Imperialist Conquest of North Africa upto 1914

Imperialist Conquest of North Africa upto 1914:

Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco:

France conquered Algeria in 1830. It was situated on the North Coast of Africa and provided her with a vast market. England, France and Italy signed an agreement in 1878. France agreed upon the British occupation over the island of Cyprus. England allowed France to occupy Tunisia. Later on, France occupied Cyprus. As per the agreement of 1900, France occupied Morocco and Italy occupied Cyrenaica and Tripoli. The agreement of 1904 gave Egypt to England and Morocco to France. Germany got enraged since she was not made a party in the agreement. Hence France agreed to appease Germany and give her 2,50,000 square kilometres in French Congo. Spain got a part of Morocco. France set up her protectorate over Morocco in 1912.

Egypt:

In the 19th century, Egypt was ruled by a Pasha (representative of the Turkish Sultan). England had strengthened her hold in Egypt. When the Suez Canal was completed in 1869, the English and the French purchased a large number of shares of the Suez Canal. Thus they increased their joint hold over Egypt due to the Pasha’s financial weakness. The Egyptians revolted in 1882. Britain alone quelled the revolt and practically occupied Egypt. Restoration of law and order and protection of the Suez Canal were the reasons given for the military intervention in Egypt. England announced that she would withdraw her troops as soon as the order was restored. After the revolt was suppressed, Egypt came under British control. In 1914, when the First World War started England announced that Egypt was no longer a Turkish province but a British protectorate. The Egyptians never reconciled themselves to the British conquest. After the war was over, the leaders of Egypt started for the Paris Peace Conference to plead the case of Egypt, but they were arrested. In 1922, though she still retained her rights over the Suez and many other concessions. Britain was forced to recognize Egypt as an independent sovereign state.

Sudan:

Sudan, or what was earlier known as Egyptian Sudan, was jointly exploited by Egypt and Britain. A Sudanese leader who had proclaimed himself the Mahdi had in the 1880s succeeded in overthrowing Egyptian and British control over Sudan. His army had defeated Egyptian and British troops succeeded in recapturing Sudan after a long and bloody war in which 20,000 Sudanese troops, including the successor of the Mahdi, were killed. Sudan came under Britsh rule. The French at this time tried to occupy southern parts of Sudan but were forced to withdraw by the British. France, however, was given a free hand to extend its control over what was known as western Sudan and the Sahara. France occupied these areas after a long war of conquest. With these gains, France was able to connect her equatorial conquests with her west and North African conquests.