Shaka Zulu

[amusing instrumental music playing]

England, August 1882 at the end of the Zulu Wars.

At a Country Residence of Her Imperial Majesty Queen Victoria.

Amidst an unprecedented blaze of publicity and public interest

in the Zulu people of Southern Africa,

an historic meeting took place between

the Queen, her political and military advisors and the defeated

and exiled King of the Zulus. He came with one aim in mind...

he wanted his kingdom back.

Your Majesty, His Highness Cetshwayo kaMpande Zulu.

[solemn instrumental music playing]

His Highness thanks her Imperial Majesty

for the kind way he has been received in Great Britain.

He hopes he is here, he says, to seal

that pact of friendship once and for all.

Your Majesty, the Colonial Office feels that any act of clemency

would be a grave miscalculation of the Zulu threat.

Ma'am, gentlemen,

we are not merely concerned here today

with a dispute over territorial borders of the re-vindication

of a defeated king, we are called upon to defend Africa.

It is, I believe, our sovereign duty, Ma'am, to safe guard

the well-being of those of our countrymen who have settled

in these distant lands,

as well as that of the Kaffir tribes who look to us to bring

peace to this land that has, for the past 60 years,

been devastated by one of the most formidable

military empires ever created, the empire of Shaka Zulu.

Here represented by his legitimate heir, King Cetshwayo.

Professor Bramston, Ma'am

Shaka Zulu, Your Majesty...

yes, the founder of

the Greater Zulu Nation and the Zulu Empire,

reigned from 1816 to the 1828.

Most definitely one of the greatest military geniuses in history.

Certainly on the level of a Caesar or an Alexander the Great.

Imagine, if you will, the prodigious feat accomplished by this 19th Century

African Archilles, Shaka Zulu.

In less than 12 years, he transformed a handful of

idyllic, relatively harmless herdsmen,

who were, by nature reluctant to engage in any form of warfare,

into a Spartan army of over 80,000 highly trained, ruthless warriors.

Extending his influence, over most of South-East Africa.

An empire comparable, in extension and might, to that of Napoleon,

and in treachery to that of Genghis Khan.

Your Majesty, Gentlemen

the war machine created by Shaka Zulu was so monolithic.

It has survived his death by almost half a century.

Yes, the Crown has defeated it,

but that defeat is purely temporary.

It can and will rise again and again if we do not stop it once and for all!

And why?

Because King Shaka was no ordinary mortal.

He was a Messiah!

A God-figure!

Like an African Mephistopheles, he gave the Zulus glory

in return for their souls,

wielding the forces of life and death

on an endless battlefield of blood and carnage-

Thank you Professor!

Your Majesty.

Ma'am,

the threat is real, and the decision before us clear.

Therefore, the Colonial Office suggests that we constitute

within the Zulu Kingdom a progressive destruction

and dislocation of the military and economic system.

In so doing, we feel that the Zulu people, deprived of central

leadership, will revert to the state of innocuous bliss that

they enjoyed before the insane conditioning of Shaka.

I tend to agree with Kimberley.

If the Zulus won't bend,

break 'em and be done with it, that's what I say!

I rather think we'll be doing them a favor.

A return to the plough should prove to be

the most therapeutic for these savages.

Might even bless then with a hint of civilization.

Am I meant to translate, M'Lords?

That won't be necessary, sir. We have so little in common,

Especially our concepts of human respect.

Thank you, Your Lordships, for your chivalry.

[enthralling instrumental music playing]

Thank you.

Tell me...

what does Shaka Zulu mean to you?

He was one of those rare men who had the courage

to live his ideals,

and to instill his dreams into the hearts of his country men,

That is precisely why we cannot give you back your realm.

Shaka Zulu is more alive today than ever.

His military strength still prevails.

You are the king, but it is his spirit which rules your people.

We are a practical woman your highness.

We will not form an alliance with a legend.

And so it was that the Empire created by Shaka Zulu

some six decades earlier was disbanded.

The king's territory sub-divided

and placed under British supervision.

The resultant political mismanagement,

continual white interference in the ensuing strife

would effectively destroy the house of Shaka.

From this time on, the Zulu people would only

be able to dream of the dignity and the glory

given them by their legendary King.

This then, is his story!

The first time that Europeans began to feel

the ripple effect of Shaka's war machine was in 1823.

The Zulu King was at the height of his power,

but like most military despots,

Shaka had become both,

master and victim of his regime.

His empire having been born out of aggression,

now required continued war action to keep it alive.

Shaka had successfully attacked and crushed

all the immediate neighboring territories,

uniting the defeated tribes into a single Zulu nation.

But Shaka needed more victims,

not only to satisfy his propensity for war,

but to keep his huge army employed.

And so regiments were sent further afield

to enlarge and enrich the Empire,

and as they did so, those who did not wish

to subject themselves to Zulu rule fled

before the onslaught,

often attacking others in their flight.

The effects of this tremendous upheaval

touched not only the people at which it was directed,

but began to be felt by the British colonists of the Cape,

who themselves were beginning to expand northwards.

It was therefore inevitable that sooner or later the two empires would crash.

As a result, the Governor of the Cape Colony,

Lord Charles Somerset was prompted to send an urgent communique to London.

To Lord Henry Bathurst,

majesty, secretary of state for war in the colonists.

"My Lord, in consequence to your Lordship's wish that

I communicate my writing, my deep concern for the future

of the Crance colony of the Cape of good hope,

I beg leave to submit the following evidence

regarding the menace of the Zulu nation under it's King, Shaka Zulu."

Since he ascended the throne of the Zulu in 1816,

Shaka has forged one of the mightiest empires

the African continent has ever known.

[amusing instrumental music playing]

"In less than six years, his small, insignificant tribe

has risen from obscurity

and given its name to an all

powerful nation organized into a fearsome military machine.

Shaka is known as a mass murderer,

a depraved ogre whose thirst for conquest knows no limits.

He has deluged his county with innocent blood,

disregarding the most sacred ties of affection,

turning father against son, son against brother,

in a bloodbath that defies description."

"I regret to inform Your Lordship that it has reached

my attention that the threat of Shaka Zulu

may soon be directed at the White settlers

residing in the Crowns territories.

If that were to happen,

the Cape would find itself virtually defenseless

and at the mercy of this ruthless barbarian.

I respectfully submit this pressing matter to your

Lordship's judgment and that of his Majesty."

"Signed: Sir Charles Somerset,

Governor of the Cape Colony, Colonial Africa.

Cape Town January 7, 1823."

His Majesty the King has woken,

after a pleasant night's rest.

Lord Bathrust, his Majesty will see you first.

Thank you.

Oh no, oh lord!

Oh dear, hmm. For you,

Oh, dear go on yes hmm.

Good morning, Your Majesty.

Is it, Lord Henry?

Sir.

Your expression, Lord Henry.

It bodes anything but a good morning, hmm.

Mmhmm, enough.

Till tonight.

We are all attention, Lord Henry.

It is the colonies, Sir.

We seem to be faced with a slight problem.

Your office always seems to be having "slight problems"

with the Colonies doesn't it, Lord Henry?

Well, Sir, it is the Colonial Office,

and if one deals with melting pots one is apt to be scorched once in a while.

Well, who is it this time, the Canadians?

No, Sir. I am happy to report that the remainder of

North America is still under our thumb so to speak.

It is Africa, I'm afraid, Sir.

I have received a most alarming missive from Lord Somerset at the Cape.

It concerns the Zulus, Sir.

The Zulus?

Are you implying that the Colonial Office