28.1: The Berlin Conference

28.1.1: European Exploration of Africa

At the beginning of the 19th century, European knowledge of geography of Sub-Saharan Africa was still rather limited; it was left to 19th-century European explorers (including those searching for the famed source of the Nile) to discover detail such as the continent’s geological makeup.

Learning Objective

Explain why Europeans were interested in obtaining land in Africa

Key Points

The geography of North Africa has been reasonably well-known since classical antiquity in Greco-Roman geography.
Major exploration by Europeans, particularly of the coastal territories of African, began in the Age of Discovery in the 15th century, led by Portuguese explorers, most notably Prince Henry, known as the Navigator.
From the 15th-19th century, little exploration of the interior of Africa was done by Europeans. Focus on Africa was limited to the transatlantic slave trade.
Starting in the early 19th century, European land holdings in Africa began to shift and increase.
In the mid-19th century, Protestant missions were carrying on active missionary work, most famously by David Livingstone.
In November 1855, Livingstone became the first European to see the famous Victoria Falls, named after the Queen of the United Kingdom.
Henry Morton Stanley, who had in 1871 succeeded in finding and supporting Livingstone (originating the famous line “Dr. Livingstone, I presume”), led one of the most memorable of all exploring expeditions in Africa, circumnavigating Victoria Nyanza (Lake Victoria) and Lake Tanganyika.

Key Terms

Henry Morton Stanley: A Welsh-American journalist and explorer famous for his exploration of central Africa and his search for missionary and explorer David Livingstone. Upon finding Livingstone, he reportedly asked, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” He is also known for his search for the source of the Nile, his work in and development of the Congo Basin region in association with King Leopold II of the Belgians, and commanding the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition.
David Livingstone: A Scottish congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa, one of the most popular national heroes of the late-19th-century in Victorian Britain. He had a mythical status that operated on a number of interconnected levels: Protestant missionary martyr, working-class “rags-to-riches” inspirational story, scientific investigator and explorer, imperial reformer, anti-slavery crusader, and advocate of commercial and colonial expansion.
pygmy: A member of an ethnic group whose average height is unusually short; anthropologists define it as a population with average height for adult men of less than 150 cm (4 feet 11 inches).

Early Exploration of Africa

The geography of North Africa has been reasonably well-known since classical antiquity in Greco-Roman geography. The exploration of Sub-Saharan Africa begins with the Age of Discovery in the 15th century, pioneered by posts along the coast during active colonization of the New World. Exploration of the interior of Africa was thus mostly left to the Arab slave traders, who in tandem with the Muslim conquest of the Sudan established far-reaching networks and supported the economy of a number of Sahelian kingdoms during the 15th to 18th centuries.

Portuguese explorer Prince Henry, known as the Navigator, was the first European to methodically explore Africa and the oceanic route to the Indies. From his residence in the Algarve region of southern Portugal, he directed successive expeditions to circumnavigate Africa and reach India. In 1420, Henry sent an expedition to secure the uninhabited but strategic island of Madeira. In 1425, he tried to secure the Canary Islands as well, but these were already under firm Castilian control. In 1431, another Portuguese expedition reached and annexed the Azores.

Portuguese presence in Africa soon interfered with existing Arab trade interests. By 1583, the Portuguese established themselves in Zanzibar and on the Swahili coast. The Kingdom of Congo was converted to Christianity in 1495, its king taking the name of João I. The Portuguese also established trade interests in the Kingdom of Mutapa in the 16th century, and in 1629 placed a puppet ruler on the throne.

Beginning in the 17th century, the Netherlands began exploring and colonizing Africa. While the Dutch were waging a long war of independence against Spain, Portugal united with Spain from 1580 to 1640. As a result, the growing colonial ambitions of the Netherlands were mostly directed against Portugal. For this purpose, two Dutch companies were founded: the West Indies Company, with power over all the Atlantic Ocean, and the East Indies Company, with power over the Indian Ocean.

Almost at the same time as the Dutch, other European powers attempted to create their own outposts for the African slave trade. As early as 1530, English merchant adventurers started trading in West Africa, coming into conflict with Portuguese troops. In 1581, Francis Drake reached the Cape of Good Hope. In 1663, the English built Fort James in Gambia. One year later, another English colonial expedition attempted to settle southern Madagascar, resulting in the death of most of the colonists. The English forts on the West African coast were eventually taken by the Dutch.

In 1626, the French Compagnie de l’Occident was created. This company expelled the Dutch from Senegal, making it the first French domain in Africa. France also set sights on Madagascar, the island used since 1527 as a stop in travels to India.

Overall, European exploration of Africa in the 17th and 18th centuries was very limited. Instead they focused on the slave trade, which only required coastal bases and items to trade. The real exploration of the African interior would start well into the 19th century.

19th Century Exploration

Although the Napoleonic Wars distracted the attention of Europe from exploratory work in Africa, those wars nevertheless exercised great influence on the future of the continent, both in Egypt and South Africa. The occupation of Egypt (1798–1803), first by France and then by Great Britain, resulted in an effort by the Ottoman Empire to regain direct control over that country. In 1811, Mehemet Ali established an almost independent state, and from 1820 onward established Egyptian rule over the eastern Sudan. In South Africa, the struggle with Napoleon caused the United Kingdom to take possession of the Dutch settlements at the Cape. In 1814, Cape Colony, continuously occupied by British troops since 1806, was formally ceded to the British crown.

Meanwhile, considerable changes had been made in other parts of the continent. The occupation of Algiers by France in 1830 put an end to the piracy of the Barbary states. Egyptian authority continued to expand southward, with the consequent additions to knowledge of the Nile. The city of Zanzibar, on the island of that name, rapidly attained importance. Accounts of a vast inland sea and the discovery of the snow-clad mountains of Kilimanjaro in 1840–1848 stimulated European desire for further knowledge about Africa.

In the mid-19th century, Protestant missions were carrying on active work on the Guinea coast, in South Africa, and in the Zanzibar dominions. Missionaries visited little-known regions and peoples, and in many instances became explorers and pioneers of trade and empire. David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary, had been engaged since 1840 in work north of the Orange River. In 1849, Livingstone crossed the Kalahari Desert from south to north and reached Lake Ngami. Between 1851 and 1856, he traversed the continent from west to east, discovering the great waterways of the upper Zambezi River. In November 1855, Livingstone became the first European to see the famous Victoria Falls, named after the Queen of the United Kingdom. From 1858 to 1864, the lower Zambezi, the Shire River, and Lake Nyasa were explored by Livingstone. Nyasa was first reached by the confidential slave of António da Silva Porto, a Portuguese trader established at Bié in Angola who crossed Africa during 1853–1856 from Benguella to the mouth of the Rovuma. A prime goal for explorers was to locate the source of the River Nile. Expeditions by Burton and Speke (1857–1858) and Speke and Grant (1863) located Lake Tanganyika and Lake Victoria. It was eventually proved to be the latter from which the Nile flowed.

Henry Morton Stanley, who had in 1871 succeeded in finding and supporting Livingstone (originating the famous line “Dr. Livingstone, I presume”), started again for Zanzibar in 1874. In one of the most memorable exploring expeditions in Africa, Stanley circumnavigated Victoria Nyanza (Lake Victoria) and Lake Tanganyika. Striking farther inland to the Lualaba, he followed that river down to the Atlantic Ocean—which he reached in August 1877—and proved it to be the Congo.

In 1895, the British South Africa Company hired the American scout Frederick Russell Burnham to look for minerals and ways to improve river navigation in the central and southern Africa region. Burnham oversaw and led the Northern Territories British South Africa Exploration Company expedition that first found major copper deposits north of the Zambezi in North-Eastern Rhodesia. Along the Kafue River, Burnham saw many similarities to copper deposits he had worked in the United States and encountered native peoples wearing copper bracelets. Copper rapidly became the primary export of Central Africa and remains essential to the economy today.

Explorers were also active in other parts of the continent. Southern Morocco, the Sahara, and the Sudan were traversed in many directions between 1860 and 1875 by Georg Schweinfurth and Gustav Nachtigal. These travelers not only added considerably to geographical knowledge, but obtained invaluable information concerning the people, languages, and natural history of the countries in which they sojourned. Among the discoveries of Schweinfurth was one that confirmed Greek legends of the existence beyond Egypt of a “pygmy race.” But the first western discoverer of the pygmies of Central Africa was Paul Du Chaillu, who found them in the Ogowe district of the west coast in 1865, five years before Schweinfurth’s first meeting with them. Du Chaillu had previously, through journeys in the Gabon region between 1855 and 1859, confirmed existence of the gorilla, previously thought to be a legend by Europeans.

European Exploration of Africa

Routes of European explorers in Africa to 1853.

A map showing the routes of European explorers in Africa, depicted as red lines, numbered to correspond with the explorer.

28.1.2: Involvement in Africa before 1884

Before the Berlin Conference, European colonization of Africa was present but limited, with only 10% of Africa under European control in 1870. In the 1870s the “Scramble for Africa” began in earnest, with 90% of Africa under European control by World War I.

Learning Objective

Describe the ways Europe was already involved in Africa prior to the Berlin Conference

Key Points

Before the conference, European diplomacy treated African indigenous people in the same manner as the New World natives, forming trading relationships with the indigenous chiefs.
With the exception of trading posts along the coasts used to trade goods and slaves around the world, the continent was essentially ignored until the second half of the 19th century.
Even as late as the 1870s, European states still controlled only 10% of the African continent; by WWI, Europe controlled 90% of Africa.
Prior to the Berlin Conference of 1884, which formalized the “Scramble for Africa,” colonies had been formed throughout Africa on a smaller scale.
Most notably, King Leopold II explored and colonized the Congo as a private venture with the aid of explorer Morton Stanley.
Leopold extracted a fortune from the Congo through forced labor of ivory and rubber production, causing the deaths of 1 to 15 million Congolese people.
With the dismissal of the aging Chancellor Bismarck (who had plans to colonize Africa) by Kaiser Wilhelm II, the relatively orderly colonization became a frantic scramble. This led to the Berlin Conference, initiated by Bismarck to establish international guidelines for the acquisition of African territory.

Key Terms

Scramble for Africa: The invasion, occupation, division, colonization, and annexation of African territory by European powers during the period of New Imperialism, between 1881 and 1914. It is also called the Partition of Africa and the Conquest of Africa. In 1870, only 10 percent of Africa was under European control; by 1914 it had increased to 90 percent of the continent, with only Ethiopia (Abyssinia), the Dervish state (present-day Somalia) and Liberia still independent.
King Leopold II of Belgium: The second King of the Belgians, known as the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State, a private project undertaken on his own behalf. He used explorer Henry Morton Stanley to help him lay claim to the Congo, an area now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, the colonial nations of Europe authorized his claim by committing the Congo Free State to improving the lives of the native inhabitants.
colonialism: The establishment of a colony in one territory by a political power from another territory and the subsequent maintenance, expansion, and exploitation of that colony. The term is also used to describe the unequal relationships between the colonial power and the colony and often between the colonists and the indigenous peoples.

Early European Colonization in Africa

Early European expeditions concentrated on colonizing previously uninhabited islands such as the Cape Verde Islands and São Tomé Island, or establishing coastal forts as a base for trade and supporting the Cape Route between Europe and Asia. These forts often developed areas of influence along coastal strips, but with the exception of the Senegal River, the vast interior of Africa was little-known to Europeans until the late 19th century.

Even as late as the 1870s, European states still controlled only 10 percent of the African continent, with territories concentrated near the coast. The most important holdings were Angola and Mozambique, held by Portugal; the Cape Colony, held by the United Kingdom; and Algeria, held by France. By 1914, only Ethiopia and Liberia were independent of European control.

Technological advancement facilitated overseas expansionism. Industrialization brought about rapid advancements in transportation and communication, especially in the forms of steam navigation, railways, and telegraphs. Medical advances also were important, especially medicines for tropical diseases. The development of quinine, an effective treatment for malaria, enabled vast expanses of the tropics to be accessed by Europeans.

Around the 1870s, the growing trend of colonization in Africa began to take off. The term “imperialism” is often conflated with “colonialism,” but many scholars argue that each has a distinct definition. Historian and philosopher Edward Said noted that “imperialism involved ‘the practice, the theory and the attitudes of a dominating metropolitan center ruling a distant territory,’ while colonialism refers to the ‘implanting of settlements on a distant territory.'”

African Colonization in the 19th Century

Before the Berlin Conference, European diplomacy treated African indigenous people in the same manner as the New World natives, forming trading relationships with their chiefs. By the mid-19th century, Europeans considered Africa to be disputed territory ripe for exploration, trade, and settlement by colonists. With the exception of trading posts along the coasts, the continent was essentially ignored.

In 1876, King Leopold II of Belgium, who had previously founded the International African Society in 1876, invited Henry Morton Stanley to join him in researching and civilizing the continent. In 1878, the International Congo Society was also formed, with more economic goals but still closely related to the former society. Léopold secretly bought off the foreign investors in the Congo Society, which turned to imperialistic goals, while the African Society served primarily as a philanthropic front.

From 1878 to 1885, Stanley returned to the Congo, not as a reporter but as an envoy from Leopold with the secret mission to organize what would become known as the Congo Free State. French intelligence discovered Leopold’s plans, and France quickly engaged in its own colonial exploration. French naval officer Pierre de Brazza was dispatched to central Africa, traveled into the western Congo basin, and raised the French flag over the newly founded Brazzaville in 1881, in what is now the Republic of Congo. Portugal, which had a long but essentially abandoned colonial empire in the area through the mostly defunct proxy state Kongo Empire, also claimed the area. Its claims were based on old treaties with Spain and the Roman Catholic Church. It quickly made a treaty on February 26, 1884, with its former ally, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to block the Congo Society’s access to the Atlantic.

