Question

Why the British underestimated the Zulu’s and list list 3 reasons? Would the British had been more prepared if they had taken the Zulu threat seriously?

Answer 1

The largest ethnic group of South Africa is the Zulu tribe which belongs to the Bantu clan. The British declared a war against the Zulus. They underestimated the Zulus and thought that they would easily defeat them due to the following reasons:

1. The British had a formidable army and had already conquered many territories. So they had become over-confident. They thought that the Zulu army was less in number as compared to their huge force and could be easily outwitted.

2. During those times, only the British had high-tech weaponry and they boasted about their warfare knowledge. They thought that the Zulus with their primeval weapons like spears and shields were no match for their troops with modern ammunition.

3. The British viewed the Zulus as uncivilized, ignorant and primitive people but on the contrary, the Zulus were highly-disciplined and trained since childhood in warfare. The Zulus had extreme endurance and tolerance, which ultimately proved to be catastrophic for the British.

The British gave an ultimatum to the Zulu king to demobilize his army of 35,000 soldiers. The Zulu king refused to comply. Lord Chelmsford then led the British troops in retaliation but without the authorization of the British legislature. This invasion of Zululand took place in the year 1879. The strength of the  British army was 12,000. Lord Chelmsford was confident that his army would easily overwhelm the tribal army. Smug in his confidence, he committed a strategic blunder and placed his army vulnerable to Zulu attack, as he had not erected any significant barricade around the British camp. He also scattered his army by placing them in different spots. The Zulus, who had hidden themselves seven miles afar from the British camp then startled the sparse British troops who were present in the camp, by mounting a surprise attack. The Zulus managed to defeat the British.

We can definitely say that the British army would have been more prepared if they had taken the Zulu threat seriously. The British seriously undermined the Zulu people, The Zulus were extremely-trained and organized group of people, who learned warfare tactics from a young age. They were very agile and showed no sympathy to their enemies. They fought with their traditional spears and shields, but were adept at it. They also used the geographical conditions of their land to their benefit. Both the British and the Zulus, suffered a large number of casualties. But the Zulus wrecked havoc on the British by their systematized warfare tactics.