1869–1902: (The Mineral Revolution in Southern Africa — Diamond Fields Discovered 1869–1871, Griqualand West Annexed, De Beers Consolidating Control, 50,000 …

1869–1902: (The Mineral Revolution in Southern Africa — Diamond Fields Discovered 1869–1871, Griqualand West Annexed, De Beers Consolidating Control, 50,000 Migrant Workers a Year at Kimberley, the Destruction of the Zulu Kingdom After Isandhlwana 1879, Gold Found in Transvaal 1886, Johannesburg Becoming Sub-Saharan Africa’s Largest City, the Jameson Raid 1895, and the Second Boer War 1899–1902 Ending in the Union of South Africa 1910): The mineral revolution defined the modern history of southern Africa. Huge diamond fields were discovered between 1869 and 1871 north of Cape Colony, in territory governed by independent African chiefdoms but claimed by Boer republics. The British annexed the area as Griqualand West, and within a decade the entire diamond industry was under De Beers’ control. Fifty thousand African migrant workers a year were employed at Kimberley in the 1870s. The British looked to create a southern African federation, and the destruction of remaining African kingdoms was part of this plan. The Xhosa put up determined resistance in 1877–1878, while the greatest threat came from the Zulu under Cetshwayo — in January 1879 a small British force was largely wiped out at Isandhlwana, but a reinforced army eventually defeated the Zulu and effectively destroyed the kingdom. In 1886, gold was found in central Transvaal, and Johannesburg swiftly became the largest city in sub-Saharan Africa. Political tensions heightened — Britain moved to prevent a German-Boer linkup, annexing the Tswana chiefdoms as Bechuanaland in 1885. Rhodes’s failed Jameson Raid of 1895 heightened anti-British feeling, and Kruger’s declaration of war in October 1899 sparked the second Boer War. Reinforced by five hundred thousand men, the British employed scorched-earth tactics and concentration camps. The Boers sued for peace in 1902, and in 1910 Boer republics and British colonies were joined under the Union of South Africa — continued white domination was assured.