The Zulu Nation changed world history in 1879 with the greatest victory of indigenous people over European Armament. The Zulu defeat of The British Army, at the Battle of Isandlwana, changed the course of European History with the death of Napoleon the fourth who was serving with the British and killed in action at this great victory.
Napoleon the forth was serving in the British Army to study tactics and armament. If he had lived the conflict that became World War One would have happened 30 years earlier and just been a war between France and Germany. His death ushered in a pacifist republic and set the stage for the destruction of European Culture that occurred in 1914.
The picture of King Cetshwayo of the Zulu Nation and Napoleon the 4th are shown here.
The Battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879 was the first major encounter in the Anglo–Zulu War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Eleven days after the British commenced their invasion of Zululand in South Africa, a Zulu force of some 20,000 warriors attacked a portion of the British main column consisting of about 1,800 British, colonial and native troops and perhaps 400 civilians.
The Zulus were equipped mainly with the traditional assegai iron spears and cow-hide shields, but also had a number of muskets and old rifles though they were not formally trained in their use.
The British and colonial troops were armed with the state-of-the-art Martini-Henry breech-loading rifle and two 7 pounder artillery pieces as well as a rocket battery. Despite a vast disadvantage in weapons technology, the numerically superior Zulus ultimately overwhelmed the poorly led and badly deployed British, killing over 1,300 troops, including all those out on the forward firing line.
The Zulu army suffered around a thousand killed. The battle was a decisive victory for the Zulus and caused the defeat of the first British invasion of Zululand. The British Army had suffered its worst defeat against a technologically inferior indigenous force.
Isandlwana resulted in the British taking a much more aggressive approach in the Anglo–Zulu War, leading to a heavily reinforced second invasion and the destruction of King Cetshwayo’s hopes of negotiated peace #UIHistorian
Napoleon the 4th had been serving with the British Army and was killed at Isandlwana. Here is the account: Louis Napoleon’s death caused an international sensation, and in one slanderous account Queen Victoria was accused of deliberately arranging the whole thing.
The Zulus later claimed that they would not have killed him if they had known who he was. The Prince, who had begged to be allowed to go to war (taking the sword carried by the first Napoleon at Austerlitz with him) and who had worried his commanders by his dash and daring, was described by Wolseley as “a plucky young man, and he died a soldier’s death.
What on earth could he have done better?” His death changed the course of French and European History in the 19th Century and set the stage for World War I #UIHistorian.
Great it is to see our black history is spreading into the homes of the young people. This is a continued good inspiration, and let,s take it as far back in time as possible. History is the foundation of we the black people and the leadership that was embedded in our soul.