British Africa

I was thinking the other day that its too bad Africa is so divided and messed up. I mean its minerally very wealthy its people are just as industrious as any other, so being a fan of AH I got to thinking. "If only there was some way for that minerally wealthy continent to have become united and/or better governed?" But what am I thinking of course there is after all look at what the British did for India.

India is not all that minerally wealthy, but they have a functioning democratic government and a good shot at becoming an economic superpower in the coming century. But before the British ousted her European rivals from the subcontinent, India was divided between many rulers who were often in conflict with one another, until Britain became powerful enough to impose a central authority on all of India.

So WI Britain was able to do for Africa what she did for India only on a grander scale?

POD Aug. 1914 German armies roll through Belgium and Holland(Pure Von Schielfinn no changes). The RN(which was manuevering upon the outbreak of hostilities)is already in position for what would become known as Flashman's Manuever. RN's battlecruisers were grouped into a special advanced force tasked with bombarding the German fleet and its facilities in a pre dawn surprise attack. Once dawn broke, the battlecruisers were to make haste north and lure any major German units in pursuit right into the midst of the main RN battlefleet.

Even before the formal declaration of war by Britain the battlecruisers were heading south. At 3:00 AM local time the battlecruisers HMS Lion fired the first broadside into the graving docks and ships lying at anchor in Keil harbor. It being nighttime visibility was of course poor and many shots found only the sea but several found there target and before the initially action was over a German dreadnought and several battlecruisers were lying on the bottom of the harbor.

As dawn approached the battlecruisers began their withdraw, seeing this the German Admiral ordered an immediate pursuit hoping to run down the enemy and gain vengeance for his battered fleet. Several hours in the pursuit something seemed a miss to the German admiral however, the British battlecruisers could easily outrun his battlefleet biut seemed to be staying only steady distance ahead. Mentioning this to his second-in-command the younger German responded saying that he was not surprised as the British must have had to use most of their coal in racing from the North Sea into the Baltic so quickly. Contenting himself with the reply, the Admiral continued pursuit but only for a short while longer, because the British warships suddenly turned as to give battle. Strange as it may seem as the RN ships were hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned and certainly out armoured against his ships most of which were undamaged by the British bombardment. But his enemies logic would soon become clear.

Upon the reception of a pre-determined signal from the battlecruisers Admiral John Jellicoe gave his force the command all had been waiting for. The order was to turn west before turing back north too surrounded the German fleet pursuing the battlecruisers in an epic naval version of Cannae.

The German Admiral felt his throat tighten as he received the report that the British Home Fleet had emerged in his rear. He was now cut off from home by a superior force. Upon the request of orders from his ships Captains he simply said "there is nothing to do but fight and die".
 
Upon receiving the telegram that informed him that his beloved High Seas Fleet had been sent to the bottom of the Baltic Sea, Kaiser Wilhelm II flew into an uncontrollable rage for hours pacing up and down the halls of his Potsdam Palace cursing and crying uncontrollably for hours. However as devastating as the loss may seem to the Kaiser, Germany was still fighting a war against her sworn enemy, France. And Germany did indeed appear to be winning that fight.

The Front

Not all had gone to plan but nothing ever really does in this kinda of business lamented Von Moltke as he strolled into the hall of mirrors in the Palace of Versaille. He had taken the French capital Paris only after bloody street fighting but the government had removed to Bourdeux and appeared willing to continue the fight. The French people certainly had the will, but they would need more than that, they would need more than an obstinate government as well.

The Battle

The situation presented the French Army was dire indeed, the German high Command long before the war had been able to predict the French strategy of lunging at Alsace and Lorraine and been prepared for it. While the attack may have carried them to the Rhine they now had to some to grips with the thought that another war maybe lost. Paris had fallen amnd the French armies faced a perilous situation envelopment appeared likely. There were two courses of action open to the French General staff withdraw to the south or fight a major action to the south and east of Paris in an attempt to blunt the German juggernaut and then counterattack at a decisive point and force the Germans back. Though the odds were long French General Staff could count some facts on their side. For one the German army was deep in enemy territory and therefore had long tenous suppy lines, secondly the Germans had been marching for weeks, thirdly the French supply situation was much better being close to their supply depots however this advantage would only last a short while as the Germans had overrun France's industrial regions and cut them off from direct British assistance via the Channel all supplies from Britain would now come from Marsielle and Bordeux.
 
The Situation

"Oh well" and with a sigh Lord Kitchener closed the note informing him of the disaster that had befallen France her General's had hoped the coiuld drive back the German juggernaut but achieved nothing but bloody repulse after bloody repulse. "The Germans are masters of the continent", "but we are masters of the sea".

The Future

It was decided with France out of the war that Britain would persue an over seas policy of gobbling up all of Germany's colonies and the colonies of her allies and victims as well. This the greater portion of the world outside Europe fell to Britannia. And there it would remain for the next 50 years before after the final 5 year defeat of Germany following the 20 year armistice and her disasterous war against the Grand Alliance (United States, Russia, United Kingdom).
 
Hrmm. I'm not sure a British Africa would be that much better; Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, etc. are hardly first world nations.
 
It would make no real difference. The British treated different areas of Africa very differently, and unlike India there is no economic reason for providing it with a unitary government, which would probably have been beyond Britain's resources, and really, how would such a monstrosity function? How would you arrange transportation? India at least had a common cultural sphere - Africa is ginormous and full of incredibly diverse cultures and peoples. Plus, you'd have to hand-wave away the entire mindset of the imperial powers.

Probably the best solution would have been to leave Africa alone. Maybe a little better would have been to form protectorates over existing African polities rather than destroying them all and replacing them with arbitrary administrative boundaries. For instance, if the British had defended the integrity of Zanzibar, a lot of Eastern Africa would likely have developed a native state. Bornu is another that made sense, and maybe even a unitary Egypt-Sudan.
 
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