The Anglo-Zulu War
In 1878, the British sought to confederate South Africa the same way
Canada had been. However, they felt that this could not be done while
there was a powerful and independent Zulu state.
The Zulu had a relatively new King, Cetshwayo who was crowned
1873. He established a new capital for the nation, expanded his army,
and readopted many of the methods Shaka had used to build up the
Zulu Empire. He also equipped his army with muskets and banished
European missionaries from his land.
The British began to demand reparations for border infractions and
sought to provoke the Zulu King. They succeeded, but Cetshwayo
kept calm, considering the British to be his friends and being aware of
the power of the British army. He did, however, state that he and
Frere were equals and since he did not complain about how Frere
ruled, the same courtesy should be observed by Frere in regards to
Zululand.
Eventually, the British High Commissioner for South Africa issued an
ultimatum demanding Cetshwayo effectively disband his army. His
refusal led to the Zulu War in 1879.
After an initial crushing but costly Zulu victory over the British at the
Battle of Isandlwana, the British retreated. While this retreat presented an opportunity for a Zulu counterattack deep
into Natal, Cetshwayo refused to mount such an attack, his intention being to repulse the British without provoking
further reprisals. Cetshwayo continually sought to make peace
after the first battle at Isandhlwana. However, the British won
follow-up victories at the famous Battle of Rorke’s Drift and
the Battle of Kambula.
Cetshwayo, knowing that the newly reinforced British would
be a formidable opponent, attempted to negotiate a peace
treaty. However, the British were not open to negotiations and
the armies clashed at the Battle of Ulundi, and Cetshwayo's
forces were decisively defeated.
Zululand was divided into 13 chiefdoms headed by compliant
chiefs to ensure that the Zulus would no longer unite under a
single king. However, this internal division led to a series of
conflicts and the British regretted removing Cetshwayo.
In 1883, the British tried to restore Cetshwayo to rule at least
part of his previous territory, but the attempt failed. Cetshwayo
died soon after and his son, Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo, would go
on to take part in several rebellions against the British.
The Morant Bay Rebellion
Jamaica had been a British colony since the mid-1600s. In 1833, the Slavery
Abolition Act which established “apprenticeships” that would lead to fully
abolishing slavery in 1838. On paper, former enslaved men gained the right
to vote. However, most remained desperately poor, and could not meet
requirements to pay a high poll tax.
The colonial British authorities in Jamaica were fearful of retaliation from
those formerly enslaved and, as a result, levied a high poll tax which
deprived the majority of Black Jamaicans of the right to vote.
In October 1865, preacher Paul Bogle led hundreds of Black Jamaicans on a
protest march to the Morant Bay courthouse. The Jamaicans were protesting
the high poll tax and widespread poverty. Recent floods had damaged crops
in addition to cholera and smallpox epidemics.
After the local militia shot and killed seven of the marchers, protesters
attacked and burned the courthouse and nearby buildings. A total of 25
people died. Over the next two days, peasants rose up across St. Thomas-inthe-East parish and controlled most of the area.
Fearful of an island wide uprising, British
Colonial Governor Edward John Eyre
declared martial law in the area. Troops were
ordered to hunt down the rebels. Up to 439
Black peasants were killed in the reprisals,
some 600 flogged, and about 1,000 houses
burnt down.
Bogle was arrested along with George
William Gordon, a wealthy mixed-race
representative to the Assembly. Gordon was
not involved in the protest but a leading critic
of the colonial government and the policies of
Governor Eyre.
Bogle was tried under martial law and quickly
executed, as were many others. Gordon was
convicted of conspiracy and hanged a day
after Bogle.
The violent suppression and numerous executions generated a fierce debate in England, with some protesting about
the unconstitutional actions of Governor Eyre. Governor Eyre was recalled to England and eventually dismissed.
