ABSTRACT
British interest in the Cape of Good Hope was driven by two aspects: the first one was related to the British ambitions in Asia; the second one was concerned in British African activities pulled by the travellers, adventurers, and policymakers. While the British activities towards the Republic of South Africa are widely known, this chapter aims to show three African inland regions which could be labeled as marginal. Although Bechuanaland, Basutoland, and Swaziland belonged to the British Empire from the end of the nineteenth century to the 1960s, their position in the empire was extremely specific and influenced by the ability of local political elites to cooperate with the British government. British presence in the African south must be understood in the wider context of European colonialism. The British administration worked on the parallel rule principle throughout the first half of the twentieth century, until the three territories took roads to independence.
