Unit 2 Terms -- Cambridge International History

Arbitrary borders (during the Scramble for Africa)

• European powers drew arbitrary borders across the continent with little or no regard for indigenous ethnic, linguistic, cultural, or political realities

• Major Origin → The Berlin Conference (1884–1885): European powers met in Berlin to establish rules for claiming African territory without inviting any African representatives.

International African Association (IAA)

• “Humanitarian Organization”

• King Leopold created the IAA because the Belgian government showed little interest in imperialism

• IAA control of the Congo Free State made it his personal property

• Despite the IAA’s stated mission of ending slavery and spreading Christianity, Leopold wanted natural resources: Rubber, Ivory, and Timber

Force Publique

• Leopold created his own private paramilitary to maintain order and ensure resources were collected

• Composed of Belgian officers and African mercenaries

• The Force Publique was renowned for their violence

• Forced locals to harvest rubber and meet quotas

• Routinely cut off the hands or feet of those who failed to harvest enough

Conditions in the Congo Free State

• Because men were forced out of their homes to work for rubber companies, there was a shortage of agricultural labor

• This led to widespread famine and disease

• “Child colonies” were created to look at the tens of thousands of orphaned Congolese children

Anglo-Zulu War (1879)

• Tensions grew in the 1860s between the British, Boers, and Zulu over the Transvaal

• In 1877, the British annexed the Transvaal and made it part of the Cape Colony

• After the surprise British takeover of the Transvaal, British Zulu-relations turned hostile

• The Zulu King Cetshwayo wanted to negotiate with British officials, but they began building troops on the Zulu border

• In 1870, British officials issued Cetshwayo an ultimatum: disband the Zulu army and open Zululand to Europeans

• Cetshwayo amassed 30,000 Zulu warriors and launched a surprise attack at Isandlwana, killing over 1,000 British troops → British won

• Despite the British victory, the high cost of suppressing the Zulu was an embarrassment

Ndebele Rebellion

• Britain continued to expand the Cape Colony after the Anglo-Zulu War

• Rhodes’ goal was to expand to the Northeast, into the home of the Ndebele people

• Rhodes began to send British settlers into Ndebele territory, led by Leander Starr Jameson

• The British disrespected Ndebele King Lobengula and refused to obey Ndebele law

• King Lobengula ordered all Europeans to be removed or killed if they refused in 1893

• brutally suppressed the rebellion

• Ndebele territory was absorbed in Rhodesia

First Italo-Ethiopian War (1895-96)

• Tension over a treaty spilled into full-scale war in 1895

• Italian forces from Eritrea invaded Abyssinia

• Initially, the Italians won several battles and annexed part of Abyssinia

• However, the Italian invasion unified the different ethnic groups in Abyssinia and Emperor Menelik II was able to rally an army of over 100,000 men

Battle of Adwa

• In 1896, Baratieri’s forced ambushed the Abyssinia army at Adwa

• Despite the element of surprise, the Italians were beaten handily

• Over 10,000 casualties

• Baratieri was forced to retreat back to Eritrea

• The Battle of Adwa is considered the worst European defeat during the Scramble for Africa Abyssinia was able to remain independent

• Became a symbol of Pan-Africanism and anti-imperialism

German Southwest Africa

• Germany annexed a large portion Southwest Africa immediately following the Berlin Conference

• Modern-Day Namibia

• Home to the Herero and Nama people

• Cattle herding and land acquisition pushed onto Nama and Herero lands

• With little alternative, the Hereros rose up and attacked German settlements across the colony

Herero and Nama Genocide

• Governor of German Southwest Africa Lothar von Trotha retaliated with a brutal reprisal campaign

• Ordered all Herero men to be captured and executed

• The Hereros were pushed into the desert interior where thousands died of starvation

• Watching the treatment of the Herero, most of the Nama joined in their resistance against the Nama joined in their resistance against the Germans

• As the uprising grew, the German opened concentration camps across the colony

• The most infamous was “Shark Island”

• By 1908, the uprising was crushed → 80% of the Herero were killed, 50% of the Nama were killed