United Kingdom establishes the Bechuanaland Protectorate

Background. Facing threats from German South West Africa and the Afrikaners, the most influential Tswana chiefs negotiated the creation of a protectorate under the United Kingdom in 1885. The British government feared increasing German influence in the region and agreed to form the Bechuanaland Protectorate. Influenced by Mackenzie, the British government decided to send a military expedition to South Africa to assert British sovereignty over the contested territory.

Establishment. After making treaties with several African chiefs, Colonel Warren announced the establishment of the protectorate in March 1885. The proclamation of a protectorate flanked by a new Crown colony to the south were primarily intended as safeguards against further expansion by Germany, Portugal, or Boers. The protectorate was established on 31 March 1885 in Southern Africa by the United Kingdom.

Boundaries. In 1885, when the protectorate was declared, Bechuanaland was bounded to the north by the latitude of 22° south. 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 the German protectorate of South-West Africa.