What connotation does the phrase man on the spot has towards the Scramble for Africa?

Answer 1

From my understanding, the basic concept behind man on the spot is this: a colonial official in charge of an area (such as a country in Africa) writes embellished reports back to the metropole to boost his importance in the region. many times these contained false reports of aggression from natives, under which the official would ask his home country for permission to wage war. Often times, he ignored the response if it did not please him. this was especially common in colonial Africa during the industrial revolution, when railroads were being developed. as the tracks went along and met resistance from locals, the colonial official would intimidate them or sometimes go to war with the local peoples, then write back to his home country that he squashed a dangerous and violent rebellion. the essential idea is that colonial officials would exaggerate in correspondences back home in order to increase their importance, or to cover their asses.