By the early 1880s, due to many factors including diplomatic maneuvers, subsequent colonial exploration, and recognition of Africa’s abundance of valuable resources such as gold, timber, land, and markets, European interest in the continent increased dramatically. Stanley’s charting of the Congo River Basin (1874–77) removed the last terra incognita from European maps of the continent, delineating the areas of British, Portuguese, French, and Belgian control. The powers raced to push these rough boundaries to their furthest limits and eliminate any local minor powers which might prove troublesome to European competitive diplomacy.

France moved to take over Tunisia, one of the last of the Barbary Pirate states, under the pretext of another piracy incident. French claims by Pierre de Brazza were quickly solidified, with France taking control of today’s Republic of the Congo in 1881 and Guinea in 1884. Italy became part of the Triple Alliance, upsetting Bismarck’s carefully laid plans with the state and forcing Germany to become involved in Africa. In 1882, realizing the geopolitical extent of Portuguese control on the coasts and penetration by France eastward across Central Africa toward Ethiopia, the Nile, and the Suez Canal, Britain saw its vital trade route through Egypt and its Indian Empire threatened.

Under the pretext of the collapsed Egyptian financing and a subsequent riot in which hundreds of Europeans and British subjects were murdered or injured, the United Kingdom intervened in nominally Ottoman Egypt. The UK also ruled over the Sudan and what would later become British Somaliland.

Slave Trade in Africa

Photograph of slaves captured from the Congo aboard an Arab slave ship intercepted by the Royal Navy (1869). One of the chief justifications for the colonization of Africa was the suppression of the slave trade.

A photo of slaves captured from the Congo aboard an Arab slave ship intercepted by the Royal Navy (1869).

Berlin Conference

This rapid increase in the exploration and colonization of Africa eventually led to the 1884 Berlin Conference. Established empires, notably Britain, Portugal and France, had already claimed vast areas of Africa and Asia, and emerging imperial powers like Italy and Germany had done likewise on a smaller scale. With the dismissal of the aging Chancellor Bismarck by Kaiser Wilhelm II, the relatively orderly colonization became a frantic scramble, known as the “Scramble for Africa.” The Berlin Conference, initiated by Bismarck to establish international guidelines for the acquisition of African territory, formalized this “New Imperialism.” Between the Franco-Prussian War and the World War I, Europe added almost 9 million square miles—one-fifth of the land area of the globe—to its overseas colonial possessions.

28.1.3: European Consensus of Africa

The Berlin Conference sought to end competition and conflict between European powers during the “Scramble for Africa” by establishing international protocols for colonization.

Learning Objective

Explain why it was so important for European leaders to divide up Africa in a peaceful manner

Key Points

Although colonization of Africa was limited before 1870, by the early 1880s the “Scramble for Africa” created concerns among European powers, who feared new conflict and possibly war if colonization went unchecked.
The occupation of Egypt and the acquisition of the Congo were the first major moves in the precipitous scramble for African territory.
Hoping to quickly soothe this brewing conflict, King Leopold II convinced France and Germany that common trade in Africa was in the best interests of all three countries.
Under support from the British and the initiative of Portugal, Otto von Bismarck, German Chancellor, called on representatives of 13 nations in Europe as well as the United States to take part in the Berlin Conference in 1884 to work out joint policy on the African continent.
The main dominating powers of the conference were France, Germany, Great Britain and Portugal; they remapped Africa without considering the cultural and linguistic borders that were already established.
No Africans were invited to the Conference.

Key Terms

Otto von Bismarck: A conservative Prussian statesman who dominated German and European affairs from the 1860s until 1890. In the 1860s, he engineered a series of wars that unified the German states, significantly and deliberately excluding Austria, into a powerful German Empire under Prussian leadership. He disliked colonialism but reluctantly built an overseas empire when demanded by both elite and mass opinion. Juggling a very complex interlocking series of conferences, negotiations, and alliances, he used his diplomatic skills to maintain Germany’s position and used the balance of power to keep Europe at peace in the 1870s and 1880s.
New Imperialism: A period of colonial expansion by European powers, the United States, and the Empire of Japan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The period is distinguished by an unprecedented pursuit of overseas territorial acquisitions. At the time, states focused on building their empires with new technological advances and developments, making their territories bigger through conquest, and exploiting their resources. The new wave of imperialism reflected ongoing rivalries among the great powers, the economic desire for new resources and markets, and a “civilizing mission” ethos.
“informal imperialism”: The use of indirect means to control an area, sometimes a military presence but usually economic control.

The Berlin Conference: “Peaceful” Colonization

The Berlin Conference of 1884–85, also known as the Congo Conference, regulated European colonization and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period, coinciding with Germany’s sudden emergence as an imperial power. Called for by Portugal and organized by Otto von Bismarck, first Chancellor of Germany, its outcome, the General Act of the Berlin Conference, was the formalization of the Scramble for Africa. The conference ushered in heightened colonial activity by European powers, which eliminated or overrode most existing forms of African autonomy and self-governance.

Having witnessed the political and economic rivalries among the European empires in the last quarter of the 19th century, the formal partitioning of Africa prevented European countries from battling one another over territory. The conference provided an opportunity to channel latent European hostilities outward, provide new areas for European expansion in the face of rising American, Russian, and Japanese interests, and form constructive dialogue for limiting future hostilities. The latter years of the 19th century saw the transition from “informal imperialism” by military influence and economic dominance to direct rule, bringing about colonial imperialism.

Colonies were seen as assets in “balance of power” negotiations, useful as items of exchange in international bargaining. Colonies with large native populations were also a source of military power; Britain and France used British Indian and North African soldiers respectively in many of their colonial wars. In the age of nationalism, an empire was a status symbol; the idea of “greatness” became linked with the sense of duty underlying many nations’ strategies.

Owing to the European race for colonies, Germany started launching expeditions of its own, which frightened both British and French statesmen. The occupation of Egypt and the acquisition of the Congo were the first major moves in what came to be a precipitous scramble for African territory. Hoping to quickly soothe this brewing conflict, King Leopold II convinced France and Germany that common trade in Africa was in the best interests of all three countries. Under support from the British and the initiative of Portugal, Otto von Bismarck, German Chancellor, called on representatives of 13 nations in Europe as well as the United States to take part in the Berlin Conference in 1884 to work out joint policy on the African continent.

While the number of voting participants varied per nation, the following 14 countries sent representatives to attend the Berlin Conference and sign the subsequent Berlin Act: Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Ottoman Empire, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden-Norway, Britain, and the United States. There were no African representatives at the conference, despite its rhetoric emphasizing the benefit to Africa.

The conference was convened on Saturday, November 15, 1884 at Bismarck’s official residence on Wilhelmstrasse. The main dominating powers of the conference were France, Germany, Great Britain, and Portugal. They remapped Africa without considering the cultural and linguistic borders that were already established. At the end of the conference, Africa was divided into 50 colonies. The attendants established who was in control of each of these new divisions. They also planned, noncommittally, to end the slave trade in Africa.

Berlin Confernence

A drawing of the Berlin Conference. The main dominating powers of the conference were France, Germany, Great Britain, and Portugal.

A drawing of the Berlin Conference, which depicts several dozen men around a large table, with a large map of Africa posted on the wall.

28.1.4: “The General Act of the Conference”

The “General Act of the Berlin Conference” established international guidelines for the acquisition of African territory.

Learning Objective

List some of the key agreements in the General Act of the Conference

Key Points

In 1884, the Berlin Conference was convened to discuss African colonization, with the aim of setting up international guidelines for making claims to African land to avoid conflict between European powers.
At the Conference, the participants decided on the “General Act of the Conference,” which laid the frameworks for colonization.
One of the most important decisions in the “Act” was the principle of effective occupation, which stated that no territory could be formally claimed prior to being directly ruled and administered by the colonial power.
The conference also resolved to end slavery by African and Islamic powers, a move that many critics ridiculed as a humanitarian façade to garner international support; the resolution was non-binding.
The Scramble for Africa sped up after the Conference, since even within areas designated as their spheres of influence, the European powers had to take possession under the Principle of Effectivity.

Key Terms

principle of effective occupation: Colonial powers could acquire rights over colonial lands only if they possessed them: if they had treaties with local leaders, if they flew their flag there, and if they established an administration in the territory with a police force to keep order.
Heart of Darkness: A novella by Polish-British novelist Joseph Conrad about a voyage up the Congo River into the Congo Free State in the heart of Africa by the story’s narrator Marlow. The work’s central ideal is that there is little difference between so-called civilized people and those described as savages; the book raises questions about imperialism and racism.
spheres of influence: A spatial region or concept division over which a state or organization has a level of cultural, economic, military, or political exclusivity, accommodating to the interests of powers outside the borders of the state that controls it.

In 1884, Otto von Bismarck convened the Berlin Conference to discuss the African problem. Its outcome, the General Act of the Berlin Conference, formalized the Scramble for Africa.

The diplomats in Berlin laid the rules of competition by which the great powers were to be guided in seeking colonies. No nation was to stake claims in Africa without notifying other powers of its intentions. No territory could be formally claimed prior to being effectively occupied. However, the competitors ignored the rules when convenient and on several occasions war was only narrowly avoided.

According to some critics, the diplomats put on a humanitarian façade to garner international support by condemning the slave trade, prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages and firearms in certain regions, and expressing concern for missionary activities. The writer Joseph Conrad sarcastically referred to the conference as “the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs” in his novella Heart of Darkness.

The General Act decided on the following points:

The conference resolved to end slavery by African and Islamic powers. Thus, an international prohibition of the slave trade throughout their respected spheres was signed by the European members.
The Congo Free State was confirmed as the private property of the Congo Society, which supported Leopold’s promises to keep the country open to all European investment. The territory of today’s Democratic Republic of the Congo, some two million square kilometers, was confirmed by the European powers as essentially the property of Léopold II. Later it was organized as a Belgian colony under state administration.
The 14 signatory powers would have free trade throughout the Congo Basin as well as Lake Malawi, and east of this in an area south of 5° N.
The Niger and Congo rivers were made free for ship traffic.
A Principle of Effectivity was introduced to prevent powers from setting up colonies in name only.
Any fresh act of taking possession of any portion of the African coast would have to be notified by the power taking possession or to the other signatory powers in a protectorate.
Regions were defined in which each European power had an exclusive right to “pursue” the legal ownership of land in the eyes of the other European powers.
The first reference in an international act to the obligations attaching to “spheres of influence” is contained in the Berlin Act.

Principle of Effective Occupation

The principle of effective occupation stated that powers could acquire rights over colonial lands only if they possessed them or had “effective occupation”: in other words, if they had treaties with local leaders, if they flew their flag there, and if they established an administration in the territory to govern it with a police force to keep order. The colonial power could also make economic use of the colony. This principle became important not only as a basis for the European powers to acquire territorial sovereignty in Africa, but also for determining the limits of their respective overseas possessions, as effective occupation served in some instances to settle disputes over the boundaries between colonies. But as the Berlin Act was limited in its scope to the lands that fronted on the African coast, European powers in numerous instances later claimed rights over lands in the interior without demonstrating the requirement of effective occupation, as articulated in Article 35 of the Final Act.

At the Berlin Conference of 1885, the scope of the Principle of Effective Occupation was heavily contested between Germany and France. The Germans, who were new to the continent of Africa, essentially believed that as far as the extension of power in Africa was concerned, no colonial power should have any legal right to a territory unless the state exercised strong and effective political control, and if so, only for a limited period of time. However, Britain viewed Germany as a latecomer to the continent that was unlikely to gain any possessions apart from already occupied territories, which were swiftly proving more valuable than British-occupied territories. Given that logic, it was generally assumed by Britain and France that Germany had an interest in embarrassing the other European powers on the continent and forcing them to give up their possessions if they could not muster a strong political presence. On the other side, the United Kingdom had large territorial “possessions” on the continent and wanted to keep them while minimizing its responsibilities and administrative costs. In the end, the British view prevailed.

This principle, along with others written at the Conference allowed the Europeans to “conquer” Africa while doing as little as possible to administer or control it. The Principle of Effective Occupation did not apply so much to the hinterlands of Africa at the time of the conference. This gave rise to “hinterland theory,” which basically gave any colonial power with coastal territory the right to claim political influence over an indefinite amount of inland territory. Since Africa was irregularly shaped, this theory caused problems and was later rejected.

Consequences of the Conference

The Scramble for Africa sped up after the Conference, since even within areas designated as their spheres of influence, the European powers had to take possession under the Principle of Effectivity. In central Africa in particular, expeditions were dispatched to coerce traditional rulers into signing treaties, using force if necessary, as in the case of Msiri, King of Katanga, in 1891. Bedouin and Berber-ruled states in the Sahara and Sub-Sahara were overrun by the French in several wars by the beginning of World War I. The British moved up from South Africa and down from Egypt, conquering Arabic states such as the Mahdist State and the Sultanate of Zanzibar. After defeating the Zulu Kingdom in South Africa, in 1879, they moved on to subdue and dismantle the independent Boer republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State.

Within a few years, Africa was at least nominally divided south of the Sahara. By 1895, the only independent states were Morocco, Liberia, Ethiopia, the Majeerteen Sultanate, and the Sultanate of Hobyo.

By 1902, 90% of all African land was under European control. The large part of the Sahara was French, while after the quelling of the Mahdi rebellion and the ending of the Fashoda crisis, the Sudan remained firmly under joint British-Egyptian rulership. Egypt was under British occupation before becoming a British protectorate in 1914.

The Boer republics were conquered by the United Kingdom in the Boer war from 1899 to 1902. Morocco was divided between the French and Spanish in 1911, and Libya was conquered by Italy in 1912. The official British annexation of Egypt in 1914 ended the colonial division of Africa.

