Historical Organization
British Empire
British Empire
Details
Organization Timeline
The Cape Colony capitulates to Britain
📅 16 September 1795Dutch colonial authorities surrendered the Cape to Britain. Indigenous communities and enslaved people remained subjected to colonial rule under a new imperial power.
Slavery is formally abolished in the Cape Colony
📅 1 December 1834Slavery legally ended in the Cape, but formerly enslaved people were compelled to serve a four-year apprenticeship. Slave owners received compensation while the emancipated received none.
Britain proclaims British Kaffraria
📅 23 December 1847The colonial proclamation pushed the Cape-Xhosa boundary to the Kei River and placed more African land under British authority. It followed the War of the Axe and intensified dispossession.
Britain annexes the Transvaal
📅 12 April 1877The British government annexed the South African Republic and included African territories claimed by the republic. The annexation expanded imperial control and prepared the way for renewed attacks on...
Britain delivers an ultimatum to King Cetshwayo
📅 11 December 1878British officials demanded that Cetshwayo dismantle the Zulu military system and surrender sovereignty. The deliberately unacceptable terms provided a pretext for invasion.
British forces capture King Cetshwayo
📅 28 August 1879Cetshwayo was captured in the Ngome forest after the defeat of the Zulu Kingdom. Colonial authorities imprisoned and exiled him.
Britain imposes a peace settlement on the Zulu Kingdom
📅 2 September 1879British authorities divided Zululand among appointed chiefs, weakening central authority and encouraging civil conflict.
The South African War begins
📅 11 October 1899War began between the British Empire and the Boer republics. African communities were drawn into the conflict as combatants, labourers and victims, while British concentration camps imprisoned Black...
The Treaty of Vereeniging ends the South African War
📅 31 May 1902Britain and the Boer republics ended the war without granting political rights to the Black majority. The settlement laid foundations for white reconciliation and the segregated Union of South Africa.