"Britain controlled the Cape Colony in Southern Africa from 1806, a strategically important stopping point for ships connecting India and the Far East to Europe. The colony included White settlers with Dutch or French ancestry (who called themselves Boers, meaning "farmer," or Afrikaners because they spoke Afrikaans)."
"This rather poor corner of the British Empire suddenly became one of its richest when diamonds were discovered in Griqualand in the late 1860s. This region was made a crown colony in 1871. A huge influx of new settlers came, and exports rose dramatically, with diamonds accounting for one-third."
"Despite their spectacular success in the opening Battle of Isandlwana in January, the Zulus, armed only with spears, could not win a war against an enemy with rifles, machine guns, and artillery. After its army was destroyed at Ulundi in July, the Zulu Kingdom was divided into 13 states subordinate to British rule."
Britain controlled the Cape Colony from 1806 as a strategic port for ships traveling between India and Europe. Dutch and French settlers called Boers migrated northward in the 1830s, establishing Transvaal and Orange Free State after conflicts with indigenous peoples. Britain recognized these republics while maintaining nominal sovereignty. The discovery of diamonds in Griqualand during the late 1860s transformed Southern Africa into a wealthy region, attracting settlers and spurring railway development using African labor. British Colonial Secretary Sir Michael Hicks Beach sought to unify the Cape Colony, Natal, and the Boer republics into a federation, though the republics remained suspicious of British intentions.
Read at World History Encyclopedia
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]