Story. History of Botswana

Imagine for a moment that you are in love and preparing for a wedding, despite the obvious disapproval of your parents on both sides. You love each other and the rest seems insignificant to you. And then the British Prime Minister appears on your doorstep and declares that you must give up your love, otherwise your wedding will lead to an international political crisis. Sounds absurd, right? But what seems absurd now was back in 1948 harsh reality, because the bride was a white, middle-class Englishwoman and the groom was a black prince from the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, now known as Botswana.

They met in England in 1947. He is a 26-year-old future king of one of the forgotten by the world states of South Africa, she is the 23-year-old daughter of a retired British military man. The fate of the future lovers, without knowing it, was determined by Muriel Williams-Sanderson, Ruth's sister, with whom they were very friendly. Muriel offered to accompany her on dance party, organized for military families by the London Missionary Society. By coincidence, Seretse, the pitcher, also ended up there. big hopes, a superbly educated Oxford student, a member of the ancient African family of Bamangwato and crown prince of Bechuanaland. In addition to the royal title, Seretse Khana had a remarkable mind and very advanced views on modernity, political system and most importantly – your own country. Seretse dreamed of the independence and freedom of his state, which was under British protectorate and was, in fact, deprived of the opportunity to develop both economically and politically.

Everything was decided by a dance to which, despite prejudice, a black student dared to invite a white lady. And from that moment on, both of their worlds turned upside down. The love of Ruth and Seretse, which arose spontaneously, like a hurricane in the steppe arises without any warning, became the same “at first sight.” Their romance developed rapidly, and within a year they realized that they had to get married. Despite the protests of their relatives, the young people decided that they were ready to go against the will of their families: separation seemed to both of them to be a disaster. But they had no idea what a disaster their marriage would be for Great Britain and its plans for the reconstruction of Africa.

So that we, from the bell tower of 2016, understand the full depth of what is happening around lovers political conflict, we need to remember that just at that time in South Africa (then South Africa), neighboring Botswana, the Afrikaner National Party was gaining popularity, preaching the ideas of racial segregation in its most extreme manifestations. In Africa, it was already not too smooth with “democracy” in relation to blacks, but extreme nationalists believed that the ruling party in South Africa was not doing enough to maintain the purity of the white nation. And the 1948 elections were looming...

And against this political background, information appeared in the press about a romance between a dark-skinned prince and a white Englishwoman. The current South African government has made it clear to its British counterparts that this alliance could have dire consequences for the relations of both countries. If Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams get married, this will give extra trump cards to apartheid supporters in the upcoming elections, which, of course, neither Great Britain nor the ruling elite of South Africa were interested in. It’s even surprising how neither side took extreme measures in this regard...

Everyone tried to dissuade Ruth. But if the father and sister simply did not like the idea of ​​becoming related to a black guy, then the British Secretary of State for the Commonwealth brought other ideas to the girl, political arguments. In fact, the girl was told that if she did not give up her African husband, it could be the beginning of the end of the British Empire in Africa.

Seretse Khama's situation was no better: his uncle, who was temporarily acting as regent, gave his nephew a real dressing down. Not then young man sent to study at Oxford so that he could disgrace his family by getting involved with a white man: in his homeland, Seretse was waiting not only for the throne, but also for the “right” bride - a girl from his own tribe. It is noteworthy that the tribe itself reacted to the news of the white love of their future king much more favorably than their own uncle. But he had his own plans for the throne, and the scandal surrounding his nephew came in handy. If William Shakespeare were alive, this story might become a new source of inspiration for him.

And yet, Seretse and Ruth set a wedding day. However, the wedding never took place: shortly before the ceremony, someone intimidated the priest who was supposed to marry a black groom and a white bride. Realizing that they had nowhere to wait for blessings and help, the lovers secretly got married in 1948, a year after their fatal acquaintance, in an ordinary registry office.

