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Scramble for Africa (1880)


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The French Republic

France, with keyholdings already in Northern Africa the French interest in Africa existed long before the 1880s push for territory in the continent The French presence in Africa dates to the 17th century, but the main period of colonial expansion came in the 19th century with the invasion of Ottoman Algiers in 1830. Since then France has established small holdings in Africa. France rebuilt a new empire mostly after 1850, concentrating chiefly in Africa as well as Indochina and the South Pacific. Republicans, at first hostile to empire, only became supportive when Germany after 1880 started to build its own colonial empire. As it developed, the new French empire took on roles of trade with the motherland, supplying raw materials and purchasing manufactured items. Rebuilding an empire rebuilt French prestige, especially regarding international power and spreading the French language and the Catholic religion.

 

Charles de Freycinet was a French statesman and four times Prime Minister during the Third Republic and member of the Republican Union. He entered the Senate in 1876 as a follower of Gambetta, and in December 1877 became Minister of Public Works in the cabinet of Jules Armand Stanislaus Dufaure. He passed a great scheme for the gradual acquisition of the railways by the state and the construction of new lines at a cost of three milliards, and for the development of the canal system at a further cost of one milliard. He retained his post in the ministry of William Henry Waddington, whom he succeeded in December 1879 as Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs. He passed an amnesty for the Communards, but in attempting to steer a middle course (between the Catholics and the anti-clericalists) on the question of the religious associations, he lost Gambetta's support, and resigned in September 1880.

 

discord; mcginty85

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The United Kingdom

Colonization of Africa
As the world’s largest and greatest colonial empire, Britain’s interest in Africa has been longstanding. With small trading posts having existed along the West coast of Africa for centuries. However, starting in the 19th century with the passing of the Slave Trade Act, British Colonial interests in West Africa have expanded tremendously. Where the interests of British trade, and abolitionism intersect, the British government has made full use, with the colonies of Lagos, The Gold Coast, and the infant National African Company in Nigeria born from abolitionist bloodshed and trade treaties. These colonies act as conduits for British commercial power in Africa, and form the stepping stones to deeper colonization towards Lake Chad and beyond.

 

Further along the coast towards India lies the Cape Colony. The crown jewel of British Africa, taken from the Dutch during the Napoleonic Wars. Though beleaguered by wars against local tribes, such as the recent embarrassing defeat against the Zulu’s at Isandlwana, the Cape Colony is the most prosperous colony in Africa. It’s diamonds, extensive trading, European settlement, and agriculture has made the Cape Colony rich. The British colonial administrator continues an overall policy of expansion in the region, possibly hoping to create a more unified Cape Colony with the addition of the ever resentful Boers. However, simmering tensions between the Boers and British threaten to disrupt the Colony.

 

Lastly, across the vast jungles and deserts of the interior, in Egypt, Britain’s increasingly extensive commercial interests find themselves at risk. The anti-European Urabi revolt has begun to spring, and the local British administrators, diplomats, and businessmen are panicked. Sir John Bolles has decided that he must take action if the revolt continues.

 

Sir John Bolles

Born in Doncaster, England,  John Bolles has worked in the Colonial Office all his life, recently serving as Undersecretary of State for Colonial Affairs, helping organize the invasion of Zululand. Known for his strong expansionist views, he has been appointed High Commissioner of African Affairs, joining together British administration of Africa under one office. Splitting his time between London and the colonies, he plans to push through with plans to expand in West Africa, South Africa, and deal with the crisis in Egypt.

 

 

 

Edited by SuperKeziak
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THE CAPE COLONY

 

Head of State: Queen Victoria.

Leader: Prime Minister Gordon Sprigg. Born in Ipswich, this Puritan stoic is a relic of the 17th century – and proud of it – in his Cromwellian religious beliefs. He is no mad imperialist, but will be aggressive to secure advantages and protect South Africa. He led the colony in the Zulu War and oversaw the annexation of Natal, and has refused to budge over the annexation of the Transvaal. Privately, he confesses to a friend “The irksome Boer will accept our rule as long as the Zulu knocks at his door, but as soon it is the British tax collector that does so, he is all cries of indignation.” Hence, victory against the Zulu was actually the prelude to the conflict between Brit and Boer – with the prospect of 40,000 well-led Impis ravaging the Transvaal gone, the Boers no longer have reason to seek protection under British rule. But despite this change in circumstances, Sprigg will not budge. Toward the natives, Sprigg uses a forceful hand and agrees with the more segregationist policies of the Afrikaners. Sprigg is an Englishman, through and through, with a lot of popularity back home but many doubters in South Africa, who essentially see him as the British government’s man in Africa, and not their man. Sprigg is having much trouble handling the situation in Basutoland, which was annexed to the Cape by Disraeli in 1871.

 

Other influential politicians include: Jan Hofmeyr, the chief representative of the Dutch farmers in South Africa, who is a realist, opposing the British annexation of the Transvaal but also the prospect of a revolt in that place, who wants to turn South Africa into a Canada-style federation (Local interests can be better looked after if the South Africans form a single, united front), although privately he hopes for eventual independence from the British flag. 

 

Upington, a witty Irishman, J.W. Sauer, Secretary for Native Affairs; Saul Solomon, eloquent and deeply sincere; Schreiner, the brilliant and high-minded lawyer; Cecil Rhodes, the agreeable Anglo-Saxon imperialist, and J.X. Merriman, who shares many an argument with Rhodes and his allies. There is also the High Comissioner, Sir Hercules Robinson, Captain Graham Bower, the Imperial Secretary, and Mr. (Later Sir) T.C. Scanlen, the native-born unionist who is another opponent of the aggressive imperialist tendency. The main political issues are: treatment of the Natives, the Masutoland question, imperialism, (mis)management of the economy, the annexation of the Transvaal, the prospect of a South African union, and whether this should be under the British flag or not. On the latter, at least openly, everyone is unanimous. 

 

Economy: Despite recent turbulence, the newly semi-independent country is prospering and attracting brave settlers and pioneers from afar. The discovery of the diamonds in the Transvaal has vastly enriched diamond tycoons like C.J. Rhodes and has bred a new generation of hardy pioneers with much more imperialist ideas. 

 

Army: Most of the British troops went home after Ulundi. The British army mostly consists of garrisons. The garrison of the Transvaal numbers about 1,500; that of Natal about 1,700. Almost all foot with a few field guns. These are the two main concentrations of strength of the army. Around 4,000-6,000 can be raised in native infantry within a short period of any war beginning. With the prospect of war looming, Sprigg must secure fresh reinforcements from London.

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