The Fashoda Incident

• Both Britain and France hoped to consolidate their existence in their current colonies
• For Britain, this would mean securing a line of territory from South Africa to Egypt, on which to build a railway line, ‘Cape to Cairo’ and this was planned by the imperialist Cecil Rhodes
• France meanwhile, aimed to expand its influence eastward from its colonies in the West of Africa
• These two policies clashed in the Sudan in 1898

  ▪ The French and British sent troops to Sudan to protect their claim

  ▪ In the town of Fashoda, on the River Nile, the two sides met

  ▪ They didn’t engage and France realised that Britain’s superior navy would mean a British victory

  ▪ Both sides backed down and in March 1899 the two powers agreed on their boundaries
• The Fashoda incident marked the last major Anglo-Franco colonial clash

  ▪ The incident led to the Entente Cordiale, a ‘friendly alliance’ in 1904