First Matabele War

The First Matabele War was fought from 1893 to 1894 in what is now Zimbabwe between the British South Africa Company and the Ndebele kingdom of Mthwakazi, ruled by King Lobengula. Lobengula sought to avoid war, aware that his forces, though numbering tens of thousands of spearmen and riflemen, might not use their modern Martini-Henry rifles effectively, while Company leaders Cecil Rhodes and Leander Starr Jameson also hoped to avoid a conflict that could unsettle investor confidence. War broke out after Lobengula authorized a raid to collect tribute from a Mashona chief near Fort Victoria, bringing his forces into direct conflict with the Company, whose roughly 750 police troops were reinforced by colonial volunteers and around 700 Tswana allies. The war ended in a Company victory and the dissolution of the Ndebele kingdom. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/