Interior East Africa (1876–1887 CE): Imperial Expansion, Regional Rivalries, and Intensifying Foreign Influence

From 1876 to 1887, Interior East Africa became increasingly entangled in the imperial ambitions of Europe's great powers, marked by aggressive territorial acquisitions, local resistance movements, religious rivalries, and growing strategic competition. The region witnessed heightened European and Egyptian influence, further destabilizing indigenous political structures and reshaping local economies and societies.

Ethiopia: Johannes IV, Menelik, and Italian Encroachment

Emperor Johannes IV faced persistent internal and external challenges throughout his reign. Initially occupied by internal divisions, particularly with Menelik of Shewa, Johannes struggled to consolidate Ethiopia under his control. Menelik, who traced his Solomonic lineage to Emperor Lebna Dengel, had declared himself King of Shewa and steadily expanded his authority into Oromo territories to the south and west, creating alliances with local chiefs and securing European firearms.

By 1878, despite Menelik’s rising strength, Johannes compelled him into submission; Menelik agreed to recognize Johannes’s overlordship and pay tribute. In return, Johannes formally recognized Menelik as Negus (king), granting him a free hand south of Shewa. This truce, however, remained fragile. Menelik continued to strengthen his position, even maintaining diplomatic contacts with Johannes’s foreign adversaries.

The region's precarious balance was disturbed by external threats, notably from Egypt and Italy. In 1884, Johannes IV signed an accord with Britain, facilitating the evacuation of Egyptian forces from Ethiopian territories along the Red Sea and the Somali littoral. Yet the power vacuum encouraged further European intrusion, especially Italy’s ambitions toward Ethiopia.

The Italian government, having taken control of the port of Aseb in 1882 and then Mitsiwa (Massawa) in 1885, aggressively expanded inland toward Tigray. In 1887, Ethiopian forces under Ras Alula, governor of northeastern Tigray, delivered a resounding defeat to Italian troops at Dogali, temporarily halting Italian expansion. Nonetheless, Italy soon reinforced its position, setting the stage for future confrontations.

Sudan: Egyptian Rule, Slave Raids, and the Mahdist Revolt

Egypt’s administration under Khedive Isma'il Pasha significantly impacted southern Sudan. Egypt had attempted to control the region through governors like Sir Samuel Baker (appointed governor of Equatoria Province in 1869) and Charles George Gordon, who followed in 1874. Baker and Gordon suppressed much of the slave trade and imposed relative stability. However, after Gordon resigned in 1880 due to political turmoil in Egypt, his reforms collapsed, allowing the slave trade to revive and instability to spread.

Isma'il’s inconsistent policies had earlier empowered infamous slave traders such as Rahina Mansur al-Zubayr in Bahr al-Ghazal province. Al-Zubayr, initially an Egyptian governor, defied Cairo, building a private army and resisting removal until Gordon forcibly disarmed and ousted him.

The chaotic situation worsened with the rise of the Mahdist movement, a radical Islamic rebellion against Egyptian rule, which by 1887 penetrated Ethiopian provinces (Gojam and Begemdir). Johannes IV’s forces engaged and defeated the Mahdist forces at the Battle of Metema (1889), but Johannes himself was fatally wounded, plunging Ethiopia into renewed succession disputes.

Buganda and Bunyoro: Religious Rivalries and European Interest

The Kingdom of Buganda, under Kabaka Muteesa I, continued to benefit from increased foreign engagement. European explorers and missionaries praised Buganda's advanced administration and centralized power structure. Following the visits of John Hanning Speke (1862) and Henry Morton Stanley (1875), the kingdom drew growing European interest.

In 1877, Stanley convinced the British Church Missionary Society (CMS) to establish a mission in Buganda. Shortly thereafter, French Catholic White Fathers arrived, introducing religious competition alongside existing Muslim influences from Zanzibar-based Arab traders. By the mid-1880s, Christianity (both Protestant and Catholic) and Islam had significant followings at the Baganda royal court, generating intense rivalries and laying foundations for future conflicts.

Neighboring Bunyoro faced different challenges. Khedive Isma'il’s Egyptian agents had sought to annex Bunyoro to establish an empire along the Upper Nile. Samuel Baker, dispatched by Egypt in the 1870s, was repulsed by determined Banyoro resistance. Baker's bitter account of Bunyoro influenced later British colonial attitudes, significantly harming Bunyoro's international image and political position.

French Expansion in the Horn of Africa

France, forced from Egypt by Britain, strategically established naval footholds along the Red Sea to support its empire in Indochina and challenge Britain's ambitions for a contiguous Cairo-to-Cape Town colonial corridor. In 1884, French governor Léonce Lagarde proclaimed a protectorate around Obock and the Gulf of Tadjoura, triggering protests from British officials in nearby Zeila. The French protectorate established under Lagarde significantly expanded French influence in the Horn, later evolving into the colony of French Somaliland (modern-day Djibouti).

Southern Interior and Malawi: British and Portuguese Rivalry

Portugal, historically dominant in coastal Angola and Mozambique, faced limitations on its territorial claims set by the Berlin Conference of 1884. Britain pressured Portugal to withdraw from areas such as Nyasaland (Malawi), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), and Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), asserting its own regional dominance. British presence grew through the establishment of missions and trade outposts, notably the settlement at Blantyre (1876) and the establishment of the African Lakes Company (1878), facilitating British commercial and strategic interests.

Great Lakes Region and Ivory Trade Dynamics

Ivory continued driving regional transformations. By this period, caravans from Zanzibar significantly shaped Buganda’s internal economy and external relations, supplying firearms and luxury goods in exchange for ivory. The resulting prosperity, however, intensified competition with rival kingdoms, notably Bunyoro, which sought to replicate Buganda's success but faced internal strife and external threats from Egyptian interests.

To the north, the Acholi capitalized on Egyptian ivory demands, rapidly acquiring firearms and maintaining autonomy, though internal inequalities grew due to uneven weapon distribution.