The Scramble for Africa is generally defined as the period between 1881 and 1914 that saw European powers increase their stake in Africa from around 10 percent to about 90 percent. The continent of Africa was invaded, divided and then colonized by seven major Western powers, with France and Britain taking the lion’s share of the continent. Many of the boundaries that exist today on the African continent was drawn up during this conquest, which had lasting social, political and economic effects, often times negative, for many decades.
It’s worth mentioning the fact that European empires at the time, who were usually at each other’s throats, were able to smoothly carve up the continent without the need for a single major conflict among themselves. The sheer size of the loot (i.e. Africa’s vast natural resources) was enough reason for the kings and queens in Europe to put aside their differences and impose a direct rule over the continent.
In the article below WHE explores the rationale behind Europe’s conquest of Africa, the effects it had on Africans in general, and how that direct rule morphed into what some scholars see as neo-colonialism today.
Before imperial powers began imposing their direct rule over Africa in the late 19th century, the kind of relationship that existed between the European powers and the Africans was mainly economic. There was some bit of military ties however. For example it was not uncommon for Europeans, particularly businessmen, to establish both military and political ties with a the locals that inhabited on the coasts of Africa. Those initial ties were aimed at boosting trade between the two parties.
Initially, Europeans did not see the need in moving inland to explore. They appeared quite content with the trading relationship that existed. Besides, moving further inland came with a tremendous amount of risk aside the many tropical diseases that they could catch. There were however some European missionaries that braced it all and soldiered inland.
With increased competition among European countries that operated along the coast of Africa, powerful businessmen, in association with European monarchs, began organizing expeditions further and further into the heartland of Africa. The riches they discovered astonished them, and as a result, more expeditions were made. With this came increased knowledge of the continent.
By the middle of the 19th century, European explorers had created detailed maps of the many parts of Africa, particular in East and Central Africa. Thereafter, Africa seemed ripe for a full-scale conquest and colonization.
The first obvious reason for Western colonization of Africa was the vast trade opportunity that the continent presented Europe, whose markets at the time were suffering a bit from the decades of protectionist policies erected by each member country. Simply put, Europe needed to find new markets oversees as her markets were shrinking with each passing decade.
Therefore, Europe hoped to use Africa to revive its economy in ways never seen before. Raw materials would be taken from the continent, and Europe in turn would process those raw materials and then send some of the finished goods back to Africa and other parts of the world.
Aside the economic gains, European imperial powers like Britain and France hoped to use the various ports that they had established along the coast of Africa to facilitate their voyages to Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The latter was a massive gold mine that British businessmen and the Crown couldn’t wait to begin exploiting.
It comes as no surprise that Queen Victoria of Great Britain became the Empress of India in 1877 (under the Royal Titles Act) having had the control of India transferred from the East India Company to the Crown.
In central Africa, more specifically today’s Democratic Republic of the Congo, Leopold II of Belgium had set up the Congo Free State, a quasi corporatist state, to extract untold amounts of rubber, ivory and other minerals from the land. In about two decades, Leopold’s direct rule over the Congo decimated more than half of the local population (more on this below).
Therefore, in a way, the wave of imperialism that swept throughout the globe, particularly in Africa, did not only promote global capitalism, but it also made made many European monarchs unimaginably rich.
Europe’s scramble for Africa was also inspired by the growth of the naval and military strength of Western powers. Naval and military bases had to be set up along the coast of Africa in order to defend shipping routes that were vital in the global trade.
Notable mention can be made of the Suez Canal, which was completed in 1869. This artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt was constructed in order to boost trade between Europe and Asia as merchants did not have to go round Africa before entering the Indian Ocean. By connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, the Suez Canal drastically shortened the distance for sea travel between those two regions.
The colonies that European nations established in Africa were also used as some sort of bargaining chips during negotiations among the Europeans. Territories in Africa often changed hands, from one European power to another. France and Britain together engaged in this act as a means to avert confrontations.
European countries that had colonies with sizable population ended up using the abled sections of the population to boost their military power. Having a colony in Africa also became a status symbol among Europeans.
