UGAMUNC XXI
The Berlin Conference of 1884
Delegates,
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UGAMUNC XXI
The Berlin Conference of 1884
Delegates,
Welcome to UGAMUNC XXI, and we are so excited to have you attending our conference.
With the vast success of our historical Rwanda Genocide committee last year, we have once more brought history back to UGAMUNC with this, the specialized committee of the Berlin
Conference! We are quite excited to see it play out and are glad you have chosen to be a part of it.
To begin, my name is Matthew Yarbrough, and I will be serving as the Chair for the committee.
I am a junior at the University originally from Etowah High School, where I served on their
Model United Nations team for three years. Upon arriving to college, I joined UGA’s Model
United Nations team right away and now serve as the Treasurer for the team. I am currently a triple major studying International Affairs, Political Science, and Middle Eastern/African
History. I also am a part of the Wesley Methodist Student Ministry, Shop with a Bulldawg, and the Borgen Project@UGA. In my spare time, I am around campus in a hammock or working at one of the best Italian places around, Mirko Pasta.
Further, I am happy to introduce you to my Co-Chair for the Berlin Conference, Ekong Oben.
She is a fourth year student with a Management and Information Systems major and a minor in
French. She has been on the Model UN team since her sophomore year. She loves cooking and enjoying good food with amazing company, and, being a native of Cameroon, her palette comes automatically set to spicy. She also loves to read everything from Cosmopolitan magazines to
Harry Potter novels, which she dearly miss, and has big dreams of one day traveling to all seven continents and enjoying their wonderful cultures.
We look forward to a very vivid debate and want to emphasize that we welcome any questions about the committee or the direction for the committee before the conference actually begins. To contact the chair, the email is my49793@uga.edu
. We would also request the submission of
Position Papers to us BEFORE the Conference by emailing them to the email above. This will allow us to read them beforehand and avoid taking time from watching your debate to edit the papers. Also, you must submit a position paper in order to be considered for an award. Thanks and best of luck!
Sincerely,
Matthew Yarbrough
Chair, Berlin Conference
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UGAMUNC XXI
The Berlin Conference of 1884
Structure of the Committee
To begin, a few initial disclaimers need to be made concerning this committee. Racially insensitive comments about the indigenous peoples of Africa will by no means be tolerated in this committee. Such use of demeaning language about the peoples of the African continent will not be accepted and will result in possible expulsion from the committee. While the native people of the regions being discussed in this committee are important, any show of racism will not be accepted as “just part of the character”. If you as a delegate are having trouble conveying a point or idea without allowing it to become offensive, please simply see the Chair to discuss whether or not such a point would be acceptable. Sensitivity to discussing Africa as a whole will be important, such as not referring to it as one large country or making broad statements about the people that lived there in this period.
This committee in many ways functions as a committee in the United Nations in terms of rules and format. The same procedural rules will apply to this committee as with a General
Assembly committee in regards to caucuses and motions. There will be, however, no formalized list of topics or formalized voting procedure. Instead, working papers will first need to be approved by the Chair after which they will be voted on immediately after approval. If the sponsors of the working papers wish to have a Q&A on their working papers before voting, such a desire will need to be submitted to the Chair before voting. In terms of passage of working papers, they can be passed with a simple majority. However, as you all represent representatives of your government rather than the Heads of Government, any document the body agrees on is subject to rejection by your home government. You will need to keep this in mind by not working in your own national disinterest, as the treaty you agree to could be blocked back in your capitals. This committee will have a crisis staff, meaning that periodic updates on the state of affairs will be given throughout the conference, and delegates will at times receive official notices or communiqués from their government. This method of having consistent crises will allow you all, the delegates, consistently to have topics of discussion.
In relation to the course of the committee, the chair will keep a periodically updated date in the front of the conference room as the committee moves forward from 15 November 1884.
This may become important in terms of political maneuvering within the committee. It is next crucial to understand that this committee will NOT follow history directly. Remembering that the countries you represent may divert from their real historical trajectory will force you to be adaptive and could possibly change the course of history itself. In essence, this means as delegates, your research before UGAMUNC should focus on the current state of affairs in your state, the various interests of your state in the African continent, and the amount of influence your character has within his own state. Knowing the state of European Affairs will also be crucial to your success in this committee.
As stated previously, if there are any questions about this committee, especially in regards to the structure, please do not hesitate to email the Chair prior to the conference. It is far more preferable to receive multiple emails before the committee on the structure, in order to clarify, as compared to having large amounts of misunderstanding when the conference begins.
Also, if you find yourself having difficulties getting any of the sources used in this background guide, whether it is via web or via a book, please contact the chair for assistance as some articles, particularly JSTOR articles, are often difficult to load.
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UGAMUNC XXI
The Berlin Conference of 1884
Current Kingdoms and States in African Continent
In order to digest fully the landscape of the African continent by 1884, a deep understanding of existing establishments will only further allow you, the delegates, to debate the regions. A full set of maps has been included in the final section of this background guide that includes these kingdoms and territorial possessions of current European powers. As well, below is a chart of the independent kingdoms that you should be familiar within the committee. There are of course several smaller kingdoms not listed, but extensive knowledge of those will not be necessary in committee.
