Scramble for Africa

File:Scramble-for-Africa-1880-1913-v2.png

Africa in 1880 and 1913

The Rhodes Colossus: Caricature of Cecil John Rhodes, after he announced plans for a telegraph line and railroad from Cape Town to Cairo. Rhodes was one of the founders of De Beers and owned the British South Africa Company.

The Scramble for Africa, also called the Race for Africa was a time in history when colonial expansion in Africa became rapid. It lasted from the 1880s until the beginning of World War I. Many European countries started colonies in Africa. The period is academically known as the age of New Imperialism.

Background

Template:Campaignbox Exploration of AfricaAfrican Exploration SummaryTemplate:Campaignbox Scramble for Africa Template:New Imperialismwas when powerful countries, mostly in Europe, took over and controlled large parts of Africa and Asia in the late 1800s and early 1900s. They did this to get resources, sell their goods and show off their power. By 1841, European businesspeople set up small shops along Africa's coast, but they usually stayed near the coastal areas trading with the locals in the area. Europeans could not live in most of Africa because many of them died from tropical diseases such as malaria.^[1] In the mid-1800s, European explorers drew maps of a lot of East Africa and Central Africa.

Even as late as the 1870s, Europeans countries controlled only about 10% of Africa, mainly small areas near the sea. The most important places held were Angola and Mozambique, controlled by Portugal; the Cape Colony, controlled by the United Kingdom; and Algeria, controlled by France. By 1914, almost all of Africa was under European power. Only Ethiopia and Liberia were still independent. Ethiopia was later taken over by Italy in 1936, and Liberia, still independent had strong ties with its founders, the United States.^[2]

New technology made it simpler for Europeans to travel and conquer faraway lands. Because of new inventions like faster ships and trains and the use of telegraph for quick messages, Europeans could reach more parts of Africa. Medicines also played a big role, especially those that helped with diseases in hot climate. For example, a medicine called quinine, which treated malaria, allowed European explorers and travelers to go into and control many tropical areas.^[3]

Public opinion

Many people became famous for helping European countries find more land in Africa. They included the explorers David Livingstone, Henry Morton Stanley, and Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza as well as the politician Jules Ferry.

Berlin Conference

The Berlin Conference (1884–85) tried to end disputes between the United Kingdom, France, Germany and other European countries. They agreed that "effective occupation" would be the rule for colonial claims. Laws had to be made for direct rule on a colony, backed up by military power.