British Colonization of Africa | Animated History

it is 1885 and the capital of Sudan is about to fall cartoons garrison of 7,000 men has held out for almost a year but the walls have finally been breached and 50,000 modest soldiers are marching through the streets cutting down defenders and civilians alike standing on the steps of his palace and dressed in his ceremonial uniform governor-general Charles Gordon equates patiently for his enemy to arrive alone except for a single bodyguard he knows this will be his last stand while his career has been illustrious in the eyes of the British Empire decades of hardship has left governor Charles II tired broken man who was bitterly aware of how many enemies the British have made due to their persistent expansion across the globe he knows that he will not be the last man to suffer this fate as long as the British Empire has commercial interests overseas men like him will be expected to sacrifice their time their careers and even their lives in the name of imperialism [Music] before we begin today's video I'd like to give you a small tour of my office sponsored by dis plate this plate sells high quality metal prints that you can stick to your wall using magnetic strips this essentially allows you to pop designs on and off and adjust them how you please something not possible with a hammer and a nail unless you want holes all over your walls with over 800,000 designs for things like movies manga cars and games like cyberpunk 2077 and World of Tanks display has something for everyone and you can check out my collections to see my personal favorites I decorated my office using seven of these plates featuring my favorite divisions from the Second World War above my coffee station are the 1st and 29th divisions who both landed on Omaha and above my computer is the British parachute regiment and to the 28th Keystone division which has its roots in my home state of Pennsylvania delivery is fast and dis plate uses eco-friendly recyclable materials for their packaging additionally they've promised to plant one tree for every plate purchased by following my link in the description below anyone who buys a print-on-demand plate in the first week will get 30 percent off but if you wait too long the discount will be 20% off of any order hi on Griffin Johnson the armchair historian in today's video we'll be taking a look at the history of the British Empire in Africa following their progress from the first small colonial outposts in the 1600s and continuing all the way to the fully fledged imperial ambitions to the 1800s we will also explore how trade and wars in Europe affected British colonialism and to their interactions with the natives the beginning of British colonisation in Africa did not start with a spectacular battle between empires but rather with meetings in the counting houses of London in 1618 English King James the first granted a monopoly on all business conducted in West Africa to the london-based Guinea Company this enterprise operated for the rest of the 17th century trading primarily in gold timber and slaves these Tyl ventures where the sole presence England had in Africa until after the American war for independence which launched the empire into a colonization fever however due to the inconvenient fact that European settlers had a tendency to die of horrible diseases if they so much as came within sight of the coastline the first British colony in Africa Sierra Leone was populated by only one thousand freed slaves with disease deterring immigration the British struggled to establish further colonies in Africa but they remained keenly aware of the potential profits a successful undertaking might bring in the end much of Britain's work had already been done for them the Dutch had established a foothold in the southernmost tip of Africa as far back as 1652 their settlement Cape Town allowed the Dutch to monopolize the lucrative spice trade in India and Asia but when revolutionary France with whom the crown was at war subjugated the Netherlands in 1795 Britain saw the perfect opportunity to annex Cape Town under the pretense of denying the French access to India two squadrons of warships were quickly dispatched to secure at a colony which was then formally integrated into the Empire in 1814 while Cape Town was the largest settlement of South Africa it did not automatically grant the British control over the region despite an initial promise to not interfere with local affairs magistrates soon began implementing new laws and regulations only written in English causing discontent among the Dutch speaking settlers who felt that their cultural identity was being deliberately suppressed British Authority was further compromised by Dutch farmers when they had migrated inland in search of greener were in this case browner pastures known later in history as the Boers these farmers were fiercely independent with many having fled religious persecution in their home country to start a new life another major point of contention between the existing settlers and their new rulers was over the issue of slavery which had been legal under the Dutch administration while hardly innocent of the practice itself the British Empire was now moving steadily in the direction of abolition when slavery was finally declared illegal in 1833 it sparked a massive exodus from Cape Town called the Great Trek with thousands of settlers leaving to found new independent republics as far from British rule as possible this great migration would only delay the inevitable however as within decades the British would again be seeking to assert their dominance over the region for now however the British sought to expand their holdings back in West Africa inevitably they came into conflict with the local powers one of these was the Asante Empire located in modern Ghana after years of simmering hostility the Asante finally provoked the British into open conflict in 1824 when they murdered an African officer serving in a local unit of the British Army in response the governor of Sierra Leone Sir Charles McCarthy led a force of about 3,000 men to crush what he saw as nothing more than a group of upstarts savages unfortunately first Sir Charles this was not to be his legacy instead he would attain and altogether less dignified place in history when he and his men were slaughtered by 10,000 Asante when they tried to cross the Prok River the Saudi King then turned to