Africa

Nyanza to the frontiers of the Congo Free State, on the west by the Congo

Free State and the western watershed of the Nile, and on the north by a

line commencing on the coast at the north bank of the mouth of the river

Juba, then ascending that bank of the river until it reached the territory

at that time regarded as reserved to the influence of Italy13 in Gallaland

and Abyssinia, when it followed the frontier of the Italian sphere to the

confines of Egypt. To the south-west of the German sphere in East Africa

the boundary was formed by the eastern and northern shore of Lake Nyasa,

and round the western shore to the mouth of the Songwe river, from which

point it crossed the Nyasa-Tanganyika plateau to the southern end of the

last-named lake,

Limits of German East Africa defined.

leaving the Stevenson Road on the British side of the boundary. The effect

of this treaty was to remove all serious causes of dispute about territory

between Germany and Great Britain in East Africa. It rendered quite

valueless Peters's treaty with Mwanga and his promenade along the Tana; it

freed Great Britain from any fear of German competition to the northwards,

and recognized that her influence extended to the western limits of the

Nile valley. But, on the other hand, Great Britain had to relinquish the

ambition of connecting her sphere of influence in the Nile valley with her

possessions in Central and South Africa. On this point Germany was quite

obdurate; and, as already stated, an attempt subsequently made (May 1894)

to secure this object by the lease of a strip of territory from the Congo

Free State was frustrated by German opposition.

Uganda having thus been assigned to the British sphere of influence by

the only European power in a position to contest its possession with her,

the subsequent history of that region, and of the country between the

Victoria Nyanza and the coast, must be traced in the articles on BRITISH

EAST AFRICA and UGANDA, but it may be well briefly to record here the

following facts:—The Imperial British East Africa Company, finding the

burden of administration too heavy for its financial resources, and not

receiving the assistance it felt itself entitled to receive from the

imperial authorities, intimated that it would be compelled to withdraw at

the end of the year 1892. Funds were raised to enable the company to

continue its administration until the end of March 1893, and a strong

public protest against evacuation compelled the government to determine in

favour of the retention of the country. In January 1893 Sir Gerald Portal

left the coast as a special commissioner to inquire into the ``best means

of dealing with the country, whether through Zanzibar or otherwise.'' On

the 31st of March the union jack was raised, and on the 29th of May a fresh

treaty was concluded with King Mwanga placing his country under British

protection. A formal protectorate was declared over Uganda proper on the

19th of June 1894, which was subsequently extended so as to include the

countries westwards towards the Congo Free State, eastwards to the British

East Africa protectorate and Abyssinia, and northwards to the Anglo-

Egyptian Sudan. The British East Africa protectorate was constituted in

June 1895, when the Imperial British East Africa Company relinquished all

its rights in exchange for a money payment, and the administration was

assumed by the imperial authorities. On the 1st of April 1902 the eastern

province of the Uganda protectorate was transferred to the British East

Africa protectorate, which thus secured control of the whole length of the

so-called Uganda railway, and at the same time obtained access to the

Victoria Nyanza.

Early in the 'eighties, as already seen, Italy had obtained her first

formal footing on the African coast at the Bay of Assab

Italy in East Africa.

(Aussa) on the Red Sea. In 1885 the troubles in which Egypt found herself

involved compelled the khedive and his advisers to loosen their hold on the

Red Sea littoral, and, with the tacit approval of Great Britain, Italy took

possession of Massawa and other ports on that coast. By 1888 Italian

influence had been extended from Ras Kasar on the north to the northern

frontier of the French colony of Obok on the south, a distance of some 650

m. The interior limits of Italian influence were but ill defined, and the

negus Johannes (King John) of Abyssinia viewed with anything but a

favourable eye the approach of the Italians towards the Abyssinian

highlands. In January 1887 an Italian force was almost annihilated at

Dogali, but the check only served to spur on the Italian government to

fresh efforts.

