French and British Activities in Africa from the 1820s to 1880s.

In the 1820s the main European colonies in Africa were Portuguese Mozambique and
Angola in the south, the French settlement in coastal Senegal, and the British
possessions (in addition to South Africa) in Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast and.
Gambia.
Then the first big step in European colonisation was by the French in Algeria. Though
still under nominal Turkish suzerainty, Algeria was in practice ruled by local chiefs.
One of these, in 1827, insulted the French consul; and after failing to get an apology
the French sent an expeditionary force which captured Algiers in 1830. After some
indecision as to what to do next, the French embarked on a policy of further
conquest. Though strongly opposed by some of the Algerian chiefs, the conquest of
Algeria was virtually completed towards the end of the 1840s - and the Barbary
pirates at last quelled. Some 40,000 French colonists were settled there.
French rule was later extended into the Algerian Sahara, and a policy of
"assimilation' of Algeria to France adopted. In 1881, by when there were nearly
400,000 European settlers, Algeria became politically part of metropolitan France.
In 1881, also, the French invaded Tunisia from Algeria, and established a French
protectorate there.
Elsewhere in North Africa - Morocco remained independent, with the European
powers, chiefly Spain, France and Britain, from the middle of the century rivalling
each other in spreading their influence. The Spaniards extended their foothold on the
north coast in the 1860s.
In Cyrenaica and Tripolitania the power of the Senussi increased. By the 1880s they
had over 100 monasteries in North Africa and elsewhere. They were basicallv
peaceable and a civilising influence, but there were opposed to Europeans as being
incompatible with Islam - and also to the Turks as not fulfilling its precepts. The
Turks had to accept the authority of the Senussi over the Bedouin tribes of the
desert.
West Africa.
In Senegal the French started an advance into the interior in the 1850s, and Senegal
became an important base for further expansion into the Sudan and the extension of
French influence in West Africa generally. The French also started moving into
Dahomey from the coast in the 1880s.
The British throughout the 19th century were involved in a series of minor wars in
the Gold Coast with the Ashanti, who were not resigned to British influence, in the
coastal area. After an invasion of this area by the Ashanti in 1873, a British punitive
expedition destroyed the capital, Kumasi, and forced the Ashanti to agree to refrain
from further invasion of the coast.
In Nigeria the British - in order to stop the slave trade through the port of Lagos, and
to stop aggression from the King of Dahomey, captured Lagos in 1851, and it
became a British colony in 1861. British influence then spread in the Yoruba area of
Nigeria, and the British made efforts to stop the civil wars which had engulfed the
country since the breaking up of the Oyo empire. In the 1880s Nigeria became a
British protectorate.
Further south - on the equator the French in 1849 founded a colony for freed slaves
at Libreville in Gabon; and in the 1870S they started advancing into the interior of
this region.
On the other side of Africa the French acquired from the local sultan the port of Obok
in Somalia in 1862.
Egypt and the Eastern Sudan.
In 1869 European interest in Africa became focussed on Egypt, with the opening of
the Suez Canal (built under the direction of the French diplomat and engineer
Ferdinand de Lesseps). Egypt at this time, though still nominally under Turkish
suzerainty, was ruled by the Khedive (viceroy) Ismail, great grandson of Mohammecl
Ali. Ismail had many ambitious schemes, one of which was the conquest of the
southern part of the Egyptian (or Eastern) Sudan and the suppression of the slave
trade there. The northern part had been conquered by Mohnmmed Ali.
In 1870 Ismail commissioned the British explorer Samuel Baker to carry out this
conquest with Egvptian troops - which he did: and on the completion of Baker's 4-
year contract Ismail obtained the services of the British General Gordon as Governor
of the Sudan.
Ismail's foreign adventures, public works schemes, and personal
extravagance brought Egypt to financial collapse in 1875; and after an international
investigation her finances were placed under the joint control of Britain and France. A
nationalist movement then arose, and several years of turmoil culminated in 1882 in
serious riots, which resulted in Britain putting down the Nationalists by force. The
Khedive’s authority was restored, but Britain now effectively ruled Egypt.
The Liberal government in Britain did not wish to perpetuate this control, and
intended to withdraw British troops as soon as order and good government was
restored; but this policy was thwarted by events in the Sudan. General Gordon, after
5 years as Governor, during which he established firm military control and did much
to suppress the slave trade, resigned in 1879; and the Sudan reverted to an
oppressive Egyptian rule. In 1881 there was a formidable revolt led by Mohammed
Ahmed of Dongola, who claimed to be the Mahdi, or Messiah, destined to conquer
the world for Islam. An Egyptian army under the British Colonel Hicks was sent in
1883 to suppress the Mahdi - and was wiped out.
The British government, reluctant to extend British involvement, persuaded the
Egyptian government to abandon the Sudan, and sent Gordon there to evacuate the
Egyptian garrisons. Gordon began trying to arrange for the future settlement and
welfare of the Sudan after the evacuation; but his ideas were rejected by the Mahdi -
who then besieged the capital, Khartoum. Inspired by Gordon, the Egyptian troops
held out for 10 months; but in 1885 Khartoum fell, and Gordon and the garrison and
many of the inhabitants were massacred.
This disaster caused a demand in Britain for retribution and the restoration of British
prestige. The British withdrawal from Egypt was indefinitely postponed.