Fulani Empire
Tokolor Empire
Mandinka Empire
Senegambia
North West
(Also known as
Caliphate of
Sokoto)
North West
(Also known as the Dominions of
Ahmadu Sefu)
North West
(Also known as
Dominions of
Samori)
North Western
Coastline (Also known as
Senegal)
Originally a simple confederation of independent
Hausa states, the region was unified by 1810 when the Islamic Fulani people rose up and conquered the region. They established a caliphate at Sokoto, where the Sultan also served as Caliph. This caliph oversaw the maintenance of Islamic law and government land administration.
Under the leadership of Islamic cleric Al-Hajj Umar, this empire rose in 1845 when Umar organized a series of jihads to take over the region. He was able to take over both Segu and Timbuktu, though lack of attention toward some smaller minorities led them into an uprising in 1864. These rebels killed Umar in the uprising and his son, Ahmadu Seku, has since inherited the kingdom.
Unlike many of its neighboring empires that rose on the back of Islamic revival, the empire of Samori
Toure rose in the 1850s under mostly secular leadership. Samori preferred to use conquest rather than religious fervor as his tool for growth. He quickly took local towns, set up a complex administration system, and organized one of the finest and most powerful militaries in the region.
The center of trade in West Africa, Senegambia had long existed as the key region for the slave trade. In the 1850s, France unilaterally intervened in the region and took control, following which they banned the slave trade. Since this initial seizure of
St. Louis and Dakar on the coast, the French began to move into the interior of the Dominions of
Ahmadu Sefu. This has further extended
Senegambia’s territory.
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UGAMUNC XXI
The Berlin Conference of 1884
Sierra Leone
Liberia
Asante Kingdom
Arab State of Zanzibar
Upper Congo Empire of
Tippu Tip
Nyamwezi Kingdom
North Western
Coastline
North Western
Coastline
Coastline of Gulf of Guinea
Western
Coastline
South Eastern
Interior (Also known as
Dominions of
Tippu Tip
South Eastern
Interior
As a cultural hub of Western Africa, Sierra Leone saw its independence wane in the 1870s as its economy quickly declined. Palm oil prices falling and interior rivals with neighbors led to a shrinking economy. The British quickly took control and began pushing to the interior, despite opposition by
Muslim groups and the French.
Following the abolition of slavery in the United
States, a group of former slaves returned to set up their own state. The Kru people who lived along the coastline saw themselves forced into the interior as the new state was established. With a capital at
Monrovia, the small coastal state has become a center for trade, particularly coffee.
As one of the two major kingdoms of the Gold
Coast, the Asante Empire represents the remnants of independence in the region. The British had previously conquered the Fante Kingdom directly south of the Asante Kingdom and turned it into the
Gold Coast state. The kingdom itself is a union of multiple smaller provinces under the Confederacy
Council. There is an Asantehene, also known as a
Paramount Chief, which presides over the confederation.
Originally organized into a monarchy under the
Sultan in 1840 by Seyyid Said, the state was initially a large group of coastal islands and trading towns.
Consumed by a mostly Arab population, the sultan runs the state with an iron hand, despite a primary focus on economic commerce relations. The state has free trade commercial treaties with France,
Britain, and the United States. Under Sultan
Bargash, who took power in 1870, they continue to have an extensive network of trading caravans throughout the interior.
The Congo Empire was an Arab empire originally established by Muslim Arab traders under the leadership of Muhammad bin Hamid, better known as Tippu Tip. Following a series of years of empire building in the1860s and 1870s, Tippu Tip began working to solidify an ivory trade route between his kingdom and Zanzibar, despite Belgium intervention.
A small kingdom resting on the southern border of
Lake Victoria, the Nyamwezi found themselves as a center focus for Eastern trade. Under the leadership
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UGAMUNC XXI
The Berlin Conference of 1884
Buganda Kingdom
Bunyoro Kingdom
Bemba Kingdom
Ndeble Kingdom
South Eastern
Interior
South Eastern
Interior
South Eastern
Interior
Southern Africa in the interior
(Also known as
Matabele) of Mirambo, this small kingdom composed of
Swahili merchants quickly gave the Arab traders trouble and forced them to pay taxes to travel.
Despite trouble with its neighbors, the kingdom has been quite friendly to Europeans. Mirambo has just died, however, and the fate of this small kingdom is now unknown.
A small kingdom on the north side of Lake Victoria,
Buganda found itself as one of the strongest militarized states in Eastern Africa by the mid-
1800s. Under the leadership of Mutesa I, the kingdom became highly centralized, and it possessed a highly organized military. The navy for
Buganda controlled and patrolled the Lake exclusively. Mutesa I, however, has died only months before the Berlin Conference leaving many unknowns about the region.
Part of a Lou dynasty that has ruled the region since the 15 th century, the Bunyoro kingdom found itself in decline until the 1870s when Omukama Kabalega took to the throne. After forming a standing army and organizing the small kingdom, Kabalega began retaking the neighboring territories to re-establish the kingdom. This military campaign, financed by
Khartoum traders in the north, is still ongoing.
As a small matriarchal kingdom, the Bemba was able to move their kingdom and settlements as they engaged in trade. By 1850, the kingdom was set up along the Kalungu river, where they engaged in slave trades and acted as intermediaries for other trade routes in the East. The kingdom financially is quite prosperous and operates under a chiefdom system.
As former members of Shaka’s Zulu kingdom, this kingdom of the “Men of Long Spears” was a large military state just north of the Transvaal Boer state.
