The Anglo-Zulu War of 1879

The Zulu kingdom, built in the early 19th century, was one of the strongest military powers in southern Africa. In December 1878 the British high commissioner, Sir Bartle Frere, issued King Cetshwayo an ultimatum demanding that he disband his army, terms Frere knew could not be accepted, as part of a plan to bring the region under British control. British forces invaded in January 1879.

At Isandlwana on 22 January, a Zulu army defeated a British column, killing more than 1,300 soldiers and African auxiliaries, the worst defeat of a modern army by an African force up to that time. The British responded by sending reinforcements and won decisively at Ulundi on 4 July, capturing Cetshwayo soon after. Britain then divided Zululand into thirteen chiefdoms, which led to civil war. The war shows both the strength of African armies and the determination of an empire to recover its prestige after defeat.