Fashoda+Crisis

The Fashoda crisis was a major conflict between the French and the British over land located at the Upper Nile Valley in Africa, that ultimately influenced the start of a union between France and Great Britain during the First world War, through a diplomatic alliance called the Entente Cordial, ultimately causing mutual dislike toward the Central Powers, including Germany and Austria-Hungary.
 * //Johannes//**

By 1890, Europe’s empires had occupied the majority of Africa. However one region that remained unconquered was the Upper Nile Valley. The scramble for this area involved two powerful empires, France and Great Britain. The British desired an African empire that stretched from Capetown in South Africa to Cairo in Egypt. This would therefore include the area in the Upper Nile Valley. The French imperialists, however also, wanted a trans-African empire reaching from the Sengali capital, Dakar, in the west to the Red Sea area of Djibouti in the east. This would once again cross through the Upper Nile Valley, thus forcing to the French to conquer the region.

The British set out to conquer the Upper Nile Valley in 1885, however the people of the Nile Valley were able to conduct a rebellion that last ten years. Eventually in 1895, the only authority remaining in this area was a British post located near the Red Sea. At the same time, the French still enraged over the British occupation of Egypt in 1882, began to assemble a military expedition to the Upper Nile Valley. However, by 1895 the British parliament declared that the entire Nile Valley belonged to the British. This further urged the French to conquer the Nile Valley and therefore by the end of the year, the race between the two European powers for the conquest of the Upper Nile Valley was on.

After four entire months the French were finally able to reach the Congo River and following six more month they reached the Jur River, a river in South Sudan. Due to the dry conditions the river was shallow and the French were therefore forced to remain in South Sudan for an entire year since they were unable to navigate through the river. Ultimately, on July 10th, 1898 they reached the Upper Nile Valley. However the British arrived, shortly after, and due to the French having a smaller army then the British, they were forced to give the British the land. On November 3rd 1889, the French government ordered their army in the Upper Nile Valley to withdraw.

Many historians argue that even though the Fashoda crises, led Great Britain and France to the verge of war it ended in a strategic victory for Britain and therefore was able to provide the basis for the Entente Cordiale, a military alliance between France and Great Britain signed in 1904. Furthermore historians argue that the simple diplomatic solution was ultimately the so called, “precursor” of the Entente Cordiale,.

The defeat in the Upper Nile Valley greatly embarrassed the French, however the French were more aggravated about their loss of French territory to Germany. Therefore the French were rather looking for revenge against the Germans over the British and therefore put their anger aside and signed the Entente Cordial.