The+Berlin+Conference+and+the++Partition+of+Africa

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Michael Lawrence oodyboocs2@aol.com (Sources 1, 2, and 7) Google account name-- mlawrence93@gmail.com Josh Long - skiesablaze57@aim.com - (Sources 3,4,5,6, and 8) -- 11joshlong@gmail.com Kevin Johnson - speedywrestler@cablespeeed.comBook (Book Sources-9,10,11) 11KJohnson@Gmail.com

Research Material and Sources
 * __(Power Point Outline at bottom)__**

Definition The **Berlin Conference** of 1884–85 regulated European colonization and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period, and coincided with Germany's sudden emergence as an imperial power. Called for by Portugal and organized by Otto von Bismarck, the first Chancellor of Germany, its outcome, the **General Act of the Berlin Conference**, is often seen as the formalization of the Scramble for Africa.(1)

Origin Henry Morton Stanley's charting of the Congo River Basin (1874–1877) removed the last bit of unknown land from European maps of the continent. In 1878, King Léopold II of Belgium, who had previously founded the International African Society in 1876, invited Stanley to join him. The International African Society had the goal of researching and civilizing the continent.(1) By the mid-nineteenth century, Europeans had established colonies all along the African coast and competed for control. The push for overseas territories was made even more intense by the Industrial Revolution and the need for cheap labor, raw material, and new markets. The competition between the Europeans often lead to violent conflict. Eventually, Portugal suggested the idea of an international conference that could settle the territorial disputes that arose from European activities in the Congo region.(2) 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Conference_(1884) 2. http://www.thenagain.info/webchron/Africa/BerlinConf.html 3. http://geography.about.com/cs/politicalgeog/a/berlinconferenc.htm 4. http://wysinger.homestead.com/berlinconference.html 5. http://www.newberry.org/smith/k-12plans/africa/africa_notes.html 6. http://wfps.k12.mt.us/teachers/carmichaelg/new_page_33.htm 7. **//[|Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450]//**. Ed. Thomas Benjamin. Vol. 1. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. p132-133. 8. __The Partition of Africa 1880–1939.__   **// __Philip's Atlas of World History, Concise Edition__ .//** Ed. Patrick K. O'Brien. London: Philip's, 2002. p206-207. 9. Key Events in African History. 10. The History of African Colinizaton 11. World Book Encyclopedia- The Berlin Confrence

General Info
 * "The Berlin Conference was Africa's undoing in more ways than one. The colonial powers superimposed their domains on the African continent. By the time independence returned to Africa in 1950, the realm had acquired a legacy of political fragmentation that could neither be eliminated nor made to operate satisfactorily." (3)
 * At the time of the conference Africa remained under 80% local control
 * Fourteen countries were represented by a plethora of ambassadors when the conference opened in Berlin on November 15, 1884 (3)
 * lasted until February 26, 1885
 * The Principle of Effectivity stated that powers could only hold colonies if they actually possessed them, in other words if they had treaties with local chiefs, 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. If the colonial power did not do these things, another power could do so and take over the territory. It became important to get chiefs to sign a protectorate treaty and to have a presence sufficient to police the area. (1)
 * The Scramble for Africa sped up after the Conference, since even within areas designated as their sphere of influence, the European powers still had to take possession under the Principle of Effectivity. Within a few years, Africa was at least nominally divided up south of the Sahara. (1)

//Major colonial holdings included://
 * //Great Britain desired a Cape-to-Cairo collection of colonies and almost succeeded though their control of Egypt, Sudan (Anglo-Egyptian Sudan), Uganda, Kenya (British East Africa), South Africa, and Zambia, Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), and Botswana. The British also controlled Nigeria and Ghana (Gold Coast).//
 * //France took much of western Africa, from Mauritania to Chad (French West Africa) and Gabon and the Republic of Congo (French Equatorial Africa).//
 * //Belgium and King Leopold II controlled the Democratic Republic of Congo (Belgian Congo).//
 * //Portugal took Mozambique in the east and Angola in the west.//
 * //Italy's holdings were Somalia (Italian Somaliland) and a portion of Ethiopia.//
 * //Germany took Namibia (German Southwest Africa) and Tanzania (German East Africa).//
 * //Spain claimed the smallest territory - Equatorial Guinea (Rio Muni). **(3)**//


 * Berlin Act -- Article 34 -- States that any Europen nation that may take control of African land must inform the Signatory powers of the Berlin Act

Article 35 determined that in order to occupy a coastal possession, the nation also had to prove that they controlled sufficient authority there to protect existing rights such as freedom of trade and transit. This was called the doctrine of “effective occupation” and it made the conquest of Africa a less bloody process. (6)**


 * //L'Illustration (Berlin Conference, 1884)//**

Otto Von Bismarck

[|Map courtesy of Civilization Past & Present - Illustrations] **[|Berlin Conference Document]**

In the second half of the nineteenth century, after more than four centuries of contact, the European powers finally laid claim to virtually all of Africa. Parts of the continent had been "explored," but now representatives of European governments and rulers arrived to create or expand African spheres of influence for their patrons. Competition was intense. Spheres of influence began to crowd each other. It was time for negotiation, and in late 1884 a conference was convened in Berlin to sort things out. This conference laid the groundwork for the now familiar politico-geographical map of Africa. (4)