The news leaked to the press about the marriage of an African prince and a white lady had the effect of a bomb. The Prime Minister of South Africa declared this union “sickening” to the whole world, violating moral interracial laws. Angry telegrams poured in from Pretoria to the British government, condemning the marriage of an Englishwoman and an “African.” And is it any wonder that the National Party, which received the majority of votes in the elections to South Africa, first adopted a law banning interracial marriages (1949), and at the second stage introduced an amendment to the Morality Law, which established criminal liability for sexual contacts white man with a representative of a different race. Relations between Great Britain and South Africa were cracking at the seams; plans for the possible annexation of Bechuanaland to its southern neighbor were completely dashed.

In 1949, Seretse and a pregnant Ruth arrived in Bechuanaland, believing that the fuss about them had died down. And in vain. Khama's native tribe, instigated by Uncle Tshekedi, who had his own plans for the throne, refused to recognize the white Englishwoman as their queen. Seretse was required to renounce either his wife, whose marriage was not sanctioned by the elders, or his claims to the throne. With pure political position, it was beneficial for many to remove this inconvenient pair from sight, the mere sight of which acted on the white population of Africa like a red rag on a bull. The British government intervened in the conflict. In March 1950, Seretse was summoned to London, ostensibly to meet with the Commonwealth Affairs Committee regarding the settlement of issues affecting him. interracial marriage. It was a trap.

English politicians, in collusion with the king's uncle, tried to force Khama to renounce his claims to rule the country, but were met with refusal. As punishment for Seretse's obstinacy, Khama became a prisoner of the British government, and together with Ruth, they could not leave Great Britain until 1956, let alone return to Seretse's homeland. This was the payback for their interracial love.

But it’s not Khama’s character to give up. Loyalty to his love was not the only virtue of the young king. He had charisma, was full real ideas how to change life in his country for the better and least of all was going to give up under the pressure of circumstances. This attracted his compatriots to him. If Seretse could not become king of Bechuanaland, then he had to become its president. During his years of living in exile, he prepared good ground for this.

In 1956, the elders of the Bamangwato tribe sent a formal demand to Elizabeth II to release their leader from the country. The current political situation at that time no longer suggested refusal, and Khama, along with his white wife and two children, returned to his homeland. Then events developed rapidly.

Khama renounced his claims to the throne, which led to the abolition of the monarchy in the country. A year later, he joined the governing council of Bechuanaland, in 1961 he created the Democratic Party of Botswana, which after 4 years won parliamentary elections and in 1966 Seretse Khama was elected president of the land in which he was not allowed to become king. He went down in the history of Botswana as the man who managed to transform it from one of the poorest countries in Africa into one of the most rapidly developing countries on the continent. All this time, Ruth was next to her husband. In trouble and in joy, relentlessly, faithfully, and without thinking of another, simple fate for yourself. White-skinned Ruth Wilson Khama became the most influential and politically active First Lady of Botswana.

And in the fall of 2016, just in time for the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of Botswana's first president, Amma Asante's film A United Kingdom, based on this incredible story, was released. romantic story Seretse Khan and Ruth Williams. The roles of lovers who not only overcame a lot of obstacles on the path to happiness, but also changed political system actors Rosamund Pike and David Oyelowo performed their country.

Photo source: Getty Images, film stills

STORY
Hunters and gatherers who spoke Khoisan languages ​​were the first to come to what is now Botswana. For example, the earliest settlements at a site in the Tsodilo Hills (northwest of the country) date back to approximately XV III century BC e. In the last few centuries BC. e. Some tribes began to turn to livestock farming, using the relatively fertile lands around the Okavango Delta and Lake Makhadikhadi. The pottery of the Bambata culture dates back to the 3rd century - probably Hottentot in ethnicity.

At the beginning of our era, Bantu farmers came to South Africa, and with their arrival began iron age. The first Iron Age sites in Botswana date back to around 1190 AD. e. and are probably related to the Bantu peoples of the Limpopo Valley. By 420 AD e. include the remains of small beehive-like houses at a settlement near Molepolole (almost identical to finds at a site near Pretoria); there are similar finds from the 6th century in the north-west, in the Tsodilo hills.