McCarthy's skull into a rather elegant gold trim two drinking cup which he would enjoy for years to come but after an unsuccessful incursion by the Asante in the Second Battle of Accra in which they were driven back by Congreve blockage systems the Asante signed a treaty with the British in 1831 establishing the prover as the natural border between their two territories the treaty would last 30 years with large-scale conflict avoided until the British again interfered with Asante trade by acquiring the Dutch Gold Coast colony prompting a native Persian the British retaliated with a 2500 man force decisively defeating the asan D and two engagements they went on to capture their capital city of Kumasi after wandering through the vast royal palace and admiring its extensive collection of books and beautiful artwork the British soldiers took great care in demolishing it with explosives hopefully somebody remembered to retrieve poor Sir Charles McCarthy skull from the palace beforehand with the Asante effectively beaten the British Empire turned its attention back southwards the sudden discovery of diamonds near the town of Kimberley led the British to aggressively expand their control over the region at expense of both the African natives and the local Boer Republic's in 1874 the British government tasked their Secretary of State for the colonies Henry Herbert with organizing the Boer settlements in South Africa into a federation this Federation they reasoned could then be governed as one state giving the British de facto control over all of the diamond mines in the region naturally the Defiant Boers were less than thrilled by this proposal Henry Herbert was therefore forced to turn his attention to the other looming obstacle to British control or for the region the Zulu known to history as one of Britain's most stalwart adversaries on the African continent the Zulu Kingdom had first risen to prominence in the early 1800s under the leadership of King Shaka and had already come into conflict with the Boers later in the century although not as acquainted with firearms as the asan D the Zulu fielded a highly disciplined army numbering in the tens of thousands but despite their formidable strength English officials such as Henry Bartow prayer attempted to provoke the Zulu into a conflict that can justify annexation in 1877 the Boer Republic of Trance fall was occupied and with their new acquisition the British an ultimatum demanding the natives to disband their entire army and accept British authority to the surprise of nobody the reigning Zulu King Cetshwayo rejected these absurd demands giving the excuse needed for an invasion two years later a force of 1800 British soldiers marched into zulu lands and were immediately sent scrambling right back out again after suffering a crushing defeat at the Battle of Eastland Wong one of Britain's worst ever colonial losses this defeat was caused by a combination of several factors but chief among them was the British overconfidence and their lack of familiarity with the local terrain this led to their columns being swiftly outmaneuvered by Zulu warriors who were able to conceal themselves until the perfect moment to strike with overwhelming force total disaster was only averted by the defense of Orcs drift were 150 British soldiers held off 4,000 native Braves in a grueling 12-hour siege but the British learned the lessons of Iceland wanna well and in just a few months a second invasion of Zulu land began this time their advance was methodical denying their enemy any chance of an ambush on July 4th 1879 Zulu warriors rallied in defense of their capital city eluding but with British cavalry screaming their flanks and both artillery and machine guns supporting their line of fire the ensuing battle was a total defeat for the natives such wire was then deposed and his vast Kingdom added to the long list of British acquisitions in Africa the next year it was the Boers turn to rise up against the empire an armed rebellion broke out in the occupied Transvaal Republic in 1880 eventually escalating into what can best be described as a guerrilla war after their losses against the Zulu the British were unwilling to commit additional troops to the region and granted the Republic independence after losing hundreds in bloody skirmishes even as an uneasy peace finally settled over South Africa events began moving along the Mediterranean coast the Ottoman tributary of Egypt had been the focus of European attention since the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869 which had justified its enormous production costs by finally providing European traders with a quick route to Asia after decades of wasteful spending by the Khedive x' or governors of egypt and a recently clumsy invasion of Ethiopia European creditors effectively owned the country sparking an anti colonial nationalist coup led by former Army officer Ahmed Urabe in 1879 seeing a golden opportunity the British declared their support for the deposed Khedive Mohammed Pasha and dispatched a large expedition to crush the revolt during the following anglo-egyptian war men aboard the British warships deliberate as long and hard about how to quell the unrest and restore order so logically they opened fire and hurt the entire city to the ground soon after British troops landed a decisive defeat to the Nationalists at the Battle of Tel el kebir with the indebted Khedive restored to power and English soldiers sitting comfortably in the Egyptian capital the British Empire held control over both the country and the Suez Canal Egypt would remain their unofficial colony until 1922 despite their territorial gains in Egypt and a monopoly over trade in Asia via the Suez Canal and Cape Town Britain's actual colonization efforts in Africa were still remarkably limited the collapse of the slave trade also removed a primary motivator for European involvement in the interior of the continent leaving most nations content to squabble over the coastal trading ports but during the 1880s the Industrial Revolution had created an explosive new demand for Africa's natural resources additionally rising population levels had created an impoverished underclass that were desperate to migrate overseas in search for a better life politics also played a role in a new surge of interest in African colonization with no more room in Europe or the Americas old rivals now began looking hungrily towards Africa as their next