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38-735: The Bechuanaland Protectorate ( / ˌ b ɛ tʃ u ˈ ɑː n ə l æ n d / ) was a protectorate established on 31 March 1885 in Southern Africa by the United Kingdom . It became the Republic of Botswana on 30 September 1966. Scottish missionary John Mackenzie (1835–1899), sponsored by the London Missionary Society (LMS), lived at Shoshong from 1862 to 1876. He warned that African peoples were threatened by Boers encroaching on their territory from

76-491: A British possession, the so-called Caprivi Strip in what is now Namibia , and a free hand to control and acquire the coast of Dar es Salaam that would form the core of German East Africa (later Tanganyika , now the mainland component of Tanzania ). In exchange, Germany handed over to Britain the protectorate over the small sultanate of Wituland ( Deutsch-Witu , on the Kenyan coast) and parts of East Africa vital for

114-544: A detailed account of the expedition. Bechuanaland meant the "country of the Tswana " (from an archaic form of Batswana plus -land ) and for administrative purposes was divided into two political entities. The northern part was administered as the Bechuanaland Protectorate and the southern part was administered as the crown colony of British Bechuanaland . British Bechuanaland was incorporated into

152-496: A more loose form of British suzerainty , where the local rulers retained absolute control over the states' internal affairs and the British exercised control over defence and foreign affairs. When the British took over Cephalonia in 1809, they proclaimed, "We present ourselves to you, Inhabitants of Cephalonia, not as invaders, with views of conquest, but as allies who hold forth to you the advantages of British protection." When

190-518: A naval base which covered the approaches to the main German naval bases in the North Sea, but which would be impossible to defend as Germany built up its navy. It immediately declared a protectorate over Zanzibar and, in the subsequent 1896 Anglo-Zanzibar War , gained full control of the sultanate. The treaty served German chancellor Leo von Caprivi 's aims for a settlement with the British. After

228-757: A number of people were killed. Seretse and Ruth were allowed to return to the Protectorate and Seretse and Tshekedi were able to patch things up a bit between themselves. By now though, Seretse saw his destiny not as chief of the Bamangwato tribe, but rather as leader of the Botswana Democratic Party and as President of the soon-to-be independent nation of Botswana in 1966. He would remain Botswana's president until his death from pancreatic cancer in 1980. The story of Seretse and Ruth forms

266-613: A programme of indirect rule through the local oligarchy, creating a network of British-controlled civil service. Most British protectorates were overseen by a Commissioner or a High Commissioner , under the Foreign Office , rather than a Governor under the Colonial Office . British law makes a distinction between a protectorate and a protected state. Constitutionally the two are of similar status, in which Britain provides controlled defence and external relations. However,

304-509: A protectorate has an internal government established, while a protected state establishes a form of local internal self-government based on the already existing one. Persons connected with a former British protectorate, protected state, mandated territory or trust territory may remain British Protected Persons if they did not acquire the nationality of the country at independence. The last British protectorate proper

342-744: The Cape Colony in 1895 and now forms part of South Africa. The northern part, the Bechuanaland Protectorate, had an area of 225,000 square miles (580,000 km), and a population of 120,776. It comprised an area occupied by the three main Tswana peoples: the Bamangwato , the Bakwena and the Bangwaketse , together with a number of minor tribes like the Bamalete and the Bakhatla. Also living in

380-683: The Tati and Ramokgwebana Rivers , thence along the Ramokgwebana River to where it rises and thence along the watershed of those rivers, This territory was originally claimed by Matabeleland . In 1887 Samuel Edwards, working for Cecil Rhodes , obtained a mining concession, and in 1895 the British South Africa Company attempted to acquire the area, but the Tswana chiefs Bathoen I , Khama III and Sebele I visited London to protest and were successful in fending off

418-407: The de facto independence of Bechuanaland ended. The protectorate was administered from Mafeking , creating an unusual situation, the capital of the territory being located outside of the territory. The area of Mafeking (from 1980 with the incorporation into Bophuthatswana Mafikeng, since 2010 Mahikeng ), was called 'The Imperial Reserve'. In 1885, when the protectorate was declared, Bechuanaland

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456-578: The 1884 Berlin Conference , Germany had been losing out in the " Scramble for Africa ". The German East Africa Company under Carl Peters had acquired a strip of land on the Tanganyikan coast (leading to the 1888 Abushiri Revolt ), but had never had any control over the islands of the Zanzibar sultanate. The treaty gave away no vital German interests, while acquiring Heligoland, an island which