Colonial Africa 1913

European claims in Africa, 1913. Modern-day boundaries, largely a legacy of the colonial era, are shown. Yellow: Belgium; Green: Germany; Pink: Spain; Blue: France; Red: Britain; Lime Green: Italy; Purple: Portugal; Gray: Independent.

Map of European claims in Africa, 1913. Modern-day boundaries, largely a legacy of the colonial era, are shown.

28.2: The Belgian Congo

28.2.1: Administration of the Belgian Congo

Leopold II’s reign in the Congo became an international scandal due to large-scale mistreatment of the indigenous peoples, including frequent mutilation and murder of men, women, and children to enforce rubber production quotas.

Learning Objective

Describe the brutal ways in which the Belgians abused the inhabitants of the Congo

Key Points

The Congo Free State was a corporate state privately controlled by Leopold II of Belgium through his Association internationale africaine, a non-governmental organization supposedly dedicated to humanitarian purposes.
Under Leopold II’s administration, the Congo Free State became the site of one of the most infamous international scandals of the turn of the 20th century.
In the Free State, colonists brutalized the local population into producing rubber, for which the spread of automobiles and development of rubber tires created a growing international market.
The police force, the Force Publique, routinely mutilated (especially cutting off hands) and murdered the indigenous population to enforce rubber production quotas.
The report of the British Consul Roger Casement led to the arrest and punishment of white officials responsible for cold-blooded killings during a rubber-collecting expedition in 1903, including one Belgian national who caused the shooting of at least 122 Congolese natives.
The parliament of Belgium annexed the Congo Free State and took over its administration on November 15, 1908, as the colony of the Belgian Congo.

Key Terms

Congo Reform Association: A movement formed with the declared intention to aid the exploited and impoverished workforce of the Congo by drawing attention to their plight. The association was founded in March 1904 by Dr. Henry Grattan Guinness, Edmund Dene Morel, and Roger Casement.
Congo Free State: A large state in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908 in personal union with the Kingdom of Belgium under Leopold II.
Force Publique: A military force in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1885 (when the territory was known as the Congo Free State), through the period of direct Belgian colonial rule (1908 to 1960). Early on, they were used primarily to campaign against the Arab slave trade in the Upper Congo, protect Leopold’s economic interests, and suppress frequent uprisings within the state, but eventually they partook in horrific abuse of the Congolese people, including frequent mutilation and murder.

Colonization of the Congo

Belgian exploration and administration took place from the 1870s until the 1920s. It was first led by Sir Henry Morton Stanley, who explored under the sponsorship of King Leopold II of Belgium. The eastern regions of the precolonial Congo were heavily disrupted by constant slave raiding, mainly from Arab-Swahili slave traders such as the infamous Tippu Tip, who was well-known to Stanley. Leopold had designs on what would become the Congo and was able to procure the region by convincing the European community that he was involved in humanitarian and philanthropic work and would not tax trade. Leopold extracted ivory, rubber, and minerals in the upper Congo basin for sale on the world market, even though his nominal purpose in the region was to uplift the local people and develop the area.

Leopold formally acquired rights to the Congo territory at the Conference of Berlin in 1885 and made the land his private property. On May 29, 1885, the king named his new colony the Congo Free State. The state would eventually include an area now held by the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Leopold’s rėgime began various infrastructure projects, such as construction of the railway that ran from the coast to the capital of Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) and took eight years to complete. Nearly all such projects were aimed at making it easier to increase the assets Leopold and his associates could extract from the colony.

Administration of the Congo Free State

Leopold used the title Sovereign King as ruler of the Congo Free State. He appointed the heads of the three departments of state: interior, foreign affairs and finances. Each was headed by an administrator-general who was obligated to enact the policies of the sovereign or else resign.

Leopold pledged to suppress the east African slave trade; promote humanitarian policies; guarantee free trade within the colony; impose no import duties for twenty years; and encourage philanthropic and scientific enterprises. Beginning in the mid-1880s, Leopold first decreed that the state asserted rights of proprietorship over all vacant lands throughout the Congo territory. In three successive decrees, Leopold promised the rights of the Congolese in their land to native villages and farms, essentially making nearly all of the Congo Free State state-owned land. Additionally, the colonial administration liberated thousands of slaves.

Shortly after the anti-slavery conference he held in Brussels in 1889, Leopold issued a new decree which said that Africans could only sell their harvested products (mostly ivory and rubber) to the state in a large part of the Free State. This grew out of the earlier decree that all “unoccupied” land belonged to the state and ivory and rubber collected from this land also belonged to the state, creating a de facto state-controlled monopoly. Suddenly, the only outlet a large share of the local population had for its products was the state, which could set purchase prices and therefore control the amount of income the Congolese could receive for their work.

The Force Publique (FP), Leopold’s private army, was used to enforce the rubber quotas. Early on, the FP was used primarily to campaign against the Arab slave trade in the Upper Congo, protect Leopold’s economic interests, and suppress the frequent uprisings within the state. The Force Publique’s officer corps included only white Europeans (Belgian regular soldiers and mercenaries from other countries). On arriving in the Congo, they recruited men from Zanzibar and west Africa, and eventually from the Congo itself. In addition, Leopold actually encouraged the slave trade among Arabs in the Upper Congo in return for slaves to fill the ranks of the FP. During the 1890s, the FP’s primary role was to exploit the natives as corvée laborers to promote the rubber trade.

Many of the black soldiers were from far-off peoples of the Upper Congo, while others had been kidnapped in raids on villages in their childhood and brought to Roman Catholic missions, where they received a military training in conditions close to slavery. Armed with modern weapons and the chicotte—a bull whip made of hippopotamus hide—the Force Publique routinely took and tortured hostages, slaughtered families of rebels, and flogged and raped Congolese people. They also burned recalcitrant villages, and above all, cut off the hands of Congolese natives, including children.

Human Rights Abuses

Leopold’s reign in the Congo eventually earned infamy due to the increasing mistreatment of the indigenous peoples. Under Leopold II’s administration, the Congo Free State became one of the greatest international scandals of the early-20th century. The report of the British Consul Roger Casement led to the arrest and punishment of white officials who were responsible for killings during a rubber-collecting expedition in 1903.

From 1885–1908, millions of Congolese died as a consequence of exploitation and disease. In some areas, the population declined dramatically; it has been estimated that sleeping sickness and smallpox killed nearly half the population in the areas surrounding the lower Congo River. A government commission later concluded that the population of the Congo was “reduced by half” during this period, but no accurate records exist.

Failure to meet the rubber collection quotas was punishable by death. Meanwhile, the FP was required to provide the hands of their victims as proof when they had shot and killed someone, as it was believed they would otherwise use the munitions (imported from Europe at considerable cost) for hunting. As a consequence, the rubber quotas were in part paid in severed hands. Sometimes the hands were collected by the soldiers of the FP and sometimes by the villages themselves. There were even small wars where villages attacked neighboring villages to gather hands, since their rubber quotas were too unrealistic to fill.

One junior European officer described a raid to punish a village that had protested. The European officer in command “ordered us to cut off the heads of the men and hang them on the village palisades … and to hang the women and the children on the palisade in the form of a cross.” After seeing a Congolese person killed for the first time, a Danish missionary wrote, “The soldier said ‘Don’t take this to heart so much. They kill us if we don’t bring the rubber. The Commissioner has promised us if we have plenty of hands he will shorten our service.'” In his words:

The baskets of severed hands, set down at the feet of the European post commanders, became the symbol of the Congo Free State…The collection of hands became an end in itself. Force Publique soldiers brought them to the stations in place of rubber; they even went out to harvest them instead of rubber…They became a sort of currency. They came to be used to make up for shortfalls in rubber quotas, to replace…the people who were demanded for the forced labour gangs; and the Force Publique soldiers were paid their bonuses on the basis of how many hands they collected.

Mutilated Children From the Congo

Congolese children and wives whose fathers or husbands failed to meet rubber collection quotas were often punished by having their hands cut off.

Images of Congolese people, including children, with one of their hands cut off, a punishment typical during Leopold II’s reign over the Congo.

International Outcry

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, originally published in 1899 as a three-part series in Blackwood’s Magazine based on a brief experience as a steamer captain on the Congo 12 years before, sparked an organized international opposition to Leopold’s genocidal activities. Increasing public outcry over the atrocities in the CFS moved the British government to launch an official investigation. Roger Casement, then the British Consul at Boma (at the mouth of the Congo River), was sent to the Congo Free State to investigate. Reporting back to the Foreign Office in 1900, Casement wrote, “The root of the evil lies in the fact that the government of the Congo is above all a commercial trust, that everything else is orientated towards commercial gain…”

The Congo Reform Association (CRA) was established in Great Britain by Morel as a direct result of Casement’s 1904 detailed, eyewitness Congo report, known as the Casement Report. The Congo Reform movement’s members included Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Mark Twain, Joseph Conrad, Booker T. Washington, and Bertrand Russell.

Leopold offered to reform his regime, but international opinion supported an end to the king’s rule, and no nation was willing to accept this responsibility. Belgium was the obvious European candidate to run the Congo. For two years, it debated the question and held new elections on the issue.

Yielding to international pressure, the parliament of Belgium annexed the Congo Free State and took over its administration on November 15, 1908, as the colony of the Belgian Congo. Despite being effectively removed from power, the international scrutiny was no major loss to Leopold or the concessionary companies in the Congo. By then Southeast Asia and Latin America had become lower-cost producers of rubber. Along with the effects of resource depletion in the Congo, international commodity prices fell to a level that rendered Congolese extraction unprofitable. Just prior to releasing sovereignty over the CFS, Leopold had all evidence of his activities in the CFS destroyed, including the archives of the departments of finance and of the interior. Leopold lost the absolute power he had had there, but the population still had a Belgian colonial regime, which had become heavily paternalistic, with church, state, and private companies instructed to oversee the welfare of the inhabitants.

28.2.2: The Rubber Industry

In the 1890’s, rubber saw a major price boom with the invention of inflatable rubber bicycle tubes and the growing popularity of the automobile. This led to massive profits for the Belgian colonists in the Congo and increased exploitation of the native population.

Learning Objective

Calculate the value of the rubber industry to the Belgian government

Key Points

King Leopold II, who owned the Congo Free State as a private enterprise, systematically exploited the native population for his own commercial benefit, most notably with the production of wild rubber.
To enforce the rubber quotas, the colonists cut off the limbs of the natives as a matter of policy.
To extract the rubber, Congolese workers would lather their bodies with latex, which hardened and was painfully scraped off the skin.
By the final decade of the 19th century, John Boyd Dunlop’s 1887 invention of inflatable rubber bicycle tubes and the growing popularity of the automobile dramatically increased global demand for rubber, leading to major economic boom for rubber production and an increase in the exploitation of the natives.
The Abir Congo Company was one of the main companies that exploited rubber during the time of Leopold’s rule.

Key Terms

Casement Report: A 1904 document written by the British diplomat Roger Casement (1864–1916) detailing abuses in the Congo Free State under the private ownership of King Leopold II of Belgium. This report was instrumental in Leopold relinquishing his private holdings in Africa. He had owned the Congolese state since 1885, granted to him by the Berlin Conference, and exploited its natural resources (mostly rubber) for his own private wealth.
Congo rubber: Rubbers obtained from a wild species of vines, namely the Landolphia. Unlike rubber from Brazil and other places, which comes from trees, this type of rubber cannot be cultivated. The intense drive to collect latex from wild plants was responsible for many of the atrocities committed under the Congo Free State.
Abir Congo Company: A company that exploited natural rubber in the Congo Free State, the private property of King Leopold II of Belgium.

Rubber Production in the Congo Free State

In the Congo Free State, colonists brutalized the local population into producing rubber, for which the spread of automobiles and development of rubber tires created a growing international market. Rubber sales made a fortune for Leopold, who built several buildings in Brussels and Ostend to honor himself and his country. To enforce the rubber quotas, the army, the Force Publique, cut off the limbs of the natives as a matter of policy. Rubber revenue went directly to King Leopold II, who paid the Free State for the high costs of exploitation. Because of the human rights abuses suffered under King Leopold II’s rule, Congo rubber was eventually nicknamed “red rubber,” in reference to the blood of the Africans killed during production.

By the final decade of the 19th century, John Boyd Dunlop’s 1887 invention of inflatable rubber bicycle tubes and the growing popularity of the automobile dramatically increased global demand for rubber. To monopolize the resources of the entire Congo Free State, Leopold issued three decrees in 1891 and 1892 that reduced the native population to serfs. These forced the natives to deliver all ivory and rubber, harvested or found, to state officers, thus nearly completing Leopold’s monopoly of the ivory and rubber trade. The Congo rubber (genus Landolphia) came from wild vines in the jungle, which cannot be cultivated, unlike the rubber from Brazil (Hevea brasiliensis), which was tapped from trees and could be cultivated. The intense drive to collect latex from these wild plants was responsible for many of the atrocities committed under the Congo Free State. To extract the rubber, instead of tapping the vines, the Congolese workers slashed them and lathered their bodies with the ensuing latex. When the latex hardened, it was painfully scraped off the skin, taking the hair with it.

Leopold ran up high debts with his Congo investments before the beginning of the worldwide rubber boom in the 1890s. Prices increased throughout the decade as industries discovered new uses for rubber in tires, hoses, tubing, insulation for telegraph and telephone cables, and wiring. By the late-1890s, wild rubber had far surpassed ivory as the main source of revenue from the Congo Free State. The peak year was 1903, with rubber fetching the highest price and concessionary companies raking in the highest profits.

