Sub-Saharan Africa 1914: Amalgamation of Nigeria

Political map of Sub-Saharan Africa on 01 Jan 1914 (The Scramble for Africa: Amalgamation of Nigeria), showing the following events: Anglo-Ottoman Convention; Ratification of Treaty of Daan; Kongo uprising; 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 south would remain.

Main Events

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

? Dec 1913–? ?? 1918 Kongo uprising

In 1913 Alvaro Buta, a Catholic chief, led a uprising against forced labor in the Kongo Kingdom, a subject state in Portuguese West Africa (Angola). Buta called for the overthrow of King Manuel III Afonso Kiditu and burned down the capital of São Salvador (M’banza-Kongo). Although the Portuguese abolished the kingdom in 1914, and managed to capture Buta the following year, the rebellion would not be fully suppressed until 1918.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