opportunity for expansion and dominance as tensions rose between the various colonial nations German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck stepped forward to defuse the situation at the Berlin Conference of 1884 representatives of 13 European nations and the United States agreed on a set of rules for the planned colonization of Africa no African representatives were present in just a few short years the interior of Africa referred to as the white man's grave became increasingly accessible steamships were making journeys to the southern regions less daunting and the first train tracks were already being laid medicines that could combat lethal tropical diseases such as malaria and yellow fever were also coming into common use machine guns were the last equalizing factor allowing European armies to confidently subdue natives with little fear of retaliation however machine guns could only partially compensate for the British tendency to underestimate their native enemies and they were soon embroiled in yet another major conflict this time it was with the Kingdom of Benin located in what is now modern Nigeria the kingdom was a major exporter of palm oil and rubber but refused to trade with Britain after becoming suspicious of their intentions these suspicions proved to be correct when a British official named James Robert Phillips was discovered trying to sneak a force of 250 African soldiers into the Bene capital city this disguised force was promptly slaughtered and only two officers escaped alive after this embarrassing debacle the British openly invaded with a second force of around 1200 men using the massacre of their African soldiers as justification the new army marched through Benning territory destroying every settlement they encountered resistance to the invasion was fierce but the Bene capital was captured after a 10-day siege after admiring its elaborate infrastructure of beautiful temples and massive earthen walls the British deliberated long and hard about how to ease tensions and restore order so logically they burnt the whole city to the ground and congratulated themselves on a job well done but just as it seemed like the Empire was getting a handle on the native situation in Africa news arrived that prospectors digging in the Boer republic of Trance fall had discovered a vast deposit of gold influential British politician and ruthless businessman Cecil Rhodes quickly became obsessed with controlling this trade but the British government was wary of another direct conflict with the boards thus roads used his position as founder of the British South Africa company to embark on a campaign of deliberate provocation this led to the second world war in 1899 during which the company targeted the Boers with brutal acts of repression that left whole communities destroyed and thousands carted off to the first concentration camps in history in these camps the Boers were deliberately neglected and at least 46,000 died of starvation or disease of these deaths about 20,000 we're natives caught up in the conflict but the remaining 26,000 were Boer women and children after nearly three years of bush fighting the beleaguered remnants of the Boer Republic's finally capitulated and allowed themselves to be unified into a semi-autonomous Dominion known as the Union of South Africa in addition to subdue the Boers Cecil Rhodes was also primarily responsible for the British push south of Egypt into Sudan where they acquired many other territories in an effort to out-compete French and German interests in the region this southern expansion quickly sparked conflict with the modest Sudanese who had United in a jihad against foreign interference and were led by a charismatic Muslim preacher called Muhammad Ahmad the resulting modest war would eventually expand to include multiple European powers and only ended after nine years of brutal desert warfare this was the war that saw the death of governor-general Charles Gordon one of the most senior British officials to be killed in Africa by hostile action with the native subdued and the Scramble for Africa starting to wind down the British began refocusing their efforts from expansion to consolidation in 1904 they signed to the ant ant cordial with France ending decades of animosity and finally enabling both nations to turn their full attention on the German Empire the South African colonies would have immense strategic value in any future European conflict because of their position on one of the only two viable routes to the Indian Ocean wary of future uprisings by their African subjects the British adopted a policy of appeasement towards the white African or minorities granting them additional powers and privileges under the colonial administration this policy naturally resulted in a normalization of various overt and racist ideologies and would directly lead to the foundation of apartheid in the 1940s eventually the Union of South Africa would steadily drift away from the Empire as it entered its twilight years finally severing all ties in 1961 the remnants of the British legacy in Africa include colonial architecture and extensive infrastructure projects that remain functional to this day however those foundations rest on centuries of genocide discrimination and exploitation most of which were deliberately enforced to destabilize native cultures in order to pave way for colonial rule but today the continent is rebuilding with many nations undergoing some of the highest rates of economic development in the world in some cases even surpassing the growth rates of their former occupiers if you would like to see more videos on colonial or African powers please let us know in the comments [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: The Armchair Historian

Views: 1,678,496

Keywords: Colonial Britain, Colonization, Scramble for Africa, Imperialism, Imperial, British Nigeria, Commonwealth of Nations, South Africa, Apartheid, Zulu, Zulu Kingdom, Anglo-Zulu War, History of Egypt, History of Africa, Anglo-Egyptian War, British Colonialism, English History, 19th Century History, Victorian Period, Queen Victoria, Berlin Conference, German Africa, French Africa, Mahdist Revolt, First Boer War, Boer Wars, Second Boer War, Ashanti Empire, Benin, British Empire

Id: ZYtWQfPKOOA

Length: 20min 35sec (1235 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 03 2020

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