However, the boom sparked efforts to find lower-cost producers. Congolese concessionary companies faced competition from rubber cultivation in Southeast Asia and Latin America. As plantations were started in other tropical areas—mostly under the ownership of the rival British firms—world rubber prices started to dip. Competition heightened the drive to exploit forced labor in the Congo to lower production costs. Meanwhile, the cost of enforcement and the increasingly unsustainable harvesting methods ate away at profit margins. As competition from other areas of rubber cultivation mounted, Leopold’s private rule was left increasingly vulnerable to international scrutiny.

In the Rubber Coils

A cartoon depicting Leopold II as a rubber vine entangling a Congolese rubber collector.

Abir Congo Company

The Abir Congo Company (founded as the Anglo-Belgian India Rubber Company) exploited natural rubber in the Congo Free State, the private property of King Leopold II of Belgium. The company was founded with British and Belgian capital and was based in Belgium. By 1898 there were no longer any British shareholders and the Anglo-Belgian India Rubber Company changed its name to the Abir Congo Company and its residence for tax purposes to the Free State. The company was granted a large concession in the north of the country and the rights to tax the inhabitants. This tax was taken in the form of rubber obtained from a relatively rare rubber vine. The collection system revolved around a series of trade posts along the two main rivers in the concession. Each post was commanded by a European agent and manned with armed sentries to enforce taxation and punish any rebels.

Abir enjoyed a boom through the late 1890s, by selling a kilogram of rubber in Europe that cost them just 1.35 francs for up to 10 francs. However, this came at a cost to the human rights of those who couldn’t pay the tax, with imprisonment, flogging, and other corporal punishment recorded. Abir’s failure to suppress destructive harvesting methods and maintain rubber plantations meant that the vines became increasingly scarce, and by 1904 profits began to fall. During the early 1900s, famine and disease spread across the concession, a natural disaster judged by some to have been exacerbated by Abir’s operations, further hindering rubber collection. The 1900s also saw widespread rebellions against Abir’s rule in the concession and attempts at mass migration to the French Congo or southwards. These events typically resulted in Abir dispatching an armed force to restore order.

A series of reports into the operation of the Free State were issued, starting with the British Consul Roger Casement’s “Casement Report” and followed by reports commissioned by the Free State and Leopold II. These detailed unlawful killings and other abuses by Abir, and Leopold II was embarrassed into instituting reforms. These began with the appointment of American Richard Mohun by Leopold II as director of Abir. However, rubber exports continued to fall and rebellions increased, resulting in the Free State assuming control of the concession in 1906. Abir continued to receive a portion of profits from rubber exports and in 1911 was refounded as a rubber plantation harvesting company.

28.3: France in Africa

28.3.1: French West Africa

French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guinea (now Guinea), Côte d’Ivoire, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), Dahomey (now Benin), and Niger.

Learning Objective

List some of the modern-day countries that were once part of France’s West African territories

Key Points

As a part of the Scramble for Africa, France planned to establish a continuous west-east axis of the continent.
During this time the Voulet–Chanoine Mission, a military expedition, was sent from Senegal in 1898 to conquer the Chad Basin and unify all French territories in West Africa.
Until the unification of these colonies into French West Africa, these conquered areas were usually governed by French Army officers and dubbed “Military Territories.”
The administrative structure of French colonial possessions in West Africa, while more homogeneous than neighboring British possessions, was marked by variety and flux. However, the Cercle system at the lowest level was a constant.
A Cercle was the smallest unit of French political administration in French Colonial Africa as headed by a European officer. It consisted of several cantons, each of which in turn consisted of several villages headed by village chiefs.

Key Term

Cercle system: The smallest unit of French political administration in French Colonial Africa that was headed by a European officer. A cercle consisted of several cantons, each of which in turn consisted of several villages, and was instituted in France’s African colonies from 1895 to 1946.

French West Africa (French: Afrique occidentale française, AOF) was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guinea (now Guinea), Côte d’Ivoire, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), Dahomey (now Benin) and Niger. The capital of the federation was Dakar. The federation existed from 1895 until 1960.

As the French pursued their part in the Scramble for Africa in the 1880s and 1890s, they conquered large inland areas, and at first ruled them as either a part of the existing Senegal colony or as independent entities. These conquered areas were usually governed by French Army officers and dubbed “Military Territories.” In the late 1890s, the French government began to rein in the territorial expansion of its “officers on the ground,” and transferred all territories west of Gabon to a single governor based in Senegal, reporting directly to the Minister of Overseas Affairs. The first governor general of Senegal was named in 1895, and in 1904, the territories he oversaw were formally named French West Africa (AOF). Gabon would later become the seat of its own federation, French Equatorial Africa (AEF), which would border its western neighbor on the modern boundary between Niger and Chad.

King N’Diagaye, a local chief near Dakar Senegal, receiving a French Administrator. c.1910.

Colonial Structure of the AOF

The administrative structure of French colonial possessions in West Africa, while more homogeneous than neighboring British possessions, was marked by variety and flux. Throughout the history of the AOF, individual colonies and military territories were reorganized numerous times. Each colony of French West Africa was administered by a lieutenant governor responsible to the governor general in Dakar. Only the governor general received orders from Paris, via the minister of Colonies. The minister, with the approval of the French National Assembly, chose lieutenants governor and governors general.

Despite this state of flux, and with the exception of the Senegalese Communes, the administrative structure of French rule at the lower levels remained constant, based upon the Cercle system. This was the smallest unit of French political administration in French Colonial Africa that was headed by a European officer. They ranged in size, but French Sudan (modern Mali) consisted of less than a dozen Cercles for most of its existence. Thus, a Cercle Commander might be the absolute authority over hundreds of thousands of Africans. A Cercle consisted of several cantons, each of which in turn consisted of several villages, and was almost universal in France’s African colonies from 1895 to 1946.

Below the “Cercle Commander” was a series of African “Chefs de canton” and “Chefs du Village”: “chiefs” appointed by the French and subject to removal by the Europeans. Regardless of source, chiefs were given the right to arm small numbers of guards and made responsible for the collection of taxes, the recruitment of forced labor, and the enforcement of “Customary Law.” In general, Canton Chiefs served at the behest of their Cercle Commander and were left to see to their own affairs as long as calm was maintained and administrative orders carried out.

28.3.2: The Maghreb

With the decay of the Ottoman Empire, in 1830 the French invaded and seized Algiers. This began the colonization of French North Africa, which expanded to include Tunisia in 1881 and Morocco in 1912.

Learning Objective

Discuss the French presence in Northern Africa and how these colonies differed from others

Key Points

French North Africa, which at the height of French colonial control amounted to most of the Maghreb region, began with the French invasion of Algeria in 1830.
From 1848, when France officially made Algeria a colony, until independence in 1962, the whole Mediterranean region of Algeria was administered as an integral part of France. Algeria became a destination for hundreds of thousands of European immigrants.
The French protectorate of Tunisia was established in 1881 during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the hands of the Russians, and lasted until Tunisian independence in 1956.
During French rule of Tunisia, major developments and improvements were undertaken in several areas, including transport and infrastructure, industry, the financial system, public health, and administration, although French businesses and citizen were favored, to the anger and resentment of the Tunisians.
The French Protectorate in Morocco was established by the Treaty of Fez in 1912; it had been a Spanish protectorate since 1884.
In opposition to the approach taken in Algeria and Tunisia, in Morocco, the French abandoned their typical assimilationist approach to culture and education, instead using urban planning and colonial education to prevent cultural mixing and uphold the traditional society of Morocco.

Key Terms

pieds-noirs: A term referring to Christian and Jewish people whose families migrated from all parts of the Mediterranean to French Algeria, the French protectorate in Morocco, or the French protectorate of Tunisia, where many lived for several generations. They were expelled at the end of French rule in North Africa between 1956 and 1962. The term usually includes the North African Jews, who had been living there for many centuries but were awarded French citizenship by the 1870 Crémieux Decree.
protectorate: A dependent territory that has been granted local autonomy and independence while still largely controlled by another sovereign state. In exchange, the dependent state usually accepts specified obligations, which ay vary depending on the nature of their relationship. They are different from colonies as they have local rulers.
Maghreb: Previously known as Barbary Coast, this area is usually defined as much or most of the region of western North Africa or Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. The traditional definition includes the Atlas Mountains and the coastal plains of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya.

French North Africa was a collection of territories in North Africa controlled by France and centering on French Algeria. At its height, it was a large part of the Maghreb.

The origins of French North Africa lay in the decline of the Ottoman Empire. In 1830, the French captured Algiers and from 1848 until independence in 1962, Algeria was treated as an integral part of France. Seeking to expand their influence, the French established protectorates to the east and west of it. The French protectorate of Tunisia was established in 1881 following a military invasion, and the French protectorate in Morocco in 1912. These lasted until 1955 in the case of Morocco and 1956 when full Tunisian independence arrived.

Until its independence, French Algeria had been part of metropolitan France (i.e., not an overseas territory) since before World War I.

French North Africa ended soon after the Évian Accords of March 1962, which led to the Algerian independence referendum of July 1962.

French Algeria

The French conquest of Algeria took place between 1830 and 1847. It was initiated in the last days of the Bourbon Restoration by Charles X, as an attempt to increase his popularity among the French, particularly in Paris where many veterans of the Napoleonic Wars lived. He intended to bolster patriotic sentiment and distract attention from ineptly handled domestic policies. In 1827, an argument between Hussein Dey, the ruler of the Ottoman Regency of Algiers, and the French consul escalated into a naval blockade. France then invaded and quickly seized Algiers in 1830, and rapidly took control of other coastal communities. Amid internal political strife in France, decisions were repeatedly made to retain control over the territory, and additional military forces were brought in over the following years to quell resistance in the interior of the country. The methods used to establish French hegemony reached genocidal proportions and war, as famine and disease led to the death of between 500,000 and 1 million Algerians.

French Invasion of Algeria

Fighting at the gates of Algiers in 1830.

A painting depicting French soldiers firing upon the Algerian army at the gates of Algiers during the invasion of Algeria.

From 1848 until independence, the whole Mediterranean region of Algeria was administered as an integral part of France. The vast arid interior of Algeria, like the rest of French North Africa, was never considered part of France. One of France’s longest-held overseas territories, Algeria became a destination for hundreds of thousands of European immigrants known as pieds-noirs. However, indigenous Muslims remained a majority of the territory’s population throughout its history. Gradually, dissatisfaction among the Muslim population with its lack of political and economic status fueled calls for greater political autonomy and eventually independence from France. Tensions between the two population groups came to a head in 1954, when the first violent events of what was later called the Algerian War began. The war concluded in 1962 when Algeria gained complete independence following the March 1962 Evian agreements and the July 1962 self-determination referendum.

French Protectorate of Tunisia

The French protectorate of Tunisia was established in 1881 during the French colonial Empire era and lasted until Tunisian independence in 1956.

Tunisia formed a province of the decaying Ottoman Empire but enjoyed a large measure of autonomy under the bey Muhammad III as-Sadiq. In 1877, Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire. Russian victory foreshadowed the dismemberment of the empire, including independence for several Balkan possessions and international discussions about the future of the North African provinces. The Berlin Congress of 1878 convened to resolve the Ottoman question. Britain, although opposed to total dismantling of the Ottoman Empire, offered France control of Tunisia in return for Cyprus. Germany, seeing the French claim as a way to divert attention from vengeful action in Europe (where France suffered defeat at Prussian hands in 1870-1) and little concerned about the southern Mediterranean, agreed to allow France to rule in Tunisia. Italy, which had economic interests in Tunisia, strongly opposed the plan but was unable to impose its will.

The French presence in Tunisia came five decades after their occupation of neighboring Algeria, when the French were inexperienced and lacked the knowledge to develop a colony. Both countries were possessions of the Ottoman Empire for three centuries, yet had long ago attained political autonomy from the Sultan in Constantinople. Before the French arrived, Tunisia began modern reforms, but financial difficulties mounted until the installation of a commission of European creditors. After its occupation, the French government assumed Tunisia’s international obligations. Major developments and improvements were undertaken by the French in several areas, including transport and infrastructure, industry, the financial system, public health, and administration. Yet French business and its citizens were favored, which angered Tunisians. Their nationalism was early expressed in speech and in print; political organization followed. The independence movement was already active before World War I, and continued to gain strength against mixed French opposition. Its ultimate aim was achieved in 1956 when it became the Republic of Tunisia.

Congress of Berlin

A depiction of the Congress of Berlin, which resulted in France receiving Tunisia from Britain.

A painting of the Congress of Berlin, which depicts a few dozen men standing and sitting around a large table, some of them shaking hands.

French Protectorate in Morocco

France officially established a protectorate over Morocco with the Treaty of Fez in 1912, ending what remained of the country’s de facto independence. From a legal point of view, the treaty did not deprive Morocco of its status as a sovereign state. The Sultan reigned but did not rule. Sultan Abdelhafid abdicated in favor of his brother Yusef after signing the treaty. On April 17, 1912, Moroccan infantrymen mutinied in the French garrison in Fez, in the 1912 Fez riots. The Moroccans were unable to take the city and were defeated by a French relief force.

In establishing their protectorate over much of Morocco, the French had the experience of the conquest of Algeria and of their protectorate over Tunisia; the latter was the model for their Moroccan policy. There were, however, important differences. First, the protectorate was established only two years before the outbreak of World War I, which brought with it a new attitude toward colonial rule. Rejecting the typical French assimilationist approach to culture and education as a liberal fantasy, Morocco’s conservative French rulers attempted to use urban planning and colonial education to prevent cultural mixing and uphold the traditional society upon which the French depended for collaboration. Second, Morocco had a thousand-year tradition of independence; though it was strongly influenced by the civilization of Muslim Iberia, it had never been subject to Ottoman rule. These circumstances and the proximity of Morocco to Spain created a special relationship between the two countries.

