..."Was the ‘Scramble for Africa’ typical of the way Britain pursued imperial expansion from 1800-1900?" During the period 1800-1900, Britain rapidly expanded its formal Empire to occupy an area of 4 million square miles. However, there is no simple elucidation as to the exact factor that motivated the British to pursue imperial expansion – rather, there are several aspects to consider. The ‘Scramble for Africa’ was part of the ‘New Imperialism’ period, an era of colonial expansion involving the major powers of the World: European Powers, the Empire of Japan, and The United States of America – and involved new concepts and ideologies that made it different from the way Britain usually pursued imperial expansion. Britain was the first country to majorly expand in terms of new technologies, known as the period of the Industrial Revolution, and thus along with this came economic power and a more threatening factor: Competition. As other countries began industrialising too, Britain had to stay dominant in the Power hierarchy, and the current global affairs sector offered a resolution – Colonisation and free trade. The first era of British Empire building (1583 – 1783) had previously had an idea of just discovering and conquering other countries, but this would soon change. From as early as 1830, the ‘New Imperial’ period began taking full effect, the major powers hunting for new sources of income, and Britain began paying more attention to its Chartered Companies (companies that...
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...DAVID DAMIETE DOKUBO 0-7682090 THE REASON FOR THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA, AND WHY THE AFRICANS COULDNT STOP COLIONIALISM. During the scramble for Africa, the Europeans basically had a lot to prove to each other. It is very easy to understand that at the time (1800-1900) European countries still struggled in crude ways to show dominance. This fact however couldn’t have single handedly driven the Europeans to Africa. There were also very rational reasons why. In this essay, those reasons will be stated. There were economic causes. The 1800s were very economically unsettled times that even lead to a depression in 1873. During this period, every industrial country was hurt, and Britain was seriously affected. Britain relied on raw materials, thus damaging its balance of trade. It also shouldn’t be forgotten, that there was a serious competition between newly industrializing nations that had new factories, and cheap labor. There was also the problem of political direst. These issues are known to arise in a state of economical instability. Europe at the afore mentioned time, experienced that problem. Britain particularly was undergoing significant changes in their system. The country that was once used to a unified political party system, had to evolve to a more fragmented patchwork of special interest groups like labor unions, landowners, bankers, industrialists etc. The people in power were eager for a new cause to unite the people when it mattered. In the year 1871, the...
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...since the mid-1500's but had restricted their area of influence to only the coastal regions of Western Africa, where powers such as Great Britain established hubs for their highly profitable slave trade (David). Over a period of nearly three hundred years, European ships had transported more than 11 million people from Africa to different areas of the world, including America after the slave trade was abolished in Europe, and sold them into slavery (David). In a period of less than 30 years from 1870 – 1900, European powers, consisting of countries like France, Britain, and Portugal, had increased their control of Africa nations from a mere 10% to 90% of the entire continent (David). There were several reasons for Europe's aptly dubbed “Scramble for Africa,” ranging from thinly veiled intentions of “liberating” Africa from Arab slave traders to not so thinly-veiled hopes of economic and political gains. During this time in history, Europeans strongly felt that they were the superior race and that the darker-skinned residents of Africa were their evolutionary inferiors (David). This deeply rooted idea of racial superiority undoubtedly played a role in the European powers' decision to insert themselves into the African continent in an attempt to “civilize” the native people, who surely perceived as savages by the Europeans. At The Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, thirteen European powers signed a declaration vowing to aid in the abolishment of the slave trade in Africa and proceeded...