The king, who held supreme authority, is also the head commander of the military. There was no focus on trading in the kingdom, as most instead focused on maintaining the state. Despite some of the more isolationist policies of his predecessors, the current
King Lobengula enacted policies more open to
European when he took the thrown in 1869.
1: Data to form this table came from Chapter 1, pages 1-31
1 Okoth, Assa. A History of Africa, 1855-1914. Bookwise, 1984.Book.
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UGAMUNC XXI
The Berlin Conference of 1884
The Rise and Unification of Germany in the 1870s
With the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire by 1806 and the rise of states like Prussia, the question of control of the many kingdoms of central Europe was a primary concern in the
19 th century. The rise of nationalism among several different people groups within the region allowed for consideration of a further federated organization, but with individual representation.
It is important to note that, while scholars often give 1871 as an official date of German unification, the process as a whole was over a series of years beginning as early as 1850.
2
Looking originally at the state of affairs in the middle of the 19 th century, consistent fighting in central Europe was primarily between Prussia and Austria, as they both attempted to exert influence over the dozens of smaller independent kingdoms surrounding them. With
Prussia controlling most of modern “German lands”, including the Rhine River and all land between Lithuania and central Germany, the question that lay before Prussian leaders, like Otto von Bismarck, was in what way he should consolidate power.
3 By the year 1860, it became clear that conquering these smaller provincial kingdoms was necessary, which led him in 1862 to reorganize and modernize the Prussian military 4 .
Beginning in 1864, Bismarck and the Prussians began their consolidation, first by fighting Denmark for the regions of Schleiswig and Holstein. After a quick victory, Bismarck moved on to Austria, began a war over Holstein, and quickly defeated the Austrian Empire in the
Seven Weeks’ War. This would be the last time that the Austrians held any claims in German provinces. Worrying over the best ways to secure many of the southern provinces, who were in principle opposed to Prussia’s Protestantism and militarism, Bismarck decided to manipulate the state of affairs. By provoking the French into a war in 1870, by using a fake offensive letter to the Prussian king, Bismarck was able to use a sense of nationalism to convince the southern provinces to rally behind him in the war.
5
Following the French Declaration of War on 16 July 1870, Prussia quickly gained alliances with the southern provinces, including Baden, Bavaria, Hesse-Darmstadt, and
Wurttemberg, as they began an assault onto the French Republic. Quickly, the modernized
Prussian Army won a series of decisive victories, ultimately culminating in the Siege of Paris that resulted in the fall of the capital city by the end of January 1871. This victory allowed the
German states to proclaim officially their empire with Wilhelm I as Emperor and Bismarck as head of government. Another notable possession that the Germans gained in the war with France was Alsace-Lorraine along the new French-German border.
6 With these swift and decisive moves under determined leadership, Bismarck and Prussia unified central Europe yet again under a single empire: the German Empire.
Egypt by the 1880s
2 Hancock, M. Donald. German unification: process and outcomes. Westview Pr, 1994. Book.
3 Pflanze, Otto. Bismarck and the development of Germany: The period of unification, 1815-1871. Vol. 1. Princeton
University Press, 1971. Book.
4 von Strandmann, Hartmut Pogge. "Domestic origins of Germany's colonial expansion under Bismarck." Past and
Present (1969): 140-159. http://www.jstor.org/stable/650184
5 "Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871." FrancoPrussianwar.com. 1 Jan. 2002. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. http://francoprussianwar.com/
6
"The Franco Prussian War." International World History Project. 1 Jan. 2006. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. http://historyworld.org/franco_prussian_war.htm
.
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UGAMUNC XXI
The Berlin Conference of 1884
Egypt in the 1880s went through a variety of stages in what would become a greater concern for European states. In the early 1880s, Egypt began initially as a part of the larger
Ottoman Empire, which had dominated the Arab populations and northern Africa for centuries.
Egypt, which had been under a French protectorate officially (and British unofficially) since
1801, was placed in an interesting situation upon the rise of Urabi. An Egyptian soldier by the name of Ahmed Urabi had led various revolts around the country in 1880, which the British government named the “Urabi Revolts”. He was one of the major protesters and riot leaders against the British rule at the time.
7 The unequal treatment by soldiers between the Egyptian and the Turkish soldiers sparked sentiments of inequality amongst the people.
This sentiment then grew beyond the army, to just the citizens in general, and even between the foreign and native Christians. The weak government at the time tried to appease the rioters, to no end. This led to tensions between the European backed Khedive and the Egyptian people backed Urabi. With the French occupied by Tunisian revolts, the British alone in 1882 bombarded Alexandria and took control of Egypt, though they said it was only temporary.
Further Egyptian nationalism created further problems for the British almost immediately, as the local populations began their own forms of protest. Called the Anglo-Egyptian war of 1882, a series of local battles, such as the Battle of Kafr-el-Dawwar and the Battle of Tel el-Kebir, soon erupted in the region.
8 Despite British success in controlling the region, tensions continued to threaten its complete control of the Egyptian peoples.
The Suez Canal, which the Europeans first constructed in 1869, was also a point of dispute in Egypt by the various nations. Both the French and the British wanted sole control over this passageway for economic and trading purposes. Contemporaries at the time also understood that whoever controlled Egypt controlled the canal. The British, though initially opposed to the building of the canal due to the use of slave labor in building it, decided there was a need to act.
