Son of Timur
Banned
A History of the Twentieth Century by Franz Olstein, Vienna Library, Vienna, Austria
Many historical documents in modern and past times tend to glaze over the Fashoda War, passing it as an unimportant colonial war. But those documents were wrong. It was more than that. Historians often believe that war between Britain and France was inevitable. It was not so.
Prior to this war, Anglo-French relations were heating up. The rapid rise of Germany and their defeat of the Second French Empire in the Franco-German War shocked the world. Unification and expansionism led to many to call it "the beginning of a new order." An unspoken alliance between the two was beginning to form. By the 1890s, a very different France and Britain emerged. In Britain, Francophilia was growing. In France, Anglophilia was growing. This mutual love was destroyed by the Fashoda War.
At the time, Britain ruled over Egypt. But Sudan was not. In the Treaty of Berlin, Africa was carved up into zones of influence. This treaty had several flaws. One reason was that control over several regions was unclear. Such a place was Sudan. The region was under both British and French zones of influence. As a result, when both nations wanted to colonize the region, a dispute over the control of Sudan emerged. This dispute began to spiral out of control as more and more French surveyors entered Sudan, into the town of Fashoda. Britain, rather than trying to solve the situation, sent their own surveyors. Soon enough, these surveyors met. Accompanying them were soldiers, lots of soldiers. One of them shot another in September 1898 and war began.
Bullets were fired. Britain decided to send troops into the region to secure the region. An undeclared war had broken out. Although many European powers wanted to intervene, Germany realized that an alliance with the British was in their interests. Hence, the Kaiser threatened all other European powers into ignoring the conflict. With no nations to intervene, the colonial war continued.
Britain decided to blockade any French ships headed toward Sudan. This extensive blockade led the French to end the primarily useless war in favour of the British. Surveyors and military officials were recalled to France while Egypt and Sudan were abandoned to the British.
The war would have some long-last effects. Britain looked to Germany for an alliance. Their empire would help them against the perceived enemy France. In this way, Britain effectively entered the Triple Alliance with Germany, Austro-Hungary, and the Ottomans in 1901. This "Quadruple Alliance" was directly opposed to the pre-established Franco-Russian alliance. The stage of a global war was set.
Many historical documents in modern and past times tend to glaze over the Fashoda War, passing it as an unimportant colonial war. But those documents were wrong. It was more than that. Historians often believe that war between Britain and France was inevitable. It was not so.
Prior to this war, Anglo-French relations were heating up. The rapid rise of Germany and their defeat of the Second French Empire in the Franco-German War shocked the world. Unification and expansionism led to many to call it "the beginning of a new order." An unspoken alliance between the two was beginning to form. By the 1890s, a very different France and Britain emerged. In Britain, Francophilia was growing. In France, Anglophilia was growing. This mutual love was destroyed by the Fashoda War.
At the time, Britain ruled over Egypt. But Sudan was not. In the Treaty of Berlin, Africa was carved up into zones of influence. This treaty had several flaws. One reason was that control over several regions was unclear. Such a place was Sudan. The region was under both British and French zones of influence. As a result, when both nations wanted to colonize the region, a dispute over the control of Sudan emerged. This dispute began to spiral out of control as more and more French surveyors entered Sudan, into the town of Fashoda. Britain, rather than trying to solve the situation, sent their own surveyors. Soon enough, these surveyors met. Accompanying them were soldiers, lots of soldiers. One of them shot another in September 1898 and war began.
Bullets were fired. Britain decided to send troops into the region to secure the region. An undeclared war had broken out. Although many European powers wanted to intervene, Germany realized that an alliance with the British was in their interests. Hence, the Kaiser threatened all other European powers into ignoring the conflict. With no nations to intervene, the colonial war continued.
Britain decided to blockade any French ships headed toward Sudan. This extensive blockade led the French to end the primarily useless war in favour of the British. Surveyors and military officials were recalled to France while Egypt and Sudan were abandoned to the British.
The war would have some long-last effects. Britain looked to Germany for an alliance. Their empire would help them against the perceived enemy France. In this way, Britain effectively entered the Triple Alliance with Germany, Austro-Hungary, and the Ottomans in 1901. This "Quadruple Alliance" was directly opposed to the pre-established Franco-Russian alliance. The stage of a global war was set.