494-486: The BSAC. This territory forms the modern North-East District of Botswana. Furthermore, Southern Bechuanaland was heavily effected by the 1890s African rinderpest epizootic which temporarily damaged the economy. The proclamation of a protectorate flanked by a new Crown colony to the south (British Bechuanaland) were primarily intended as safeguards against further expansion by Germany, Portugal, or Boers. Contrary to what

532-570: The Bamangwato upon Khama's death in 1923. Sekgoma II's eldest son was named Seretse . Throughout his life Khama was widowed and remarried several times. One wife, Semane , birthed a son named Tshekedi . Sekgoma II 's reign lasted only a year or so, leaving his son Seretse, who at the time was an infant, as the rightful heir to the chieftainship (Tshekedi was not in line to be chief since he did not descend from Khama's oldest son Sekgoma II). So in keeping with tradition, Tshekedi acted as regent of

570-513: The British colonial authorities over the administration of justice in Ngwato country, and for his efforts to deal with a major split in the tribe after Seretse married a white woman, Ruth Williams , while studying law in Britain. Tshekedi opposed the marriage on the grounds that under Tswana custom a chief could not marry simply as he pleased. He was a servant of the people; the chieftaincy itself

608-691: The British continued to occupy the Ionian Islands after the Napoleonic wars , they did not formally annex the islands but described them as a protectorate. The islands were constituted by the Treaty of Paris in 1815 as the independent United States of the Ionian Islands under British protection. Similarly, Malta was a British protectorate between the capitulation of the French in 1800 and

646-523: The British controlled their foreign policy. Their status was rarely advertised while it was in effect, it becoming clear only after it was lifted. Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty The accord gave Germany control of the Caprivi Strip (a ribbon of land that gave German South-West Africa access to the Zambezi River ), the strategically located island of Heligoland in the North Sea, and

684-648: The British to build a railway to Lake Victoria , and pledged not to interfere with British actions vis-à-vis the independent Sultanate of Zanzibar (i.e. the islands of Unguja and Pemba ). In addition, the treaty established the German sphere of interest in German South West Africa (most of present-day Namibia) and settled the borders between German Togoland and the British Gold Coast (now Ghana ), as well as between German Kamerun and British Nigeria . Britain divested itself of

722-837: The Ellice Islands, and Captain Davis was requested by islanders to raise the British flag, but he did not have instructions to declare the Ellice Islands as a protectorate. The nine islands of the Ellice Group (now Tuvalu ) were declared a British Protectorate by Captain Gibson R.N., of HMS  Curacoa , between 9 and 16 October of the same year. Britain defined its area of interest in the Solomon Islands in June 1893, when Captain Gibson R.N., of HMS  Curacoa , declared

760-610: The German protectorate of South-West Africa and also created the Caprivi strip inherited by modern Namibia : In Southwest Africa, Germany's sphere of influence is demarcated thus: British officials did not arrive in the Ngamiland region until 1894. The Tati Concessions Land Act of 21 January 1911 transferred the new eastern territory to the protectorate: From the place where the Shashe River rises to its junction with

798-822: The High Commission Territories (Basutoland, Bechuanaland Protectorate and Swaziland). From 1951 the Chief Justices were: Bechuanaland postage stamps were issued from 1888 to 1966. Overprinted stamps were issued until 1932, when the first stamps inscribed "Bechuanaland Protectorate" were issued. On 14 February 1961 the South African rand was introduced, necessitating the surcharging of the existing definitive stamps until new ones were issued. 24°S 25°E  /  24°S 25°E  / -24; 25 British protectorate British protectorates were protectorates under

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836-455: The Protectorate were the descendants of the original inhabitants of the area, such as Bushmen and Makalaka , who had been dispossessed by the Tswana peoples in the course of their migration south. The British government originally expected to turn over the administration of the protectorate to Rhodesia or South Africa, but Tswana opposition left the protectorate under British rule until its independence in 1966. The Bechuanaland Protectorate

874-677: The Treaty of Paris of 1814. The princely states of India was another example of indirect rule during the time of Empire. So too were many of the West African holdings. Other British protectorates followed. In the Pacific Ocean the sixteen islands of the Gilberts (now Kiribati ) were declared a British Protectorate by Captain Davis R.N., of HMS  Royalist between 27 May and 17 June 1892. The Royalist also visited each of

912-420: The basis of the 2016 film A United Kingdom . The Bechuanaland Protectorate was one of the " High Commission Territories ", the others being Basutoland (now Lesotho ) and Swaziland (now Eswatini ). The High Commissioner had some of the functions of a governor, but the major tribes were self-governing, and the protectorate was not a British possession, so was not available for white settlement. The office

