ABSTRACT
In March 1895, the Foreign Under-Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, told the House of Commons that if rumours of a secret French military expedition to the Nile valley were true, Britain would construe it as 'an un-friendly act' which, in the familiar diplomatic litotes of the time, constituted a clear warning. France, in other words, was more committed in West Africa than Britain; Britain was not disinterested, but the nature of her interests there, and the reality of her power, suggested more limited objectives. Over most of West Africa Britain did not fight very hard. South Africa saw the biggest and the last of Britain's major colonial wars. Salisbury was concerned to get the boards clear of other troubles first: 'We cannot afford to have more than a limited area of heather alight at the same time.' And all ministers were concerned about public opinion.