Under the protectorate, French civil servants allied themselves with the French colonists and their supporters in France to prevent any moves in the direction of Moroccan autonomy. As pacification proceeded, the French government promoted economic development, particularly the exploitation of Morocco’s mineral wealth, the creation of a modern transportation system, and the development of a modern agriculture sector geared to the French market. Tens of thousands of colonists entered Morocco and bought large amounts of the rich agricultural land. Interest groups that formed among these elements continually pressured France to increase its control over Morocco.

In late 1955, Mohammed V successfully negotiated the gradual restoration of Moroccan independence within a framework of French-Moroccan interdependence. The sultan agreed to institute reforms that would transform Morocco into a constitutional monarchy with a democratic form of government. In February 1956, Morocco acquired limited home rule. Further negotiations for full independence culminated in the French-Moroccan Agreement signed in Paris on March 2, 1956. On April 7 of that year France officially relinquished its protectorate in Morocco.

28.3.3: French Efforts toward Assimilation

Assimilation was one of the ideological hallmarks of French colonial policy in the 19th and 20th centuries. In contrast with British imperial policy, it maintained that natives of French colonies were considered French citizens with full citizenship rights as long as they adopted French culture and customs.

Learning Objective

Compare the French policy of assimilation to the manner in which other imperialist powers treated their subjugated populations

Key Points

French colonial policy as early as the 1780s was distinguished by the ideology of assimilation. By adopting French language and culture, the indigenous populations under colonial rule could eventually become French, sharing in the equal rights of citizenship.
This policy was put most famously into practice in the oldest French colonial towns, known as the Four Communes.
During the French Revolution of 1848, slavery was abolished and the Four Communes were given voting rights and the right to elect a Deputy to the Assembly in Paris, which they did in 1912 with Blaise Diagne, the first black man to hold a position in the French government.
The promise of equal rights and respect under the assimilation policy was often merely an abstraction, as the assimilated Africans (termed Évolué) still faced substantial discrimination in Africa and France.
In addition, in the largest and most populous colonies, a strict separation between “sujets français” (all the natives) and “citoyens français” (all males of European extraction), along with different rights and duties, was maintained.

Key Terms

civilizing mission: A rhetorical rationale for intervention or colonization, purporting to contribute to the spread of civilization and used mostly in relation to the Westernization of indigenous peoples in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Évolué: A French term used during the colonial era to refer to a native African or Asian who had “evolved” by becoming Europeanized through education or assimilation and had accepted European values and patterns of behavior.
Blaise Diagne: A French political leader and mayor of Dakar. He was the first black African elected to the French Chamber of Deputies (1914), and the first to hold a position in the French government.
Four Communes: The four oldest colonial towns in French-controlled West Africa, in which the theory of assimilation was put into practice with the aim of turning African natives into “French” men by educating them in the language and French culture. In 1916, natives were granted full voting rights in these colonies.

Colonial Assimilation

A hallmark of the French colonial project in the late 19th century and early 20th century was the civilizing mission (mission civilisatrice), the principle that it was Europe’s duty to bring civilization to “backward” people. Rather than merely govern colonial populations, the Europeans would attempt to Westernize them in accordance with a colonial ideology known as “assimilation.”

France pursued a policy of assimilation throughout much of its colonial empire. In contrast with British imperial policy, the French taught their subjects that by adopting French language and culture, they could eventually become French. Natives of these colonies were considered French citizens as long as French culture and customs were adopted. This also meant they would have the rights and duties of French citizens.

The initial stages of assimilation in France were observed in the “first French empire” during the Revolution of 1789. In 1794, during the revolutionary National Assembly, attended by the deputies of the Caribbean and French India, a law was passed that declared: “all men resident in the colonies, without distinction of color, are French citizens and enjoy all the rights assured by the Constitution.”

In the early 19th century under Napoleon Bonaparte rule, new laws were created for the colonies to replace the previous universal laws that applied to both France and the colonies. Napoleon Bonaparte rejected assimilation and declared that the colonies would be governed under separate laws. He believed that if the universal laws continued, the residents of the colonies would eventually have the power to control the local governments, which would have an adverse effect on “cheap slave labor.” Napoleon at the same time reinstated slavery in the Caribbean possessions.

Even with Napoleon Bonaparte’s rejection of assimilation, many still believed it to be a good practice. On July 24, 1833, a law was passed that gave all free colony residents “civil and political rights.” In the Revolution in 1848, “assimilation theory” was restored and colonies again were under the universal rules.

Aside from the Four Communes in Senegal (discussed below), for the most part, in the largest and most populous colonies, a strict separation between “sujets français” (all the natives) and “citoyens français” (all males of European extraction), along with different rights and duties, was maintained. As pointed out in a 1927 treatise on French colonial law, the granting of French citizenship to natives “was not a right, but rather a privilege.” Two 1912 decrees dealing with French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa enumerated the conditions that a native had to meet in order to be granted French citizenship, which included speaking and writing French, earning a decent living, and displaying good moral standards. From 1830 to 1946, only between 3,000 and 6,000 native Algerians were granted French citizenship.

French conservatives denounced the assimilationist policies as products of a dangerous liberal fantasy. Unlike in Algeria, Tunisia, and French West Africa, in the Protectorate of Morocco, the French administration attempted to use urban planning and colonial education to prevent cultural mixing and uphold the traditional society upon which the French depended for collaboration, with mixed results. After World War II, the segregationist approach modeled in Morocco had been discredited and assimilationism enjoyed a brief revival.

The Four Communes

The famous “Four Communes” in Senegal are one of the foremost examples of the French assimilation project. The Four Communes were the four oldest colonial towns in French-controlled west Africa. In 1848, the French Second Republic extended the rights of full French citizenship to the inhabitants of Saint-Louis, Dakar, Gorée, and Rufisque. While those who were born in these towns could technically enjoy all the rights of native French citizens, substantial legal and social barriers prevented the full exercise of these rights, especially by those seen by authorities as “full blooded” Africans.

The residents of the Four Communes were referred as originaires. When they had been exposed to assimilation for a long enough period, they would become a “typical French citizen…expected to be everything except in the color of his skin, a Frenchman.” Those few Africans from the Four Communes who were able to pursue higher education could “rise'” to be termed Évolué (‘Evolved’) and were nominally granted full French citizenship, including the vote. They were considered “African Elite.” One of those elites was Blaise Diagne, the first black deputy in the French assembly. He “defended the status of the originaires as French citizens.” During his service as deputy, he proposed a resolution that would allow the residents of the Four Communes all the rights of a French Citizen, which included being able to serve in the Army. This was especially important during World War I. The resolution passed on October 19, 1915. Despite this legal framework, Évolués still faced substantial discrimination in Africa and the Metropole alike. The Four Communes remained the only French colony where the indigenous peoples received French citizenship until 1944.

Blaise Diagne

Blaise Diagne, a Senegalese man who attained French citizenship and rose to political prominence during the height of the assimilation movement in colonial France, was the first black African elected to the French Chamber of Deputies and the first to hold a position in the French government.

A photo portrait of Blaise Diagne

28.4: Africa and the United Kingdom

28.4.1: Egypt under the British Influence

British rule over Egypt lasted from 1882, when the British succeeded in defeating the Egyptian Army during the Anglo-Egyptian War and took control of the country, to the 1952 Egyptian revolution that made Egypt an independent republic.

Learning Objective

Describe changes in Egypt after the British began to take a strong interest in the country

Key Points

British control of Egypt, which at first took the form of indirect and informal rule and later as an official protectorate, began in the 1880s.
In 1882 opposition to European control led to growing tension among notable natives, with the most dangerous opposition coming from the army. By June Egypt was in the hands of nationalists opposed to European domination of the country.
The British succeeded in defeating the Egyptian Army at Tel El Kebir in September and took control of the country.
The purpose of the invasion was to restore political stability and reinforce international controls which were in place to streamline European economic influence in Egypt.
Lord Cromer, Britain’s Chief Representative in Egypt at the time, viewed Egypt’s financial reforms as part of a long-term objective.
Cromer took the view that political stability needed financial stability, and embarked on a program of long-term investment in Egypt’s productive resources, especially the cotton economy, the mainstay of the country’s export earnings.
During British occupation and later control, Egypt developed into a regional commercial and trading destination.
In 1914, as a result of the declaration of war with the Ottoman Empire of which Egypt was nominally a part, Britain declared a protectorate over Egypt and deposed the anti-British Khedive, Abbas II, replacing him with his uncle Husayn Kamel, who was made Sultan of Egypt by the British.

Key Terms

Suez Crisis: An invasion of Egypt in late 1956 by Israel, followed by the United Kingdom and France. The aims were to regain Western control of the Suez Canal and remove Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser from power. After the fighting started, political pressure from the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Nations led to a withdrawal by the three invaders. The episode humiliated Great Britain and France and strengthened Nasser.
Khedivate of Egypt: An autonomous tributary state of the Ottoman Empire, established and ruled by the Muhammad Ali Dynasty following the defeat and expulsion of Napoleon Bonaparte’s forces, which brought an end to the short-lived French occupation of Lower Egypt.
Anglo-Egyptian War: An 1882 war between Egyptian and Sudanese forces under Ahmed ‘Urabi and the United Kingdom. It ended a nationalist uprising against the Khedive Tewfik Pasha and vastly expanded British influence over the country at the expense of the French.

The history of Egypt under the British lasts from 1882, when it was occupied by British forces during the Anglo-Egyptian War, until 1956, when the last British forces withdrew in accordance with the Anglo-Egyptian agreement of 1954 after the Suez Crisis. The first period of British rule (1882–1914) is often called the “veiled protectorate.” During this time the Khedivate of Egypt remained an autonomous province of the Ottoman Empire, and the British occupation had no legal basis but constituted a de facto protectorate. This state of affairs lasted until the Ottoman Empire joined the First World War on the side of the Central Powers in November 1914 and Britain unilaterally declared a protectorate over Egypt. The ruling khedive was deposed and his successor, Hussein Kamel, declared himself Sultan of Egypt independent of the Ottomans in December 1914.

The formal protectorate over Egypt was brought to an end by the unilateral declaration of Egyptian independence on February 18, 1922. Shortly afterwards, Sultan Fuad I declared himself King of Egypt, but the British occupation continued in accordance with several reserve clauses in the declaration of independence. The situation was normalized in the Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936, which granted Britain the right to station troops in Egypt for the defense of the Suez Canal, its link with the Indian Empire. Britain also continued to control the training of the Egyptian Army. During the Second World War (1939–45), Egypt came under attack from Italian Libya on account of the British presence there, although Egypt itself remained neutral until late in the war. After the war Egypt sought to modify the treaty, but it was abrogated in its entirety by an anti-British government in October 1951. After the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, the British agreed to withdraw their troops and by June 1956 had done so. Britain went to war against Egypt over the Suez Canal in late 1956, but with insufficient international support was forced to back down.

Veiled Protectorate (1882–1913)

Throughout the 19th century, the ruling dynasty of Egypt spent vast sums of money on infrastructural development. However, in keeping with its own military and foreign origin, the dynasty’s economic development was almost wholly oriented toward military dual-use goals. Consequently, despite vast sums of European and other foreign capital, actual economic production and resulting revenues were insufficient to repay the loans. Consequently, the country teetered toward economic dissolution and implosion. In turn, European and foreign finances took control of the treasury of Egypt, forgave debt in return for taking control of the Suez Canal, and reoriented economic development toward capital gain.

However, by 1882 Islamic and Arabic Nationalist opposition to European influence and settlement in the Middle East led to growing tension among notable natives, especially in Egypt which then as now was the most powerful, populous, and influential of Arab countries. The most dangerous opposition during this period was from the Albanian- and Mamluke-dominated Egyptian army, which saw the reorientation of economic development away from their control as a threat to their privileges.

A large military demonstration in September 1881 forced the Khedive Tewfiq to dismiss his Prime Minister and rule by decree. Many of the Europeans retreated to specially designed quarters suited for defense or heavily European settled cities such as Alexandria.

Consequently, in April 1882 France and Great Britain sent warships to Alexandria to bolster the Khedive amidst a turbulent climate and protect European lives and property. In turn, Egyptian nationalists spread fear of invasion throughout the country to bolster Islamic and Arabian revolutionary action. Tawfiq moved to Alexandria for fear of his own safety as army officers led by Ahmed Urabi began to take control of the government. By June, Egypt was in the hands of nationalists opposed to European domination of the country, and the new revolutionary government began nationalizing all assets in Egypt.

Anti-European violence broke out in Alexandria, prompting a British naval bombardment of the city. Fearing the intervention of outside powers or the seizure of the canal by the Egyptians, in conjunction with an Islamic revolution in the Empire of India, the British led an Anglo-Indian expeditionary force at both ends of the Suez Canal in August 1882. Simultaneously, French forces landed in Alexandria and the northern end of the canal. Both joined together and maneuvered to meet the Egyptian army. The combined Anglo-French-Indian army easily defeated the Egyptian Army at Tel El Kebir in September and took control of the country putting Tawfiq back in control.

The purpose of the invasion was to restore political stability to Egypt under a government of the Khedive and international controls that were in place to streamline Egyptian financing since 1876. It is unlikely that the British expected a long-term occupation from the outset; however, Lord Cromer, Britain’s Chief Representative in Egypt at the time, viewed Egypt’s financial reforms as part of a long-term objective. Cromer took the view that political stability needed financial stability, and embarked on a program of long-term investment in Egypt’s agricultural revenue sources, the largest of which was cotton. To accomplish this, Cromer worked to improve the Nile’s irrigation system through multiple large projects such as the construction of the Aswan Dam, the Nile Barrage, and an increase of canals available to agricultural-focused lands.

During British occupation and control, Egypt developed into a regional commercial and trading destination. Immigrants from less-stable parts of the region, including Greeks, Jews and Armenians, began to flow into Egypt. The number of foreigners in the country rose from 10,000 in the 1840s to around 90,000 in the 1880s and more than 1.5 million by the 1930s.