The Italians occupied Keren and Asmara in the highlands, and eventually,

in May 1889, concluded a treaty of peace and friendship with the negus

Menelek, who had seized the throne on the death of Johannes, killed in

battle with the dervishes in March of the same year. This agreement, known

as the treaty of Uccialli, settled the frontiers between Abyssinia and the

Italian sphere, and contained the following article:—

XVII. His Majesty the King of Kings of Ethiopia consents to avail himself

of the Italian government for any negotiations which he may enter into with

the other powers or governments.

In Italy and by other European governments this article was generally

regarded as establishing an Italian protectorate over Abyssinia; but this

interpretation was never accepted by the emperor Menelek, and at no time

did Italy succeed in establishing any very effective control over

Abyssinian affairs. North of the Italian coast sphere the Red Sea littoral

was still under Egyptian rule, while immediately to the south a small

stretch of coast on the Gulf of Tajura constituted the sole French

possession on the East African mainland (see SOMALILAND.) Moreover, when

Egyptian claims to the Somali coast were withdrawn, Great Britain took the

opportunity to establish her influence on the northern Somali coast,

opposite Aden. Between the 1st of May 1884 and the 15th of March 1886 ten

treaties were concluded, placing under British influence the northern

Somali coast from Ras Jibuti on the west to Bandar Ziada on the east. In

the meantime Italy, not content with her acquisitions on the Red Sea, had

been concluding treaties with the Somali chiefs on the east coast. The

first treaty was made with the sultan of Obbia on the 8th of February 1889.

Later in the same year the British East Africa Company transferred to

Italy—the transference being subsequently approved by the sultan of

Zanzibar—the ports of Brava, Marka, Mukdishu and Warsheik, leased from

Zanzibar. On the 24th of March 1891 an agreement between Italy and Great

Britain fixed the northern bank of the Juba up to latitude 6 deg. N. as the

southern boundary of Italian influence in Somaliland, the boundary being

provisionally prolonged along lines of latitude and longitude to the

intersection of the Blue Nile with 35 deg. E. longitude. On the 15th of

April 1891 a further agreement fixed the northern limit of the Italian

sphere from Ras Kasar on the Red Sea to the point on the Blue Nile just

mentioned. By this agreement Italy was to have the right temporarily to

occupy Kassala, which was left in the Anglo-Egyptian sphere, in trust for

Egypt—a right of which she availed herself in 1894. To complete the work of

delimitation the British and Italian governments, on the 5th of May 1894,

fixed the boundary of the British sphere of influence in Somaliland from

the Anglo-French boundary, which had been settled in February 1888.

But while Great Britain was thus lending her sanction to Italy's

ambitious schemes, the Abyssinian emperor was becoming more and more

incensed at Italy's pretensions to exercise a protectorate over Ethiopia.

In 1893 Menelek denounced the treaty of Uccialli, and eventually, in a

great battle, fought at Adowa on the 1st of March 1896, the Italians were

disastrously defeated. By the subsequent treaty of Adis Ababa, concluded on

the 26th of October 1896, the whole of the country to the

The independence of Abyssinia recognized.

south of the Mareb, Belesa and Muna rivers was restored to Abyssinia, and

Italy acknowledged the absolute independence of Abyssinia. The effect of

this was practically to destroy the value of the Anglo-Italian agreement as

to the boundaries to the south and west of Abyssinia; and negotiations were

afterwards set on foot between the emperor Menelek and his European

neighbours with the object of determining the Abyssinian frontiers. Italian

Somaliland, bordering on the south-eastern frontier of Abyssinia, became

limited to a belt of territory with a depth inland from the Indian Ocean of

from 180 to 250 m. The negotiations concerning the frontier lasted until

1908, being protracted over the question as to the possession of Lugh, a

town on the Juba, which eventually fell to Italy. After the battle of Adowa

the Italian government handed over he administration of the southern part

of the country to the enadir Company, but in January 1905 the government

resumed control and at the same time transformed the leasehold rights it

held from the sultan of Zanzibar into sovereign rights by the payment to

the sultan of L. 144,000. To facilitate her communications with the

interior, Italy also secured from the British government the lease of a

small area of land immediately to the north of Kismayu. In British

Somaliland the frontier fixed by agreement with Italy in 1894 was modified,

in so far as it marched with Abyssinian territory, by an agreement which

Sir Rennell Rodd concluded with the emperor Menelek in 1897. The effect of

this agreement was to reduce the area of British Somaliland from 75,000 to

68,000 sq. m. In the same year France concluded an agreement with the

emperor, which is known to have fixed the frontier of the French Somali

Coast protectorate at a distance of 90 kilometres (56 m.) from the coast.

