1. British Colonies in Africa

2. Why would the British have the largest empire?
Industrial demands, need for navy

3. No Regard for Tradition
Suez Canal
1869, Suez Canal influenced Britain’s interest in Egypt
Canal linked Mediterranean with Red Sea, shortened trip from Europe to Indian Ocean; no need to sail around southern tip of Africa
1882, Egyptian government appeared unstable; British occupied Egypt to protect British interests in Suez Canal; later established partial control as protectorate to ensure British access to canal
European nations competed aggressively for other territories
1884–1885, European leaders met in Berlin to divide African territory
Tried to prevent conflict between European nations
Division in Africa
Berlin Conference—for European nation to claim new African territory, it had to prove it could control territory
No attention paid to ethnic boundaries in dividing Africa
No Regard for Tradition

4. BRITISH IN NORTH AFRICA
Egypt – in name ruled by Ottoman Turks, but largely independent
European capital investments
Suez Canal opened in 1869
Built by the Egyptians and French
Taken over by the British (1875)
British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli
Bought shares in Suez Canal Company from Egypt
Egypt was nearly bankrupt from the expense of building the Suez Canal
British government became largest shareholder

5. EUROPEANS IN EGYPT
1870s – with the Egyptian government bankrupt, the British and French took over financial control of the country
Egyptian monarchs (technically Ottoman viceroys) ruled as puppet leaders
1882 – Egyptian nationalist rebellion
France withdrew its troops
Great Britain left in control of Egypt
Lord Cromer introduced reforms
De facto British protectorate
Made official in 1914
Independence came in 1922

6. Suez Canal

7. BRITISH COLONIES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe)
Named for Cecil Rhodes
North of Union of South Africa
Bechuanaland (now Botswana)
1885 – became a British protectorate
Kenya
1888 – became a British protectorate

8. BRITISH IN NORTHERN AFRICA
Sudan
Area south of Egypt
Under Anglo-Egyptian control
Cotton needed for British textile mills
Entente Cordiale (1904)
Great Britain controlled Sudan
France controlled Morocco
Cape-to-Cairo Railroad
Idea of Cecil Rhodes
Would secure Great Britain’s dominance in Africa
Never completed – sections missing through modern Sudan and Uganda

9. Cape-to-Cairo Railway: Crossing over Victoria Falls

10. South Africa Cecil Rhodes Kimberley
Dr Jameson Jameson Raid, unsuccessful attempt to take over Boer regions.
Boer War ( ) British eventually won a war of attrition

11. Soon after that, the British got involved in the Boer War—The Germans supported the Boers, while the British were ultimately victorious.

12. South Africa By 1880 European nations only controlled 10% of Africa
The British took the Dutch settlement of Cape Town after the Napoleonic Wars
Boers - Dutch descendants moved northward to avoid the British.
Vortrekkers - The Great Trek created two independent states: Orange Free State and Transvaal
After 1853 the Boers proclaimed political independence and fought the British
By 1880 British and Boer settlers controlled much of South Africa

13. Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was In 1899, the Boers end up taking up arms against the British.
This is the first “total war”. The Boers use commando raids and guerilla tactics against the British.
The British burn Boer farms and imprison women and children in concentration camps.
The British finally won this war.
In 1910 the Boer Republic joins the Union of South Africa.

14. Dead British soldiers lying in trenches after the Battle of Spion Kop, near Ladysmith, Natal

15. French and German Colonies in Africa

16. French and Germans French West Africa
West Africa, leader of Malinke peoples, Samory Touré, formed army to fight against French rule; fought for 15 years; proclaimed self king of Guinea
1898, French defeated Touré, ended resistance to French rule in West Africa
German East Africa
Africans called on gods, ancestors for spiritual guidance in resistance
1905, several African peoples united to rebel against Germans’ order to grow cotton for export to Germany
Rebellion Put Down
To combat Germans, spiritual leader encouraged followers to sprinkle magic water over bodies to protect selves from German bullets; did not work
Rebellion quickly put down; Germans killed tens of thousands of Africans

17. FRENCH IN AFRICA Algeria Tunis Morocco 1830 – invasion
1831 – annexation
Tunis
1881 – controlled by France
Led Italy to join the Triple Alliance with Austria-Hungary and Germany
Morocco
1881 – large part under French control
1905 and 1911 – nearly sparked a European war between France and Germany
1906 – Algeciras Conference – Germany recognized French rights in Morocco
1911 – Agadir Crisis – Germany recognized French protectorate over Morocco in exchange for part of France’s territory in the Congo

18. French Colonies
By 1879, there are 150,000 French in Algeria so France takes control
made Tunisia a protectorate
made Morocco a protectorate
By 1900, France had added the French West Africa to empire

19. FRENCH IN AFRICA Madagascar Somaliland West Africa Sudan
1896 – controlled by France
Somaliland
1880s – partly under French control
West Africa
Late 1800s – largely under French control
Sudan
1898 – met Britain’s area of control and nearly went to war
Entente Cordiale settled British-French disputes in Africa

20. FRENCH IN AFRICA By World War I – 1914
France controlled 3,250,000 square miles in Africa
14 times the area of France
France ruled 30,000,000 Africans
75% of the population of France

21. GERMANS IN AFRICA Togoland (now Togo and Ghana)
Cameroons (now Cameroon and Nigeria)
Southwest Africa (now Namibia)
East Africa (now Burundi, Rwanda, and Tanzania)

22. Belgian Colonies in Africa

23. Ne Vunda, Kongolese ambassador to the Vatican, 1608
Pre-Colonial Congo
Ne Vunda, Kongolese ambassador to the Vatican, 1608
The Kingdom of Kongo
According to Portuguese explorers the kingdom was a sophisticated and well run state, an imperial federation
Known for advanced working in copper and iron
Rich in ivory and rubber
Introduction of Christianity in 15th c by Portuguese explorers. Kongolese king converts almost immediately, and Kingdom of Kongo develops mythology in which Congo is central to Christianity and many events in Bible are believed to have actually taken place in Kongolese locations.

