22. They killed 25,00023 Boer women and children to win the war.

Scorching the Earth

Leaving the Sheep to Rot

Blowing up Boer houses

Forced march to a camp

The camp at Norvalspont

Doing the washing at Norvalspont

Waiting in line for rations

Abraham Carel Wessels

Boer War – interesting tidbits Ghandi serves with the British medical corps as a stretcher-bearer. Sir Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, makes his mark at the successful defense of Mafeking. Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), poet and writer, works on an army newspaper.

Boer War – interesting tidbits cont’d Sir Arthur Conan Doyle British physician, novelist, and detective-story writer, creator of Sherlock Holmes, runs a field hospital, and on his return to England writes 'The Great Boer War' (1900) and 'The War in South Africa: Its Causes and Conduct' justifying England's participation. For these works he is knighted in 1902.

Boer War – interesting tidbits cont’d The young Winston Churchill is all over this war. He is captured, escapes, and makes a triumphal reentry into Natal. He is present at several major battles, and is also one of the first to enter the enemies’ capitol, Pretoria, at its capture. His exploits get him elected to Parliment.

Boer War – interesting tidbits cont’d The native African population, who suffer greatly in this war, are barely acknowledged in the histories. Due to British incompetence and neglect, 25,000 Boer civilians (mainly women and children) and 14,000 natives die in the infamous concentration camps.

Conflicts Because of Imperialism cont’d In 1910 the British united the Cape Colony and the former Boer republics into the Union of South Africa24. The new constitution set up a government run by whites, which laid the foundation for a system of complete racial separation25.

Ethiopia – the only one to survive British battled the Zulus26 – part of the Bantu tribe - in Southern Africa and the Asante27 in West Africa. The French battled the Algerians28 for years. But in the end, the Europeans had the Maxim and that was all the mattered. Ethiopia29 was the only African nation to successfully resist Imperial control

Ethiopia – the only one to survive In the late 1800s, Menelik II30 had begun to modernize his country. He got the latest European weapons and officers31. In 1896 Italy invaded Ethiopia. At the battle of Adowa32 the Ethiopians smashed the Italian invaders.