The "Scramble for Africa"

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Until the 1870s only Portugal, Britain and France of the European nations had made
any substantial colonisation in Africa. And. the French and British advances had been
rather spasmodic, their colonial policies varying with the government or regime in
power, and with the enterprise of its representatives in Africa.
In the 1870s, however, the outlook of the European nations towards African
colonisation changed. This was partly due to the greater knowledge of the continent
obtained from exploration, and consequent increased opportunities for trade and
access to valuable raw materials; and partly due to efforts to protect the explorers
and missionaries and to suppress slavery and the remnants of the slave trade. But it
was also due to a new spirit of national prestige, stemming largely from the
unification of both Germany and Italy in the period 1859-1870; and perhaps to some
extent due to the rise of a sentiment that it was the duty of the "superior" white man
to civilise, educate and convert the Africans - a sentiment which ignored the fact that
the white man was not necessarily superior, and that the Africans might well be
much happier, and certainly preferred, to be left alone.
The result was the “scramble for Africa", in which the European nations competed
with each other for colonies there. One of the earliest targets was Tunisia, where
Italy had greatly extended her commercial interests and hoped to gain control of the
country but, as already mentioned, was forestalled by the French in 1881. The
French people were no very ardent colonists; but France’s policy, after her
humiliating defeat by Prussia in 1870, had become one of vast colonial expansion,
partly to restore her international prestige. Bismarck, the creator of Germany, did
not want colonies, but deferred to pressure by German commercial interests, and
Germany joined in the competition.
There then followed, in 1884-85, a remarkable international conference in Berlin at
which rules were drawn up for colonisation in Africa. There were many provisions in
the Act emanating from the conference, the main one being that all signatories had
to notify the others of any intended action to take possession of any part of the
African coast or to penetrate into the interior - and in effect to obtain the approval of
the other signatories. In this way, although there were international disputes and
'incidents', Africa was carved up by the European nations without armed conflict
between them.
One of the first agreements arising from the Berlin conference was the recognition of
the "Congo Free State" as the personal possession of King Leopold II of the Belgians.
(Belgium had been an independent country since 1830). The enterprising Leopold,
seeing the possibilities of central Africa opened up by the explorations of Livingstone,
Stanley and others, had called an international conference in 1876 to co-ordinate
further exploration and suppress the slave trade. (This was the forerunner of the
Berlin conference eight years later.) An international association was formed - largely
Belgian - and Leopold engaged Stanley to establish trading posts in the Congo area
and make treaties with the African chiefs. Stanley spent 5 years doing this. The
international aspect of the operations soon evaporated, and Leopold financed the
enterprise from his private fortune - hence the award of the Congo Free State as his
personal property. Early in the 1900s mismanagement and ill-treatment of the
Africans in the Congo Free State led to international concern, particularly in Britain
and the United States. The result was that in 1908 the Belgian government took over
the colony, and the worst of the abuses were removed.
In general, the period from 1885 to about 1920 was one of invasion, conquest
and/or negotiations with African rulers by the European powers in their chosen and
allotted areas, and the setting up of colonial rule. The only African states to survive
as independent were Ethiopia and Liberia. In some of the more powerful and
organised African countries resistance was fierce and prolonged, but in the end they
succumbed to the superior weapons and equipment of the invaders. Another cause
of the defeat of the Africans was that there was no unity amongst them - either
between different states, or within each state. Some countries comprised several
different African peoples, with one ruling and oppressing the others. The Europeans
could often recruit African soldiers for their invading armies.
Altogether some 40 colonies or protectorates were formed. Taking in turn the
European nations involved:-
France was the most active colonial power, and acquired the largest area of territory.
By 1900 her African empire included Algeria and Tunisia in the north; Senegal,
French Guinea, Ivory Coast and Dahomey in the West African coastlands; French
West Africa which took in nearly all the Sahara and western Sudan; French
Equatorial Africa which comprised Gabon, some of the Congo and central Sudan
(modern Chad); French Somaliland (Djibouti), and the island of Madagascar.
France did not achieve this without a number of severe struggles, particularly in
Dahomey, and in the Lake Chad area where they met with resistance from the
Senussi. It was well into the 20th century before the French had won control in the
western and central Sudan. In Madagascar resistance by the Hova dynasty was not
finally overcome until 1896.