Already controlling Egypt, Gladstone’s government in Britain decided to purchase the shares of the canal from the civilian leader of Egypt, Isma’il Pasha, who was massively in debt to
European countries. At the cost of 4,000,000 pounds, the British therefore in 1875 became major shareholders in the canal, though the French still possessed the majority.
9 The need to clarify the control of the canal was a central focus of many European states by the time of the Conference.
Causes of the Berlin Conference being Held
The German chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, at the intent of Portugal, first summoned the
Berlin Conference. The purpose of this conference was to negotiate and set up rules to guide the control of Africa. The reasons that precipitated this conference came because of outcomes of the scramble for Africa. The initial goal was to discuss the Congo and Niger River basins, after question arose whether they should be neutral and open to free trade. This is because various countries, which had claimed territories around the region, were getting into conflicts with each other, most notably Portugal, about the use of the river for trade. The conference needed to set up
7
Ajayi, JF Ade, ed. Africa in the Nineteenth Century until the 1880s. Vol. 6. UNESCO, 1989.Book.
8 Hopkins, Anthony G. "The Victorians and Africa: a reconsideration of the occupation of Egypt, 1882." The Journal of African History 27.02 (1986): 363-391. http://160.97.56.64/politica/archivio/materiale/143/Storia%20sistema%20internazionale/Hopkins%20The%20Victor ians%20and%20Africa.pdf
9
Briney, Amanda. "Suez Canal: History and Overview." About Education. About.com, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 5 Oct.
2014. http://geography.about.com/od/specificplacesofinterest/a/suezcanal.htm
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The Berlin Conference of 1884
rules allowing free trade in the regions if free trade was the policy that the Europeans chose to establish for the region.
10
The rise of Germany as a superpower in Europe was certainly a major factor. Largely in part to its vast economy and recent unification, Germany had become a major player in the realm of European diplomacy in a relatively short amount of time. They had also taken over most of
Western Africa’s coastline forcefully, threatening the older powers such as France and Britain.
Working hand in hand with the German rise was the changing economies of many of these
European states at the hands of the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution marked a change in the manufacturing process within Europe as a whole, which included going from hand production to machines in the mostly coal and textile factories. By the year 1884, the Industrial
Revolution had already taken off in the various Western countries, sparking the need for labor and most specifically cheap natural resources for the new factories, prompting the scramble for
African countries.
11
The need for defined regions and spheres of control in the continent also prompted the scramble. The Western countries, which had previously colonized various regions in the continent, would not define their specific boundaries and would get into conflict with other powers, which wanted to annex the nearby region. The need to end these conflicts and carve out regions prompted the conference. Finally, on a more social side, European populations had become increasingly concerned with the continuation of slave trades in Africa. The European powers had taken various indigenous people to work in their own countries in the earlier days of their colonization, causing severe pain and inhumanity.
12 The need to end this type of behavior was strong among many of the Colonial powers, but firm a new treatise on the institution of slavery in many of these spheres of influence had yet to be established, thus necessitating discussions in Berlin over how to proceed.
Relevant Wars involving European or African States from the 1850 until 1884
In the time between 1850 until 1884, a series of fourteen conflicts broke out that laid the groundwork for many current diplomatic relations among European and African states. To say that these were the only conflicts in this time period would be historically inaccurate, but for the relevance of this committee, an understanding of the significance and outcomes of these conflicts is crucial. Note that further research may be necessary if your state is involved in one of the following conflicts, as these conflicts will directly affect your state’s foreign policy stances.
10 De Leon, Daniel. "The Conference at Berlin on the West-African Question." Political Science Quarterly 1.1
(1886): 103-139. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2139304
11 Koponen, Juhani. "The partition of Africa: A scramble for a mirage." Nordic Journal of African Studies 2.1
(1993): 117-135. http://www.njas.helsinki.fi/pdf-files/vol2num1/koponen.pdf
12
Stanley, H. M. "The New Imperialism: 1880-1914." http://www.holland.wnyric.org/cms/lib/NY19000531/Centricity/Domain/122/18-Imperialism.doc
.
9

Conflict
Crimean War
French War with Senegal
Actors
Involved
Russia,
France,
Ottoman
Empire,
Great
Britain,
Sardinia
France,
Kingdom of Waalo,
Kingdom of St. Louis and
Medine
Spain,
Morocco
Dates
October
1853-
February
1856
1854-
1860
Possession
Changes
Black Sea became neutralized, and
Moldavia/Walla chia returned to
Ottoman
Empire.
Control of the
Senegal River changed to
French possession
Hispano-
Moroccan
War
Second
Schleswig
War
Austria,
Prussia, and
Denmark
October
1859-
April
1860
February
1864-
October
1864
Austro-
Prussian War
Italian Wars for
Independence
(2 nd and 3 rd )
Austria and its German allies
(called
German
Confederati on), Italy,
Prussia and its German possessions
Italy,
Austria,
France
June
1866-
August
1866
April-
June 1959
(2 nd War);
June-
August
1866 (3 rd
War)
Control of Ceuta and Melilla given to Spain from the
Moroccan government
Prussia gained control of
Schleswig,
Holstein, and
Lauenburg.
Prussia gains control of
Hanover, Hesse,
Frankfurt,
Nassau, and part of Hesse-
Darmstadt.