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...One of the major reasons for bad relations amongst the nations of Europe in the years before 1914 was that they were engaged in a struggle to obtain overseas colonies. Although this happened in several areas of the world, the most dramatic changes took place in Africa. Many nations took part in what became known as the “Scramble for Africa”. The following pages will show the territory gained by each nation, and will explain why the race to gain colonies played a part in the build-up of international tensions which eventually resulted in World War One. During the late 1800s, relations between Britain and France were strained by a series of disputes over African colonies. Both nations hoped to control Egypt and Morocco and this caused many bitter arguments. These were eventually settled in 1904 by the Entente Cordiale. This “friendly understanding” said that Britain should control Egypt and France should control Morocco. However, Germany strongly objected to this agreement… Kaiser William II was jealous of the empires of both France and Britain and tried to break up the “friendly understanding” between them. On two occasions, in 1905 and 1911, German claims over Morocco raised international tension. Indeed, the “Agadir Incident” of 1911 caused Britain to hint that war might result if Germany continued her claims. This crisis passed, but these disputes simply made international relations worse. The bad feeling they created (combined with other factors) made the possibility...
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...Deceitful Expansion Throughout history we have seen various examples where a dominant race has extended its powers into new territories through the use of force and justification. There are always motives beneath the surface that the majority are unaware of. As young students we are taught that powerful countries step onto inferior lands to improve their uncivilized society and better their future. It may take decades before anyone steps up and admits to the hidden motives and violence used in many of these wars. As growing students we are impressionable and take whatever our educators tell us as undisputed facts. My understanding of the many wars we have been taught has evidently not been the entire truth. I have been shielded from the violence and racism that was used to carry out such wars. It is apparent that the motives behind many historical actions have been misguided with half-truths and whole lies. My teachings have revolved around bettering inferior lands with generosity and a duty to teach a better way of life. An event that exemplifies dominance through violence and belief of superiority was that of the 19th century overtaking of Algeria by France, better known as the Pacification of Algeria. The event began in the late 1830s and continued well into the 1840s when Algeria was finally annexed to France in 1848. The French military was ordered to pacify the country of Algeria using any means necessary to push out the native Algerians. This in turn...
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...Asses the significance of economic reasons influencing Britain’s relationship with its empire in Africa in the period 1870-1981? Britain’s relationship with Africa was a very volatile one. By 1914 Britain was able to took control over nearly 30% of Africa’s population and most of African territory (5 million square miles) where under British control. By doing this Britain was able to gain the ‘Lion’s share’ over the other European powers which were competing for control in Africa. On the other hand by the end of the 20th century Britain’s influence in its African empire had shrinked dramatically. The process of colonization which mainly took part between 1870-1914 and decolonisation which started from the end of the Second World War until 1981 took place due to many and various reasons. Some of the reasons include Imperialistic and nationalistic feelings of the British people and of the Afrikaners , military conflicts, political actions and economic reasons. This essay will try to prove that the most important reason which influenced British relationship with its empire in Africa between 1870-1981 were economic reasons to a great extent as each and every action of the British leaders concerning Africa was either purely based on economic interest or had an indirect economic motive. To begin with before the 1870’s British policy towards its African empire was mainly focused on informal imperialism. This type of control was mainly focused on trading agreements as Britain...
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...At the peak of Imperialism in the late nineteenth century, the “Scramble for Africa” occurred. This is formally recognized as the event in which European actors recognized Africa for its material wealth and began to invade, occupy, and extract resources. Subsequently, while each colony varied in outcome, the most inhumanely prolific colony was, arguably, the Congo Free State. King Leopold II of Belgium, claimed the Congo as his own in order to become a world power and as a result, the Congo Free State suffered from casualties upwards of 10 million people. Thus, the argument is a raised that despite the accolades that rendered the Congo a “free state”, genocide existed under King Leopold’s rule. In order to explore this concept, Roger Casement’s...
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...In “The Causes and Motivations for the Scramble for Africa” by Stephen Pinkerton this article, it explains that the motivations that in the late nineteenth century, that Europeans and Americans progressively believed that they were bound to extend their way of culture abroad.New Imperialism Era that Europe gained global power through expansion and colonization. They society and economy in Africa were disrupted due to settlers.The European hunger for resources and markets caused decades of armed conflicts and thousands of deaths and lastly Africa resulted in being extremely diverse. The author Pinkerton also compared the colonization of Africa to “the White Man's Burden” a poem by English man about the Philippines. 1899. About how it was the...
