Week 2
Colonial Dynamics and legacies ( revised).pptx
Settlements Before the Scramble
Europeans originally not intent to colonize Africa
No interior presence→satisfied with coastal settlements for trade purposes until mid 1800s
Some Europeans didn't even have an African presence
Dutch: settled in South Africa in the 1650s
Portuguese: settled in Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Cameroon, Angola, and Mozambique
French: four communes in Senegal and a base in Gabon; controlled Indian Ocean islands.
Spanish: Canary Islands, later Equatorial Guinea
British: Gambia River, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, Lagos Island, parts of Natal, Lesotho, Mauritius
Belgians, Germans, Italians: no presence
What factors contributed to the scramble for Africa?
European industrialization and the rise of financial capital
Britain gains lead due to early industrialization+navy
informal empire based on free-trade dominance
Other countries eventually challenged British supremacy by establishing protected areas (pa)
PA: colonies that excluded/taxed trade with other Europeans
European financers/bankers began to invest more overseas
Increased export of consumer goods to African colonies
High demand for raw materials and markets
Europe wants control over Africa’s perceived wealth+raw materials to satisfy mass consumption
West Africa: vegetable oil, rubber, ivory
South Africa: diamonds, gold
African markets could increase profits→consumers, workers (plantation)
The rise of nationalism in Europe
Colonies symbolized prestige so public opinion pressured countries to join the colonization race
Economic and religious justifications
Unification of countries (Germany, 1871; Italy 1860s) created new powers that wanted to join the race
Leopold II (Belgium) wanted to expand his empire into central Africa
The Anglo-French rivalry invited other participants
British dominance under free-trade system was threatened by French expansion
France makes railway from Dakar to upper Niger Valley
France occupied Tunisia proclaiming protectorates and disrupting British near monopoly of West African coastline
Inspired other countries to challenge Britain
Portugal expanded claim in middle Africa
Bismark (Germany) established other protectorates
British had to establish permanent control over Egypt to control Nile
Why was colonization completed so rapidly?
Berlin Conference (1884)
Hosted by Bismarck to create a European agreement on the division of Africa with two key clauses:
Leopold’s International Association recognized as the authority in Congo
Effective Occupation: European claims must be supported by actual presence
Legitimized the Scramble for Africa
Creation of German East Africa→Tanganyika
Created territorial colonial boundaries that didn’t exist before
The role of Christian missionaries and explorers/traders
Exploration facilitated colonization by forging routes for future militaries
Rival relationship between African states
Europeans exploited conflicts to coerce protection treaties
Troops picked pressured rulers to cede sovereignty
Advanced military technologu
Defeated locals using guns+armies
Colonial Administration
Indirect Rule (British Model)
Local authorities retain power in exchange for British loyalty
Collect taxes, enforce colonial policies
Decentralized Despotism: empowered chiefs with colonial authority without local checks
Buganda Agreement (1900)→Buganda king can retain power
Legal Pluralism: customary vs. colonial law
Nigerian states invoked Sharia law(2000)→legacy of dual legal systems
Direct Rule (French Model)
Established centralized administration in colonies→divides land into provinces+local admins.
French administrators have authority over French chiefs of subdivisions
Africans appointed as local agents for lower admin levels of cantons/villages
Undermines local hierarchies: appointed chiefs could come from other regions
Belgium, Italy, Portugal used variants of the French model
African Response
Coexistence: acceptance for trade benefits
Treaties allowed access to firearms, consumer goods, ‘protection’
Resistance: for freedom
Consequences
Creation of colonial boundaries
Nearly all Africa partitioned by 1910 disregarding ethnic lines
French: west/central
Britain: east/south, Ghana/Nigeria
Portuguese, Spanish, Belgian, Italy, Germany
Creation of new colonial administrations
Colonial states recognized by sketchy treaties+military admin
Admin and infrastructure for extractive purposes (railroads, ports, etc.)
Some argue that colonization balkanized Africa while others claim it reduced local fragmentation
Extraction of resources
Taxation: cash taxes forced a cash economy requiring wage labor→migrating to work in mining areas
Cash crops: transition from subsistence to commercial crops made African peasants vulnerable to market fluctuations
Forced labor: imposed to build infrastructure and fulfill colonial projects
Appropriation of fertile land: white settlers used forced labor in farms, ranches, plantations
Colonial Dynamics and Legacies part two( revised).pptx
Colonial Legacies
Several widespread Effects
Recognition of arbitrary colonial borders leads to fragmented African states
Colonial treaties remain legal references for boundary disputes (ICJ)
Cultural/linguistic impacts: colonial language still hold official status
Colonial systems restructured economic/political spaces
CFA franc zone/Commonwealth shaped post-colonial economic systems
Economies geared toward export to Europe so local industries often neglected.
Bureaucratic authoritarianism emerged as African states inherited colonial command structures (central, top-down)
Single party/military regimes replaced colonial officials
Issue of maintained relationships with colonies
Italy: lost WW2→lost colonies
Spain: can’t maintain colonial ties
Belgium: minimal economic interest in former colonies
Britain
Maintains relations with former colonies using Commonwealth Membership which tried to preseve cultural/economic ties
Significant initial influence in newly independent countreis (Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Tanganyika) gradually diminished
France
Attempted federal-type relationship under 5th Republic constitution
allows elusive federal type bonding with former colonies in defense, currency, and justice
Defense accords negotiated with 14 sub-Saharan ex-colonies
Concept quickly vanished due to intrusive/intervention
Sub-Saharan African political elites incorporated into French political world
Rely on France to support/defend interests within EU and international finance institutions
Franco-African conferences became regular attracting more heads of states than OAU and AU summits
French security for African leaders
Maintained defense accords and cultural/economic presence
Troops stationed in Djibouti, Central African Republic, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Senegal, reserve in France
French language used in diplomacy with former colonizers
CFA franc zone: forced countries to deposit more than 50% of currency in French banks→dependence
many ex-colonies remain in the currency zone
Relationships have started dying in 21st century due to anti-French sentiments and new partners
Colonial pasts shapes contemporary African international relations
First gen African regimes: gained legitimacy by leading independence movements
Pan-African Movement: in response to colonial boundaries leading to reestablishment of OAU
Economic Structures: remained subordinate to colonial powers despite political independence
Psychological Impact: colonial subjugation involved political oppression, economic exploitation, psychological humiliation
Colonial patterns of centralized authoritarian control reproduced as single-party or military juntas
Easy for Cold War powers to intrude
Colonial history shaped international relations for around 40 years post independence