Sardinia unified with Lombardy while France gained Savoy and Nice;
Veneto ceded to
Italy by Austria
UGAMUNC XXI
The Berlin Conference of 1884
Overall Outcome
French forces suffered far more, as they were the largest group in the war. The victors forced Russia to neutralize the Black Sea, as Western powers secured Ottoman possessions from Russian aggression eroding them away.
Under the leadership of Louis
Faidherbe, the French extended their control beyond the coastline and down the Senegal River and began setting up a series of forts in the interior.
A quick war initiated by Spain gave them further control over a series of northern territories along the coastline of Morocco.
As the beginning of a move by the
Prussian Empire to expand and found a new Germany, an invasion by Prussia and Austria resulted in gains and quick losses by Denmark.
In a quick decisive Prussian victory,
Prussia successfully took control of the Northern German states and prevented any further influence of
Austria in Germany. Italy was also able to secure Venetia from the
Austrians.
Using a series of alliances, Italian states were able to chisel away at the control of northern lands from the Austrian Empire. These states, such as Lombardy, then saw themselves incorporated into a new
Kingdom of Italy.
10

Franco-
Prussian War and 9 th
Anglo-
Ashanti Wars
(2 nd and 3 rd )
Russo-
Turkish War
Anglo-Zulu
War
Franco-
Tunisian War
British 8
Wars th
Xhosa
UGAMUNC XXI
The Berlin Conference of 1884
British
Empire,
Xhosa
Tribes,
Khoikhoi tribes
British
Empire,
Ashanti
Empire
France,
German
Empire
Russia,
Romania,
Serbia,
Ottoman
Empire
British
Empire,
Zulu
Empire
France,
Tunisia
July
1870-May
1871
1850-
1853;
1877-
1879
1863-
1864;
1873-
1874
April
1877-
March 3,
1878
January
1879-
July 1879
April-
October
1881
Germany gains the territories of
Alsace-Lorraine.
British annexation of further Xhosa territory outside of the Cape
Colony
No land changes
Ottoman Empire lost control of
Bulgaria,
Romania,
Serbia,
Montenegro, and Kars. All became independent, except Kars.
British officially annex the Zulu
Kingdom.
France officially makes Tunisia a protectorate of the Third
Republic.
In an effort formally to establish the
German Empire, Bismarck of
Prussia provoked the French into a war only to quickly seize Paris within months. The French Empire fell after this leading to the rise of a new Third Republic.
As the Cape colony and the British continue to expand their sphere of influence in Southern Africa, it has come at the losses of the local
Xhosa tribes, who have now fought nine wars with the British.
The 2nd War was a skirmish caused by the Ashanti entering British territory that quickly ended after the
British government refused to send reinforcements yet still repelled the
Ashanti. The 3 rd War was a result of
Ashanti invasion to new Gold Coast lands gained by the British from the
Dutch. In the end, a fully restocked
British army repelled the Ashanti.
This war is one of the many wars chiseling away at Ottoman influence. In many ways, this war removed Ottoman roles in much of the Balkan peninsula and allowed
Russia to pivot into control of much of the Black Sea region, despite its previous losses.
As the British continued to expand their influence throughout southern
Africa, the main concerns were the
Zulu kingdom to the east and the
Boer Republics to the north. In this particularly bloody war, the British officially ended Zulu independence.
To the dismay of the Italian
Kingdom, France invaded and suppressed Tunisia, making it an official protectorate. This officially left Tunisia as a French colony.
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UGAMUNC XXI
The Berlin Conference of 1884
First Boer
War
South
African
Boer
Republics,
British
December
1880-
March
1881
Independence of the two Boer
Republics
After victory on the part of Boers in the north and the heavy British losses, the victors forced the British to sign an unfavorable treaty that recognized these Boer Republics’ independence.
Mahdist War
Mahdist
Sudan,
Khedive of
Egypt,
Britain,
Italy,
Belgium, and
Ethiopian
Empire
1881today
(1884)
Currently being fought
Due to a rebellion by Muslim clerics in the Sudanese region, control of the area by British and Egyptian officials is at risk. The Egyptians and British have begun a policy of evacuation of the region, but the
British have not fully implemented this. Most notably, there currently is an ongoing seize of the city of
Khartoum, which the British and
Egyptian forces hold, by the
Mahdist forced of Muhammad
Ahmad.
13 14 15 16 (The entirety of this table was made using these sources.)
Actors in this Committee
**Please note this is supplemental, and further research on your individual characters is required for your own success in the committee.
Austria-Hungary- Count Gustav Kálnoky (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairmen of the Ministers' Council for Common Affairs). As a General in Hungary who served in foreign diplomatic service for the Empire in London, Rome, Copenhagen, and St.
Petersburg, he is fairly well travelled in Europe and has built a variety of connections within their foreign governments, particularly the Russian government, despite Russian tensions in the Balkans. Appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1881, Kálnoky is heavily conscious of the Empire’s alliance with the Germans. He is a devout Catholic and has the distinct task as foreign minister to balance the competing influence of the two parliaments that form the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Both the Hungarian and Austrian
Parliaments and Prime Ministers are currently under the rule of the liberal party, but overall Kálnoky is immune to the changing tides of these two parliaments, as he runs the independent Council of Ministers under the dual government of the Emperor. In the end,
13 Aksan, Virginia H. Ottoman Wars: An Empire Besieged. Routledge, 2014.Book.
14 "Wars of the British Empire - 19th Century Wars of the British Empire." About Education. About.com, 1 Jan.