The Veiled Protectorate of Egypt

A gathering of Egyptian, Turkish, and British royalty in 1911. Queen Mary seated and King George V standing at extreme right.

Gathering of Egyptian, Turkish and British royalty in 1911. Queen Mary seated and King George V standing at extreme right.

28.4.2: South Africa and the Boer Wars

Ethnic, political, and social tensions among European colonial powers, indigenous Africans, and English and Dutch settlers led to open conflict in a series of wars and revolts between 1879 and 1915, most notably the first and second Boer Wars. These would have lasting repercussions on the entire region of southern Africa.

Learning Objective

Explain the events of the Boer Wars and how they impacted the British role in South Africa

Key Points

The Transvaal Boer republic was forcefully annexed by Britain in 1877 as part of the attempt to consolidate the states of southern Africa under British rule.
Long-standing Boer (Dutch-speaking farmers) resentment turned into full-blown rebellion in the first Boer War, which broke out in 1880.
The conflict ended almost as soon as it began with a decisive Boer victory at Battle of Majuba Hill (February 1881), leading to the founding of the South African Republic.
The Second Boer War started on October 11, 1899, and ended on May 31, 1902. Great Britain defeated two Boer nations in South Africa: the South African Republic (Republic of Transvaal) and the Orange Free State.
The British were overconfident and under-prepared; the Boers were very well-armed and struck first, besieging Ladysmith, Kimberley, and Mafeking in early 1900 and winning important battles at Colenso, Magersfontein, and Stormberg.
Staggered, the British brought in large numbers of soldiers and fought back with overwhelming force, forcing the Boers to revert to guerrilla warfare.
The British solution was to set up complex nets of block houses, strong points, and barbed wire fences, partitioning off the entire conquered territory and relocating civilians into concentration camps. Many of the latter group died of disease, especially children, who mostly lacked immunity. This caused scandal in England.
The Boers were eventually defeated, leading to the absorption of South Africa into the British Empire as the Union of South Africa in 1910.

Key Terms

apartheid: A system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination in South Africa between 1948 and 1991, when it was abolished.
Boer: The Dutch and Afrikaans word for “farmer.” In South Africa, it was used to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier during the 18th century. For a time the Dutch East India Company controlled this area, but it was taken over by the United Kingdom.

South African Wars

Ethnic, political, and social tensions among European colonial powers, indigenous Africans, and English and Dutch settlers led to open conflict in a series of wars and revolts between 1879 and 1915 that would have lasting repercussions on the entire region of southern Africa. Pursuit of commercial empire as well as individual aspirations, especially after the discovery of diamonds (1867) and gold (1886), drove these developments.

The various wars of this era are usually studied as independent conflicts. They include the first and second Anglo-Boer War, the Anglo-Zulu War, the Basotho Gun War, the 9th Frontier War, and others. However, it is instructive also to see them as outbreaks in a far larger wave of change and conflict affecting the subcontinent, beginning with the “Confederation Wars” of the 1870s and 80s; escalating with the rise of Cecil Rhodes and the struggle for control of gold and diamond resources; and leading up to the Second Anglo-Boer War and the Union of South Africa in 1910.

Background

The southern part of the African continent was dominated in the 19th century by a set of epic struggles to create a single unified state. British expansion into southern Africa was fueled by three prime factors: first, the desire to control the trade routes to India that passed around the Cape; second, the discovery in 1868 of huge mineral deposits of diamonds around Kimberley on the joint borders of the South African Republic (called the Transvaal by the British), the Orange Free State and the Cape Colony, and thereafter in 1886 in the Transvaal of a gold rush; and thirdly the race against other European colonial powers as part of general colonial expansion in Africa.

After the Battle of Blaauwberg, Britain had acquired the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa from the Dutch in 1815 during the Napoleonic Wars. Certain groups of Dutch-speaking settler farmers (“Boers”) resented British rule, even though British control brought some economic benefits.

The Trekboers were farmers gradually extending their range and territory with no agenda. The formal abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1834 led to more organized groups of Boer settlers attempting to escape British rule, some travelling as far north as modern-day Mozambique. The discovery of diamonds in 1867 near the Vaal River, some 550 miles northeast of Cape Town, ended the isolation of the Boers in the interior and changed South African history. The discovery triggered a diamond rush that attracted people from all over the world, turning Kimberley into a town of 50,000 within five years and drawing the attention of British imperial interests.

First Boer War

The First Boer War, also known as the First Anglo-Boer War or the Transvaal War, was fought from December 1880 until March 1881 and was the first clash between the British and the South African Republic Boers. It was precipitated by Sir Theophilus Shepstone, who annexed the South African Republic (Transvaal Republic) for the British in 1877. The British consolidated their power over most of the colonies of South Africa in 1879 after the Anglo-Zulu War, and attempted to impose an unpopular system of confederation on the region, which resulted in protests from Boers.

Continued British indifference to Boer protests and increasing demands placed on the Boers triggered an all-out rebellion in late 1880. The issue that finally brought the conflict to a head was the seizure of a farm wagon over tax dues. The Boers held that the British seizure was illegal because they had never recognized the annexation of the Transvaal. 5,000 Boers assembled at a farm on December 8 and began deliberating a course of action. On December 13 they proclaimed the Transvaal’s independence and intent to establish a republican government, raising the Vierkleur, the old republican flag, and beginning the “war of independence.”

The battles of Bronkhorstspruit, Laing’s Nek, Schuinshoogte, and Majuba Hill proved disastrous for the British as they were outmaneuvered and outperformed by the highly mobile and skilled Boer marksmen. With the British commander-in-chief of Natal, George Pomeroy Colley, killed at Majuba, and British garrisons under siege across the entire Transvaal, the British were unwilling to further involve themselves in a war which was already seen as lost. As a result, William Gladstone’s British government signed a truce on March 6, and in the final peace treaty on March 23, 1881, gave the Boers self-government in the South African Republic (Transvaal) under a theoretical British oversight.

Second Boer War

The Second Boer War took place from October 11, 1899 – May 31, 1902. The war was fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics of the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (referred to as the Transvaal by the British). After a protracted, hard-fought war, the two independent republics lost and were absorbed into the British Empire.

The exact causes of the Second Anglo-Boer War in 1899 have been disputed ever since the events took place. Fault for the war has been placed on both sides. The Boers felt that the British intention was to again annex the Transvaal. Some feel that the British were coerced into war by the mining magnates, others that the British government manipulated the magnates into creating conditions that allowed the war to ignite. It appears that the British did not begin with the intention of annexation, but simply wanted to ensure that British strength and the regional economic and political stability of the British Empire remained unchanged. The British worried about popular support for the war and wanted to push the Boers to make the first move toward actual hostilities. This occurred when the Transvaal issued an ultimatum on October 9 for the British to withdraw all troops from their borders and recall their reinforcements, or they would “regard the action as a formal declaration of war.”

In all, the war cost around 75,000 lives — 22,000 British soldiers (7,792 battle casualties, the rest through disease), 6,000-7,000 Boer Commandos, 20,000-28,000 Boer civilians (mostly women and children due to disease in concentration camps), and an estimated 20,000 black Africans, both Boer and British allies alike.

The Boers fought bitterly against the British, refusing to surrender for years despite defeat. They reverted to guerrilla warfare under generals Louis Botha, Jan Smuts, Christiaan de Wet, and Koos de la Rey. As guerrillas without uniforms, the Boer fighters easily blended into the farmlands, which provided hiding places, supplies, and horses. The British solution was to set up complex nets of block houses, strong points, and barbed wire fences, partitioning off the entire conquered territory. The civilian farmers were relocated into concentration camps, where very large proportions died of disease, especially the children, who mostly lacked immunities.

The last of the Boers surrendered in May 1902 and the war ended with the Treaty of Vereeniging in the same month. The war resulted in the creation of the Transvaal Colony which in 1910 was incorporated into the Union of South Africa. The treaty ended the existence of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State as Boer republics and placed them within the British Empire.

The British rule of South Africa would have lasting impact throughout the 20th century. Among other harsh segregationist laws, including denial of voting rights to black people, the Union parliament enacted the 1913 Natives’ Land Act, which earmarked only eight percent of South Africa’s available land for black occupancy. White people, who constituted 20 percent of the population, held 90 percent of the land. The Land Act would form a cornerstone of legalized racial discrimination for the next nine decades, which reached its height during the period of apartheid from 1948-1991.

Boer Commandos

As guerrillas without uniforms, the Boer fighters easily blended into the farmlands, which provided hiding places, supplies, and horses.

Photo of Boer soldiers, dressed in civilian clothes, armed with rifles and ammunition.

28.4.3: Competition with France

During the Scramble for Africa, tensions between Britain and France were high. At several points the two nations reached the brink of war, but the situation was always diffused diplomatically.

Learning Objective

Compare and contrast the French and British Empires in Africa

Key Points

During the Scramble for Africa in the 1870s and 1880s, the British and French generally recognized each other’s spheres of influence. Their imperial aims were mainly complementary, except in some areas of vital importance that led to major conflict.
The British aimed to assert their influence on a North-South axis, from “Cape to Cairo,” as it was often called, from their colonies in South Africa to Egypt.
This dream was largely supported by Cecil Rhodes, a British businessman who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896.
On the other hand, the French aimed to dominate Africa on a East-West axis to have an uninterrupted link between the Niger River and the Nile, hence controlling all trade to and from the Sahel region.
These two aims intersected in Fashoda, which led to the climax of their conflicts in the Fashoda Incident.
In 1898, French troops tried to claim an area in the Southern Sudan when a British force purporting to be acting in the interests of the Khedive of Egypt arrived.
Under heavy pressure, the French withdrew and Britain took control over the area, leading to embarrassment for the French and an end to British-French conflict.

Key Terms

Entente Cordiale: A series of agreements signed on April 8, 1904, between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the French Third Republic, which saw a significant improvement in Anglo-French relations. Beyond the immediate concerns of colonial expansion addressed by the agreement, their signing marked the end of almost a thousand years of intermittent conflict between the two states and their predecessors.
Fashoda syndrome: A tendency within French foreign policy in Africa to assert French influence in areas that may be susceptible to British influence.
Fashoda Incident: The climax of imperial territorial disputes between Britain and France in Eastern Africa in 1898. A French expedition to Fashoda on the White Nile river sought to gain control of the Upper Nile river basin and thereby exclude Britain from the Sudan. The French party and a British detachment met on friendly terms, but back in Europe, it became a war scare. The British held firm as both nations stood on the verge of war with heated rhetoric on both sides. Under heavy pressure the French withdrew, securing Anglo-Egyptian control over the area.
Cecil Rhodes: A British businessman, mining magnate, and politician in South Africa who served as prime minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. An ardent believer in British imperialism, he and his British South Africa Company founded the southern African territory of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe and Zambia), which the company named after him in 1895.

French-British Relations

During the late 19th century, Africa was rapidly being claimed and exploited by European colonial powers. After the 1885 Berlin Conference on West Africa, Europe’s great powers went after any remaining lands in Africa that were not already under another European nation’s influence. This period is usually called the Scramble for Africa. The two principal powers involved were Britain and France, along with Germany, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, and Spain.During this era, tensions were high between France and Britain, especially over African issues. At several points, these issues brought the two nations to the brink of war, but the situation was always diffused diplomatically. One brief but dangerous dispute occurred during the Fashoda Incident when French troops tried to claim an area in the Southern Sudan, and a British force purporting to be acting in the interests of the Khedive of Egypt arrived.

The French thrust into the African interior was mainly from the continent’s Atlantic coast (modern Senegal) eastward, through the Sahel along the southern border of the Sahara, a territory covering modern Senegal, Mali, Niger, and Chad. Their ultimate goal was an uninterrupted link between the Niger River and the Nile, hence controlling all trade to and from the Sahel region by virtue of their existing control over the caravan routes through the Sahara. France also had an outpost near the mouth of the Red Sea in Djibouti (French Somaliland), which could serve as an eastern anchor to an east-west belt of French territory across the continent.

The British, on the other hand, wanted to link their possessions in Southern Africa (modern South Africa, Botswana, Malawi, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Zambia), with their territories in East Africa (modern Kenya), and these two areas with the Nile basin. Sudan, which then included today’s South Sudan and Uganda, was the key to the fulfillment of these ambitions, especially since Egypt was already under British control. This proposed railway through Africa was made most famous by the British and South African political force Cecil Rhodes, who wanted Africa “painted [British] Red.”

The Rhodes Colossus

Cecil Rhodes spanning “Cape to Cairo,” symbolizing the British imperial ambitions of the late 19th century.

A cartoon depicting Cecil Rhodes standing over Africa, with one foot in South Africa and the other in Egypt.

If one draws a line from Cape Town to Cairo (Rhodes’ dream) and another line from Dakar to French Somaliland by the Red Sea in the Horn (the French ambition), these two lines intersect in eastern South Sudan near the town of Fashoda (present-day Kodok), explaining its strategic importance. The French east-west axis and the British north-south axis could not co-exist; the nation that could occupy and hold the crossing of the two axes would be the only one able to proceed with its plan, leading to the Fashoda Incident (discussed below).

During the 1870s and 1880s, the British and French generally recognized each other’s spheres of influence. The Suez Canal, initially built by the French, became a joint British-French project in 1875, as both saw it as vital to maintaining their influence and empires in Asia. In 1882, ongoing civil disturbances in Egypt (Urabi Revolt) prompted Britain to intervene, extending a hand to France. France’s expansionist Prime Minister Jules Ferry was out of office, and the government was unwilling to send more than an intimidating fleet to the region. Britain established a protectorate, as France had a year earlier in Tunisia; popular opinion in France later considered this duplicity. It was about this time that the two nations established co-ownership of Vanuatu. The Anglo-French Convention of 1882 was also signed to resolve territory disagreements in western Africa.

