Zulu is a member of South Africa's indigenous South Bantu people, who live in Natal, Swaziland and parts of Mozambique in South Africa. At the end of 18 and the beginning of 19, Nanbantu people were in the social development stage of the disintegration of primitive society, the rise of tribal alliances and the emergence of the country. 18 17, Dingiswayo, chief of the southern Bantu tribal alliance, died in battle, and Zulu Shaga (1787- 1828 Zulu War) became the leader. He inherited and developed Dingiswayo's reform militarily, and established an army of about 654.38+10,000 people, using spears and shields as weapons and adopting tactics such as phalanx and double flank. Politically, more than 3,000 scattered tribes with about 500,000 people were unified, and the power of tribal chiefs was weakened. All localities were governed by military chiefs. In this way, Sharjah established the Zulu Kingdom, which the British called Zulu Empire or Zululan. 1828, Ding Gan (1797-1840) came to power, inherited Sharjah's career, resumed and developed production, and safeguarded the unity of Zulu. It was under his leadership that the Zulu people launched a war against the Boer colonialists.
1652, the Dutch East India Company established the first white settlement in South Africa. With the increase of Dutch immigrants, the settlement developed to Cape Town, and expanded to Cape Town colony with Cape Town as the center. Dutch immigrants plundered the land of aborigines, built farms and pastures, drove away black workers and became slave owners themselves. The descendants of Dutch immigrants are called Boers (meaning "farmers"). In 1785 and 1806, Britain occupied Cape Colony twice, and in 18 15, South Africa was officially taken as its own. The British established their own ruling institutions in the Cape Colony, deprived the Boers of administrative power and judicial power, stipulated English as the official language, abolished Dutch Goolden and changed it to pounds, measured land, collected land rent according to land, and abolished slavery. All these measures caused dissatisfaction among the Boers.
The development of the contradiction between the British and the Boers led to the great migration of the Boers. Since 1836, Boer people have been driving carts to find new places to live in the north and northeast. On the one hand, the migration of Boers is an escape from British oppression, on the other hand, it is a predatory expedition to South African aborigines. The important goal of Boer Expedition is Zulu Kingdom, which can not only capture the land of aborigines, but also occupy the seaport leading to the Indian Ocean. 1837, the Boers crossed the Drakensberg mountains and entered the Zulu kingdom continuously, so the Zulu people resisted the invasion of the Boer colonists.
1On February 6th, 838, Dinggan ordered the arrest and execution of more than 70 Boers for taking Zulu land by deception. Subsequently, Zulu troops raided and attacked Boers who had already lived in the west of Natal, and more than 300 Boers were killed.
In March, the British colonists sent troops to support the Boers in Natal port by the sea. Soon, Ding Gan's younger brother Mpanda led an army to repel the British reinforcements. At the same time, two Boer reinforcements were defeated by Zulu. The Boers suffered the most serious losses since the colonial expedition, their troops were reduced by one tenth, their leadership was split, and the Boers fled everywhere.
After Ding Gan defeated the Boers in the first battle, he did not pursue victory, but died prematurely, which provided the Boers with a chance to make a comeback. 1838165438+1On October 20th, Pritorius led a reinforcements consisting of 464 people, 57 ox carts and 2 cannons to come to the Cape Colony for assistance. 65438+February 65438+May, this team set up a battle position on the Tao-Ox Cart Array in Skangmu River. Ding Gan hesitated in the face of a strong enemy and missed the chance of night attack that Boers feared most. It was not until the early morning of 16 that he began to attack the Boer ox cart. This was the fiercest battle in the Zulu War of11930s. Boer people shoot with advanced muskets, relying on the favorable circular ox cart array, while Zulu people hold spears and shields, line up in dense formation, braving gunfire and bullets, and bravely charge again and again, showing fearless heroism. Zulu suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Skam, with more than 3,000 casualties. Blood dyed the Ancombe River red.
Since then, due to the disparity in strength between the two sides, the Zulu people have failed one after another. 1In June, 839, the two sides signed a "peace agreement", and Dinggan was forced to cede a large area of land south of the Tugela River to the Boers, and delivered thousands of livestock and tons of ivory as "reparations" for the war. However, the Boer colonists were not satisfied. They colluded to buy Ding Gan's younger brother, Mpanda, and promised to help him seize the throne, recognizing him as Zulu king, and Mpanda surrendered to the Boers after he became king. 1840 65438+ 10, with the support of 700 Boers, Mpanda led 1000 troops to conquer Ding Ganjun and defeated Ding Ganjun north of the Mukuqi River. In February, Mpanda became king of Zulu, ceding a large area of land from the north of Tugra River to Hemfuqi River to Boer colonists, leaving only Natal land in the northernmost part of Zulu Kingdom. The Boers established the "Republic of Natal" in the occupied Zulu land. However, the Boers didn't last long. 1843, Boer Republic was annexed by British colonists. The Zulu people's struggle against the Boer colonists-19 The Zulu war ended in the 1930s.