2014. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/warsofthebritishempire/
15
16
Showalter, Dennis E. The Wars of German Unification. Arnold, 2004. Book.
Okoth, Assa. A History of Africa, 1855-1914. Bookwise, 1984.Book.
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UGAMUNC XXI
The Berlin Conference of 1884 the Emperor-King Franz Joseph I, who resists all efforts to limit the scope of his own influence, ultimately runs the Empire. 17 18
Belgium Joseph de Riquet de Caraman-Chimay (Minister of Foreign Affairs)- A member of the aristocracy, Joseph was commonly referred to as the “Great Prince” and was a noble in the region of Chimay. Originally a member of the Chamber of
Representatives (legislature), he became foreign minister in 1884 as a member of the
Catholic Party in Belgium, which had gained an absolute majority in the Chamber of
Representatives in 1884 for the first time. Belgium in this time continues to exist as a constitutional parliamentary monarchy under Leopold I, who is the uncle of Britain’s
Queen Victoria. Leopold himself was a skillful diplomat who often kept Belgium neutral while securing its interests.
19
Denmark - Otto Rosenørn-Lehn (Minister of Foreign Affairs)- Originally a simple landowning aristocrat with a deep interest in art, Otto was pursued in 1870 to be the next foreign minister in the new Centre government of Ludvig Holstein Holsteinborg. Despite brief removal during a change in the Prime Minister in 1875, the Prime Minister retained him in the National Landowners Party government, which currently controls the legislature with Jacob Bronnum Scavenius Estrup as its Prime Minister. In the end, this conservative government holds power over the monarchy, which by the Danish Constitution limited in
1849 before the current monarch Christian IX took the thrown. In many ways, outsiders see Estrup as running a semi-dictatorship with parliamentary control. 20
FranceJules Ferry (President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign
Affairs)- As a member of the Republican Party in opposition for many years, Ferry rose to the head of the Council of Ministers from 1880-1881 and then assumed it again in 1883.
This time, however, he assumed the role of minister of foreign affairs within the Council.
Known for his domestic secular stances against the Jesuits and against Christian schools, his primary focus in power has been to expand France’s colonial territories with the hope of reforming the French Empire. He is staunchly opposed to the return of any monarchy and associated himself with the Opportunist Republican factions. In the end, the main power of the country resides with the President Jules Grevy.
21
Germany - Paul von Hatzfeldt (Secretary of Foreign Affairs)- Originally the ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople until 1881, he became foreign minister under
Otto von Bismarck’s government in 1881. Extremely liked by Bismarck, he became an integral part in German foreign relations due to his mastery of French, which allowed him to be a diplomatic aid in the Franco-German War of 1870-71. Bismarck, however,
17 Rauscher, W. "Kalnocky Von Köröspatak, Gustav Sigmund Graf." Kalnocky Von Köröspatak, Gustav Sigmund
Graf. Aileo Encyclopedia, 1 Jan. 1999. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. http://www.aeiou.at/aeiou.encyclop.k/k058954.htm;internal&action=_setlanguage.action?LANGUAGE=en
18 Andrew C. Janos, The Politics of Backwardness in Hungary 1825–1945, Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1982.
19
"Les Riquet De Caraman." Château De Chimay . 1 Jan. 2008. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. http://www.chateaudechimay.be/?page_id=761&lang=en
20 "Jacob Bronnum Scavenius Estrup". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia
Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 05 Nov. 2014 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/193722/Jacob-Bronnum-
Scavenius-Estrup
21
"Jules Ferry". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014.
Web. 05 Oct. 2014 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/205224/Jules-Ferry
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UGAMUNC XXI
The Berlin Conference of 1884 continues to be a domineering figure who rules as Chancellor, despite the presence of
Wilhelm I as King of Prussia and German Empire. 22
Great BritainLord Granville (Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs)- As one of the leading statesmen in Britain throughout the 19 th century, Earl Granville was a shrewd politician within the Liberal party. As a member of the conservative House of Lords, he successfully maneuvered himself into the position of Foreign Secretary, first from 1870-
1874, and then again in 1880. Conveniently, he finds himself in an increasing friendly environment with the Prime Minister at this time, being the best friend of Lord William
Gladstone. While the monarchy under Queen Victoria was slowly but surely becoming more of a figurehead than a political leader, the Queen found favor in the Liberal party.
Due to the death of her husband, Albert, in the later days of 1861, the Queen removed herself from the national scene, as she entered a permanent state of mourning, though her national popularity still carries great weight.
23
ItalyPasquale Stanislao Mancini (Minister of Foreign Affairs)- Beginning his career as an intellectual and literary figure in southern Italy, he helped to influence the unification process of the Italians by persuading officials to participate in the war against Austria in
1848. Following a series of endeavors in the Piedmont and Rome, the new Liberal government of Agostino Depretis in 1876 incorporated him as Minister of Justice. This government has in the past few years seen a series of issues of instability and corruption, as the peninsula and new Kingdom of Italy finds it roots. Following his predecessor’s
(Cairoli’s) gaffe in failing to foresee the French Occupation of Tunis, Mancini became
Foreign Minister in 1881.
