Development of more sophisticated weaponry
also acted as a spur. By the 1880s European nations were
undertaking what was called a scramble
to 'land grab' what they could across Africa without planning
nor, of course, seeking any consent from those already on the
land. In November 1984
Bismarck convened a conference in Berlin 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.
The Berlin
Conference came to be called the 'Scramble for Africa', for that
described exactly what happened, and the colonial rule of Africa
went largely unchanged following the conference until the end of
WW1 when former German colonies were placed under the protection
of the League of Nations and became Mandate territories. It
wasn't until the 1950s, with Europe severely weakened and
bankrupted by WWII, that stirrings of independence within Africa
really took on a serious form.
The maps and
charts below shows
European activity in Africa in 1850 compared with after the
Conference of Berlin in 1885.
|
British Empire |
|
French Empire |
| Portuguese Empire |
|
|
|
|
|
Other |
|
|
British Colonies |
|
French Colonies |
Portugal Colonies | |
|
Belgium Colonies |
|
Italian Colonies |
|
Other |
|
Not Colonised |
Partition of Africa: Berlin Conference
|
Partition of Africa: Colonial Map of Africa
|
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