Konflik Ambisi Kolonial Prancis dan Inggris di Sudan (Krisis Fashoda 1898)

Abstract

This historical study examines the diplomatic and colonial conflict between Britain and France during the late 19th century, focusing on the Fashoda Crisis of 1898. Utilizing the historical research method—encompassing heuristics, source criticism, interpretation, and historiography—this paper analyzes the geopolitical ambitions that drove European powers to compete for territorial dominance in Africa. Britain sought to establish a continuous "Cape-to-Cairo" corridor, while France aimed to build an east-west empire spanning from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea. These opposing imperial strategies intersected in Sudan, where French forces under Captain Jean-Baptiste Marchand occupied Fashoda in July 1898, only to be confronted by British troops led by General Horatio Herbert Kitchener. Although the standoff brought both nations to the brink of war, French domestic vulnerabilities and British naval superiority ultimately compelled France to withdraw. The peaceful resolution of this crisis prevented armed conflict, reshaped international diplomacy, and paved the way for the 1904 Entente Cordiale, while firmly establishing British colonial dominance in Sudan through the 1899 Anglo-Egyptian Condominium agreement.