The 'Scramble for Africa'



The 'Scramble for Africa'

At the end of the 18th century colonialism seemed to have become a thing of the past. Britain had lost its Thirteen Colonies in America, Spain and Portugal had lost most of South America and Holland was having difficulties holding onto the East Indies.

A hundred years later, however, a second wave of colonization took place. Within twenty years, from 1880 to 1900, every corner of the Earth, from the highest mountains in the Himalayas to the most remote Pacific island and Antarctica, came to be claimed by one or other European power. Africa saw the most dramatic colonization. It was divided up as if it had been a cake split between greedy European leaders. This was called the "Scramble for Africa".

While Europeans had established contact with Africa as early as the 1450’s, European influence was limited to the coastal regions of the continent. Europeans could not navigate African rivers which caused the Europeans to limit their influence to just the outskirts of Africa. However, with the advancements made during the Industrial Revolution (steam engine), Europeans were able to conduct major expeditions to the interior of Africa. This led to the exploitation of Africa by the Europeans as the continent was full of valuable natural resources.

Reasons for European Interest in Africa

Besides its vast resources, Europeans were also interested in Africa for reasons having to do with racism. Many Europeans believed themselves, and their culture, to be better than all those around them. Many Europeans thought that it was their DUTY to CIVILIZE those SAVAGES that they found around the World. This BURDEN, became known as the WHITE MANS BURDEN. One man, Cecil Rhodes, made the following statement:

“I contend that we (Britons) are the first race in the world, and the more of the world we inhabit, the better it is for the human race … It is our duty to seize every opportunity of acquiring more territory and we should keep this one idea steadily before our eyes that more territory simply means more of the Anglo – Saxon race, more of the best, the most human, most honourable race the world possess.”

- Cecil Rhodes, 1877

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Keeping Control

Europeans were able to easily control their newly acquired colonies for a number of reasons. First, Europeans who had recently industrialized were able to reap the benefits of the advanced weapons that came about during that time. While Africans resisted the Europeans with outdated weapons, Europeans fought with brand new weapons and easily overwhelmed the fighting Africans. Secondly, the new inventions made during the Industrialization allowed for greater control over colonies on the part of the Europeans. With the steam engine, Europeans were allowed to easily travel on rivers to established bases of control deep in the African continent. Railroads, cables and steamships allowed close communications within a colony and between the colony and its controlling nation.

Rival Tribes

Africa was made up by many different tribes. Each of these tribes boasted its own language, way of life and belief system. While they were all “Africans” in the eyes of the Europeans, these tribes did not always get along with one another. This fact actually made Africa easier for Europeans to colonize the continent. Because of the huge variety of languages and cultures, unity between the tribes was not easy to come by. Because of their differences, tribes were not able to come together and fight united against the Europeans. In turn, Europeans learned to play rival ethnic groups against each other by grouping them together by drawing political boundaries that included warring tribes. This way, Europeans could rule the country and not fear the tribes rising against them. Instead, the tribes were too busy bickering amongst themselves to really threaten their European rulers.

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Berlin Conference Divides Africa

The competition between the Europeans for Africa was so intense, that they feared that they would begin to fight amongst themselves. Everyone wanted a piece of Africa, and it was important to establish “who gets what” before conflict broke out. To this end, many European countries met in Berlin, Germany to decide how Africa would be divided between them. This meeting, known as the BERLIN CONFERENCE, established rules for the division of the African continent. They agreed that any European country could claim land in Africa by notifying other nations of its claims and showing it could control the area. The European nations divided the continent with little thought about how African ethnic or linguistic groups were distributed. No African ruler was invited to attend these meetings, yet the conference sealed African’s fate.

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European Colonies 1880’s

Map 2 – European Solution

Map 1 - How the Europeans Found African Tribes

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