24
LuxemburgBaron Felix de Blochausen (Prime Minister and Director-General for
Foreign Affairs)- When Blochausen first rose to power as Prime Minister in 1874,
Luxembourg was in a consistent state of threat. Tensions between France and Germany continued to intensify consistently, placing the independence of the small state at risk. As such, Blochausen chose to become both the Director General of the Interior and of Foreign
Affairs, effectively solidifying his control over the state. Still limited by the monarchy under William III, Blochausen enjoys most autonomy and stands as a staunch Orangist, in favor of maintaining the singular monarchy between Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
25
Netherlands - Joseph van der Does de Willebois (Minister of Foreign Affairs)- Having previously served as both a Catholic minister and a lawyer, he rose to prominence thanks to his friendship with the monarch William III. At this time, Jan Heemskerk
Abrahamszoon rose to power as Prime Minister under the Independent Conservative Party leadership. This change of power from the Anti-Revolutionary party in 1883 allowed
22 Hermann von Eckardstein, Lebenserinnerungen u. Politische Denkwürdigkeiten (Leipzig: Verlag Paul List, 1919),
174. Book.
23 "Leveson-Gower, Granville George (1815-1891)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
1885–1900.
24 "Pasquale Stanislao Mancini (Italian Statesman)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1
Jan. 2010. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/361493/Pasquale-Stanislao-Mancini
25
Majerus, J.M. (2003) : Felix Blochausen. In: Haag, E. e.a. (Hrsg.): 400 Joer Kolléisch. L’Athénée et ses grands anciens, (3), Luxembourg : 255-418.
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The Berlin Conference of 1884
Joseph to become foreign minister, where he has held the position since. By this time, the
Netherlands is acting as a constitutional monarchy.
26
Ottoman Empire - Mehmed Said Pa ş a (Grand Vizier)- In a time of immense transition and seeming decline in the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed Said Pa ş a proved himself to be a skilled diplomat and political agent. Largely loyal to Sultan Abdul Hamid II, he became Grand
Vizier (Prime Minister) of the Ottoman Empire a series of times culminating in his ascension to power in 1882. Following a series of European interferences in Egypt and
Tunis, Pa ş a became largely distrustful to this day of foreign nations in the Ottoman and
Turkish lands. Before becoming Grand Vizier, he served both as the Minister of the
Interior, as well as the Governor of the Bursa region. Despite the fact that the sultan still holds absolute power in theory, efforts on his part to modernize the empire and the bureaucracy has resulted in the reduction of some of his power and opening of influence for individuals like the Grand Vizier.
27
PortugalJosé Vicente Barbosa du Bocage (Minister of Foreign Affairs)- Quite differently from most statesmen in this time period, Bocage was a zoologist before he became the Vice President of Academia Real das Cienncias de Lisboa, eventually in 1880 retiring from the academia world. Due to his high profile connections in the government, he became Minister of the Navy and has been now serving as Foreign Affairs Minister since 1883. The Prime Minister Fontes Pereira de Melo took power for the third time in
1881 as a part of the Regenerator Party, which advocated for a more conservative form of
Liberalism after the Revolution of 1820. The king at this time was Luis I, who took the throne in 1861. Largely due to previous revolutions, however, Luis I is viewed as an ineffective monarch who tends to favor the Conservative Regenerator Party.
28
RussiaNikolay Girs (Minister of Foreign Affairs)- As a person of Scandinavian decent,
Girs found himself with a great opportunity under Alexander II to rise as a minister abroad in both Switzerland and Sweden. He became assistant foreign minister in the 1870s under
Chancellor Alexander Gorchakov, though his fate came into question upon the rise of power of Alexander III. Since Alexander III was an anti-German Slavophile, many expected that Girs’s removal was imminent, but instead he became Foreign Minister in
1882. Despite this surprising move, Alexander III continues to prove his conservatism, and he has assumed great power in his role as Tsar of Russia. It is also important to note the role of Count Mikhail Reytern, who serves as Chairmen of the Committee of Ministers, though this is an example of Alexander III’s friends becoming political leaders.
29
SpainJosé de Elduayen -The Marquis of the Pazo de la Merced (Minister of State)- Not only a politician, Elduayen is also a noble in Spain, who used his connections to get immediately involved in politics. First joining parliament in 1856 as a Union Liberal, he rose to prominence as under-secretary of home office, beginning in 1865 when the Liberals rose to power. When Antonio Canova Del Castillo became Prime Minister of Spain for the
26 "Jhr.Mr. P.J.A.M. (Joseph) Van Der Does De Willebois - Hoofdinhoud." Jhr.Mr. P.J.A.M. (Joseph) Van Der Does
De Willebois. Parlement and Politiek, 1 Jan. 2010. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. < http://www.parlement.com/id/vg09llj55bt7/p_j_a_m_joseph_van_der_does_de_willebois >
27 Agile, Clever (2009), "Portrait of a period bureaucrats Abdulhamid: Grand Vizier (Small) Mehmet Pasa and
Reforms" Journal of Turkish Studies No. C.4 8 count. 838-865 (English)
28 "Barbosa Du Bocage." AviBush History. Grande Encicopedia Portuguesa Brasileira, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 5 Oct.
2014. http://www.avibushistoriae.com/Barbosa du Bocage.htm
29
"Nikolay Karlovich Giers (Russian Statesman)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1 Jan.