The determination of the northern, western and southern limits of Abyssinia

proved a more difficult matter. A treaty of July 1900 followed by an

agreement of November 1901 defined the boundaries of Eritrea on the side of

Abyssinia and the Sudan respectively. In certain details the boundaries

thus laid down were modified by an Anglo-Italian-Abyssinian treaty signed

at Adis Ababa on the 15th of May 1902. On the same day another treaty was

signed at the Abyssinian capital by Sir John Harrington, the British

minister plenipotentiary, and the emperor Menelek, whereby the western, or

Sudan-Abyssinian, frontier was defined as far south as the intersection of

6 deg. N. and 35 deg. E. Within the British sphere were left the Atbara up

to Gallabat, the Blue Nile up to Famaka and the Sobat up to the junction of

the Baro and Pibor. While not satisfying Abyssinian claims to their full

extent, the frontier laid down was on the whole more favourable to

Abyssinia than was the line fixed in the Anglo-Italian agreement of 1891.

On the other hand, Menelek gave important economic guarantees and

concessions to the Sudan government.

In Egypt the result of the abolition of the Dual Control was to make

British influence virtually predominant, though theoretically Turkey

remained the suzerain power; and after the reconquest of the Sudan by the

Anglo-Egyptian army a convention between the British and Egyptian

governments was signed at Cairo on the 19th of January 1899, which, inter

alia, provided for the joint use of the British and Egyptian flags in the

territories south of the 22nd parallel of north latitude. From the

international point of view the British position in Egypt was strengthened

by the Anglo-French declaration of the 8th of April 1904. For some time

previously there had been

The Anglo-French agreements of April 1904.

a movement on both sides of the Channel in favour of the settlement of a

number of important questions in which British and French interests were

involved. The movement was no doubt strengthened by the desire to reduce to

their least dimensions the possible causes of trouble between the two

countries at a time when the outbreak of hostilities between Russia (the

ally of France) and Japan (the ally of Great Britain) rendered the European

situation peculiarly delicate. On the 8th of April 1904 there was signed in

London by the British foreign secretary, the marquess of Lansdowne, and the

French ambassador, M. Paul Cambon, a series of agreements relating to

several parts of the globe. Here we are concerned only with the joint

declaration respecting Egypt and Morocco and a convention relating, in

part, to British and French frontiers in West Africa. The latter we shall

have occasion to refer to later. The former, notwithstanding the

declarations embodied in it that there was ``no intention of altering the

political status'' either of Egypt or of Morocco, cannot be ignored in any

account of the partition in Africa. With regard to Egypt the French

government declared ``that they will not obstruct the action of Great

Britain in that country by asking that a limit of time be fixed for the

British occupation or in any other manner.'' France also assented—as did

subsequently the other powers interested—to a khedivial decree simplifying

the international control exercised by the Caisse de la Dette over the

finances of Egypt.

In order to appreciate aright that portion of the declaration relating to

Morocco it is necessary to say a few words about the course of French

policy in North-West Africa. In Tunisia the work of strengthening the

protectorate established in 1881 had gone steadily forward; but it was in

Algeria that the extension of French influence had been most marked. The

movement of expansion southwards was inevitable. With the progress of

exploration it became increasingly evident that the Sahara constituted no

insurmountable barrier between the French possessions in North and West

Central Africa. But France had not only the hope of placing Algeria in

touch with the Sudan to spur her forward. To consolidate her position in

North-West Africa she desired to make French influence supreme in Morocco.

