10 Incredible What-Ifs That Could Have Changed The Course Of History

8. ...The British And French Had Warred Over Sudan?

Both the British and French Empires were advancing through Eastern Africa throughout the late-19th Century, and once their paths crossed on the continent, they almost engaged in a huge war during the Fashoda Crisis of 1898.

While Britain controlled much of Eastern Africa, the French sent an expeditionary force (led by Major Jean-Baptiste Marchand) to Fashoda on the White Nile in 1898 in order to prevent their rival empire from having any influence at all over what is now modern-day Sudan. In response, Sir Herbert Kitchener sent a powerful flotilla of British gunboats to head off the French advance.

Newspapers in both France and Britain printed sensationalised stories about how warfare was close - and both attempted to drum up patriotic support. However, the newly-appointed French foreign minister Théophile Delcassé did not believe there was any benefit to going to war with another colonial power over African territory. Under heavy pressure from the foreign minister, and fearing an embarrassing defeat due to the undoubted superiority and size of the British Navy compared to their own maritime forces, the French eventually withdrew humiliated - ensuring Anglo-Egyptian dominance over Eastern Africa.

In the aftermath, the British agreed to recognise France as the dominant force in Morocco, while the former was acknowledged as controlling Egypt. The French did come out of this dispute with one positive though - the realisation that they needed the British and their powerful navy on their side should they become entangled in a war with Germany. And hence, the successful resolution of this dispute without warfare allowed Britain to join the Great War on the side of the French.