F Fashoda crisis The Fashoda crisis of 1898 was a confrontation between the British and French over control of the Sudan The British wanted control of the water sources of the vital Nile River upon which Egypt (which they already controlled) depended Some British imperialists such as Cecil Rhodes also had ambitions to build a northsouth railway to traverse the African continent from the Mediterranean to South Africa The French also dreamed of building an east-west railway from their huge empire in West Africa to East Africa They also wanted to thwart British imperial expansion In the 1890s a French major, Jean-Baptiste Marchand, embarked on an ambitious expedition to walk from West Africa across to the Sudan to claim the territory for the French Empire After two years and the loss of hundreds of men, Marchand arrived at the small settlement of Fashoda on the Upper Nile and hoisted the French flag At the same time, the British, led by Horatio Herbert Kitchener, had completed their conquest of northern Sudan, culminating at the Battle of Omdurman When Kitchener heard that a European was at Fashoda, he immediately knew that Marchand had succeeded in his expedition; however, he was not about to let the French seize part of the Sudan Kitchener took five gunboats loaded with soldiers to confront Marchand, who was vastly outmanned and outgunned Recognizing his inferior position, Marchand reluctantly agreed to defer the question of territorial rights over the Sudan to the diplomats back in London and Paris Although there were popular demonstrations in both capitals in favor of war, diplomacy prevailed In an 1899 negotiated settlement it was agreed that the Sudan, the largest country in Africa, would become part of the British Empire and, in return, France would receive a small compensatory territory in West Africa See also British Empire in southern Africa Further reading: Churchill, Winston S The River War London: Prion, 1899, 1997; Holt, P M A Modern History of the Sudan New York: Grove Press, 1961; Sanderson, G N England, Europe and the Upper Nile Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1965 Janice J Terry Fenian raids Between 1866 and the 1870s a small number of Irish nationalist exiles invaded British Canada several times from the United States in hopes of forcing Britain to grant Ireland its independence The Fenians failed; their attacks created new tensions between Canada and the United States but also sparked Canadian nationalism, helping secure support for the 1867 British North America Act that created modern Canada In 1857 refugees from the recent Irish Famine and supporters of the Young Ireland movement met in New York City to enlist Irish immigrants to help throw off centuries of British rule Named for an ancient Irish 127