In the 12th century, the spread of the Moritsane culture, associated with the southeast of Botswana, began: its carriers were tribes of the Sotho-Tswana group, who, although they belonged to the Bantu peoples, were engaged in animal breeding rather than agriculture. From a material point of view, this culture also combined features of older Upper Neolithic cultures (like Bambat) and the Bantu culture of the eastern Transvaal (Leidenberg culture). The spread of the Moritsane culture is associated with the growing influence of the Khalahadi chiefdoms.

In the east and center of the country, the leaders of Toutswe had great influence, conducting active trade with the eastern coast. This entity later fell under the rule of the Mapungubwe state and later the rulers of Greater Zimbabwe.

Around the 9th century, other Bantu tribes, the ancestors of the current Yeyi and Mbukushu, began to penetrate into the north-west of the country.

In the 13th century, the Sotho and Tswana leaders in the Western Transvaal began to gain strength. The leaders of the Rolong tribe began to put serious pressure on the Khalahadi tribes, forcing them to either submit or move further into the Kalahari. By the mid-17th century, the Rolong-Khalahadi chiefs controlled lands as far as what is now Namibia, and news of their conflicts with the Hottentots over copper mines even reached Dutch settlers in the Cape Colony.
TO XVI century refers to the separation of the Tswana proper under the rule of the Hurutshe, Kwena and Kgatla dynasties, who founded the kingdom of Ngwaketse at the end of the 17th century, subjugating the Khalahadi and Rolong. They soon had to face external threats: first they were attacked by tribes fleeing European influence in the southwest, and later the Tswana had to deal with the consequences of Mfekane. In 1826, the Tswana clashed with the Kololo, who killed the leader Makabu II. The Tswana managed to drive the Kololo further north, where they settled briefly. The Kololo reached in the west as far as present-day Namibia (where they were defeated by the Herero), and in the north - as far as the Lozi lands in the upper Zambezi.

After the end of the Mfecane wars, Tswana chiefs began to strengthen their influence in the region, acting as trade intermediaries between Europeans in the south and northern tribes. Especially notable were Sechele, the ruler of the Kwena who lived around Molepolole and Kama III, the king of the Ngwato, who owned virtually all of modern Botswana. Kama was an ally of the British, who used his lands to bypass the hostile Boer republics (Transvaal and Orange Free State) and the Shona and Ndebele kingdoms. Tensions grew in the region, and in 1885 the Tswana chiefs Kama, Batwen and Sebele petitioned the British Crown for protection. On March 31, 1885, a British protectorate was proclaimed over the Tswana lands, called Bechuanaland. The northern part of Bechuanaland remained under the control of the English crown, and Bechuanaland was included in the Cape Colony (now part of South Africa; which is why most Tswana speakers now live in South Africa).

German map of South Africa 1905. Bechuanaland has not yet been divided into northern (protectorate) and southern parts. The British initially assumed that Bechuanaland, like Basutoland (Lesotho) and Swaziland, would be included in Rhodesia or the Union of South Africa, and therefore even Mafikeng, located in the Cape, became the administrative center of the protectorate colonies. Special programs the development of Bechuanaland was not envisaged; moreover, they provoked a sharp protest from the Tswana leaders, who did not want increased European influence on their lands. The inclusion of the protectorates in South Africa was constantly postponed, and in the end, when the National Party began to introduce an apartheid regime in the country, it was decided not to merge these territories into one. In 1951, a joint advisory board, and in 1961 a constitution was adopted that provided for the creation of a legislative assembly with deliberative voting rights.

Great Britain did not want to change its political system until it was convinced that the country could independently develop its economy. In 1964, the colonial administration agreed to the possibility of declaring independence, in 1965 self-government was introduced, and the capital was moved from Mafikeng to the quickly rebuilt Gaborone, and in 1966 the independent Republic of Botswana was proclaimed. The first prime minister was Seretse Kama, one of the leaders of the liberation movement and a legitimate contender for the throne of the Ngwato leader. He was re-elected twice more and died in 1980 while serving as president.

The economy of independent Botswana was based on exports (in particular, diamond deposits were found in the country); In order to get the maximum benefit from these exports, in 1969 the government achieved changes in the terms of the customs agreement with South Africa.

After Kama, Vice President Ketumile Masire became president, and was also re-elected twice later. Masire resigned in 1998, and Festus Mohae became the leader of Botswana.

