IMPERIALISM IN
AFRICA
1850
1914
Berlin Conference (1884)
Berlin Conference (1884)
Berlin Conference (1884)
• Otto von Bismarck called together the leaders of the
European Powers to divide African lands
• Established “Principle of Effectivity”
• Affirmed that slavery was illegal
• Congo Free State granted to King Leopold II of Belgium
• Established Free Trade Zones in Niger and the Congo
• Divided up remaining territories
African/European Contact
• David Livingstone
• First white man to traverse
the continent (1856)
• First white man to see
Victoria Falls
• Proponent of European
Imperialism
• At the end of his life, lost all
contact with European
civilization
North Africa – French Involvement
Algeria
- Invade in 1830s to counter pirates
- Takes 10 years and 100,000 soldiers to control Algeria
Tunisia
• French invade, citing internal violence as an excuse
• Established French Protectorate in 1881
Morocco
• Disputed territory between several European nations
• Made into French Protectorate in 1905
North Africa – French Involvement
"The higher races have a right over the lower races, they
have a duty to civilize the inferior races.” – Jules Ferry
• By 1905, over 1 million French in North Africa
• Emphasis on controlling and preserving artifacts and sites
of local culture
• “Civilizing mission”
- Emphasis on spreading French culture and
language
- Africans who assimilated gained French
citizenship
North Africa – British Involvement
North Africa – British Involvement
• Suez Canal finished in 1869
- 1.5 million people worked on the canal over 10 years
• British initially opposed it
• 1875: Egyptians sold share of ownership to the British in
order to pay off debt
• Convention of Constantinople (1888)
- Canal is a neutral zone maintained by the British
• 1889: French and British both claim Sudan
- Compromise: British recognize French claims on West
Africa, British gain Sudan
North Africa – Italian Involvement
North Africa
• The baby of Europe: officially born in 1861
• Wanted Tunisia – the French took it.
• 1911 conquered Libya by defeating the Ottomans
Ethiopia
• 1886: Annexed Massawa, an Ethiopian port
• 1889: Italians proclaimed that they were annexing Eritrea
and Ethiopia
Italy v. Ethiopia, Rd. 1
• 1893: Ethiopia repudiates
Italian treaty
• 1895: Italy declares war on
Ethiopia
• 1896: Battle of Adowa
• - First modern battle in which
independent African forces
defeated Europeans
• - All European countries are
forced to recognize Ethiopia’s
independence
Menelik II, 1882
Menelik II, 1882
Ethiopia, Continued
Why did Ethiopia succeed in becoming independent?
• Strong ruler: Menelik II
• Effective military with modern weapons
• 1870s: began subjugating surrounding peoples to form
Ethiopian Empire
• 1880s: invested heavily in modern infrastructure: roads,
electricity, railroads, hospitals, etc.
• **Italy was comparatively weak**
West Africa
• Coastal trade with Europe since the 1500s
- Gold
- People
• Europeans and Africans on nearly level playing field
• 1830s: Rise of the Sokoto Caliphate
- Most powerful African state
- Loose confederation of West African peoples
• By 1880s, Europeans push into West African interior
• 1903: Sokoto Caliphate defeated by the British
West Africa
• Liberia
- Founded in 1822 by James Monroe
- “Back to Africa”
- Protected by the United States
- Tensions between native Africans and
repatriated slaves
Congo Region
• King Leopold II of Belgium
interested in reports from
Henry Stanley
• 1884: European powers
grant the Congo river
basin to Leopold directly
• Rubber Plantations
• Quotas
- “Currency of the
Hands”
- Enforced by the
Force Publique
Congo Region
• The Casement Report (1904)
- Public Outrage
- Belgian government looks really bad
• 1908: The Belgian government annexes the
colony
Casement Report
• “Two cases (of mutilation) came to my actual notice while
I was in the lake district. One, a young man, both of
whose hands had been beaten off with the butt ends of
rifles against a tree; the other a young lad of 11 or 12
years of age, whose right hand was cut off at the wrist…”
• “Leopold was an Attila in modern dress; it would have
been better for the world if he had never been born.”
-- Winston Churchill