The last stage of French colonization was in Morocco, where France, Spain, Germany,
Britain and Italy competed for influence over the Sultan. Eventually, in 1912, the
country became a French protectorate, except for the Spanish possessions in the
north - around Ceuta and Melilla. Resistance by the Riff tribes continued. A prolonged
rising by them in the 1920s was suppressed, but guerilla action went on into the
1940s.
Britain completed her occupation of Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Gambia and Sierra
Leone in West Africa, and acquired Kenya, Nyasaland*, Uganda, Zanzibar (where the
Arab Sultan accepted a British protectorate) and British Somaliland in the east. In
the Gold Coast there were two more wars with the Ashanti before it became a British
colony in 1902. In Somaliland a Moslem Somali leader, nicknamed the "Mad Mullah"
by the British, caused a lot of trouble by raids against the British forces during the
first 20 years of the 20th century.
In Egypt a British-officered Egyptian army defended the frontier with the Sudan for
10 years against the Mahdi’s successor until Britain decided on re-conquest to end
this nuisance and to deliver the Sudanese from tyranny. In 1896-98 the re-conquest
was achieved by a British/Egyptian army under Lord Kitchener. The eastern Sudan
came under the joint control of Britain and Egypt - and Britain continued to rule
Egypt until 1922. (By a British unilateral declaration Egypt then became formally
independent, but with certain powers reserved to Britain, including the future of the
Sudan. The last British troops left Egypt in 1956, leaving the Sudan a separate state,
independent of Egypt.)
In British South Africa the dominant personality in political affairs in the 1880s and
early 1890a was Cecil Rhodes who had visions of British dominion from Cape Colony
to Cairo. He was alarmed at the threat to the route to the north by German
infiltration in South West Africa on one side and the Boers of the Transvaal on the
other; and when the Bechuana tribes in 1885 asked for protection against Boer
aggression, Britain proclaimed Bechuanaland (modern Botswana) to be a British
protectorate.
Rhodes later turned his attention to the land north of the Transvaal - ancient
Zimbabwe - then divided between the Shona and the Zulus (with whom Britain had
already had a serious conflict in 1879 ). The British now intervened in a Shona-Zulu
war, defeating the Zulus; but some years later, in 1896, they were faced with a
formidable rising of both peoples, which they suppressed. The whole area was given
the name Rhodesia, separated in 1911 into the two protectorates of Northern and
Southern Rhodesia, north and south of the Zambezi. Northern Rhodesia is modern
Zambia, Southern Rhodesia modern Zimbabwe**
Returning to the “scramble" - Germany acquired the Cameroons and Togo, South
West Africa (Namibia) and Tanganyika. To the latter were joined Rwanda and
Burundi, to form German East Africa. In the first decade of the 20th century the
Hottentots and the Herero tribes in South West Africa and the African tribes In
Tanganyika all rebelled, unsuccessfully, against German rule.
Italy, after being disappointed in Tunisia, was ‘awarded' Eritrea (north of Ethiopia)
and Italian Somaliland. Not content with this she embarked in 1887 on an attempt to
conquer Ethiopia. After establishing a sort of protectorate, with the terms of which
the Emperor of Ethiopia did not agree, the Italians invaded the country again in
1896, only to be disastrously defeated at Adowa. Still in search of a greater African
empire, Italy invaded Tripolitania in 1911. The Turks, attacked by a league of Balkan
countries, withdrew from Tripolitania to meet the menace nearer home - and Italy
conquered Tripolitania and Cyrenaica; but they had great difficulty with the Senussi,
who were not finally subdued until the early 1930s. In 1934 Tripolitania and
Cyrenaica were united to form the Italian colony of Libya.
Portugal, as well as being confirmed in her possession of Mozambique and Angola,
was awarded “Portuguese" Guinea. Portugal also still possessed the Cape Verde
Islands and Madeira.
Spain kept her ancient possessions - in northern Morocco, the Canary Islands and
the island of Fernando Po (which she obtained from Portugal in the 18th century). To
Fernando Po she added the nearby mainland area of Rio Muni, to form Spanish
Guinea; and along the north-west coast she acquired the Spanish Sahara.
*Nyasaland was ancient Malawi, Uganda largely the ancient Kingdom of Buganda.
Britain acquired both mainly by peaceful agreement with the Africans.
**The history of Rhodesia, while it was Rhodesia, is included in the history of South
Africa. (After the Boer War of 1899-1902, the Boer Transvaal and Orange Free State
became British colonies, and in 1910 were united with Cape Colony and Natal to
form the British dominion, the Union of South Africa.)