In August 1878 Lord Chelmsford landed in Natal having brought the Ninth Cape Frontier War in Cape Colony, South Africa, to a successful conclusion. With the defeat of the Xhosa he prepared for the fresh challenge of a war against the Zulu. British colonial policy, initiated from London, had from 1874 looked towards the goal of a self-supporting confederation of British colonies and Boer republics that would extend British control and prosperity in southern Africa. Lord Carnarvon, the Colonial Secretary and champion of the confederation cause, was haunted by the presence of bordering independent black states, perceiving them as a threat to his plans. While the threat existed he fell unable to proceed towards his goal. In 1877 Britain annexed the Boer South African Republic (Transvaal) and sent out a new High Commissioner for southern Africa, Sir Henry Bartle Frere, with extensive powers to complete the confederation process. Frere was to be the key figure in the political manoeuvres that followed, engineering a war with the Zulu king Cetshwayo kaMpande that the supporters of confederation deemed essential to drive the policy forwards.
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