Take the case of the famous German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck who was not so enthusiastic about having colonies. Bismarck, following the unification of the various small German states in 1871, gave into the prevailing internal political and public pressure to take active part in the scramble for Africa. Nicknamed “the Iron Chancellor”, Bismarck even helped organize the conference in Berlin in 1884 that set out the rules for European powers operating in Africa to follow in order to reduce the possibility of a conflict erupting among them.
The lands near the European trading posts that were established centuries ago steadily turned into the full-fledged European territories. By the late 1860s, Europe had amassed control of about 10 percent of the continent. French and British presence on the Gulf of Guinea along the coast of West Africa was very pronounced. Portugal wielded tremendous amount of influence on the coast of what is now Mozambique in East Africa. To the northwestern part of Africa, primarily what is today Algeria, France dominated as British traders and explorers made huge inroad into southern Africa.
Buoyed by the growth of communication and transportation technology, more and more European nations entered the fray, and thus marking the beginning of the Scramble for Africa.
With all that expansion in Africa, one would think that Europeans would have descended into an all-out conflict over the continent. None of that happened because Europeans had come together and agreed to a set of rules that governed the colonization of Africa.
As many European powers began to establish stronger foothold in many parts of Africa, it became absolutely crucial for Europe to have framework that would regulate colonization efforts and trade in Africa.
Having recently united and become an imperial power, Germany, under the leadership of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, took it upon itself to organize a conference in Berlin in 1884 to discuss major issues concerning Europe’s massive inroad into the Africa.
Some scholars describe the Berlin Africa Conference (also known as the Congo Conference) as Europe’s formalization of its conquest and colonization of Africa. It must be noted that prior to the conference, bilateral agreements were signed among many European countries in order to avoid the breakout of conflict over territories in Africa.
All in all, fourteen countries participated in the Berlin Conference, which included the typical European powers France, Britain, Spain, Portugal as well other countries such as Denmark, the United States, Russia, the Netherlands, among others.
Other issues discussed at the conference included the ending of slave trade that still existed in some bits and forms, and the expansion of missionary activities on the African continent.
Above all things, the conference simply sought to steer imperial powers of the day away from any future conflict over division of Africa. Rules were established to govern territorial boundaries, trade, naval activities, and among others. Another very big takeaway from the conference was the imperial powers acknowledgment of Leopold II of Belgium’s administration of the Congo Free State (what is today the Democratic Republic of Congo). It was also agreed that region along the Congo River was to be a neutral area and free of all trade restrictions and naval restrictions.
The 14 participating countries at the conference also agreed to remain in constant communication with each other, especially when an imperial power intended to expand its colony in Africa.
European empires were able to put aside their differences to milk Africa so to speak. The conference in Berlin 1884 marked the point were informal imperialism began to turn into a more direct rule over Africa. Military influence and economic dominance gave way to direct rule as Europeans agreed to establish and maintain open channels of communication among themselves when it came to the issue of Africa. It was hoped that the rules agreed to would help avert conflicts among themselves. Image: German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck at the Berlin Africa Conference, 1884
It is often said that Ethiopia and Liberia were the two African countries that weren’t included during imperial powers scramble for Africa. Those two countries were already full-fledged independent countries. Liberia, for example, had declared its independence about four decades prior to the Berlin Conference of 1884. The West African country had a fledging system of government modeled on the United States Constitution.
As a matter of fact, Liberia was heavily influenced by American culture; the language, flag, system of governance, capital name, and the name Liberia itself bears strong semblance to the United States. Liberia’s was derived from the word “liberated” or “liberty”, which came about because freed slaves from the U.S. and other parts of Caribbean were encouraged to settle on the coast of West Africa. Liberia thus became a refuge for Blacks that wanted to return to their “ancestral home” so to speak. Owing to Liberia’s strong bond with the U.S., imperial powers in Europe did not include it in their colonization efforts as they did not want to get into a conflict with the Americans.
With regard to Ethiopia, the country’s powerful emperors and relatively strong military forces made it an unattractive target for European nations.
The Berlin Africa Conference of 1884-85 is also known as the Congo Conference or the West Africa Conference
