Scramble for Africa

Effects of Industrialization

• European countries industrialize• Need raw materials to make goods• Need markets to sell those goods• Strong European countries seize weaker

African countries: this is IMPERIALISM

Control of Africa

• Europeans in 1400’s could not control Africa• African armies kept them out• As late as 1880 Europeans only controlled 10%

of Africa (mostly along coast)

The Congo

• Leopold II of Belgium sends Henry Stanley into Africa

• Makes treaties that give Leopold control of territory 80 times bigger than Belgium

• This area belonged to Leopold personally• Tens of millions of Africans died harvesting rubber

sap• The Belgium government took control from Leopold• Other nations began claiming parts of Africa

Belief in European Superiority

• Racism-Europeans believed their race was superior to others

• This was based on Social Darwinism• Social Darwinism was off shoot of Darwin’s

ideas on natural selection and survival of the fittest

• Since non-Europeans had not made scientific and technological breakthroughs they were considered to be on a lower scale

Charles Darwin

Africa’s Wealth

• Europeans discovered gold and diamonds in Africa

• This began the “Scramble for Africa”

Raw Materials

• Gold• Copper• Tin• Diamonds• Cash crops-peanuts, palm oil, cocoa, and

rubber (these crops replaced food crops and led to starvation)

Factors Promoting Imperialism

• Technology– Machine guns– Steam engine allowed

for river boats and trains– Drug quinine helped

control malaria• Africans were not united

—Europeans fostered rivalries

Berlin Conference

• Quest for Africa brought Europeans to brink of war• 1884-1885 Europeans met in Berlin, Germany to

set rules– A nation could claim lands if they notified other

countries AND showed they could control the area

• No African leaders were invited to the conference

South Africa and The Boer War

• South Africa had the highest concentration of white settlers (200,000 by 1865).

• Dutch settlers were known as Boers or Afrikaners.

• During Napoleonic Wars area seized by British• British encouraged settlement.• British named area Cape Colony.

Boer Republics

• 1830’s Boers disgusted with British rule and migrate north

• Called “The Great Trek”• Set up two states—Orange Free State and

Transvaal (later called South African Republic)

Cecil Rhodes

Cecil Rhodes

• Started gold and diamond operations in South Africa

• Gained control of territory north of Transvaal which he named Rhodesia.

• Championed British expansion in Africa• Appointed Prime Minister of Cape Colony• Dismissed when discovered he planned to

overthrow South African Republic without British approval.

Boer Wars

• British v Boers 1899-1902• Boer resistance angered British• Extreme reprisals burnt crops and forced

120,000 women and children into camps• At least 20,000 died• British won• Created Union of South Africa that contained

old Cape Colony and Boer Republics

African Nationalism

• European colonialism exposed Africans to western ideas.

• A new class of African leaders had been educated in colonial schools and or in western nations.

• These new leaders learned of ideas such as democracy, equality, and political freedom.

• These leaders mostly came to resent the Europeans for the hypocrisy of teaching these ideas while practicing the complete opposite.

Inequity Leads to Discontent

• While many Africans became educated and were very capable of working in the colonial governments they were segregated from whites and kept in low level positions.

• Segregation, racism and inequity led to discontent among the educated and middle class Africans.

• By the early 20th century native peoples across Africa began to organize political parties and movements to end colonial rule.

Organized Movements• Nigerians formed “Peoples Union” to help

fight for more rights.• In South Africa, many African leaders came

together to form the African National Congress (ANC) 1912. Still active today.Describe similarities between the position of the Africans under colonial rule and the position of the Third Estate in France before the French Revolution.