Episode 271 - Basutoland Gun War, Gold Coast and Ottoman Empire

History of South Africa podcast | 19.04.2026 14:51
The British had instigated a war in the Transvaal which fired off in early 1881, but they had already ignited another flashpoint - in Basutoland. This was a fascinating conflict, and it has modern overtones. For the new British government of Sir William Gladstone, the fact they had stimulated a simultaneous slew of conflicts in South Africa was more than irksome, it was expensive and ill-timed.