The relations between the two countries did not favour the realization of

that ambition. The advance southwards of the French forces of occupation

evoked loud protests from the Moorish government, particularly with regard

to the occupation in 1900-1901 of the Tuat Oases. Under the Franco-Moorish

treaty of 1845 the frontier between Algeria and Morocco was defined from

the Mediterranean coast as far south as the pass of Teniet el Sassi, in

about 34 deg. N.; beyond that came a zone in which no frontier was defined,

but in which the tribes and desert villages (ksurs) belonging to the

respective spheres of influence were named; while south of the desert

villages the treaty stated that in view of the character of the country

``the delimitation of it would be superfluous.'' Though the frontier was

thus left undefined, the sultan maintained that in her advance southwards

France had trespassed on territories that unmistakably belonged to Morocco.

After some negotiation, however, a protocol was signed in Paris on

France's privileged position in Morocco.

the 20th of July 1901, and commissioners appointed to devise measures for

the co-operation of the French and Moorish authorities in the maintenance

of peaceful conditions in the frontier region. It was reported that in

April 1902 the commissioners signed an agreement whereby the Sharifan

government undertook to consolidate its authority on the Moorish side of

the frontier as far south as Figig. The agreement continued: ``Le

Gouvernement francais, en raison de son voisinage, lui pretera son appui,

en cas de besoin. Le Gouvernement francais etablira son autorite et la paix

dans les regions du Sahara, et le Gouvernement marocain, son voisin, lui

aidera de tout son pouvoir.'' Meanwhile in the northern districts of

Morocco the conditions of unrest under the rule of the young sultan, Abd el

Aziz IV., were attracting an increasing amount of attention in Europe and

were calling forth demands for their suppression. It was in these

circumstances that in the Anglo-French declaration of April 1904 the

British government recognized ``that it appertains to France, more

particularly as a power whose dominions are conterminous for a great

distance with those of Morocco, to preserve order in that country, and to

provide assistance for the purpose of all administrative, economic,

financial and military reforms which it may require.'' Both parties to the

declaration, ``inspired by their feeling of sincere friendship for Spain,

take into special consideration the interests which that country derives

from her geographical position and from her territorial possessions on the

Moorish coast of the Mediterranean. In regard to these interests the French

government will come to an understanding with the Spanish government.'' The

understanding thus foreshadowed was reached later in the same year, Spain

securing a sphere of interest on the Mediterranean coast. In pursuance of

the policy marked out in the Anglo-French declaration, France was seeking

to strengthen her influence in Morocco when in 1905 the attitude of Germany

seriously affected her position. On the 8th of July France secured from the

German government formal ``recognition of the situation created for France

in Morocco by the contiguity of a vast extent of territory of Algeria and

the Sharifan empire, and by the special relations resulting therefrom

between the two adjacent countries, as well as by the special interest for

France, due to this fact, that order should reign in the Sharifan Empire.''

Finally, in January-April 1906, a conference of the powers was held at

Algeciras to devise, by invitation of the sultan, a scheme of reforms to be

introduced into Morocco (q.v..) French capital was allotted a larger share

than that of any other power in the Moorish state bank which it was decided

to institute, and French and Spanish officers were entrusted with the

organization of a police force for the maintenance of order in the

principal coast towns. The new regime had not been fully inaugurated,

however, when a series of outrages led, in 1907, to the military occupation

by France of Udja, a town near the Algerian frontier, and of the port of

Casablanca on the Atlantic coast of Morocco.

It only remains to be noted, in connexion with the story of French

activity in North-West Africa, that with such energy was the penetration of

the Sahara pursued that in April 1904 flying columns from Insalah and

Timbuktu met by arrangement in mid-desert, and in the following year it was

deemed advisable to indicate on the maps the boundary between the Algerian

and French West African territories.

Brief reference must be made to the position of Tripoli. While Egypt was

brought under British control and Tunisia became a French protectorate,

Tripoli remained a province of the Turkish empire with undefined frontiers

in the hinterland, a state of affairs which more than once threatened to

lead to trouble with France during the expansion of the latter's influence

in the Sahara. As already stated, Italy early gave evidence that it was her

ambition to succeed to the province, and, not only by the sultan of Turkey

but in Italy also, the Anglo-French declaration of March 1899, respecting

the limits of the British and French spheres of influence in north Central

Africa, was viewed with some concern. By means of a series of public

utterances on the part of French and Italian statesmen in the winter 1901-

1902 it

Italy's interest in Tripoli.

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