Fashoda Incident

The Fashoda Incident was the climax of imperial territorial disputes between Britain and France in Eastern Africa in 1898. A French expedition to Fashoda on the White Nile river sought to gain control of the Upper Nile river basin and thereby exclude Britain from the Sudan. The French party and a British detachment met on friendly terms, but back in Europe, it became a war scare. The British held firm as both nations stood on the verge of war with heated rhetoric on both sides. Under heavy pressure the French withdrew, securing Anglo-Egyptian control over the area. The status quo was recognized by an agreement between the two states acknowledging British control over Egypt, while France became the dominant power in Morocco. France had failed in its main goals. P.M.H. Bell says:

“Between the two governments there was a brief battle of wills, with the British insisting on immediate and unconditional French withdrawal from Fashoda. The French had to accept these terms, amounting to a public humiliation…Fashoda was long remembered in France as an example of British brutality and injustice.”

It was a diplomatic victory for the British as the French realized that in the long run they needed the friendship of Britain in case of a war between France and Germany. In March 1899, the French and British agreed that the source of the Nile and the Congo rivers should mark the frontier between their spheres of influence.

The Fashoda incident was the last serious colonial dispute between Britain and France, and its classic diplomatic solution is considered by most historians to be the precursor of the Entente Cordiale. It gave rise to the Fashoda syndrome in French foreign policy, or seeking to assert French influence in areas that might be susceptible to British influence.

Fashoda Incident

Central and East Africa, 1898, during the Fashoda Incident.

A map of central and east Africa, 1898, during the Fashoda Incident. It shows the various spheres of influence of different European powers, a North-South line indicating the British ambitions and a East-West line indicating French ambitions.

28.5: German Imperalism

28.5.1: Germany and the Desire for Colonies

Despite German Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck’s opposition to overseas colonies, pressure from the German people to establish colonies for international prestige led to a significant empire during the Scramble for Africa.

Learning Objective

Analyze Germany’s efforts to obtain more influence in various areas of the globe

Key Points

Prior to German unification in 1871, most of the focus of German foreign policy was on issues internal to the state and its European neighbors.
This pragmatic attitude was mainly supported by the leading political figure of the time, Otto Von Bismarck, a major force behind unification.
Bismarck disliked colonialism but reluctantly built an overseas empire when it was demanded by both elite and mass opinion.
The attitude toward colonialism shifted again during the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II, who espoused a Weltpolitik foreign policy that emphasized aggressive diplomacy, the acquisition of overseas colonies, and the development of a large navy.
The rise of German imperialism and colonialism coincided with the latter stages of the “Scramble for Africa” during which enterprising German individuals, rather than government entities, competed with other already established colonies and colonialist entrepreneurs.
German colonies comprised territory that makes up 22 countries today, mostly in Africa, including Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda.
Germany lost control of its colonial empire at the beginning of World War I when its colonies were seized by its enemies in the first weeks of the war.

Key Terms

Otto von Bismarck: A conservative Prussian statesman who dominated German and European affairs from the 1860s until 1890. In the 1860s, he engineered a series of wars that unified the German states, significantly and deliberately excluding Austria, into a powerful German Empire under Prussian leadership. With that accomplished by 1871, he skillfully used balance of power diplomacy to maintain Germany’s position in a Europe which, despite many disputes and war scares, remained at peace.
Weltpolitik: The foreign policy adopted by the Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany in 1891, which marked a decisive break with former “Realpolitik.” The aim was to transform Germany into a global power through aggressive diplomacy, the acquisition of overseas colonies, and the development of a large navy.

The German colonial empire constituted the overseas colonies, dependencies, and territories of the German Empire. Short-lived attempts of colonization by individual German states occurred in preceding centuries, but crucial colonial efforts only began in 1884 with the Scramble for Africa. Germany lost control when World War I began and its colonies were seized by its enemies in the first weeks of the war. However. some military units held out longer: German South-West Africa surrendered in 1915, Kamerun in 1916, and German East Africa only in 1918 by war’s end. Germany’s colonial empire was officially confiscated with the Treaty of Versailles after Germany’s defeat in the war, and the various units became League of Nations mandates under the supervision (but not ownership) of one of the victorious powers.

Ambivalence Toward Colonialism

Until their 1871 unification, the German states had not concentrated on the development of a navy, and this essentially had precluded German participation in earlier imperialist scrambles for remote colonial territory – the so-called “place in the sun.” Germany seemed destined to play catch-up. The German states prior to 1870 retained separate political structures and goals, and German foreign policy up to and including the age of German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck concentrated on resolving the “German question” in Europe and securing German interests on the continent.

Many Germans in the late 19th century viewed colonial acquisitions as a true indication of nationhood. Public opinion eventually arrived at an understanding that prestigious African and Pacific colonies went hand-in-hand with dreams of a world-class navy. Both aspirations would become reality, nurtured by a press replete with Kolonialfreunde (supporters of colonial acquisitions) and a myriad of geographical associations and colonial societies. Bismarck and many deputies in the Reichstag had no interest in colonial conquests merely to acquire square miles of territory.

In essence, Bismarck’s colonial motives were obscure as he had said repeatedly “… I am no man for colonies.” However, in 1884 he consented to the acquisition of colonies by the German Empire to protect trade, safeguard raw materials and export markets, and take opportunities for capital investment, among other reasons. In the very next year Bismarck shed personal involvement when he, according to Edward Crankshaw, “abandoned his colonial drive as suddenly and casually as he had started it” as if he had committed an error in judgment that could confuse the substance of his more significant policies. Bismarck even tried to give German South-West Africa away to the British.

In 1891, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany made a decisive break with former “Realpolitik” of Bismarck and established “Weltpolitik” (“world policy”). The aim of Weltpolitik was to transform Germany into a global power through aggressive diplomacy, the acquisition of overseas colonies, and the development of a large navy. The origins of the policy can be traced to a Reichstag debate in December 1897 during which German Foreign Secretary Bernhard von Bülow stated, “in one word: We wish to throw no one into the shade, but we demand our own place in the sun.”

Otto Von Bismarck’s Ambivalence

Cartoon from 1884. Bismarck is happy with other nations being busy “down there.”

A cartoon showing Otto Von Bismarck reading a book on social reform and smoking a pipe while other men below him scope out the lower hemisphere of the globe.

Acquisition of Colonies

The rise of German imperialism and colonialism coincided with the latter stages of the “Scramble for Africa” during which enterprising German individuals, rather than government entities, competed with other already established colonies and colonialist entrepreneurs. With the Germans joining the race for the last uncharted territories in Africa and the Pacific that had not yet been carved up, competition for colonies involved major European nations and several lesser powers.

The German effort included the first commercial enterprises in the 1850s and 1860s in West Africa, East Africa, the Samoan Islands, and the unexplored north-east quarter of New Guinea with adjacent islands. German traders and merchants began to establish themselves in the African Cameroon delta and the mainland coast across from Zanzibar. At Apia and the settlements Finschhafen, Simpsonhafen and the islands Neu-Pommern and Neu-Mecklenburg, trading companies newly fortified with credit began expansion into coastal landholding. Large African inland acquisitions followed, mostly to the detriment of native inhabitants. All in all, German colonies comprised territory that makes up 22 countries today, mostly in Africa, including Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda.

As Bismarck was converted to the colonial idea by 1884, he favored “chartered company” land management rather than establishment of colonial government due to financial considerations. Although temperate zone cultivation flourished, the demise and often failure of tropical low-land enterprises contributed to changing Bismarck’s view. He reluctantly acquiesced to pleas for help to deal with revolts and armed hostilities by often powerful rulers whose lucrative slaving activities seemed at risk. German native military forces initially engaged in dozens of punitive expeditions to apprehend and punish freedom fighters, at times with British assistance.

Bismarck’s successor in 1890, Leo von Caprivi, was willing to maintain the colonial burden of what already existed, but opposed new ventures. Others who followed, especially Bernhard von Bülow as foreign minister and chancellor, sanctioned the acquisition of the Pacific Ocean colonies and provided substantial treasury assistance to existing protectorates to employ administrators, commercial agents, surveyors, local “peacekeepers,” and tax collectors. Kaiser Wilhelm II understood and lamented his nation’s position as colonial followers rather than leaders. In an interview with Cecil Rhodes in March 1899 he stated the alleged dilemma clearly: “Germany has begun her colonial enterprise very late, and was, therefore, at the disadvantage of finding all the desirable places already occupied.”

According to historian William Roger Louis, in the years before the outbreak of the World War, British colonial officers viewed the Germans as deficient in “colonial aptitude,” but “whose colonial administration was nevertheless superior to those of the other European states.” Anglo-German colonial issues in the decade before 1914 were minor, and both the British and German empires took conciliatory attitudes. Once war was declared in late July 1914 Britain and its allies promptly moved against the colonies, the public was informed that German colonies were a threat. The British position that Germany was a uniquely brutal and cruel colonial power originated during the war. By 1916, only in remote jungle regions in East Africa did the German forces hold out.

28.5.2: Germany and the Herero

The Herero and Nama genocide was a campaign of racial extermination and collective punishment that the German Empire undertook in German South-West Africa (modern-day Namibia) against the Herero and Nama people, considered one of the first genocides of the 20th century.

Learning Objective

Assess the argument for classifying the persecution against the Herero as a genocide

Key Points

During the Scramble for Africa, South-West Africa was claimed by Germany in August 1884.
German colonists arriving in the following years occupied large areas of land, ignoring claims by the Herero and other natives.
There was continual resistance by the natives, most notably in 1903 when some of the Herero tribes rose in revolt and about 60 German settlers were killed.
In October 1904, General Lothar von Trotha issued orders to kill every male Herero and drive the women and children into the desert; when the order was lifted at the end of 1904, prisoners were herded into concentration camps and given as slave labor to German businesses; many died of overwork and malnutrition.
It took until 1908 to re-establish German authority over the territory; by that time tens of thousands of Africans (estimates range from 34,000 to 110,000) had been either killed or died of thirst while fleeing.
In 1985, the United Nations’ Whitaker Report classified the aftermath as an attempt to exterminate the Herero and Nama peoples of South-West Africa, and therefore one of the earliest attempts at genocide in the 20th century. In 2004, the German government recognized and apologized for the events

Key Terms

German South-West Africa: A colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915. It was 1.5 times the size of the mainland German Empire in Europe at the time. The colony had a population of around 2,600 Germans, numerous indigenous rebellions, and a widespread genocide of the indigenous peoples.
Eugen Fischer: A German professor of medicine, anthropology, and eugenics, and a member of the Nazi Party. He served as director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics, and as rector of the Frederick William University of Berlin. His ideas informed the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 and served to justify the Nazi Party’s attitudes of racial superiority. Adolf Hitler read his work while imprisoned in 1923 and used his eugenical notions to support the ideal of a pure Aryan society in his manifesto, Mein Kampf (My Struggle).
Herero: An ethnic group inhabiting parts of Southern Africa. The majority reside in Namibia, with the remainder found in Botswana and Angola. During the German colonial empire, the German colonists committed genocide against these people.

Colonization and Conflict

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Herero migrated to what is today Namibia from the east and established themselves as herdsmen. In the beginning of the 19th century, the Nama from South Africa, who already possessed some firearms, entered the land and were followed by white merchants and German missionaries. At first, the Nama began displacing the Herero, leading to bitter warfare between the two groups that lasted the greater part of the 19th century. Later, the Nama and Herero entered a period of cultural exchange.

During the late 19th century, the first Europeans arrived to permanently settle the land. Primarily in Damaraland, German settlers acquired land from the Herero to establish farms. In 1883, merchant Franz Adolf Eduard Lüderitz entered into a contract with the native elders. The exchange later became the basis of German colonial rule. The territory became a German colony under the name of German South-West Africa.

Soon after, conflicts between the German colonists and the Herero herdsmen began. These were frequently disputes about access to land and water, but also the legal discrimination against the native population by the white immigrants.

Between 1893 and 1903, the Herero and Nama people’s land and cattle were progressively making their way into the hands of the German colonists. The Herero and Nama resisted expropriation over the years, but were disorganized and the Germans defeated them with ease. In 1903, the Herero people learned that they were to be placed in reservations, leaving more room for colonists to own land and prosper. In 1904, the Herero and Nama began a large rebellion that lasted until 1907, ending with the near destruction of the Herero people.

Genocide Against the Herero and Nama People

According to some historians, “The war against the Herero and Nama was the first in which German imperialism resorted to methods of genocide.” Roughly 80,000 Herero lived in German South-West Africa at the beginning of Germany’s colonial rule over the area, while after their revolt was defeated, they numbered approximately 15,000. In a period of four years, 1904-1907, approximately 65,000 Herero and 10,000 Nama people perished.

The first phase of the genocide was characterized by widespread death from starvation and dehydration due to the prevention of the retreating Herero from leaving the Namib Desert by German forces. Once defeated, thousands of Herero and Nama were imprisoned in concentration camps, where the majority died of disease, abuse, and exhaustion.

During the Herero genocide Eugen Fischer, a German scientist, came to the concentration camps to conduct medical experiments on race, using children of Herero people and mulatto children of Herero women and German men as test subjects. Together with Theodor Mollison he also experimented upon Herero prisoners. Those experiments included sterilization and injection of smallpox, typhus, and tuberculosis. The numerous mixed offspring upset the German colonial administration, which was concerned with maintaining “racial purity.” Eugen Fischer studied 310 mixed-race children, calling them “bastards” of “lesser racial quality.” Fischer also subjected them to numerous racial tests such as head and body measurements and eye and hair examinations. In conclusion of his studies he advocated genocide of alleged “inferior races” stating that “whoever thinks thoroughly the notion of race, can not arrive at a different conclusion.” Fischer’s torment of the children was part of a wider history of abusing Africans for experiments, and echoed earlier actions by German anthropologists who stole skeletons and bodies from African graveyards and took them to Europe for research or sale.

