Which statement BEST describes the cause of the Zulu War of 1879?

A) The Zulu were threatened by Egyptian forces.

B) The Boers fought against Zulu invasion at Blood River.

C) The Zulu attempted to resist submitting to British rule.

D) The British attempted to send the Zulu to India as slaves.

C) The Zulu attempted to resist submitting to British rule.

Explanation:

The British empire was in a process of creating federations in its colonies. This was a success in Canada and the British thought that it would be a good idea to do so in Africa as well. There were some obstacles to this though such as the small independent states in South Africa and Zulus with the kingdom Zululand.

Even though officially a war was not permitted, a British general decided to act on his own with the army he had on disposal. He asked the Zulus to submit to the British rule, dismember their army, and abandon some of their traditions. This was never going to be a success though especially when taken in consideration the warlike nature of the Zulus, so they rejected this.

The British general was no happy with this and soon launched an attack on the Zulus. There were several battles with varying outcome, but the technological and military superiority of the British turned out to be enough to win the war and put end to the Zulus and their dominance in the southern part of Africa.