Unit 6.3: Conquest of Africa under the New Imperialism

Flashcards about the Conquest of Africa under the New Imperialism

What event marked the increased focus of European imperialists on Africa between 1870 and 1900?

The final decades of the nineteenth century saw European imperialists fix their attentions on Africa.

Name two factors that facilitated easier access to Africa's interior for Europeans.

The opening of the Suez Canal and new technologies like the railroad and quinine.

What agreement was made at the Berlin Conference regarding territorial claims in Africa?

A country must occupy a territory with its soldiers before claiming it.

By the early twentieth century, which two African countries remained independent of European control?

Liberia and Ethiopia.

Name one reason for the speed of European conquests in Africa.

The significant advantage of European armies due to rifles and early machine guns.

What is indirect rule?

A system where Europeans ruled by supporting local rulers who supported European economic interests.

How did Europeans effectively reinstate slavery after claiming to abolish it?

By instituting taxes that Africans could only pay by accepting jobs with minuscule wages from European industrialists.

What was the primary economic focus of Europeans in colonizing Africa?

Extracting raw materials rather than industrializing the societies.

What was the Sokoto Caliphate known for in West Africa?

Exploiting divisions to capture non-Muslims for the slave trade.

What commodity did many West Africans turn to for export after the decline of the international slave trade?

Palm oil.

Which European country dominated the interior of West Africa during the Scramble for Africa?

France.

Which European country primarily centered its West African operations on Nigeria?

Great Britain.

Who was Samory Touré and where did he resist French expansion?

A Maliki Muslim religious leader who founded the Wassoulou Empire on the upper Niger and resisted French expansion.

Who was Yaa Asantewaa and what did she resist?

Queen mother of Ejisu in the Ashanti Empire, who resisted British demands to surrender the Golden Stool.

Who declared himself the Mahdi and waged a jihad against Turkish governors in Sudan?

Muhammad Ahmad.

What role did Indian immigrants play in East and Southern Africa during colonial rule?

Provided needed labor to extract the regions' raw materials.

Which European power predominantly controlled Central Africa?

Belgium.

What trade good led to extreme brutality in the Belgian Congo?

Congo Basin Rubber.

Who instigated the Xhosa cattle-killing movement and what was its purpose?

Nongqawuse; to drive away the white settlers in exchange for the slaughter.

Who founded the Zulu Kingdom and how?

Shaka Zulu, by integrating numerous separate people groups through military conquest

What led to the Boer War and what was the outcome?

The discovery of South African Diamonds and gold in the Transvaal; Great Britain conquered the Boer republics.

Why was the Scramble for Africa considered a failure for the imperial powers?

The value of raw materials extracted from most colonies proved less than the cost of administering the territories.

Which colonies proved consistently profitable?

The settler colonies of Southern Africa.

Belgian Congo

A colony in Central Africa ruled by King Leopold II of Belgium where extreme brutality was used to harvest rubber.

Berlin Conference

A meeting where imperialist powers agreed that a country must occupy a territory with soldiers to claim it in Africa.

Boer War

A war in which Great Britain conquered the Boer republics in Southern Africa to exploit their natural resources.

Boers

Independent republics founded by Dutch settlers, who resisted British expansion.

British WEST AFRICA

British colonies in West Africa primarily centered on Nigeria extracting natural resources.

Congo Basin Rubber

Primary trade good of interest to Europeans in the Belgian Congo.

French WEST AFRICA

Was largest European colony in WEST AFRICA, including both large sections of coastline and most of the interior.

Indian Immigrants to EAST AFRICA

Provided needed labor to extract the regions raw materials.

Indian Immigrants to SOUTHERN AFRICA

Provided needed labor to extract the regions Raw materials.

Indirect Rule

Practice where Europeans tended to practice indirect rule, where they ruled by supporting the authority of local rulers.

Leopold II

King of Belgium who funded, founded, and ruled the Belgian Congo as a private enterprise, known for his brutal exploitation of the region's resources and people.

Mahdi

A local Sunni Muslim religious leader, Muhammad Ahmad, who declared himself the Mahdi, a messianic chosen one in the Sunni tradition.

Mahdist Wars

Wars where Mahdist state resisted joint British-Egyptian encroachment into Sudan through the Mahdist wars, ultimately facing defeat after the British deployed early machine guns alongside rifles.

Palm Oil

A trade which EUROPEANS turned their attentions to WEST AFRICA in the 1880s.

Quinine

A drug for treating malaria that enabled easier access into Africa's interior.

Samory Touré

Maliki Muslim religious leader, founded a short-lived state known as the Wassoulou Empire on the upper Niger.

"Scramble for Africa"

The scramble led to claims and borders based entirely on opportunism rather than historical or cultural considerations.

Sokoto Caliphate

The most powerful state was the Sokoto Caliphate on the Niger river.

South African Diamonds

Diamonds that were discovered in the Transvaal, Great Britain instigated the Boer War, in which they mercilessly conquered the Boer republics.

Xhosa Cattle-killing Movement

The Xhosa people turned to follow a female religious leader, Nongqawuse, who instigated cattle-killing movement, reduce Xhosa population by over seventy-five percent.

Yaa Asantewaa

Queen mother of Ejisu in the Ashanti Empire, who refused the British demands to surrender the Golden Stool, a symbol of Ashanti kingship.

Zulu Kingdom

Founded earlier in the nineteenth century by Shaka Zulu, the Zulu Kingdom had created a new Zulu identity by integrating numerous separate people groups through military conquest.