The love and marriage story of Botswana's first president, Sir Seretse Khama, and Englishwoman Ruth Williams caused unprecedented political and diplomatic unrest in 1948. Seretse Khama, who came from a line of Bamangwato chiefs and was educated in South Africa and Great Britain, met his future wife in England while studying. The marriage of the loving couple was opposed by literally everyone - the Seretse and Ruth families and the British government, since at that time Botswana was a British protectorate in South Africa. Seretse was forced to leave his wife and return to his homeland or give up his tribe's lands. However, ill-wishers were unable to separate the lovers. Moreover, the couple returned to Seretse's homeland, where he became the first president of Botswana, achieved his country's independence from Great Britain, becoming one of the most rapidly developing countries on the continent, and Ruth went down in the history of Botswana as one of the most influential and politically active first ladies .

Their story had an exceptional resonance in society, and novels were written about the famous couple and even the film “A United Kingdom” was made, starring Rosamund Pike and David Oyelowo.

The couple met in 1947 at a London Missionary Society dance, where Ruth was brought by her sister Muriel. Seretse approached the sisters and asked Ruth to dance. And so their romance began.

The romance flared up very quickly. But neither Seretse nor Ruth received support from their families for their upcoming wedding. Uncle Seretse was categorically against it, since the heir had to finish his education, return to his homeland and marry a woman chosen by his family. And Ruth’s father immediately declared that his daughter could not marry a black man.

But the young people did not even suspect that they would have to withstand the onslaught of not only their relatives, but also the governments of Great Britain and South Africa. Apartheid was about to be established in South Africa, and Britain did not want to complicate relations with the country. South Africa made it clear to Great Britain that if a marriage between a white woman and an African man took place on their territory, it would mean a constitutional crisis. Pictured: a couple in London in 1949.

The priest who was supposed to marry the couple was hinted that the wedding should not take place. Then Seretse and Ruth got married in secret and went to Africa. But their problems did not end there either. Uncle Seretse, who apparently wanted to take the throne himself, was furious and did everything to ensure that the elders of the tribe refused to recognize Ruth as queen and the marriage itself as valid. After some time, Seretse was invited to London, and it turned out to be a trap. There he was forced to renounce his already pregnant wife and his rights as the future head of the tribe. Having been refused, government officials announced that he would be expelled from native land. Seretse eventually renounced the throne, returned to Africa and, after the first democratic elections, was elected the first president of what would become Botswana. Pictured: The President and First Lady of Botswana with Queen Elizabeth and Princess Anne at a luncheon at Buckingham Palace.

Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams had four children - a daughter and three sons. Eldest son Ian Khama has been President of Botswana since 2008.

British politician Aneurin Beavan and President and First Lady of Botswana in the House of Lords. Photo: rexfeatures.com

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Botswana President Ian Khama, son of Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams. Photo: rexfeatures.com

US President Barack Obama and Botswana President Ian Khama. Photo: rexfeatures.com

Monument to the first President of the Republic of Botswana, Seretse Kham, in the country's capital, Gaborone. Photo: rexfeatures.com

A still from the British film “A United Kingdom,” based on the love story of the first president of Botswana and the Englishwoman Ruth Williams.

Hunters and gatherers who spoke Khoisan languages ​​were the first to come to what is now Botswana. For example, the earliest settlements at a site in the Tsodilo Hills (northwest of the country) date back to around the 18th century BC. e. In the last few centuries BC. e. Some tribes began to turn to livestock farming, using the relatively fertile lands around the Okavango Delta and Lake Makhadikhadi. The pottery of the Bambata culture dates back to the 3rd century, probably Hottentot in ethnicity.

At the beginning of our era, Bantu farmers came to South Africa, and with their arrival the Iron Age began. The first Iron Age sites in Botswana date back to around 1190 AD. e. and are probably related to the Bantu peoples of the Limpopo Valley. By 420 AD e. include the remains of small beehive-like houses at a settlement near Molepolole (almost identical to finds at a site near Pretoria); there are similar finds from the 6th century in the north-west, in the Tsodilo hills.

