History

General Act of the Berlin Conference

At the end of the conference the delegates produced an agreement called the General Act of the Berlin Conference. This agreement laid out the following main rules and decisions:

• If one power claimed a colony in a specific area, they had to have an established presence there. They could not colonise it in name only.

• The Congo and Niger rivers, two major rivers in West Africa, were to remain free and all European powers would be allowed to navigate on these rivers.

• No African power would be allowed to stay independent unless they had existing agreements with at least one European power.

• The Congo basin was recognised as the private property of Leopold Il of Belgium.

• If any European power decided to take a new colony they had to first tell the other European powers what they planned to do.

By 1900 90% of African territory had been split up between France, Britain, Portugal and Italy. Germany and Spain took only a few territories.

Countries that took over Africa

Belgian

British

French

German

Italian

Portuguese

Spanish

Economic cause: the Industrial Revolution

You learnt in Topic 5 that Britain became industrialised between 1750 and 1850.

Other European states followed with their own processes of industrialisation. In the late 19th century, factory production was a major part of European economies. Factories needed lots of raw materials, such as rubber and oil, and Africa was a good source of these raw materials.

With industrialisation came mass production of goods and European economies needed markets to sell their products. Africa was a big market.

European economies would be able to sell their manufactured goods to the African people. European explorers had also discovered natural wealth in Africa, such as diamonds, gold and other minerals. so turopean countries colonised Africa to gain access to the resources and sell manufactured goods to be able to grow their own economies.

Political cause

By the late 19th century, new nation states such as Germany and Italy had come into being. European states had a strong spirit of nationalism. Each country wanted to show that it was more powerful and important than the others. This led to increasing competition between them. Each believed that gaining colonies would increase pride and prestige in its own country and give it more power than other European countries.

Strategic reasons

Egypt and South Africa had strategic value because they were on two major sea routes to India. In 1869 the Suez Canal was opened as a waterway between Egypt and the Red Sea. For the first time, ships could sail to India from Europe without having to travel around Africa. Both Britain and France had helped build the Canal and wanted to control Egypt. The British pushed the French out and annexed Egypt to control the trade route to India. In South Africa, the British wanted control of the sea route that went around Africa. When diamonds and gold were discovered in South Africa, Britain also wanted to gain control of these valuable resources, as you learnt in Topic 5.

Individual interests

The Congo and Southern Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe) were colonised by individual adventurers who wanted to make profits for themselves. King Leopold I! of Belgium grabbed the Congo because he wanted to create his own empire which would give him power, prestige and, most importantly, profits. Cecil John Rhodes did the same. He took over Southern Rhodesia because he hoped to discover gold there and make a huge personal fortune.

Religious and social beliefs

Most people in Europe believed in Christianity. Many felt that they had a religious duty to spread the message of Christianity and to help the people of Africa, who they considered to be ignorant. Many people supported colonisation because they saw it as a way to spread Christianity. This belief was supported by people who wanted to stop slavery and other activities in Africa that they thought were wrong or evil.

However, many European people also felt that they were superior to Africans because of their race. There was a belief that white European people were better than African people in almost every way. As a result, colonisation was seen as the right action. European people felt they should come to Africa and help the backward African people to become more 'civilised'.

Treaties

Many African leaders signed treaties or agreements with Europeans which allowed them access to their land. In return, the Europeans promised to protect them.

However, the majority of African leaders did not fully understand what these treaties were about or what the results of signing the treaty would be. In this way, they lost their land.

6. Results of colonisation

Africa was completely transformed by colonisation. A few of the changes created benefits for Africa, but many new problems and negative effects were created. The impact of colonisation can still be seen today.

Economic impact

The major European powers wanted to make the colonies pay for their own administration. They also hoped to make profits from the colonies. This led to a whole lot of new economic patterns in Africa.

• They forced African people into wage labour so that they could earn money to pay taxes to the colonial authorities. Taxes were used to pay for the administration of the colony.

• They forced African people to move from subsistence farming to the production of cash crops such as cocoa and cotton, which could then be sold for export.

• In some colonies some infrastructure was developed but only because it helped They extracted natural resources from Africa and exported them to Europe.

the colonial authorities to develop their own economies. For example, roads and railways were built but only because this made it easy to transport manufactured goods from Europe and cash crops and raw materials to the coast where they could then be shipped to Europe. However, it is clear that the use of railways helped African countries after independence.

Rubber in the Congo

The Congo Free State is a good example of how an African country was exploited in a terrible way. The Congo was a great source of rubber. Factory owners in Europe needed rubber for the production of goods, especially to produce tyres that would be used on cars and bicycles. To get natural rubber, however, the trees have to be tapped by hand. This process needs many workers.

