The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. With the most famous battle being the Defense of Rorke's Drift. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, coupled with military campaigns, might lead to a ruling white minority over a black majority, which would provide a large pool of cheap labour for the British sugar plantations and mines, encompassing the African Kingdoms, tribal areas and Boer republics into South Africa. In 1874, Sir Bartle Frere was sent to South Africa as High Commissioner for the British Empire to effect such plans. Among the obstacles were the armed independent states of the South African Republic and the Kingdom of Zululand. Frere, on his own initiative, sent a provocative ultimatum on 11 December 1878 to the Zulu king Cetshwayo and upon its rejection sent Lord Chelmsford to invade Zululand. The war had several particularly bloody battles, including an opening victory of the Zulu at the Battle of Isandlwana, followed by the defence of Rorke's Drift by a small British Garrison from an attack by a large Zulu force. The British eventually won the war, ending Zulu dominance of the region. The Zulu Kingdom was then made a protectorate and later annexed by the British Empire in 1887. Source: Wikipedia (en)