The European colonial powers shared one objective in their African colonies; exploitation. But in the way they governed their dependencies, they reflected their differences. Some colonial powers were themselves democracies (the United Kingdom and France); others were dictatorships (Portugal, Spain). King Leopold II, who had financed the expeditions that staked Belgium's claim in Berlin, embarked on a campaign of ruthless exploitation. His enforcers mobilized almost the entire Congolese populations to gather rubber, kill elephants for their ivory, and build public works to improve export routes. For failing to meet production quotes, entire communities were massacred. Killing and maiming became routine in a colony in which horror was the only common denominator. After the impact of the slave trade, King Leopold's reign of terror was Africa's most severe demographic disaster. By the time it ended, after a growing outcry around the world, as many as 10 million Congolese had been murdered. In 1908 the Belgium government administrators, and the Roman Catholic Church each pursued their sometimes competing interest. But no one thought to change the name of the colonial capital: it was Leopoldville until the Belgian Congo achieved independence in 1960. (4)
 * Results of Colonization**

1885 was a crucial year for European imperialism in Africa as it marks the year of the Berlin Conference. It is important to note that no actual divisions of territory took place at the conference, but it instead served as a watershed for the partition that largely took place from 1885-1900. (5) Jeffery Stone articulates this point in A Short History of the Cartography of Africa, page 68: "This conference has been seen erroneously as launching the partition of Africa among the European powers. In fact, historians have long been at pains to emphasize that it did not carve up Africa. It was convened because the collaborative arrangements on which Europeans states had hitherto relied were beginning to break down. The objective of the conference was the continued commercial access by European powers to the resources of Africa. The intention was to regulate European rivalries, not to partition Africa. The Berlin Conference failed in its attempt to curb the impending partition of Africa, but recognition of the conference as a meeting of imperialists, not colonialists and the recognition of differing attributes of imperialism and colonialism is important for understanding the cartographic evolution of Africa." (5)

Before the 1880's very little of Africa was under colonial rule. The British controlled areas in Sierra Leone, Gambia, Lagos, and some areas in South Africa. The French had control of St. Louis and Dakar in Senegal, Grand Bassam and Assini in Cote d'Ivoire. The Portugese were established in Mozambique and Angola.Europeans were interested in colonizing Africa to make a profit in two ways: (1) By obtaining cheap raw materialsthat would be exported to europe to manufacture numerous products. (2) Claiming as much land as fast as possible to beat out their rival European neigbors. //Genral History of Africa. "// library books"

Britain established control of the important territories of Nigeria and Ghana, in addition to most parts of eastern Africa. Sudan came under effective British-Egyptian control after the British suppressed the Mahdi Rebellion during the 1880s and resolved the 1898 Fashoda crisis, a tense territorial dispute between Britain and France. (7) Britain continued its domination of southern Africa after the second Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902). France claimed large territories in sub-Saharan Africa but French claims to parts of the Congo and to Nigeria and the historical claim of Portugal to the mouth of the Congo were ignored by other European powers at the **Berlin** **Conference**. The French and Spanish divided Morocco in 1911, and Libya came under Italian domination in 1912. The scramble for Africa came to an end with the annexation of Egypt by the British in 1914. By this time, all of Africa except Liberia and Ethiopia was under European control. (7)
 * Britain's Role in the Partition of Africa**

//Caricature of Bismarck at the Berlin Conference//

__"COMMUNICATION INFRASTRUCTURE__ __Railway networks werre built that linked coastal ports to the hinterland and served as a major stimulus to trade and commodity production. Railways proved particularly important for the development of mining as well as for commercial agriculture. They were also vital for the supply of labour and were crucial for the economic development of the region.__ __After the initial phase of railway construction, road-building programmes, especially in the inter-war years, brought some of the most remote areas into direct contact with the colonial economy. The arrival of trucks stimulated the re-emergence of an African merchant class, particularly in West Africa. Rapid urbanization, a remarkable feature of the colonial era, was stimulated by the development of transport links and of internal and external trade.__ __EDUCATION AND RELIGION__ __In much of colonial Africa the spread of education was closely linked to religious change. Christianity in particular underwent exponential growth. The spread of Western education, building on earlier missionary endeavours, tended to be geared to the requirements of colonial regimes – providing skilled workers, clerks and petty officials. Many Africans eagerly embraced education, often as a means of social advancement. Thus, the spread of literacy opened up new horizons and possibilities that could not easily be controlled by the colonial powers. It is striking that many of the early African nationalists were the products of mission education – men who became politicized when the opportunities opened up by their education were denied them by the inequalities inherent in colonial rule.__ __Education and Christianity were not, however, universally welcomed by Africans. While offering social mobility to many, these agencies also threatened the power of traditional elites. Frequently, forms of Christianity evolved which combined African belief systems and traditions with Western ones. The Bible also offered fertile ground for rein-terpretation in ways that challenged European rule.__ __Colonialism was the source of great and profound changes: economic, political, social, cultural and demographic. Significant and wide-ranging as these changes were, however, innovations were seldom imposed on a blank slate. Rather, colonial institutions were built on existing structures and moulded according to circumstances. Far from capitulating to alien rule, many African societies showed great resilience and adaptability in surviving it." (8)__
 * (Above material is research and reference)**

1. Cover Slide (L'Illustration) 2. Origin Slide (Otto Von Bismarck & Caricature) 3. General Info 4. Colonial Holdings (African Colonies Picture) 5. Divisons of Land (e.g. Britain's Role in the Partition of Africa) 6. Results of Colonization 7. Effects of Colonization on Africa's Future (?) 8. Bibliography__//**
 * //__Power Point Outline (suggestions?)

That looks good. but we should put in a slide about why the Europeans wanted to colonize. i.e. rescources, raw materials, ect. I dont think we neeed to have a slide about the effects on Africas future ( slide 7).

We should decide how we are going to split up the slides. Like who does which slides. -- Kevin Johnson

That outline looks like it will work. My only complaint is that we may have to split General Info, Colonial Holdings, or Results of Colonization into two different slides depending on how much information we decide to use for those subjects. I also agree with Kevin about slide 7; although that is relevant to the project, we may be able to cover it in Results of Colonization. --Mike