5.3 - Scramble for Africa

Natural resources in Africa

• Diamonds and gold was found in South Africa

• Also: oil, petroleum, and natural gas

• Creation of cash-crop plantations to grow peanuts, palm oil, coca, and ruber

The Berlin Conference (1884-1885)

• Organized by the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck

• Meeting between 14 European nations but there were no African leader present

  • Meeting was called to prevent military conflict between European powers competing for Africa’s natural resources

  • 3Cs: Commerce, Christianity, and Civilization

• First come first serve

  • A nation claimed territory by occupying it and implementing administration in it

  • Kicked off the Scramble for Africa

• The Congo and Niger rivers were designated neutral zones

• When new boundaries were created, not attention was paid to existing kingdoms, ethnic identities, topography, and population

• Included the prohibition of slave trade as a moral justification to gain the public’s support and as a strategic pretext for military intervention

Colonization of the Congo

• Extreme exploitation

• The Congo was established as the Congo Free State and it started as the private property of King Leopold II of Belgium following the Berlin Conference

• To maximize profits, Leopold’s agents used forced labor to harvest rubber using inhumane tactics such as mutilation, hostages, and the destruction of homes and villages

  • 10-15 million lost their lives

• This led to international outrage so the Congo was taken out of Leopold’s private possession and given to the Belgian government

  • Atrocities were reduced but it was still oppressive

King Leopold & the Congo Free State

Claims:

• Establishing free trade zones

• Abolition of slavery

• Spreading Christianity

Reality:

• Humanitarian concerns swept aside

• Tribal chiefs signed treaties that they could not read or understand

• Cultural differences ignored

• Slave labor & punishment for not meeting quotas

• Revolts and wars broke out 

Major effects of imperialism on Africa's economic, social, and political structures

• African population reduced by disease, starvation, brutality, and genocide

• Assimilation efforts led to a breakdown of traditional cultures and traditional authority figures (identity problems - "dual consciousness")

• Created economic dependency on industrial nations

• Artificial political boundaries - divided homelands, united groups that were enemies

• Institutionalized racism against Africans

• Underdevelopment and poverty