Scramble for Africa

Goal of Today

• The goal of today is to look at the scramble for Africa

• Terms

• Berlin Conference

Africa Before Imperialism

Hundreds of Languages Spoken

Various Cultures & Governments

Some lived in large states

Some lived in villages

Some lived nomadic lives

North Africa Before Imperialism

• Close ties to the Muslim world

• Since 1400s – ruled by Ottoman Empire

West Africa Before Imperialism• Strong Muslim influence• Muslim leaders preached

jihad (holy struggle) to revive and purify Islam

• Asante kingdom traded with both Europeans and Muslims

• Asante power was limited – controlled many smaller states but they weren’t unified

East Africa Before Imperialism

• Influenced by Muslims

• East Africans sold slaves to the Middle East

• Sold ivory and copper in exchange for Indian cloth and firearms

South Africa Before Imperialism• State of chaos

• Mass migrations and wars occurred because the Zulu nation conquered much of the southern territories

• “The Berlin Conference was Africa's undoing in more ways than one. The colonial powers superimposed their domains on the African continent. By the time independence returned to Africa in 1950, the realm had acquired a legacy of political fragmentation that could neither be eliminated nor made to operate satisfactorily.”

Berlin Conference

• Meeting at the Berlin residence of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in 1884, the foreign ministers of fourteen European powers and the United States established ground rules for the future exploitation of the "dark continent." Africans were not invited and had no say in the decisions that were made.

• The purpose was to reduce the potential of war between European countries for rival claims to land in Africa.

Info on the Conference

• 14 states were invited to participate

• France, Germany, Great Britain, and Portugal were the major players in the conference

• The French dominated most of West Africa, and the British East and Southern Africa. The Belgians acquired the vast territory that became The Congo. The Germans held four colonies, one in each of the realm's regions. The Portuguese held a small colony in West Africa and two large ones in Southern Africa.

Results• 1. Belgium’s right to the Congo Free State were

recognized.

• 2. Free trade on the Congo and Niger rivers

• 3. No European country could claim any part of Africa without first setting up a government office there.

• 4. Europeans began to divide up Africa

• The entire continent was partitioned or divided up over the next 20 years with the exception of Ethiopia and Liberia.

The British

• It was said that "The sun never sets on the British Empire." By this time, Britain's colonial territories spanned the world, and during the late 1800s Britain expanded their territorial possessions to include Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa.

What did Europeans Want?

Map of Africa 1914