Northern Africa 1914: Amalgamation of Nigeria

Political map of Northern Africa on 01 Jan 1914 (Scramble for Africa: Amalgamation of Nigeria), showing the following events: Second Balkan War; Anglo-Ottoman Convention; Ratification of Treaty of Daan; Amalgamation of Nigeria.

By the 1910s the British had mostly pacified Northern Nigeria but found administering the region difficult and costly. To alleviate these problems, Northern Nigeria were amalgamated with Southern Nigeria to form the single Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria in 1914. However, many of the divisions between the north and the south would remain.

Main Events

29 Jun–10 Aug 1913 Second Balkan War

In late June 1913 Bulgaria attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, over territorial disputes resulting from the First Balkan War. Serbia and Greece counterattacked, encouraging Romania and the Ottoman Empire to also intervene against Bulgaria. Defeated in the ensuing month-long war, Bulgaria agreed to cede territory to all four of its rivals.in wikipedia

29 Jul 1913 Anglo-Ottoman Convention

In July 1913 the United Kingdom and the Ottoman Empire signed the Anglo-Ottoman Convention. The Ottomans agreed to recognize Kuwait as a fully autonomous kaza and to renounce claims to Qatar and Bahrain, effectively allowing for British influence in all three states. A boundary limiting Ottoman possessions—the ‘Blue Line’—was drawn from the coast west of Qatar to the Rub’ al Khali. The Ottomans also agreed to British policing of the Persian Gulf. However, the treaty was never ratified.in wikipedia

22 Sep 1913 Ratification of Treaty of Daan

After initial rejection, the Treaty of Daan—signed in October 1911 between the Zaidi Yemen Imamate and the Ottoman Empire—was ratified by the Ottoman government. The Imam of Yemen was given the power to appoint governors and judges, as well as collect taxes, while remaining under Ottoman authority.in wikipedia

1 Jan 1914 Amalgamation of Nigeria

By 1910 the British had largely pacified the Northern Nigeria Protectorate, but found maintaining a separate administration from the Southern Nigeria Colony and Protectorate to be expensive and disruptive to commerce. In August 1911 the British Colonial Office requested that Sir Frederick Lugard, formerly High Commissioner of the Northern Nigerian Protectorate but at the time completing a six-year term as Governor of Hong Kong, oversee the unification of the two territories. Lugard returned to Nigeria in 1912, assuming the position of governor in both northern and southern protectorates. Unification was achieved at the beginning of 1914, with the formation of the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria.in wikipedia