Fashoda Incident

The Fashoda Incident of 1898 occurred in Sudan and caused a diplomatic crisis between the British and French empires. A small French force claimed authority over the town of Fashoda (modern Kodok) and the Upper Nile Valley. A much larger British force, fresh from victory over the Mahdist state at the Battle of Omdurman, requested that the French withdraw, which they eventually did. This messy incident in the Scramble for Africa nearly started a war between the two colonial powers, which were increasingly paranoid about each other's intentions. The Fashoda Incident soured Anglo-French relations, and they would not be restored until both states realised Imperial Germany was the real threat to them in Europe and further afield.