Jamaica was made a Crown Colony, governed directly from Britain. The Morant Bay Rebellion turned out to be one
of the defining points in Jamaica’s struggle for both political and economic enhancement. Bogle’s demonstration
ultimately achieved its objectives and paved the way for new attitudes.
The Sepoy Rebellion
The British East India Company won rights
to trade with India in the 1600s. The
company grew wealthy and powerful and
built up its own army, made up of British
and Indian troops called Sepoys.
By 1857 there were 230,000 Sepoys in the
British East India Company’s army. At this
time the Indians and British had a fairly
good relationship. India produced and
exported raw materials like cotton, indigo,
spices, sugar, and tea. Britain sold
manufactured goods to India and built
railroads in the region. However, many
Indians were resentful of British rule and
skeptical of social reforms.
In May 1857, a rebellion amongst the
Sepoys broke out as they took up arms
against the British soldiers.
The rebellion was, literally, triggered by a gun. Sepoys throughout India were issued with a new rifle: the 1853
Enfield musket. To load the new Enfield, just like the previous muskets they were issued with, soldiers had to bite the
cartridge open and pour the gunpowder it contained into the rifle’s muzzle, then stuff the cartridge case, which was
typically paper coated with grease to make it waterproof.
A rumor spread among sepoys that the cartridges were greased with lard (pork fat) or tallow (beef fat) - this was
offensive to Hindu and Muslim soldiers alike, who were forbidden by their religions to eat beef or pork respectively.
British officers dismissed these claims as rumors and suggested that the Sepoys make a batch of fresh cartridges, and
grease these with beeswax or mutton fat. This only reinforced the rumor that the original issue cartridges were indeed
greased with lard and tallow.
In May 1857, Sepoys in the town of Meerut in northern India mutinied against their commanders. It erupted into
other mutinies and civilian rebellions in central India. The rebels quickly reached Delhi, whose 81-year-old Mughal
ruler, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was declared the Emperor of Hindustan. Soon, the rebels had captured large tracts of the
North-Western Provinces and Awadh (Oudh). The East India Company’s response came rapidly as well. With help
from reinforcements, the rebellion was suppressed over the next year.
In November 1858, the British granted amnesty to all rebels not involved in murder, though they did not declare the
hostilities to have formally ended until July 1859.
The rebellion forever changed the relationship between Britain and India. There was much more suspicion now
between the two opposing sides. India came under directly by the British government and became known as the
British Raj.
The Tonkin campaign & Can Vuong Movement
The Tonkin campaign was an armed conflict in Tonkin (northern Vietnam)
from 1883 -1886. The French were attempting to establish a French
protectorate in the region and fighting the Nguyen Dynasty’s army and its
allies, including the famed Black Flag Army led by Chinese warlord Liu
Yongfu.
At the Battle of Thuận An, a French landing force stormed coastal forts that
guarded the Vietnamese capital Huế, enabling the French to dictate a treaty
to the Vietnamese that recognized a French protectorate over Tonkin.
While this conflict raged, a broader Can Vuong Movement sprung up
across Vietnam. The movement, which means “Aid the King” in
Vietnamese, was a large-scale Vietnamese insurgency between 1885 and
1889 against French colonial rule. Its objective was to expel the French and
install the boy emperor Hàm Nghi as the leader of an independent Vietnam.
The Can Vuong Movement lacked a coherent national structure and
consisted mainly of regional leaders who attacked French troops in their
own provinces. The movement initially prospered as there were few French
garrisons outside of Tonkin but
failed after the French recovered
from the surprise of the
insurgency and poured troops
into Annam from its bases
further south in Tonkin and
Cochinchina. The insurrection
spread and flourished in 1886,
reached its climax the following
year, and gradually faded out by
1889.
The Tonkin campaign officially
ended in April 1886. Vietnam’s
monarchy and royal court
survived, but under French
control.
Liu’s Black Flag forces
continued to harass and fight the
French in Tonkin until 1896.
The Maji Maji Rebellion
Following the Berlin Conference of 1884, Germany
reinforced the hold it had on its African colonies.