The Belgians used brutal methods to force the local people to work, so that they could get the rubber from the Congo. Many people died or had their hands cut off as a punishment. The trees were overused and much of the natural rubber was destroyed.

places, Christianity was connected with education. Most of the colonial authorities (except the French) did not want to educate the African people they colonised. When the Christian missionaries came, however, they often built schools. They would teach Africans how to read and write so that they could read the Bible. They also taught them about the Christian religion. For many Africans, missionary schools gave them an opportunity to improve their status and find work in the colonial government.

Another cultural impact was language.

Colonisers took their languages to the colonies. African people had to learn to speak the European languages to be able to communicate with their new rulers. These languages are still used in Africa today.

French colonies became Francophone, which means French-speaking. British colonies became Anglophone, which means English-speaking. Portuguese colonies became Lusophone, which means Portuguese-speaking.

Political impact

As we have seen, before European powers colonised Africa, there were few borders and unified political systems on the continent. There were different tribes and communities. European colonisers joined large parts of Africa together. Sudan, once the largest country in Africa, united Arabic speakers, English speakers, Muslims and Christians under one common flag and identity. Nigeria combined more than 250 different ethnic groups under one national identity and one government.

Although the borders united Africans, they also separated them. Africa is the most politically divided continent, with more countries and longer borders than anywhere else in the world. These borders also separate many people who would otherwise be in the same group. As many as 177 ethnic groups in Africa are divided by borders.

Families that always used to be connected found themselves in different countries.

These false divisions created by colonialism have been a major cause of the many wars in Africa

Was colonisation good or bad for Africa?

There are different points of view about whether colonisation was good or bad for Africa. Those who argue that it was good say that Africa would not have become modern if colonisation had not happened. On the other side, some say that Africa was exploited by the Europeans and that the benefits they got did not last. The following table below shows some of these arguments.

following table below shows some of these arguments.

August 1914, war broke out between the ars, in pover in yrope. It was known as the Creat War because it lasted for four years, involved many countries and at the many people's lives in serious wars. Waras only when World War II started that the Great War became known as World War I.

1. Overview of long-term causes

the existing powers such as Britain and France. These tensions were the long-term causes of World War I.

Nationalism

In this period nationalism became a powerful force in Europe. People began to think of their nation with pride and believed that its interests were very important.

Nationalism made people think about gaining more land to increase their power and prestige

Germany and Italy were two

new nations. Germany, especially, under the ruler Kaiser Wilhelm II, wanted to show the world how strong and powerful it was.

France had lost an area of land called Alsace-Lorraine to Germany in an earlier war and now wanted it back.

Kaiser Wilhelm Il has often been blamed for causing World War I. He wanted to make Germany a great world power. He began to build a colonial empire and a large navy. This challenged Britain, which had the largest colonial

Industrial economies

Another important long-term cause for the war was economic competition. In Topic 5 you learnt how Britain became a major industrial producer during the Industrial Revolution. Britain led foreign trade in the world and had become very wealthy. However, by the beginning of the 20th century Germany had also industrialised and had caught up with Britain. Germany began competing with Britain to produce more goods. By 1914 Germany was the biggest producer of iron, steel and coal This economic race created tension and competition between the major European powers.

Control of the seas

It was important to have control of the seas for trade and colonial expansion.

Britain was recognised as the world's greatest sea power. It had the largest navy and its trading ships reached every port of its huge empire. Germany wanted to challenge Britain's power and started building up its own navy. In response Britain started spending more money on building more and bigger ships. In 1908 Britain launched the HMS Dreadnought, the most advanced and powerful ship ever built.

Soon the Germans responded by building their own 'dreadnoughts'. Even with the very high costs, Germany and Britain continued this competition for control of the seas. The more they competed, the more tense the situation became.

Colonisation and empires

You have already learnt that one way for the European powers to gain land was to reate colonies in other parts of the world, especially in Asia and Africa. They believed that having many colonies gave them power. Britain had the largest colonial empire, stretching from North America to Africato India and Australasiat France also had many colonies in Africa and in Asia. Germany had a smaller empire, but wanted to gain more colonies. The competition between the major powers to build up their overseas empires created more tension. However, until 1914, the problems of competing empires were handled without going to war.