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...Adam Dees Dr. Herman WOH1030 2 April 2015 Impact of British Imperialism In the late 1800’s, European nations only controlled about 10 percent of the continent of Africa, France to the north and Britain to the south (Edgar, 2008). As time goes by, other countries gain conquests, mostly in western areas of Africa. This essay will go over a few key points in history that led to the Age of Imperialism and the British colonization of Southern Africa. The essay will also identify key players in this age. Southern Africa was known for its gold and other valuable items that made it so appealing to Europeans. This and many other reasons led to wars over the areas that had high gold content. In the mid-1800’s European nations begin seizing power over countries in Africa. “By World War I Ethiopia and Liberia were the only countries not under European control.” (Edgar, 2008). In Belgium, King Leopold II had aspirations of conquest in African nations (Edgar, 2008). In 1876, he started the IAA or the International African Association in which he hires Henry Stanley to lead up exploration of this uncharted area (Edgar, 2008). Stanley was also dispatched to ascertain the whereabouts of David Livingstone, another famed explorer that was lost in the Congo (“Sir Henry…). When Stanley found Livingstone they became friends until his death in 1872 at Lake Bangweulu. Stanley continued where Livingstone left off, however and helped in the development of the Congo (“Sir Henry…). In a journal...
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...The French, The British, And The Berlin Conference The Berlin Conference of 1884 and 1885 regulated European colonization and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period. The outcome, which was the General Act of the Berlin Conference, is also seen as the Scramble for Africa. The conference created a period of heightened colonial activity with the European powers and had basically eliminated almost all forms of self government in the countries of Africa. By 1914 France and Britain controlled the most land of all the European powers that were present in Africa. The Berlin Conference helped Britain and France to expand enormously in Africa. In 1914 the French had claimed over what is now broken into over fifteen different countries in Africa spanning all across the continent from Madagascar to Algeria. The French empire in Africa consisted of two main areas. These were French Equatorial Africa and French West Africa. The main two French territories stretched from Gabon to Chad, to Niger, to Senegal, to Corte d’Ivoire. The French first started to establish a presence as a main European power in Africa with the AOF, or the Afrique Occidentale Francaise, in 1895. AOF was a union of French Sudan, French Guinea, Corte d’Ivoire, and Senegal; which is the oldest French settlement in Africa, controlled by France since 1672. The AOF subsequently expanded to the neighboring territories ruled by France. Eventually the AOF covered an area of over one million, eight-hundred thousand...
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...conquest began. Having far more resources and a technical advantage, European countries rolled through to central Africa. The strong firepower of the Europeans crushed most if not all of the African resistance. The Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 was the highlight of European competition for territory in Africa. France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and King Leopold II of Belgium together had acquired thirty new African colonies. They came together to negotiate their claims to African territory. They were then formalized and divided into forty new political units, subsequently displacing 110 million Africans. These units were drawn as straight lines with no regards for the villages, ethnic groups and African kingdoms. (scramble for Africa, 2015) Part A1 The indigenous people of Africa originally trusted Europeans. They believed the treaties they signed were merely a formality and based upon friendship and trade. In actuality, the treaties meant that Africans had signed away their sovereignties to European powers. After they discovered that the Europeans wanted to take their lands, African leaders organized military resistance to defend their lands and hold off colonial domination. The smaller African tribes used guerrilla warfare. They used small groups of troops surprise attack...