These were German East Africa (modern day
Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and part of Mozambique),
German Southwest Africa (present-day Namibia),
Cameroon, and Togoland (today split between Ghana
and Togo). The Germans had a relatively weak hold on
German East Africa. However, they maintained a
system of forts throughout the interior of the territory.
Since their hold on the colony was weak, they resorted
to violent repressive tactics for control.
High taxes were levied on the population and Germany
relied heavily on forced labor to build roads and other
tasks. In 1902, villages in the colony were given a
strict quota of cotton to produce as a cash crop for
export.
The policies were very unpopular, and the social fabric
of society was being changed rapidly to meet German
demands. Since men were forced away from their
homes to work, women were forced to assume some of
the traditional male roles. In 1905, a drought
threatened the region. All that, as well as opposition to
the government's agricultural and labor policies, led to
open rebellion against the Germans in July.
The indigenous Matumbi people practiced a form of
Folk Islam and a spirit medium named Kinjikitile
Ngwale encouraged his followers to overlook tribal
differences and unite against the Germans. He told his
followers that their ancestors had commanded him to
lead a rebellion. This helped start the Maji Maji
Rebellion.
Kinjikitile gave his people holy water (“maji”) to
protect them from German bullets. After a group of
Matumbi attacked the home of a local official in July
1905, Kinjikitile was arrested by German troops.
He was hanged on August 4, 1905 for treason. His
brother continued in Kinjikitile’s work and the
rebellion continued until 1907, with over 100,000
killed. Present-day Tanzanians consider the failed rebellion to have been the first stirrings of nationalism. It is seen
as a unifying experience that brought together the different peoples of Tanzania under one leader, in an attempt to
establish a nation free from foreign domination. Kinjikitile “Bokero” Ngwale is considered by many to be a national
hero.
The Franco-Dahomean Wars
The West African Kingdom of Dahomey was located at the Gulf of Guinea in what is now southern Benin. It became
a powerful state in the 18th and 19th century through warfare and the trade with European countries.
By 1890, the Kingdom of Dahomey was at the height of its power. It laid claim to almost all the coast of modern
Benin but was at odds with the smaller kingdom of Porto-Novo. Porto-Novo has allied with the French for protection
against the larger, more powerful Kingdom of Dahomey.
Dahomey’s new king Béhanzin took the throne in 1890 and distrusted the French build-up in Porto-Novo and
Cotonou, a port the French believed was under
their control. Minor clashes turned into an allout war in March 1890 when the Dahomey
army attacked at the Battle of Cotonou.
After several months of fighting, Dahomey
signed a treaty recognizing Porto-Novo as a
French protectorate.
Béhanzin anticipated a second conflict and had
the Dahomey army re-armed with modern
weapons. An important part of his army was
an elite women’s militia, referred to as the
Minon “mothers” (pictured). The French
called them the Dahomey Amazons after the
fierce female warriors of Greek mythology.
Hostilities quickly resumed despite the treaty, escalating into the
Second Franco-Dahomean War two years later. In July 1892, the
French sent a gunboat upriver into Dahomey territory which was
fired upon, beginning the conflict. King Béhanzin himself led
troops in several battles against the French as they advanced
toward the Dahomey capital of Abomey. The “Amazons” were
reported by the French to have fought the hardest, charging out of
their trenches but to no avail as the French won several victories
over the next several months.
In November, King Béhanzin, refused to let Abomey fall into
enemy hands and burned and evacuated the city. He fled north
with some of his Amazon Corps but was captured and exiled to
Martinique.
The French offered the throne to every one of the immediate royal
family, in return for a signature on a treaty establishing a French
protectorate over the Kingdom; all refused. Finally, Béhanzin’s
brother Agoli-agbo signed and was appointed to the throne after
agreeing to sign the instrument of surrender. He “reigned” for
only six years, assisted by a French Viceroy. The French prepared
for direct administration, which they achieved on February 12,
1900. Agoli-agbo went into exile in Gabon.
The Boxer Rebellion
Resentment against outsiders had been
building in China since the First Opium
War in 1839. Villagers in North China
especially had been building resentment
against Christian missionaries there.