2014. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/233361/Nikolay-Karlovich-Giers
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third time in 1879, he allowed for entry of Elduayen into diplomatic affairs. In 1883,
Elduayen became Minister of State in 1883 under the pro-Bourbon Monarchy government.
As a member of the Liberal-Conservative party, he was staunchly pro-monarchy and a big supporter of the young Alfonso XII who had become king in 1874 at the age of 18.
30
Sweden-NorwayCarl Hochschild (Minister of Foreign Affairs)- Having just seen a change in power in Sweden-Norway as the outgoing Prime Minister Carl Thyselius was removed following only a year in May of 1884, questions arose over the fate of his cabinet.
Thyselius and his successor Robert Themptander were both independent of the two major political parties: either the Protectionist Majority Party or the Lantmanna Party. This allowed Hochschild to remain in his position as Minister of Foreign Affairs, where he had been since 1880, in the new government of Themptander. Hochschild was in many ways forced into a constant working relationship with King Oscar II, who was a dynamic arbitrator in Europe in this time. In many ways, with the founding of the position of Prime
Minister in 1876, Sweden-Norway is directly in the middle of a possible transfer to parliamentary control.
31
United States of America - Frederick Frelinghuysen (Secretary of State)-First beginning his political career as a member of the United States Senate, he represented New Jersey from 1866 until 1869 as a member of a prominent family. In 1870, he declined the position of Ambassador to the United Kingdom instead to return to the Senate in 1871, where he became chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee. When Chester Arthur became
President in 1881, Arthur made him Secretary of State, where he continues to serve. As a member of the Republican party, Frelinghuysen has shown himself to be primarily concerned with maintaining trade relations with western hemisphere countries, rather than putting the United States at risk of foreign conflict.
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Questions to Consider:
The following questions are simply a short list of questions to help guide your own research.
Your ability as a delegate to answer such questions will be crucial to your greater success in the committee. Please do not hesitate to contact the chair in the event that you, as a delegate, are struggling to locate research to answer one of these questions, and we will happily try to assist.
Ø What is the specific foreign policy, as a whole, that your country is employing at this time? What is their foreign policy in terms of African affairs?
Ø What limitations do you have in the official capacity you are in? How much power does your character have in his government, and how much larger influence does your character exert on the domestic populations of your state?
Ø What is your state’s policy, both de jure and de facto, on the institution of slavery? Has the government officially abolished it in your country, and what are public opinions of it?
Ø What is your state’s view of free trade? Is free trade a policy you should be advocating in favor of it, or are their limitations to free trade for the sake of national interest?
30
"Jose De Elduayen - Encyclopedia." Encyclopedia Brittanica 1911 . Encyclopedia Brittanica, 1 Jan. 2011. Web. 5
Oct. 2014. http://www.theodora.com/encyclopedia/e/jose_de_elduayen.html
31  Carlquist,  Gunnar  (ed.)  (1932).  Swedish  Reference  Book  .  Malmö,  Sweden:  Swedish  Uppslagsbok  AB's  Publishers.
Book.
32  "Frederick  Frelinghuysen."  Newark  History.  1  Jan.  2006.  Web.  5  Oct.  2014.   http://www.newarkhistory.com/frelinghuysen
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Ø What alliances does your country currently hold with the other countries at the conference? What alliances would your government like to build at the conference?
Ø What is the current state of other colonial possessions your country possesses both within and outside of Africa? Is your country having difficulty maintaining any of their colonies?
Ø What is the one thing your country needs the most from this conference? As some form of foreign minister, what is your end goal from this conference?
Supplemental Readings:
The following are a list of readings that we believe would be helpful to your research. These are by no means required and are optional. However, reviewing them might allow you better understanding of the Conference you are about to become a member of.
Griffiths, Ieuan. "The scramble for Africa: Inherited political boundaries." Geographical
Journal (1986): 204-216. http://www.jstor.org/stable/634762 (If you are having trouble loading this, please feel free to contact me.)
Stone, Jeffrey C. "Imperialism, colonialism and cartography." Transactions of the
Institute of British Geographers (1988): 57-64. http://www.jstor.org/stable/622775 (If you are having trouble loading this, please feel free to contact me.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6_2k4ipcLw (This is in fact a video that I think sums up quite a bit in a short time. A few notes about the video, however. First, discussion of concepts like the white men’s burden is not acceptable in committee.
Remember, concepts like the white men’s burden were justifications for expansion to the common people, but you all represent foreign ministers and should not need to justify intervention to each other. Second, keep in mind that the outcomes of the conference for
UGAMUNC will not follow historical trend necessarily. Simply assuming that things will occur in our committee in the same way that they did historically would cause you to be incorrect.
17

Maps:
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33
33
"Mapas Del Colonialismo E Imperialismo Europeo." La Historia Con Mapas Mapas Del Colonialismo E
Imperialismo Europeo Comments. 1 Jan. 2012. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. http://www.lahistoriaconmapas.com/imperiosreinos/imperios-coloniales/mapas-del-colonialismo-e-imperialismo-europeo/
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34
34
"African Roots of African American Life under Slavery." Lesson Print View. 1 Jan. 2005. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. http://elearning.la.psu.edu/afam/100/lesson-2-part1/african-roots-of-african-american-life-under-slavery/print_view
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