/kloc-In the 1950s of 0/9, Zulu experienced a civil war. Mpanda's son, Ketchwayo, opposed the policy of slavish traitorous, determined to safeguard the independence and dignity of the country, and won the support of the Zulu people. In a battle in June+10, 5438, Kechiwayo defeated the capitulators headed by Umbujira and took charge of the state affairs. Ketchiwayo (1826— 1884) was an outstanding leader of Zulu people in South Africa in the second half of the 9th century. He spent his youth at home and abroad, witnessed the tragic fate of colonial aggression and expansion and the people of all ethnic groups in South Bantu, and was determined to rebuild national strength and reproduce the glory of Sharjah and Dinggan.
Kechwayo practiced a strict military system, obtained guns and ammunition through various channels, hired John Dane, an Englishman, to train Zulu troops and set up his own cavalry. Soon, he built a powerful army with 400,000 men, equipped with hundreds of guns and good at riding and shooting. At this time, the British colonists were expanding their aggression against South Africa. 187 1 invaded Quaran and Sigley, the diamond-producing areas, and annexed Transvaal in 1877. After that, the British colonists set their next target on Zulu Kingdom.
1878 12. B. friel, the British highest plenipotentiary in South Africa, gave an ultimatum to Ketchwayo, demanding that he disband his army, allow the British governor to enter South Africa, and have the right to supervise the actions of Zulu people. At the same time, six elite battalions were deployed at the border. After being flatly rejected by Kechwayo, the British colonists launched a long-planned war on June1879+1October 1 1.
Lord chelmsford led 6,543,800+3,000 British colonial troops to cross the Tugra River and attack the Zulu Kingdom on a large scale. 65438+1On October 22nd, the two sides launched a fierce battle in Varna Mountain, Isard. Ketchwayo surrounded all the British troops in the dark and suddenly attacked. Zulu soldiers braved heavy artillery fire and fought hand-to-hand with the enemy, and finally won a brilliant victory, killing more than 600 British soldiers 1600, killing 3000 of their own, seizing more than 0.000 rifles 1000, and recovering a large area of lost land.
After winning, Kechwayo dreamed of seeking peace through negotiations, but it backfired. Britain refused any negotiations, increased its army to 20,000, equipped with 36 guns, and was determined to take greater revenge for its failure. In the battle of June 1, the Zulu defeated the British attack and killed Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte's son Louis. The battle in the village of Ulundi on July 4th decided the outcome of the war. On the open ground, the shooting of 5000 muskets and dozens of guns prevented Zulu troops from getting close to enemy positions, let alone fighting hand to hand. Groups of soldiers fell in a pool of blood, and Zulu army killed 3000 people on the spot. At this time, the British army dispatched all cavalry to charge the Zulu army. Zulu's army suffered a crushing defeat.
After the defeat of this decisive battle, the Zulu kingdom was devastated. After the British occupation, it was divided into 13 small Emirates to "divide and rule", and finally 1887 was formally incorporated into Natal colony.
Zulu fought bravely against the aggression of two colonialists for half a century and ended in failure. The fundamental reason for the failure of the American position is the disparity in strength. The Boers are descendants of the Netherlands and have inherited the achievements of the Dutch bourgeois revolution. Britain also carried out the bourgeois revolution in the middle of17th century and the industrial revolution in the middle of18th century, which greatly improved productivity and became the most developed capitalist country in the world. Zulu people, on the other hand, are in the primary stage of the transition from primitive society to the state, with low productivity and extremely backward production methods. Their weapons are only spears and shields. Although I bought some guns, it was still a cold weapon era on the whole. We can imagine using backward primitive production methods to deal with advanced capitalist production methods, using primary agriculture and animal husbandry to deal with large industries, and using cold weapons to deal with the failure of hot weapons. In addition, several generations of Zulu kings were lucky in the struggle against the colonists. Once they won the war, they stopped the war and gave the enemy a chance to breathe. When dealing with advanced and dominant enemy forces, the advantages of primitive tribal peoples, such as guerrilla, attack, ambush and night fighting, were not brought into play in the Zulu War.
Although the Zulu people failed in their struggle, they dealt a heavy blow to the colonial army. The British army lost thousands of soldiers, cost 5 million pounds, and triggered domestic political turmoil. The conservative government of disraeli became the target of public criticism and was forced to give way to the liberal party. The Liberal Party headed by Gatiston openly admitted that the war against Zulu people was "one of the most appalling wars in the history of our country". The Zulu war became a big news in European newspapers at that time, and the fighting spirit of Zulu people won the praise of people of insight in various countries. Disraeli, British Conservative Prime Minister, painfully admitted that Zulu people are "what a great nation". They killed several of our generals, converted some of our bishops and' ended' the history of the French dynasty. " Engels enthusiastically praised the Zulu people for what any European army could not do. They don't have guns, they just use spears and spears. Under the hail of British infantry, which is recognized as the first in the world and built on the basis of dense formation, "the British army was scattered more than once, and even the British army was defeated ..."
The Zulu people's victory in the Battle of Mount Varna in Isard is a major military victory in the history of African people's struggle against colonialism. It was not until 15 that the Ethiopians defeated the Italian army in the battle of Adua, and they won a greater victory than this. The heroic struggle of the Zulu people against the colonialists has written a glorious chapter in the modern history of Africa and the struggle of the people of the world against colonialism.