In the 12th century, the spread of the Moritsane culture, associated with the southeast of Botswana, began: its carriers were tribes of the Sotho-Tswana group, who, although they belonged to the Bantu peoples, were engaged in animal breeding rather than agriculture. From a material point of view, this culture also combined features of older Upper Neolithic cultures (like Bambat) and the Bantu culture of the eastern Transvaal (Leidenberg culture). The spread of the Moritsane culture is associated with the growing influence of the Khalahadi chiefdoms.

In the east and center of the country, the leaders of Toutswe had great influence, conducting active trade with the eastern coast. This entity later fell under the rule of the Mapungubwe state, and later the rulers of Greater Zimbabwe.

Around the 9th century, other Bantu tribes, the ancestors of the current Yeyi and Mbukushu, began to penetrate into the north-west of the country.

In the 13th century, the Sotho and Tswana leaders in the Western Transvaal began to gain strength. The leaders of the Rolong tribe began to put serious pressure on the Khalahadi tribes, forcing them to either submit or move further into the Kalahari. By the mid-17th century, the Rolong-Khalahadi chiefs controlled lands as far as what is now Namibia, and news of their conflicts with the Hottentots over copper mines even reached Dutch settlers in the Cape Colony.
The 16th century saw the emergence of the Tswana proper under the rule of the Hurutshe, Kwena and Kgatla dynasties, who founded the kingdom of Ngwaketse at the end of the 17th century, subjugating the Khalahadi and Rolong. They soon had to face external threats: first they were attacked by tribes fleeing European influence in the southwest, and later the Tswana had to deal with the consequences of Mfekane. In 1826, the Tswana clashed with the Kololo, who killed the leader Makabu II. The Tswana managed to drive the Kololo further north, where they settled briefly. The Kololo reached in the west as far as present-day Namibia (where they were defeated by the Herero), and in the north - as far as the Lozi lands in the upper Zambezi.

After the end of the Mfecane wars, Tswana chiefs began to strengthen their influence in the region, acting as trade intermediaries between the Europeans in the south and the northern tribes. Especially notable were Sechele, the ruler of the Kwena who lived around Molepolole and Kama III, the king of the Ngwato, who owned virtually all of modern Botswana. Kama was an ally of the British, who used his lands to bypass the hostile Boer republics (Transvaal and Orange Free State) and the Shona and Ndebele kingdoms. Tensions grew in the region, and in 1885 the Tswana chiefs Kama, Batwen and Sebele petitioned the British Crown for protection. On March 31, 1885, a British protectorate was proclaimed over the Tswana lands, called Bechuanaland. The northern part of Bechuanaland remained under the control of the English crown, and Bechuanaland was included in the Cape Colony (now part of South Africa; which is why most Tswana speakers now live in South Africa).

German map of South Africa 1905. Bechuanaland has not yet been divided into northern (protectorate) and southern parts. The British initially assumed that Bechuanaland, like Basutoland (Lesotho) and Swaziland, would be included in Rhodesia or the Union of South Africa, and therefore even Mafikeng, located in the Cape, became the administrative center of the protectorate colonies. There were no special development programs for Bechuanaland; moreover, they provoked sharp protest from the Tswana leaders, who did not want increased European influence on their lands. The inclusion of the protectorates in South Africa was constantly postponed, and in the end, when the National Party began to introduce an apartheid regime in the country, it was decided not to merge these territories into one. A joint advisory council was created in 1951, and a constitution was adopted in 1961, which provided for the creation of a legislative assembly with advisory voting rights.

Great Britain did not want to change its political system until it was convinced that the country could independently develop its economy. In 1964, the colonial administration agreed to the possibility of declaring independence, in 1965 self-government was introduced, and the capital was moved from Mafikeng to the quickly rebuilt Gaborone, and in 1966 the independent Republic of Botswana was proclaimed. The first prime minister was Seretse Kama, one of the leaders of the liberation movement and a legitimate contender for the throne of the Ngwato leader. He was re-elected twice more and died in 1980 while serving as president.

The economy of independent Botswana was based on exports (in particular, diamond deposits were found in the country); In order to get the maximum benefit from these exports, in 1969 the government achieved changes in the terms of the customs agreement with South Africa.

