Response to European imperialism (1870–1920)

Determination to preserve independence; brutality/inflexibility of the coloniser; strength of political structures; military strength and access to firearms.

Emperor Menelik II, at the Battle of Adwa.

The Treaty of Wuchale (1889) — disputed wording meant the Italian version claimed control over Ethiopian foreign policy that the Amharic version did not grant.

Menelik II's forces decisively defeated Italy, leading to the Treaty of Addis Ababa and Italian recognition of Ethiopian independence.

Samori Touré, who resisted France for nearly two decades (1880s–1898) before his capture.

France committed growing resources and reinforcements over time, while Samori lacked a sustained outside supply of modern weapons and outside allies.

General Lothar von Trotha issued an extermination order; thousands died fleeing into the Omaheke Desert and in concentration camps — widely seen as one of the first genocides of the 20th century.

Cetshwayo kaMpande; Zulu regiments defeated a British column at Isandlwana in January 1879, a rare African victory over a modern European army.

Britain sent reinforcements and won decisively at Ulundi in July 1879, using superior firepower; the Zulu kingdom was later broken into rival chiefdoms.

Three wars (1873, 1896, 1900); the 1900 War of the Golden Stool began when Britain demanded the sacred Golden Stool, the symbol of Asante kingship.

Yaa Asantewaa, the Queen Mother of Ejisu.

Ethiopia won lasting independence because it had a unified state and modern weapons from Italy's rivals; the Herero and Nama were nearly destroyed because they lacked firepower and faced a coloniser willing to commit genocide.

Cetshwayo — he refused to disband the amabutho regimental system, which the British saw as a threat to their control of the region.

A large Zulu force overwhelmed a British camp of about 1,800 troops — the worst defeat of a modern European army by an African force in the 19th century.

They used concentrated artillery, Gatling guns and disciplined square formations, which the Zulu's largely outdated firearms could not overcome.

Split it into 13 rival chiefdoms to prevent reunification (divide-and-rule) — full annexation did not happen until 1887.

1873–74 (Kumasi burned), 1896 (Prempeh I exiled, protectorate imposed), 1900 (War of the Golden Stool, led to full annexation in 1902).

A British governor demanded the Golden Stool, the sacred symbol of Asante kingship — a cultural insult that triggered rebellion led by Yaa Asantewaa.

Pragmatism; willingness of the colonial power to negotiate; social, political and economic gains including protection; lack of alternative.

To gain protection from Ndebele and Portuguese pressure on Barotseland, while keeping internal authority over his kingdom.

To keep Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company — seen as more exploitative — from taking control of his territory; he preserved strong internal self-government as a result.

Mwanga resisted British and missionary influence by force (1897 rebellion) and was defeated and exiled by 1899. Kagwa collaborated, negotiating the 1900 Buganda Agreement, and kept power for decades.

Freehold land rights (mailo) and a privileged, semi-autonomous position within the British protectorate of Uganda.

They were not opposite fixed traits of a whole people — they were strategic choices with different consequences, sometimes made by different individuals within the same kingdom.