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...Art in the colonial project Art played a significant role in the colonial project because of the nature of what was being depicted. Paintings such as the one done by Barker, show a striking image of the times and the underlying meaning being shown through the characters. Certainly it is an image that could stir strong emotion for parties of both sides of the situation. Looking at the painting done by Thomas Jones Barker it is plainly obvious in the positioning of the people where the power lied within the situation. The image shows the African chief kneeling before the queen accepting a bible. This is a very accurate depiction of the circumstances at the time. A Victorian seeing this image would easily be assured of who was in charge at the time. The suggestion would be that the British Empire were spreading their ways among those who were less, and that the opposition was obliged to accept the better British ways. I would not think it would be an easy image by any stretch of the imagination for a Victorian to imagine the positions in the painting swapped. Because the British were so founded in the idea that their ways were better, and that it was their job to educate the rest of the world on how to be as good as they were, a Victorian would have no reason to imagine such a thing. It is notable that the British people were a proud people and it is not too often proud people put themselves in positions where they can imagine being the little man in the situation. The idea...
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...GKE1 Task 3: A and A1 00039791 Tiffany Teague In the late 1800’s to early 1900’s the Europeans started the colonialism of Africa. Europeans chose to use their power to take over Africa for several reasons. Europe wanted to prove its political power and one way to do so would be to acquire new territories. Europe was also over populated in some areas and so they sent some of their population to Africa new establish new colonies. Europe also had an economic reason to exploit Africa. Africa’s territory would be able to provide much needed raw materials and would help with capitalist industrialization by meeting this demand (2011 Africana). This would also provide a much-needed monetary investment for Europe. The Europeans took over control of the waterways and other routes used for industrial purposes in different areas of Africa. Africa was such a promising place for many other countries to consider colonizing so there was urgency for Europeans to claim their stake in Africa (2011 Africana). There was a concern that it could even lead to wars with other countries trying to take over Africa at the same time as Europe. A German chancellor named Otto von Bismarck helped to protect Europe’s interest in Africa and scheduled what is know as the Berlin Conference (2011 Africana). This conference resulted in the Berlin Act to put into place. This was a treaty that would give standards for conduct of the European inter-imperialist competition that could...
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...What would you do if it was considered your country’s duty to be the top in political and geographical power? Starting in the later 1800’s, European countries started dividing African land up among themselves. They planned to use the land and resources of Africa to help their economies and to become the country with the most power. Europeans felt that they needed land and power to be great, the effect was imperialism in Africa. Geopolitical power, economics, and cultural attitudes motivated the Europeans to take control over African land, resources, and trade. Europeans believed that they should have power over, not only their land, but other lands as well. The idea of geopolitical power was strong in the minds of Europeans and they used it to their advantage. In 1884 and 1885 European powers held the Berlin conference, during which, they divided up African land according to power, people, and resources. (Doc A) If a country did not have the required military support, government control, and means of communication, they were not allowed to claim land. This had to do with the belief of fair division, and division had to be fair because the struggle for power was so great. Britain and France ended up with the most land in Africa. (Doc A) They both had great influence over others which gave them a lot of power. The Europeans also competed for resources. (Doc D) Depending on the areas they had claimed the Europeans would have different resources that suited individual economies. ...
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...Assess the changing significance of economics and finance in influencing Britain’s relationship with its African empire in the period c1870-c1981 Economic and financial factors played a massive influencing role with Britain in its relationship with Africa, because the benefits that Britain gained from expanding their empire into Africa were financial and territorial which allowed Britain to achieve their goal of ‘pursuit of greatness’ as there was much international rivalry. Although not all of Britain’s relationship with Africa was simply influenced by economic or financial factors, in the period of expansion 1870-1902 it may have not of just been the economical gains from expanding which was the pushing force but also Britain may have had strategic concerns in mind, they may have simply wanted to gain as much dominance within Africa as possible. Furthermore the years of 1902-1955 revealed a period of consolidation at the time where there was a lot of global conflicts going on at the time Britain’s main priority within Africa was to defend and simply keep their African empire, so it could have been a mixture of political, strategic and economic factors influencing Britain’s relationship with Africa within these particular fifty-three years. And of course lastly between 1955-1981 comes the period of contraction between Britain and Africa where the dismantling of the British colonies within Africa takes place. The period of expansion for Britain within Africa can firstly...
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