After Kama, Vice President Ketumile Masire became president, and was also re-elected twice later. Masire resigned in 1998, and Festus Mohae became the leader of Botswana.

Each country has its own history. History of Botswana, African country, located in Southern Africa, is very interesting and unusual.

The history of the country before the 19th century has not been sufficiently studied. Scientists have established that the autochthonous population - the Bushmen and Hottentots - was pushed into the interior of the Kalahari by the Bantu tribes, who in very distant times came here from the modern Transvaal (province of South Africa). Already more than a thousand years ago, Bantus inhabited the eastern coast of Africa as far as Natal, and some of these tribes came from the areas of what is now Zambia.

Complex and Long procces The formation of Tswana tribes in Botswana was largely the result of migrations. African researcher I. Shapera wrote: “With some confidence, we can only say that the Tswana inhabited the eastern half of the country already from 1600 AD.” Over the next two centuries, “each of the existing family branches gave rise to more and more new shoots. The history of the Tswana tribes is rich in schisms. Usually, a dissatisfied member of the leader’s family, along with his supporters, went to distant lands, where an independent tribe arose, taking its name from the name of the leader.” .

The Tswana, the people who inhabit Botswana, believe that their main tribes descended from the people ruled by Chief Masilo, who lived in the mid-17th century. One of his two sons, Malope, had three sons - Kwena, Ngwato and Ngwaketse, from whom the names of the modern tribes of Botswana come.

IN early XIX V. most of South Africa was subject to expansion by the Zulu, led by the warlike leader Chaka, and the Ndebele, a side branch of this ethnic group, led by the leader Mzilikazi. The wars with the Zulu, who invaded Tswana territory, were especially bloody and devastating.

IN mid-19th V. Tswana conquered indigenous people- Bushmen - and occupied the areas that belonged to them west of the Transvaal up to the Kalahari Desert. In 1820 Representative of the London Missionary Society Robert Moffat founded the first Christian mission among the Tswana in Kuruman (the territory of modern South Africa).

In 1820-1870 There were tribal feuds among the Tswana and conflicts with the Afrikaner trekkers who were expanding the territory of their possessions. Only the most numerous tribes Tswana, such as, for example, the Ngwato led by Chief Sekgoma, could resist the Afrikaners. Meanwhile, another English missionary, David Livingstone, founded a mission among the Kwena tribe and managed to convert many of them to Christianity. In 1872, Sekgoma Khama III's son, who had been baptized in 1862, became the head of the largest Tswana tribe, the Ngwato. During his long reign, he successfully defended himself against the Ndebele and implemented various reforms in his domains.

Meanwhile, relations between the Tswana and the Afrikaners living in the Transvaal deteriorated. In 1876, Chief Khama and the leaders of other Tswana tribes petitioned the British High Commissioner to South Africa to accept his people under British protection. In 1878, the territory controlled by the leaders who asked for help was occupied by British troops. When these troops left three years later, the Afrikaners invaded.

Europeans appeared on the territory of what is now Botswana in the 18th century, and constant contacts between the Tswana and immigrants from Europe were established at the beginning of the 19th century. The first Europeans to become acquainted with the Tswana settlement area on the eastern borders of the Kalahari are considered to be the Englishmen Peter Tratter and William Sommerville. In 1801 they entered the area north of the Orange River. In 1812-1813 John Campbell, sent by the London Missionary Society, explored some of the other rivers of the Orange system.

Large geographical discoveries in the southern part of the continent are associated primarily with the name of Livingstone, who opened South Africa to science. His book Missionary Travel and Exploration in South Africa, published in London in 1857, was considered at that time a kind of encyclopedia scientific knowledge about this region.

In 1836, the court of the Cape Colony, which belonged to the British, established its jurisdiction over part of the territory inhabited by the Tswana tribes, but the Tswana leaders still managed to maintain their independence.

In 1852, the Boers of the Transvaal achieved recognition of their independence from England, and from that moment the Tswana’s struggle against continuous Boer raids began. However, the Tswana leaders, who took advantage of the Anglo-Boer contradictions, managed to defend their independence for another three decades.

