1. What European nations
imperialized Africa?
2. Who were the Boers?
3. How did the Zulus
respond to European
imperialism?
4. Why were Liberia and
Ethiopia the only African
nations to remain free?
In the 1870s the Belgians
began to trade with Africans
in the Congo.
Fearing they would miss out
on various raw materials, the
other European nations
scrambled to establish their
presence on the continent.
King Leopold
Berlin Conference
In 1884, to avoid conflict amongst themselves, European
leaders met at the Berlin Conference to set up rules for
colonizing Africa. No Africans were invited.
Berlin Conference
Berlin Conference
The European powers agreed that before they could claim
territory they would have to set up an outpost. Whoever was
the first to build the outpost gained that area of land.
Berlin Conference
Europeans
In Africa
By 1914
Britain
France
Germany
Italy
Belgium
Portugal
Spain
British
Territory
Britain’s claims in
Africa were second in
size only to France,
but included heavily
populated areas with
greater natural
resources.
Britain controlled
Egypt because of its
strategic location.
French
Territory
France was very
powerful in North
Africa, and later
spread into West and
Central Africa. The
territory France
controlled was as
large as the United
States.
German
Territory
The newly formed
German empire had to
fight many battles
against African natives
to take lands in the
southern half of Africa.
Germany would lose
its colonial territories
after its loss in World
War I.
Italian
Territory
The Italians crossed
the Mediterranean and
conquered Libya. They
then took Somaliland in
the horn of Africa, but
were beaten badly by
the Ethiopians.
Belgium
Territory
King Leopold and other
wealthy Belgians
exploited the riches of
the Congo, and
brutalized the natives.
Many Africans were
enslaved, beaten, and
killed.
Portuguese (Angola
and Mozambique) and
Spanish (Spanish
Morocco) were minimal.
Portuguese
Territory
Spanish
Territory
The Boers
In the mid-1600s, Dutch
farmers known as Boers
settled in southern Africa
in Cape Colony. The
Boers built Cape Town
as a supply station.
In the 1700s, the Dutch
herders and ivory
hunters began to move
north. The British then
acquired Cape Colony in
the early 1800s.
AFRICA
Cape Colony
Cape Colony
Cape
Town
The Anglo-Boer War
In the late 1800s, the discovery of gold
and diamonds in the northern Boer
territory set off the Anglo-Boer war.
The war was
from 1899-1902
and involved
bitter guerrilla
fighting. The
British won, but
at a great cost.
British
Boers
Boers
Boers
British
The Zulus
In the early 1800s in southern
Africa, an African leader named
Shaka conquered and united
tribes to form the Zulu nation.
Zulu
Nation
Cape Colony
Cape
Town
Shaka
Zulu
The Zulus
The Zulus were skilled and
organized fighters. Shaka
used his power and fought
against European slave
traders and ivory hunters.
The Zulus
The Zulus also fought the
Boers as they migrated
north from Cape Colony.
Zulu
Nation
Cape Colony
Cape
Town
The Anglo-Zulu War
The Zulus came into conflict with the British as well. In 1879
the Zulus wiped out a British force at the battle of Isandlwana.
The Anglo-Zulu War
However, it was not long before the superior weaponry of the
British overtook the Zulus at the battle of Rorke’s Drift.
GB Takes S. Africa
AFRICA
In 1910, with southern
Africa secure, the British
established the Republic
of South Africa and
instituted apartheid.
Apartheid – government
policy calling for
separation of the races.
South
Africa
Cape Colony
Cape
Town
Independent Africans
After the slave trade was outlawed, abolitionists in the United
States promoted the idea of returning freed slaves to Africa.
In the early 1800s, President Monroe
helped free slaves settle in Liberia. The
former slaves named the capital city
Monrovia in his honor.
President
Monroe
Liberia
Independent Africans
The Ethiopians kept their freedom through a successful military
resistance. Emperor Menelik II modernized the army, along
with roads, bridges, and schools.
When the Italians invaded they
were defeated so badly by
Menelik that no other Europeans
tried to take Ethiopia.
Ethiopia
Menelik
Positive Results
Negative Results
1. Unified national states created
1. Encouraged tribal wars by creating
artificial borders
2. Improved medical care, sanitation,
and nutrition
2. Created population explosion 
famine
3. Increased agricultural production
3. Produced cash crops needed by
Europeans, and not food for
Africans
4. Improved transportation and
communication facilities
4. Exploited natural resources:
minerals, lumber, rubber, human
rights.
5. Expanded educational
opportunities
5. Downgraded traditional African
culture  westernization
European Imperialism by 1914
Britain
94,000
France
212,600
Home Population
(Millions)
45.5
42
67.5
8.3
Global Colonial Area
(Millions of Sq. Miles)
13.1
4.3
1.1
.94
Global Colonial
Population (Millions)
470
65
13
13
Home Area
(Square Miles)
Germany Belgium
210,000
11,800
European Imperialism by 1914
Region
Australia
Africa
Percentage Colonized
100%
90.4%
Asia
Americas
56.5%
27.2%