After the formal unification of Germany in 1871 under the leadership of Otto von Bismarck which installed
Kaiser II as emperor and himself as Chancellor, Europe was hit
by the Grunderkrise, a long period of economic
depression. At this time Bismarck was consolidating his power
base and working towards establishing a war free Europe,
something largely achieved until 1914. With
Europe and the Americas in the economic doldrums and whilst
wanting peace in Europe leaving no room for further continental
expansion and simultaneously wanting to establish the prestige
of the new Germany, Bismarck turned his attention to Africa as
a potential field of influence, source of cheap resources and
potential trade. In part this was motivated by a desire to
outflank King Leopold II of Belgium who was keen to establish
his own empire in Africa.
By
that time the United Kingdom had established trading outposts
at Freetown in Sierra Leone, forts in the Gambia and colonies
in South Africa. Portugal had bases in Angola and Mozambique
whilst Spain held small areas of North West Africa. France's
interests included settlements in Senegal, the Ivory Coast,
Benin and Algeria, whilst the fading Ottoman Empire controlled
most of northern Africa from Tunisia, Libya to Egypt.
Despite this, most European activity in Africa was largely
confined to coastal areas however the discovery of a cure for
Malaria and the ability to transport then reassemble steamboats
in Africa, suddenly made the interior accessible for
transporting goods on a commercial basis.
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Above, the plenipotentiaries of the Berlin Conference
Spurred
by this together, with a Christian evangelism to bring an end
to internal slavery on the continent that was still customary
despite being made illegal by western powers earlier in the
century, Bismarck convened a conference in Berlin in November
1984 and invited fourteen states, including the USA, but not a
single African one, to divide up the African continent and
establish an agreed set of rules for the future exploitation of
the continent with France, Germany, Great Britain, and Portugal
being the major players.
The Berlin conference, which concluded in 26th February 1885
saw thousands of cultures and regions across Africa divided
into fifty five countries with little or no regard for the
existing population, many of who did not get along and this was
to sow the seeds for conflicts across Africa following
independence from Europe in the 1960s. In the immediate aftermath of the conference the Congo and
Niger river basins were declared neutral and free for trade
exploration by all countries, although Leopold of Belgium
swiftly established hegemony over the Congo which he toyed with
as his personal fiefdom, with half its population dying during
that process. The negotiations continued until the end of the
First World War by which time fifty-five colonies had become
fifty. Download the full text of the Berlin Conference using the download button above.
Berlin Conference: Colonialism in Africa
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Berlin Conference: Colonial Map of Africa
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