The Anglo-Zulu war effectively ended an autonomous Zulu kingdom and forced the territory and its people into South Africa’s white settler-dominated capitalist political economy. On December 11, 1878, the British high commissioner, Sir Bartle Frere, sparked the war by giving the Zulu monarch, Cetshwayo KaMpande, with an impossible ultimatum demanding the dismantling of his country. Cetshwayo was forced to refuse the excessive demands.
Following this, British and Natal soldiers invaded Zululand on January 12, 1879, on the pretext of boundary violations and Cetshwayo’s unwillingness to comply with the ultimatum. The destruction of Cetshwayo’s royal residence on July 4, 1879, and his arrest on August 28 of that same year marked the end of the conflict for the British.
The overthrow of the Zulu monarchy, the political separation of the region, and the stationing of a British resident there later helped the British establish their rule over the Zulu. British dominance culminated with the absorption of the former monarchy in 1887.
The conflict is a textbook example of British imperial involvement motivated by big colonial goals but prompted by local circumstances. Additionally, it remained a defining feature of the imperial conflict with major African powers and was responsible for some of the most outstanding military successes and failures in colonial Africa.
However, the postwar colonial settlement was a strategy that stood out for having a similarly striking Machiavellian element. It benefited British interests to fracture Zululand and divide the last remnants of the kingdom against one another.
Prior to 1879, the Zulu kingdom posed a challenge to Natal and imperial colonial ambitions in southeast Africa. A growing Natal settler population made an attempt to move north in search of resources they believed the Zulu kingdom to possess, including land and labor.
Additionally, by the 1870s, Natal authorities were extremely confident in their capacity to govern Africans using the indirect rule system Sir Theophilus Shepstone, secretary for native affairs, had developed. An almost neurotic fear of the Zulu military might however temper this confidence. The colonial legend of Zulu military superiority, which dates back to Shaka’s time and the founding of the kingdom in the 1820s, contributed significantly to the spread of this dread.
However, the convergence of Natal demands and colonial intentions was what sparked the conflict. In addition to posing a danger to Zulu interests, the establishment of the Boer republic in the northwesterly Transvaal and its incursion into Zulu territory also raised questions for the British government, which wanted to keep the republicans in check and safeguard Natal’s direct access into the interior.
Shepstone saw the Zulu monarchy and military system as a threat, as did many of the British officials he influenced. Frere was also keen to create a confederation of Boer and British areas in order to unify the white state and implement a consistent policy for Africans inside it, notwithstanding his disagreements with neighboring African republics. So far as fearful colonial authorities and calculating imperial agents were concerned, the invasion and annexation of Zululand were “inevitable.”
More than 17,000 soldiers entered Zululand under the direction of Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Thesiger, second baron of Chelmsford. Less than half of them (about 5,700 British regulars and the remaining colonials) were white. More over 9,000 of the force were Africans from the Natal native contingent, which provides some insight into the conflicts that exist within African communities and demonstrates that the idea that the black race could unite against the white race was a creation of a fearful colonial mind. Despite having a large numerical advantage over the invaders and being on their own territory, the Zulu warriors were unable to continue the combat.
Due to Cetshwayo’s defensive tactics and the outdated weapons they had acquired through trade, they were unable to fully exploit their abilities. The British army’s aggressiveness perplexed the Zulu ruler as he made attempts to negotiate a cease-fire. Although high fatalities and the need to care to livestock and crops were more likely causes, this might explain accounts that the Zulu impi (army) just drifted away after fierce battles instead of going on the offensive. The Zulu, however, mounted a valiant resistance that tipped the balance of the peace in their favor.
The actual conflict was far different from the British hopes for an easy victory of an industrialized nation against an indigenous African military structure. Poor planning, logistical challenges delivering supplies across challenging terrain, and—most significantly—shrewd Zulu tactics hindered Chelmsford’s assault. Myopic British officers rejected reports of Zulu forces where they were not anticipated due to their overconfidence in their chances for a swift and successful battle.
Then, by dividing his forces, Chelmsford violated a fundamental principle of engagement. He left the other half of his column tented at Isandlwana and took half of it in pursuit of a tiny Zulu reconnaissance group. On January 22, 1879, a force of about 20,000 Zulu struck here, wiping out more than a third of Chelmsford’s force and dealing the war’s most decisive blow.
After this massacre, a Zulu reserve army under the command of Prince Dabulamanzi, Cetshwayo’s brother, abandoned the defensive strategy and surrounded the fortified depot at Rorke’s Drift, which is just inside Natal. A Welsh regiment of 150 soldiers put up a valiant resistance, killing 500 Zulu assailants out of an estimated 2,000–3,000 attackers, displaying the lethal impact of modern weaponry.
The British garrison suffered just 17 casualties but received the highest Victoria Crosses ever given out for a single combat with 11. At Hlobane, the Zulu overcame a cavalry troop, achieving one more significant victory. However, the Zulu fortifications soon started to crumble. Eventually, British soldiers took control of Ondini, the Cetshwayo capital. On September 1, the British had already won.
Despite losing their monarchy, military structure, and political unity, the Zulu were able to save their land and legal independence at the end of the conflict. After Cetshwayo was banished, Britain “settled” in Zululand, which ultimately contributed to the collapse of the country. With the help of the vehemently anti-Zulu monarchist Shepstone and Sir Garnet Wolseley, the British high commissioner for Southeast Africa, the kingdom was famously divided into thirteen chiefdoms.
They drew inspiration from strategies used elsewhere in the empire for their plan. Local Natal authorities supported obediently appointed and egotistical leaders like Zibhebhu kaMaphitha and the white chief, John Dunn, against remaining Zulu royalists by reviving and capitalizing on long-standing tensions within Zulu culture.
A lengthy and violent civil war resulted from the failed settlement. In the meantime, Cetshwayo and his missionary supporters, Bishop Colenso of Natal and his daughters Frances and Harriette, were successful in petitioning the British government for the reinstatement of the exiled monarch, but with severely reduced authority and domain. This, the appointment of British administrators, and a reserve zone serving as a buffer between the Zulu and Natal only served to increase violence.
Cetshwayo and his adversary Zibhebhu both solicited the assistance of white mercenaries in their ongoing conflict. Dinuzulu, Cetshwayo’s son and heir, was the one who ended the civil war after his untimely death on February 8, 1884. In order to aid the royal cause, he enlisted a powerful force of Boers who had been advancing on Zululand for years. Incomparably large Zulu holdings were ceded to the Boers in the northwest and along the coast as an extravagant price for their triumph.
The situation was fast becoming worse, and the British decided to step in out of concern about a possible Boer-German alliance and imperial concerns. The imperial government finally seized the remaining territory in 1887 after accepting certain Boer claims in Zululand’s interior. Later, colonial administrators made a greater effort to incorporate the damaged Zulu society into the larger colonial political economy.
Thus, the British eventually put an end to Zulu independence with a government that only kept a few aspects of the kingdom before capture. In addition, they levied taxes supported by migrant wage labor, which shifted the productive forces away from the royal system and into the hands of the capitalist South African state.
