Episode 271 - Basutoland Gun War, Gold Coast and Ottoman Empire
About this episode
This episode discusses the Basutoland Gun War and its implications within the context of British imperialism in South Africa during the late 19th century.
The British had instigated a war in the Transvaal which fired off in early 1881, but they had already ignited another flashpoint - in Basutoland. This was a fascinating conflict, and it has modern overtones. For the new British government of Sir William Gladstone, the fact they had stimulated a simultaneous slew of conflicts in South Africa was more than irksome, it was expensive and ill-timed. While Britain was dealing with a humiliating setback against the Boers, it was struggling to enforce authority in Basutoland—highlighting how imperial control was both stretched and inconsistent in southern Africa. Following Basutoland's transformation into a British dominion on 12 March 1868, it became the target of rapid westernization efforts by the Cape Colony administration. By 1879, the Cape Parliament had extended the Peace Preservation Act to Basutoland, with the aim of disarming the people of the territory. This did not go down well. Guns, like horses, were of immense significance in Basotho society. Most Basotho who worked on the Kimberley Diamond fields bought both muskets, and later rifles, as well as Boer ponies and other horses before making their way home. What was going on…
More episodes of History of South Africa podcast
- Episode 272 - The Boers wring Major General Colley’s Column at Laing’s Nek
- Episode 270 - Kruger vs Black Michael and Courageous Women at the Battle of Bronkhorstspruit
- Episode 269 - Bapedi Chief Sekhukhune’s Cruel Fate and the Afrikaner Paradox
- Episode 268 - The Theodolite and the Hardepad: Thomas Bain’s Silent Mountain Pass Artisans
- Episode 267 - Betrayal at the End: Mnyamana, Cetshwayo’s Dutchman, and the Crushing of the Zulu Kingdom
- Episode 266: The Wakkerstroom Boer-Zulu Alliance and the death of Prince Napoleon
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