The French Revolution had many consequences. Perhaps one of them was the British colonization of the Cape.
In 1795, The Netherlands was split between royalists and republicans and the Dutch East India Company was slowly losing its grip on colonial trade. When the William V, Prince of Orange fled to England, the head of the British East India Company and the founder of Baring’s Bank, Sir Francis Baring got the British to send nine ships and a contingent of Royal marines to secure the Cape and the British passage to India.
After a number of battles and the loss of 14 lives in battle, the Dutch surrendered the Cape Colony to the British on this day in 1795, making it the second British colony after Sierra Leone.
– Posted by Douglas Racionzer ( serendipiday.blogspot.com )