China’s northern coastal province of
Shandong was long known for social
unrest, religious sects, and martial
societies.
The Righteous and Harmonious Fists
(Yihequan) were one of these groups.
American Christian missionaries were
probably the first to refer to the welltrained, athletic young men as “Boxers”,
because of the martial arts they practiced.
The Boxers’ primary practice was a type
of spiritual possession which involved the
whirling of swords, violent movements, and chanting prayers to deities.
A severe drought followed by floods in Shandong province in 1897–1898 made people desperate for a solution to
their problems. In June 1900, Boxers, convinced they were invulnerable to foreign weapons, converged on Beijing
(then called Peking) with the slogan, “Support the Qing government and exterminate the foreigners.”
From June to August, the Boxers besieged the foreign district of China’s capital. They killed foreigners and Chinese
Christians and destroyed foreign property. An Eight Nation Alliance of American, Austro-Hungarian, British,
French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Russian troops agreed to suppress the rebellion.
In response, the Qing
Empress Dowager Cixi
supported the Boxers and
issued an Imperial
Decree declaring war on
the foreign powers. The
arrival of 20,000
Alliance troops defeated
the Qing Army and
Boxers in August 1900.
The Boxer Protocol
officially ended the
Troops of the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900. Left to right: Britain, United States, Australia,
rebellion in 1901. and
India, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Japan (Russians not pictured).
China agreed to pay
more than $330 million in reparations (more than the government’s entire annual tax revenue) over the next 39 years
to the eight nations involved.
The Mandingo Wars
The Wassoulou Empire, sometimes
referred to as the Mandinka Empire,
was a short-lived (1878–1898) empire
of West Africa built from the
conquests of Samory Touré. Touré
was Mandinka and a deeply religious
Muslim cleric and military strategist.
He was able to unite a weakened
federation of various groups through
conquest and negotiation.
Samory’s army was well equipped
with modern firearms and a complex
structure of permanent infantry and
cavalry units. By 1887, Samory could field 30,000
to 35,000 infantry and about 3,000 cavalry.
However, from 1880 until his death, Samori's
ambition was opposed by the expansion of the
French. France sought to claim much of West
Africa during the early 1880’s.
Samory opposed French ambitions to build an
empire in West Africa. In response, the French
exploited rebellions of several of Ture’s subject
tribes, who were animist and resisted Islam. This
broke out into the First Mandingo War in 1883.
French troops occupied Bamako on the Niger River
and settled the war after a successful offensive in
1886. Samory was forced to accept the Niger River
as his frontier.
In 1894, they went to war again and this time
Samory’s forces defeated the French, putting a
temporary end to the protectorate over the Ivory
Coast.
He tried to build an anti-colonial alliance with the
Ashanti Empire of present-day Ghana. This failed
when the Ashanti were defeated by the British in
1897. The fall of other anti-colonial armies
permitted the French to launch a concentrated
assault against Touré and the Wassoulou. By 1898,
he lost almost all of his territory and fled into the
mountains of western Ivory Coast. He was captured
in September 1898 by the French and exiled to
Gabon.
The French were ultimately triumphant and established dominance over the Ivory Coast.
Name _________________________________
Comparing Movements Against Imperialism
Directions: Use the readings to complete this chart comparing these rebellions against European imperialism.
Location
Sepoy
Rebellion
Morant Bay
Rebellion
Tonkin
Campaign &
Can Vuong
Movement
Anglo-Zulu
War
Mandingo
Wars
FrancoDahomean
Wars
The Boxer
Rebellion
Maji Maji
Rebellion
Date(s)
People, Groups, &
Countries & Involved
Result