Example research essay topic: Boer War British People - 1,054 words

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Europe's colonization of Africa ended in the rape of the Dark Continent for its natural resources to support their continuing and growing industrialization. They divvied the land with no regards for the cultural, religious, or linguistic divisions between people living there, forming incredibly powerful tensions throughout the populace. The European leaders committed these questionable acts under the guise of bringing civilization to the backward and unenlightened natives, freeing them from slavery, only to enter into a different form, known as wage labor. The Berlin Conference of 1884 personified one of the core ideas of New Imperialism, free trade, and supported economic liberty for all, yet it caused strife between the colonizing powers, leading to several conflicts regarding control of the locales of African resources.

Perhaps the most famous of the African imperialist conflicts is the Boer War, between the British controlled Cape Colony and Afrikaner controlled Transvaal and Orange Free State. Boer is a Dutch word meaning farmer, which mostly composed the colonies populations. The farmers were rather xenophobic, and reluctant to allow entrance to foreigners, especially those seeking profit and riches. Thus, when Transvaal discovered diamonds and gold within its borders, a problem arose due to the British lust for this territory. The British people and government wished to capitalize upon this, but access to the mines was denied by the Transvaal when they decided to restrict the corporations and individuals allowed entrance. Outrage quickly spread across the British people, and Cecil Rhodes, the famous imperialist, launched a misfit campaign into the Transvaal under authority of Dr.

Jameson in 1895. The raid failed, and simply caused more hatred against the British for being mean to powers smaller than themselves. In 1899, the British Empire entered into war against the Transvaal and Orange Free State, eventually subduing the two republics and merging them with Cape Colony and Natal to form the Union of South Africa. The farmers were clever and employed guerilla tactics, but finally fell before the brutal British campaign. This series of armed conflicts with reluctant neighbors demonstrated the means and motive behind British sentiment, and revealed how far they would go to achieve their goals. A year before the Boer War was the Fashoda Crisis, not a bloody affair, yet it carried nearly the same weight as the Boer War, as well as showing what free trade really meant.

Captain J. B. Marchand was a French explorer who was working under orders of the French government to raise the tricolor flag of France above the yet uncontrolled areas of Northern Africa. The French were attempting to fulfill their desire for a belt of French controlled territories that would stretch from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea. In order to gain control over a protectorate, the colonizers had to demonstrate effective occupation over the area, meaning that the administrative and economic infrastructure must be functioning satisfactorily and allow for sufficiency. The British, however, were developing a strip of control from the Mediterranean to the Cape of Good Hope, led by the British army officer General Kitchener and a band of troops.

Both Kitchener and Marchand met at Fashoda, marking the start of the political showdown that would decide the more determined imperialist country. Fashoda was located in the generally European Egyptian Sudan, and served as a crossroads for imperial desires. Both Britain and France had been vying previously for Morocco and Egypt, creating tensions that would heighten the levels of stress regarding Fashoda. Each held their ground, until the British began to threaten violence for control of the Egyptian Sudan.

France backed down because of problems in Europe, and thus Britain was free to capture Fashoda, assisting in the establishment of a British belt of control, and causing an utmost contempt of Britain to cross Frances people. The Fashoda crisis signified the levels that Europeans were willing to reach in order to ascertain control of a region not so economically prosperous compared to other lands. The powers of Europe voiced a concern for the economic liberties of Africa, yet acted only in self-interest, wishing for nothing more than a shift of power in their direction. The earliest recognized conflict of interests and men in Africa occurred not amongst European powers, but between Britain and the Semites. The Semites were the Muslim people whose geographic origin lies in the Arabian Peninsula, later to be named the Moors. The Semitic invaders operated mainly in the northeast of Africa, closest to their own lands.

Their interests spread out into Egyptian Sudan, where the siege of Khartoum took place. Khartoum was under a British protectorate, and was occupied by the famous British general Chinese Gordon when the Muslims struck. Chinese Gordon was actually known as Charles Gordon, but received his Chinese title as a result of his military success there. Both Britain and the Moors wanted control over Khartoum, as it lay upon the Nile River, but the Moors emerged victorious after their bloody siege.

In his final news dispatch, Times writer Frank Power recalled events during the siege, and comment on how The negroes are the only men we can depend on. (Power) He says this as he had witnessed a black soldier slay three Arabs with his sword, the Arabs in the process of slaughtering the ineffective white men. The Moors held an interest in the economic possibilities contained within Africa, but mainly colonized in the name of Islam, trying to proselytize as many natives as possible. Though the Berlin Conference did not contain any Moorish interests, they still held an active hand in Africa. The irony of the colonization efforts is that Africa contained very little in terms of economic prosperity, yet was rich in resources. Countries would continue to strive for small portions of land that contained almost nothing at all, because imperialist tendencies mandated such. It was widely held throughout the governments that the more land you should control, the more powerful you were.

This may hold true with military outposts, but many of the spots were ridiculous places to fight for, resources or not. Overall, the general sentiment of Europe held the same: The more territories controlled, the more power was wielded, and all the land was better than none, no matter what the worth. Works Cited Power, Frank. Siege of Khartoum. web 55385, 00. html.

April 12, 2001.

Research essay sample on Boer War British People