In 1884, the British government, fearing intervention from Germany, sent missionary John Mackenzie as its representative with the rank of Deputy Commissioner for South Africa. In 1885, Great Britain defeated the Afrikaners and, with the consent of Khama and other influential chiefs, the entire territory inhabited by the Tswana people was declared a British protectorate under the name Bechuanaland. The administrative center of the protectorate was located outside the territory of Bechuanaland (the only case in world practice): it was controlled from Mafeking, located in what is now South Africa, near the border. In 1895, the southern part of Bechuanaland was annexed to the Cape Colony, while the northern part retained the status of an English protectorate.

Although Great Britain officially declared its respect for the laws and customs of African peoples, in 1895 its government approved the transfer of control of Bechuanaland private company British South Africa Company founded by Cecil Rhodes. This move by London raised concerns among the Tswana people, and Khama, accompanied by two other chiefs, traveled to England to protest the deal. As a result, Britain agreed to maintain its control of the protectorate, and the Tswana chiefs agreed to transfer a narrow strip of land in the east to the company for the construction of a railway.
Despite the fact that, as of 1964, all power in Bechuanaland belonged to the British High Commissioner in South Africa, the real power was with the commissioner who was permanently stationed in Mafeking (South Africa). For several years after 1891, all the activities of the British administration were reduced mainly to protecting the territory of Bechuanaland from the encroachments of other foreign powers. The solution to all internal issues was left to the tribal leaders. The situation that had changed by 1934 and demands from Africans to improve the management system prompted London to expand the powers of the central government.

With the creation of African Advisory Councils in 1920, the Tswana were able to participate in the work government agencies Bechuanaland. In the same year, an advisory body of the European population was created, and in 1950 a joint council. As a result, the role of Africans in discussing governance issues has increased. In 1959 The constitutional committee of the Joint Council put forward a proposal to create a Legislative Council. London approved the proposal, and in 1960 the Bechuanaland Constitution was promulgated. In the 1961 Legislative Council elections, most of the seats allocated to Africans were won by supporters of Seretse Khama, the grandson of Chief Khama III. In 1965, a constitution was adopted that established internal self-government and provided for the creation of a cabinet of ministers.

During the Second World War and the first post-war years no shocks were noted in Bechuanaland. The gradual social change. There was a process of stratification of the peasantry, conflicts between leaders and community members became more frequent. The education system expanded. In 1946, the number of students in Bechuanaland exceeded 20 thousand. The number of people receiving secondary education increased. Some Africans managed to enter foreign Universities.
During the Second World War, 10 thousand Tswana participated in the combat operations of the British army in the Middle East and Europe. Soldiers returning from the war, who had relatively high level political consciousness, became in the first post-war years the main exponents of the dissatisfaction of the masses with the colonial order. These grievances subsequently led to Botswana's independence.

On September 30, 1966, Botswana was declared an independent state. In the parliamentary elections of 1969, 1974 and 1979, victory was invariably won by Democratic Party Botswana (BBT), created by Seretse Khama. The main opposition party was the more radical Botswana National Front (BNF). After the death of Seretse Khama on July 13, 1980, the country was led by former Vice President Quette Ketumile Masire. In the next elections in 1984 and 1989, Masire and the DPB easily achieved victory. However, in the 1989 elections, the NFB received almost a third of the votes. In the 1994 elections, the opposition already gained 37% of the vote, and the number of seats it received increased from 3 to 13. The NFB also managed to win all 6 additional seats from urban polling stations allocated to ensure representation of the increased urban population.

With the creation of an African majority government in South Africa in 1994, Botswana was freed from a number of political and economic problems caused by the apartheid system. The headquarters of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is located in Botswana. Botswana makes a worthy contribution to supporting the activities of UN peacekeeping forces in conflict areas in Africa. After the resignation of President Masire in 1998, the country was led by former vice-president and finance minister Festus Mogae. He appointed Seretse Khama's son, Chief Ian Khama, a former commander of the country's armed forces, as his new vice-president. The election of President F. Mogae will gradually lead the country to achieve even greater political stability, because his government policies are recognized as one of the most optimal on the entire African continent.