950-620: The contested territory. Lieutenant Colonel Sir Charles Warren (1840–1927) led a force of 4,000 Imperial troops north from Cape Town . After making treaties with several African chiefs, Colonel Warren announced the establishment of the protectorate in March 1885. In September that year the Tswana country south of the Molopo River was proclaimed the Crown colony of British Bechuanaland . Mackenzie accompanied Warren, and Austral Africa contains

988-556: The heartland of German East Africa . In return, Germany recognized British authority in Zanzibar . Heligoland was needed to control the new Kiel Canal and the approaches to Germany's North Sea ports. Britain used Zanzibar as a key link in the British control of East Africa. Germany gained the islands of Heligoland ( German : Helgoland ) in the North Sea , originally possession of the dukes of Holstein-Gottorp but since 1814

1026-439: The jurisdiction of the British government. Many territories which became British protectorates already had local rulers with whom the Crown negotiated through treaty, acknowledging their status whilst simultaneously offering protection. British protectorates were therefore governed by indirect rule . In most cases, the local ruler, as well as the subjects of the ruler, were not British subjects. British protected states represented

1064-468: The south. He campaigned for the establishment of what became the Bechuanaland Protectorate, to be ruled directly from Britain. Austral Africa: Losing It or Ruling It (1887) is Mackenzie's account of events leading to the establishment of the protectorate. Influenced by Mackenzie, in January 1885 the British government decided to send a military expedition to South Africa to assert British sovereignty over

1102-502: The southern Solomon Islands as a British Protectorate with the proclamation of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate . In 1894, Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone 's government officially announced that Uganda , where Muslim and Christian strife had attracted international attention, was to become a British Protectorate. The British administration installed carefully selected local kings under

1140-484: The treaty was introduced by ex-Chancellor Otto von Bismarck , who intended to attack his despised successor Caprivi for concluding an agreement that Bismarck himself had arranged during his incumbency. However, Bismarck's nomenclature implied that Germany had swapped an African empire for tiny Heligoland ("trousers for a button"). This was eagerly adopted by imperialists, who complained about "treason" against German interests. Carl Peters and Alfred Hugenberg appealed for

1178-446: The tribe until Seretse was old enough to assume the chieftainship. The transfer of responsibility from Tshekedi to Seretse was planned to occur after Seretse had returned from his law studies overseas in Britain. Tshekedi's regency as acting chief of the Bamangwato is best remembered for his expansion of the mephato (regiments) to build primary schools, grain silos, and water reticulation systems, for his frequent confrontations with

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1216-407: Was at stake. Seretse would not budge in his desire to marry Ruth, and he did, while exiled in Britain in 1948. Tribal opinion about the marriage basically split evenly along demographic lines – older people went with Tshekedi, the younger with Seretse. In the end, British authorities exiled both men (Tshekedi from the Bamangwato territory, Seretse from the Protectorate altogether). Rioting broke out and

1254-566: Was bounded to the north by the latitude of 22° south . The northern boundary of the protectorate was formally extended northward by the British to include Ngamiland , which was then dominated by the Tawana state, on 30 June 1890. This claim was formally recognised by Germany the following day by Article III of the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty , which confirmed the western boundary of the British protectorate of Bechuanaland and

1292-712: Was first held by the Governor of the Cape Colony , then by the Governor-General of South Africa , then by the High Commissioner for Southern Africa until independence. In each of the three territories, the administration of Britain's responsibilities was headed by a Resident Commissioner with some of the functions of a Governor but less authority. The Chief Justice was the Chief Justice of

1330-461: Was reported at the time by Warren and others, not all chiefs affected by the protectorate were in favour of it. The most powerful ruler was King Khama III , who had strong support from the British government, and was especially popular among evangelicals in Britain. He collaborated closely with the British military, and kept his vast, but underpopulated lands independent from intruders from South Africa. Khama's eldest son, Sekgoma II , became chief of

1368-741: Was strategically placed for control over the German Bight . With the construction of the Kiel Canal from 1887 onward, control of the German Bight had become essential to Emperor Wilhelm's II plans for expansion of the Imperial Navy . Wilhelm's naval policies aborted an accommodation with the British and ultimately led to a rapprochement between Britain and France , sealed with the Entente cordiale in 1904. The misleading name for

1406-561: Was technically a protectorate rather than a colony. Originally the local Tswana rulers were left in power, and British administration was limited to the police force to protect Bechuanaland's borders against other European colonial ventures. But on 9 May 1891 the British Government gave the administration of the protectorate to the High Commissioner for Southern Africa , who started to appoint officials in Bechuanaland, and

1444-541: Was the British Solomon Islands, now Solomon Islands , which gained independence in 1978; the last British protected state was Brunei , which gained full independence in 1984. *protectorates that existed alongside a colony of the same name As protected states, the following states were never officially part of the British Empire and retained near-total control over internal affairs; however,

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