A territorial dispute in 1898 may have been a small-scale confrontation over an unimportant patch of land in Africa, but it could have had “huge consequences” for the course of the 20th century. Jonny Wilkes talks to historian, novelist and broadcaster Saul David about the Fashoda Incident, and how it could have led to a very different looking World War I
Published: September, 2021
Each month BBC History Revealed asks a historical expert for their take on what might have happened if a key moment in the past had turned out differently. This time, Jonny Wilkes talks to Saul David about what might have happened had the Fashoda Incident of 1898 escalated into war…
On 4 November 1898, the old adversaries of Britain and France stepped back from an escalating situation that threatened to add another bloody chapter to their long history of warfare. The so-called Fashoda Incident may have seemed like a small-scale territorial dispute over an unimportant patch of land in modern-day South Sudan, but it caused fear and warmongering back in Europe.
If fighting did break out, it would have had “huge consequences for international relations and the course of the 20th century,” says historian and author Saul David.
Africa in the late-19th century was being carved up, claimed and colonised by European powers in what is often referred to as the ‘Scramble for Africa’. Britain and France had footholds across the continent, and wished to connect their colonial acquisitions. Britain was ambitiously planning a railroad from South Africa to Egypt; France was looking to establish a line of control from east to west.
And right in the middle, where their respective ambitions intersected, was a small town called Fashoda. The French were determined to get there first.
In 1896, an expedition set out from Gabon made up of around 150 men – including 11 French officers and a large number of Senegalese troops – under the command of Captain Jean-Baptiste Marchand. Following a gruelling trek across Central Africa, in which they kept getting lost and had to drag their boat across hundreds of miles of land, they reached Fashoda on 10 July 1898.
Although comprising little more than an abandoned fort in ruins, the strategic town was now in the hands of Marchand and his men. Fashoda would strengthen France’s trade route from West Africa to its outpost in Djibouti, and act as a base from which to force the British out of Egypt.
