French-British Rivalry Over Sudan 1896-1899

Abstract

During the latter part of the 1800s, Sudan experienced intense competition from other colonial powers over control over its political and economic capabilities. These powers sought to use Sudan's advantageous location and geography to further their own goals in the region. Britain was leading the charge among these powers, and at this point, France had become Britain's traditional adversary in an attempt to gain dominance over Sudan. This was the height of European colonial rivalry in East Africa between Britain and France.

The British and French armies had been racing since 1896 to establish their claims to the Sudan and its coast. In 1898, the French army entered South Sudan under the leadership of a Senegalese soldier campaign, seizing the "Fashoda" in July 1898. The British hurriedly ordered the Egyptian army in Sudan to retaliate, and if diplomatic efforts had not resolved the issue after the Treaty of Sudan was signed in 1899 and France had given up its claims in the Upper Nile, war would have broken out.