The Scramble for Africa The Zanzibar Slave Trade and the Blockade

The Scramble for Africa's Maps: How Cartography Shaped Empire

In the decades after the Berlin Conference, European powers raced to map Africa—but their maps were often fantasies. This episode explores the rise of imperial cartography during the Scramble for Africa, focusing on the Royal Geographical Society, French mapmakers in West Africa, and the German mapping of East Africa. We discuss how explorers like Henry Morton Stanley and Friedrich von Stülpnagel used blank spaces on maps to justify conquest, how African knowledge was erased, and how inaccurate borders drawn in European capitals still cause conflicts today. Key figures include Dr. John Rae, who mapped the Niger; the German cartographer Dr. Richard Kiepert; and the French officer Colonel Charles-Michel de Vauix, whose surveys of the Sahara were used to claim territory. We also look at the 1911 Anglo-French map of the Niger-Chad frontier and its legacy. Warning: this episode contains discussions of colonial violence and erasure. #ScrambleForAfrica #HistoryOfCartography #ImperialMapping #RoyalGeographicalSociety #JohnRae #RichardKiepert #CharlesDeVauix #NigerRiver #SaharaSurvey #GermanEastAfrica #FrenchWestAfrica #BerlinConference #AngloFrenchBorder #NigerChad #ColonialCartography #BlankSpaces #ErasedKnowledge #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Herero and Nama Genocide: Germany's First Holocaust

Before the Holocaust, Imperial Germany committed the first genocide of the 20th century in its colony of German South West Africa—modern-day Namibia. Between 1904 and 1908, German colonial forces under General Lothar von Trotha waged a war of annihilation against the Herero and Nama peoples. This episode tells the story of the Battle of Waterberg, the brutal Omaheke Desert march, and the concentration camps on Shark Island. We explore the origins of General von Trotha's Vernichtungsbefehl (extermination order), the role of settler colonialism, and the long shadow this genocide casts on German memory. Learn about Samuel Maharero's uprising, Hendrik Witbooi's leadership, and how the Herero and Nama are still fighting for recognition and reparations today. #HereroGenocide #NamaGenocide #VonTrotha #Waterberg #SharkIsland #GermanSouthWestAfrica #Namibia #SamuelMaharero #HendrikWitbooi #Vernichtungsbefehl #ConcentrationCamps #ColonialGenocide #OmahekeDesert #1904 #ImperialGermany #NamibiaHistory #FexingoHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Siege of Mafikeng: Boer War, Empire, and African Lives

In this episode, Lucas and Luna examine the Siege of Mafikeng (1899–1900), a key event in the Second Anglo-Boer War that exposed the brutality of British imperialism in southern Africa. They explore the role of the Barolong people, led by Chief Wessels Montshiwa, who defended the town alongside British commander Robert Baden-Powell. The siege highlighted the contradictions of empire—white settlers fighting for control while black Africans bore the brunt of violence and displacement. Lucas explains how the Mafikeng siege became a propaganda tool for the British, with Baden-Powell's successful defense launched his career, while the African population suffered famine and forced labor. The episode also touches on the wider devastation of the Boer War, including the concentration camps where tens of thousands of black Africans died. This is a story of survival, manipulation, and the forgotten casualties of imperial conflict. #SiegeOfMafikeng #BoerWar #RobertBadenPowell #Barolong #WesselsMontshiwa #BritishEmpire #SouthAfrica #Mafikeng #ConcentrationCamps #Imperialism #ScrambleForAfrica #BitterEinder #MafekingMenchen #SolPlaatje #SecondAngloBoerWar #ColonialHistory #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Anglo-Ashanti Wars: How the Golden Stool Became a Symbol of Resistance

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Anglo-Ashanti Wars, focusing on the significance of the Golden Stool (Sika Dwa Kofi) as a national symbol of the Ashanti Empire. They discuss the First Anglo-Ashanti War (1823-1831), the Battle of Nsamankow where Governor Charles MacCarthy was killed, and the complex peace treaties that followed. The episode delves into Sir Garnet Wolseley's 1873-1874 campaign, the sacking of Kumasi, and the contentious Treaty of Fomena. The climax comes in 1900 with the War of the Golden Stool, led by Yaa Asantewaa of Ejisu, against British Governor Sir William Maxwell's demand for the stool. The rebellion's suppression, the exile of Yaa Asantewaa to the Seychelles, and the legacy of the stool as a unifier of Ashanti identity are discussed. The episode also touches on the role of Asantehene Prempeh I and the British policy of indirect rule, culminating in the return of Prempeh in 1924. No previous episode has focused exclusively on the Anglo-Ashanti Wars or the Golden Stool as a central theme. #AngloAshantiWars #GoldenStool #YaaAsantewaa #AshantiEmpire #Kumasi #PrempehI #SikaDwaKofi #SirGarnetWolseley #BattleOfNsamankow #TreatyOfFomena #WarOfTheGoldenStool #ColonialResistance #BritishEmpire #GhanaHistory #19thCentury #History #FexingoHistory #Decolonization Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

King Leopold's Ghost: The Congo Reform Campaign

In this episode, Lucas and Luna revisit the Congo Free State atrocities through the lens of the global movement that tried to stop them. They focus on the unlikely alliance between a British shipping clerk named E.D. Morel, a Congo-based Irish diplomat named Roger Casement, and a pioneering photographer named Alice Seeley Harris. Together, they exposed the rubber terror—the chicotte whip, the severed hands, the hostage villages—and built the first mass human rights campaign of the modern era. The hosts examine how the Congo Reform Association pressured governments, why Leopold II fought back with his own propaganda machine, and what finally forced him to cede the Congo to Belgium in 1908. They also touch on the limits of reform: the colony remained a brutal extractive enterprise under Belgian rule. A conversation about conscience, complicity, and whether exposing evil is ever enough. #CongoFreeState #LeopoldII #EDMorel #RogerCasement #AliceSeeleyHarris #CongoReformAssociation #RubberTerror #HumanRights #ColonialAtrocities #Propaganda #BritishForeignPolicy #BelgianCongo #1908 #History #FexingoHistory #ScrambleForAfrica #Africa #Colonialism Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]