April 1873
Ashanti Wars start

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The Ashanti of west Africa are trying to expand into the coastal lands of the Fanti people, which Britain has seized from the Dutch in 1872 and colonised as the Gold Coast. There are many Ashanti–British clashes, and in 1873 war breaks out. The British government sends an expeditionary force, led by General Garnet Wolseley (1833-1913), and during the fighting, the Ashanti capital Kumasi is burned. The British defeat the Africans in 1874.

More wars follow, though on a smaller scale, with Britain always defeating or containing the Ashanti. In 1896, the Ashanti territory is formally annexed into the Gold Coast colony (which, in 1957, becomes the independent state of Ghana).

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