Turn of the last century

Just doing some (embarrassingly basic) catching up on African geography (never claimed to know anything about Africa--although now I know a little bit), and I ran across a reference to the Fashoda crisis.  For those of you not of the old school of International Relations, the Fashoda crisis was a diplomatic crisis over a strategic part of Africa that nearly started a war between the British and French. The Brits wanted to build the Cape to Cairo railroad, while the French wanted to draw a line of colonies across the Sahel from West Africa to present day Somalia.  Where these two lines intersected was near Fashoda, in modern day South Sudan.

The French sent troops to occupy Fashoda, so did the Brits.  There was a standoff, and the British won.

For some reason, IR scholars view this as important, even though neither the French nor the British were able to connect the continent end to end in the final tally.

However, what really struck me about the Fashoda crisis is when it happened.  1898.  I realize that this is silly, but that was an eventful time in history!  The British were also gearing up for the Boer War, the Spanish American War was starting, as was the Klondike gold rush in the Yukon.  The Boxer Rebellion was about to kick off in China.  It would also only be three years until William McKinley would be assassinated by anarchists.  No wonder anarchism was gaining ground at such an unsettled time when the world was changing so quickly.