In 1985, the United Nations’ Whitaker Report classified the aftermath as an attempt to exterminate the Herero and Nama peoples of South-West Africa, and therefore one of the earliest attempts at genocide in the 20th century. In 2004, the German government recognized and apologized for the events, but ruled out financial compensation for the victims’ descendants. In July 2015, the German government and the speaker of the Bundestag officially called the events a “genocide” and “part of a race war.” However it has refused to consider reparations.

In recent years scholars have debated the “continuity thesis” that links German colonialist brutalities to the treatment of Jews, Poles, and Russians during World War II. Some historians argue that Germany’s role in Africa gave rise to an emphasis on racial superiority at home, which in turn was used by the Nazis. Other scholars, however, are skeptical and challenge the continuity thesis.

Surviving Herero

Photograph of emaciated survivors of the German genocide against Herero after an escape through the arid desert of Omaheke

A photo of emaciated survivors of the German genocide against Herero after an escape through the arid desert of Omaheke.

28.6: The Independent African States

28.6.1: Liberia

Liberia is a country in West Africa that was founded, established, colonized, and controlled by citizens of the United States and ex-Caribbean slaves as a colony for former African American slaves and their free black descendants.

Learning Objective

Describe what distinguishes Liberia from other African states

Key Points

From around 1800, in the United States, people opposed to slavery were planning ways to achieve freedom for more slaves and ultimately abolish the institution.
At the same time, slaveholders in the South opposed having free blacks in their midst, as they believed the free people threatened the stability of their slave societies.
While mostly free across the North, former slaves and other free blacks suffered considerable discrimination, and some territories and states in the Northwest prohibited migration by free people of color.
Some abolitionists and slaveholders discussed the idea of relocating freed African-American slaves to a colony in Africa, which led to the American Colonization Society (ACS), established in 1816 by Robert Finley of New Jersey.
From 1821, thousands of free blacks who faced legislated restrictions in the U.S. moved to Liberia.
In 1847, the legislature of Liberia declared the nation an independent state.
By 1867, the ACS had assisted in the movement of more than 13,000 Americans to Liberia.
Liberia retained its independence throughout the Scramble for Africa by European colonial powers during the late 19th century, but the country remained in the American sphere of influence.

Key Terms

Joseph Jenkins Roberts: The first (1848–1856) and seventh (1872–1876) President of Liberia. Born free in Norfolk, Virginia, he emigrated to Liberia in 1829 as a young man. He opened a trading store in Monrovia and later engaged in politics. When Liberia became independent in July 26, 1847, he was elected the first black American president for the Republic of Liberia, serving until 1856. In 1872 he was elected again to serve as Liberia’s seventh president.
American Colonization Society: A group established in 1816 by Robert Finley of New Jersey that supported the migration of free African Americans to the continent of Africa. It helped to found the colony of Liberia in 1821–22 on the coast of West Africa as a place for free-born American blacks.

Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. Liberia means “Land of the Free” in Latin. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its west, Guinea to its north, and Côte d’Ivoire to its east. English is the official language and over 20 indigenous languages are spoken, representing the numerous tribes who make up more than 95% of the population. The country’s capital and largest city is Monrovia.

The Republic of Liberia began as a settlement of the American Colonization Society (ACS), who believed blacks would face better chances for freedom in Africa than in the United States. The country declared its independence on July 26, 1847. The U.S. did not recognize Liberia’s independence until during the American Civil War on February 5, 1862. Between January 7, 1822, and the Civil War, more than 15,000 freed and free-born black Americans, who faced legislated limits in the U.S., and 3,198 Afro-Caribbeans relocated to the settlement. The black American settlers carried their culture with them to Liberia. The Liberian constitution and flag were modeled after those of the U.S. On January 3, 1848, Joseph Jenkins Roberts, a wealthy, free-born black American from Virginia who settled in Liberia, was elected as Liberia’s first president after the people proclaimed independence.

Liberia is the only African republic to have self-proclaimed independence without gaining independence through revolt from any other nation, being Africa’s first and oldest modern republic. Liberia maintained and kept its independence during the European colonial era.

Settlement and Independence

Between 1461 and the late 17th century, Portuguese, Dutch, and British traders had contacts and trading posts in the region. The Portuguese named the area Costa da Pimenta (“Pepper Coast”) but it later came to be known as the Grain Coast due to the abundance of melegueta pepper grains. European traders bartered commodities and goods with local people.

In the United States, there was a movement to resettle free-born blacks and freed slaves who faced racial discrimination in the form of political disenfranchisement, and the denial of civil, religious, and social privileges in the United States. Most whites and later a small cadre of black nationalists believed that blacks would face better chances for freedom in Africa than in the U.S. The American Colonization Society (ACS) was founded in 1816 in Washington, DC for this purpose, by a group of prominent politicians and slaveholders. But its membership grew to include mostly people who supported abolition of slavery. Slaveholders wanted to get free people of color out of the South, where they were thought to threaten the stability of the slave societies. Some abolitionists collaborated on relocation of free blacks, as they were discouraged by racial discrimination against them in the North and believed they would never be accepted in the larger society. Most African-Americans, who were native-born by this time, wanted to work toward justice and equality in the United States rather than emigrate. Leading activists in the North strongly opposed the ACS, but some free blacks were ready to try a different environment.

In 1821, the ACA began sending African-American volunteers to the Pepper Coast to establish a colony for freed African-Americans. By 1867, the ACS had assisted in the migration of more than 13,000 African Americans to Liberia. These free African-Americans and their descendants married within their community and came to identify as Americo-Liberians. Many were of mixed race and educated in American culture; they did not identify with the indigenous natives of the tribes they encountered. They intermarried largely within the colonial community, developing an ethnic group that had a cultural tradition infused with American notions of political republicanism and Protestant Christianity.

Reflecting the system of racial segregation in the United States, the Americo-Liberians created a cultural and racial caste system with themselves at the top and indigenous Liberians at the bottom. They believed in a form of “racial equality” which meant that all residents of Liberia had the potential to become “civilized” through western-style education and conversion to Christianity.

On July 26, 1847, the settlers issued a Declaration of Independence and promulgated a constitution. Based on the political principles denoted in the United States Constitution, it established the independent Republic of Liberia.

The leadership of the new nation consisted largely of the Americo-Liberians, who initially established political and economic dominance in the coastal areas that had been purchased by the ACS; they maintained relations with United States contacts in developing these areas and the resulting trade. Their passage of the 1865 Ports of Entry Act prohibited foreign commerce with the inland tribes, ostensibly to “encourage the growth of civilized values” before such trade was allowed.

Republic of Liberia

Charles D. B. King, 17th President of Liberia (1920-1930), with his entourage on the steps of the Peace Palace, The Hague (the Netherlands), 1927.

28.6.2: Ethiopia

Ethiopia achieved international prestige with its uniquely successful military resistance during the late 19th-century Scramble for Africa, becoming the only African country to defeat a European colonial power and retain its sovereignty.

Learning Objective

Explain how Ethiopia managed to maintain its independence

Key Points

Ethiopia is one of the few African nations that remained independent during the European colonial period.
Ethiopia’s modern history begins with the Emperor Tewodros II, who unified land from a decentralized kingdom ruled by various princes.
During the Scramble for Africa, Italy set its sights on Ethiopia (then known as Abyssinia) after colonizing neighboring Eritrea and Somalia.
After a dispute over a treaty that the Italians argued gave them rule over Ethiopia, the Italians invaded, facing an army much larger than they anticipated. This began the First Italo-Ethiopian War.
Italian defeat came about after the Battle of Adwa, where the Ethiopian army dealt the heavily outnumbered Italians a decisive loss and forced their retreat back into Eritrea, a victory that became a rallying point for later African nationalists during their struggle for decolonization.
This was not the first African victory over Western colonizers, but it was the first time such a military put a definitive stop to a colonizing nation’s efforts, with Ethiopia remaining independent until the eve of World War II, when Mussolini successful invaded and occupied Ethiopia.

Key Terms

Battle of Adwa: A battle fought in March 1896 between the Ethiopian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy near the town of Adwa, Ethiopia, in Tigray. This climactic battle of the First Italo-Ethiopian War was a decisive defeat for Italy and secured Ethiopian sovereignty.
First Italo-Ethiopian War: A war fought between Italy and Ethiopia from 1895 to 1896. It originated from a disputed treaty that the Italians claimed turned the country into an Italian protectorate. Much to its surprise, the Italian army, invading Ethiopia from Italian Eritrea in 1893, faced a powerful united front. Italian defeat came about after the Battle of Adwa, where the Ethiopian army dealt the heavily outnumbered Italians a decisive loss and forced their retreat back into Eritrea.
Tewodros II: The Emperor of Ethiopia from 1855 until his death. His rule is often placed as the beginning of modern Ethiopia, ending the decentralized Zemene Mesafint (Era of the Princes).

Independent Ethiopia

Ethiopia is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Formerly known as Abyssinia, it shares borders with Eritrea to the north and northeast, Djibouti and Somalia to the east, Sudan and South Sudan to the west, and Kenya to the south. Some of the oldest evidence for anatomically modern humans has been found in Ethiopia, widely considered the region from which modern humans first set out for the Middle East and places beyond. Tracing its roots to the 2nd millennium BC, Ethiopia was a monarchy for most of its history. During the first centuries AD, the Kingdom of Aksum maintained a unified civilization in the region, followed by the Ethiopian Empire circa 1137.

Ethiopia was reunified in 1855 under Tewodros II, beginning its modern history. The country slowly modernized under the leadership of Yohannes IV and defended itself from an Egyptian invasion in 1874. Emperor Yohannes fought and won wars against Egyptians, Italians, and Mehadists to keep his people free from foreign invaders. He was killed in action in 1889.

Under Menelik II, Ethiopia defeated an Italian invasion in 1896 and came to be recognized as a legitimate state by European powers. More rapid modernization took place under Menelik II and Haile Selassie, but this did not deter another Italian invasion in 1935. The Italian army occupied parts of the country from October 1935-May 1940. A joint force of British and Ethiopian rebels drove the Italians out of the country in 1941, and Haile Selassie was returned to the throne.

Ethiopia derived prestige from its uniquely successful military resistance during the late 19th-century Scramble for Africa, becoming the only African country to defeat a European colonial power and retain its sovereignty. Subsequently, many African nations adopted the colors of Ethiopia’s flag following their independence. It was the first independent African member of the 20th-century League of Nations and the United Nations.

First Italo-Ethiopian War

As the 20th century approached, Africa had been carved up among the European powers at the Berlin Conference. The two independent exceptions were the Republic of Liberia on the west coast and Ethiopia in the eastern Horn of Africa region. The newly unified Kingdom of Italy was a relative newcomer to the imperialist scramble for Africa. Italy had two recently obtained African territories: Eritrea and Italian Somalia. Both were near Ethiopia on the Horn of Africa and both were impoverished. Italy sought to improve its position in Africa by conquering Ethiopia. Menelik II was the Ethiopian leader who pitted Italy against its European rivals while stockpiling weapons to defend Ethiopia against the Italians.

The First Italo-Ethiopian War was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from 1895 to 1896. It originated from a disputed treaty that the Italians claimed turned the country into an Italian protectorate. Much to their surprise, they found that Ethiopian ruler Menelik II, rather than being opposed by some of his traditional enemies, was supported by them. When the Italian army invaded Ethiopia from Italian Eritrea in 1893, they thus faced a more united front than they expected. In addition, Ethiopia was supported by Russia, an orthodox Christian nation like Ethiopia, with military advisers, army training, and the sale of weapons during the war. They were also supported diplomatically by the United Kingdom and France to prevent Italy from becoming a colonial competitor. Full-scale war broke out in 1895, with Italian troops having initial success until Ethiopian troops counterattacked Italian positions and besieged the Italian fort of Meqele, forcing its surrender. Italian defeat came about after the Battle of Adwa, where the Ethiopian army dealt the heavily outnumbered Italians a decisive loss and forced their retreat back into Eritrea. This climactic battle of the First Italo-Ethiopian War was a decisive defeat for Italy and secured Ethiopian sovereignty. As a direct result of the battle, Italy signed the Treaty of Addis Ababa, recognizing Ethiopia as an independent state.

This was not the first African victory over Western colonizers, but it was the first time such a military put a definitive stop to a colonizing nation’s efforts. According to one historian, “In an age of relentless European expansion, Ethiopia alone had successfully defended its independence.”

This defeat of a colonial power and the ensuing recognition of African sovereignty became rallying points for later African nationalists during their struggle for decolonization, as well as activists and leaders of the Pan-African movement. As the Afrocentric scholar Molefe Asante explains,

After the victory over Italy in 1896, Ethiopia acquired a special importance in the eyes of Africans as the only surviving African State. After Adowa, Ethiopia became emblematic of African valor and resistance, the bastion of prestige and hope to thousands of Africans who were experiencing the full shock of European conquest and were beginning to search for an answer to the myth of African inferiority.

Almost 40 years later, in October 1935 after the League of Nations’s weak response to the Abyssinia Crisis, the Italians launched a new military campaign endorsed by Benito Mussolini, the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. This time the Italians employed vastly superior military technology such as tanks and aircraft as well as chemical warfare, and the Ethiopian forces were defeated by May 1936. Following the war, Italy occupied Ethiopia for five years (1936–41), before eventually being driven out during World War II by British and Ethiopian forces.

The Battle of Adwa

Ethiopian forces, assisted by St George (top), win the Battle of Adwa. Painted 1965-75.

An Ethiopian painting Ethiopian troops defeating the Italian troops during the Battle of Adwa.