Trench warfare on the Western Front

Soldiers fighting in World War I faced horrors they could not have imagined. At the start of the war the leaders on both sides thought they could win very quickly. The Germans had a plan called the Schlieffen plan that would allow them to defeat France in six weeks. When the plan failed the Germans could not advance any further. They began to dig trenches to protect themselves from the gun and cannon fire of the British and French troops. The British and the French troops also found they could not push the Germans back. So they too began to build trenches opposite the German trenches. Soon there was a long line of trenches stretching across Europe from Switzerland to the English Channel. The Western Front, as it became known, was where some of the war's worst horrors would take place.

Why was it called the Western Front?

Most of the fighting in the war took place along two main lines.

With Germany in the centre, there was one line separating the Germans from France and the rest of Western Europe - this was the Western Front. The second major line of fighting was between Germany and Russia in the East. This Eastern Front was much longer - 1 600 km, which made it difficult to use trenches. There were not enough soldiers to defend the whole line on either side.

The trenches were long open tunnels that ran parallel to each other. They were usually around two metres deep and two metres wide. Sandbags lined the top of the trenches and in front of the sandbags was barbed wire. The barbed wire was to prevent the enemy getting into a trench.

Between the opposite sides' trenches was a space called 'no-man's-land. In some places no-man's-land was as narrow as 15 m. But in most places it stretched to over 200 m.

There were many rats, lice and other pests in the trenches. Men became dangerously sick simply from having to stand in the mud for long periods of time.

If a soldier was not careful his feet could go numb and slowly start to rot. This painful condition, called trench foot, would often need amputation and the soldier could lose his whole foot.

Read these eye-witness accounts of men who fought in the trenches to gain a sense of the true horror of life in the trenches.

New weapons and technology

During World War I over 10 million soldiers on both sides died and nearly 13 million were wounded. There were two main reasons for the huge number of casualties:

• the method of fighting that led to soldiers being killed as soon as they went
  'over the top'

• new weapons that killed many people.

Scientists and weapons manufacturers began to develop new technologies that would make fighting the war more effective. These included:

• The machine gun: It was able to fire 600 rounds per minute and cut down hundreds of soldiers in no-man's-land.

• Artillery: This was made up of heavy field guns that were used to bombard the enemy trenches. The aim was to destroy the enemy trench so that the men could then cross over no-man's-land easily. This did not work well.

• Poison gas: The gas was released from artillery shells and would choke anyone who breathed it. Soldiers needed gas masks to protect themselves. Mustard gas would burn the soldier's lungs and skin. The normal gas masks offered no protection from mustard gas. It filled soldiers with terror.

• Tanks: The British tried using tanks first in 1915 but were not successful. They were slow, unreliable and broke down often. It was not until the last years of the war that tanks became effective.

  World War I and South Africa

  When Britain decided to go to war in 1914 this decision had an effect on all the members of the British Empire. As a dominion of Britain, South Africa had no choice but to join the war on Britain's side. Some Afrikaners objected to fighting for the British cause and rebelled. Many had bitter memories of the South African War in which the Boers were defeated by the British. Nevertheless, South Africa aided Britain by defeating the Germans in German South West Africa and in German East Africa. South African soldiers also fought in Europe.

  The Battle of Delville Wood, 1916

  One of the most terrible battles of World War I was the Battle of the Somme in northern France. South African troops played an important role in this battle. In July 1916, 3 000 South African soldiers entered Delville Wood. They had to try to stop German troops from advancing. They quickly became cut off from supplies and support. They came out six days later. 2 500 men were either killed or wounded. But they never gave up their line to the Germans. This brave moment made South African soldiers famous for their fighting.

• The sinking of the Mendi, 1917

  Black South Africans served as soldiers in the war, both on the African continent and in the battlefields of Europe. They served in the South African Native Labour Corps. British colonial administrators did not really want to train black soldiers and give them weapons. However, they needed more men to help win the war. Eventually they decided they would only use these black men for support roles such as building and carrying stretchers and other goods.

  In 1917 802 members of the South African Labour Corps boarded a British ship called the SS Mendi. They were to be taken to France to help with the war effort there. However, the SS Mendi collided with another British ship called the SS Darro. The accident happened in the middle of the night and the ship sank quickly.

  A total of 42 crew members and white officers were lost. A further 618 black soldiers lost their lives.

  Today this event is remembered through memorials in South Africa, Britain and France. It is usually commemorated on the third Sunday of April. Since 2003 there is also an award called the Order of the Mendi for Bravery, which is usually awarded to South African civilians who show bravery.

  After the war

  When the war ended the former German colony of Namibia was placed under South African control. South Africa was starting to become one of the most important powers in the African continent - especially in southern Africa.