24. Pre-Colonial Congo Slavery
Slavery was part of the culture of the Congo
Originally slaves were captured during warfare, were criminals, or were debtors who could earn back their freedom
Eventually, Muslim slave traders began to sell their slaves to European traders for export to the Americas

25. Company Rule
The Congo Free State was the personal domain of King Leopold II of Belgium
His rule is known as the most brutal of all colonial rulers
He gave Belgian businesses free access to the Congo, who administered the colony and exploited the mineral and human resources
The treatment of the Africans was so hard that when the Belgian government took control of the territory in 1908, it became known as the Belgian Congo
However, the Belgian businesses still ruled the colony

26. Where the story begins…
In 1872, Henry Stanley, an American journalist, ventured into the central region of Africa, known as the Congo, and located a “lost” British explorer named David Livingstone.

27. The news of Stanley’s successful venture became a sensation in Europe, and the King of Belgium, Leopold II, became instantly interested in the territory known as, “The Congo”.

28. In particular, Leopold was drawn to Stanley’s reports of rubber trees, ivory-tusked elephants, and gold-wearing natives.

29. The Congo Free State
Leopold sent the famous explorer of Africa, Henry Morton Stanley, to negotiate treaties with the natives.
Native chiefs were offered trinkets or cloth if they would place an X on a document in foreign tongue.
In 1877, Henry Morton Stanley called attention to the Congo region and was sent there by the association, the expense being defrayed by Leopold.[1] Through corrupt treaties with native chiefs, rights were acquired to a great area along the Congo, and military posts were established. The treaties were extremely one-sided in favor of Leopold. In some cases chiefs not only handed over their lands, but also promised to help provide workers for forced labor.

30. The Congo
"I do not want to risk...losing a fine chance to secure for ourselves a slice of this magnificent African cake.”--Leopold II
Belgian Congo

31. The Berlin Conference, 1884-1885
The Congo Free State
Use of river to gain access to ivory- and rubber-rich interior made the Congo a coveted area for colonization.
European nations negotiated and agreed to respect each others’ claims to African territory, Leopold made claim for Congo.
The Berlin Conference,

32. Leopold waged a skillful public relations campaign to promote his “Congo Free State” as an effort to stop the Arabs from running a slave trade in Africa. This, of course, was a ruse.
Slave raids such as this one carried out by the kingdom of Dahomey in return for European muskets and money provided Leopold II with his “humanitarian” excuse for going into the Congo.

33. Role of Stanley in Congo
Stanley began to sign treaties with over 450 native chiefs from the Congo
As a result, Leopold gained rule of these lands given up by the chiefs
In 1885, after the Berlin Conference, Leopold was given personal rule over the newly declared Congo Free State
Leopold had what he wanted because other European powers recognized his hold over Congo

34. Chiefs of Ngombi & Mafela, in return for "one piece of cloth per month to each of the undersigned chiefs, besides present of cloth in hand," they promised to "freely of their own accord, for themselves and their heirs and successors for ever...give up to the said Association the sovereignty and all sovereign and governing rights to all their territories...and to assist by labour or otherwise, any works, improvements or expeditions which the said Association shall cause at any time to be carried out in any part of these territories....All roads and waterways running through this country, the right of collecting tolls on the same, and all game, fishing, mining and forest rights, are to be the absolute property of the said Association.”
--Treaty handing over land to Leopold II

35. KING LEOPOLD II OF BELGIUM (1835-1909)
Took over land in central Africa
Berlin Conference (1885)
Leopold’s control over Congo Free State recognized by major powers
Belgian Congo (1908)
Leopold criticized for the cruelty of his rule in the Congo
Leopold forced to sell Congo Free State to Belgian government
Renamed Belgian Congo
Created European race for African colonies – “Scramble for Africa”
Diamonds, foodstuffs, gold, ivory, rubber

36. The Congo Free State: Leopold’s False Promises
European countries recognized Leopold’s claim to the territory in 1885 because of:
Stanley’s treaties for Leopold
Leopold’s assurances that he would end slavery
Leopold’s promise that the Congo would remain a free trade area.
The colony “belonged” to Leopold personally.
The International Association of the Congo sought to combine the numerous small territories acquired into one sovereign state and asked for recognition from the European Powers. On April 22, 1884, the United States government, having decided that the cessions by the native chiefs were lawful, recognized the International Association of the Congo as a sovereign independent state, under the title of the Congo Free State, and this example was followed by Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, and Sweden. The international conference on African affairs, which met at Berlin, 1884–85, determined the status of the Congo Free State. The Free State of the Congo was confirmed as private property of the Congo Society. Thus the territory of today's Democratic Republic of the Congo, some two million square kilometers, was made essentially the property of Léopold II (because of the terror regime established, it would eventually become a Belgian colony). It was primarily because of this point that Joseph Conrad sarcastically referred to the conference as "the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs” in Heart of Darkness.

37. Leopold II 1885: Congo Free State
Leopold pledge to uphold Berlin Conference
Suppress East African slave trade
Promote humanitarian policies
Guarantee free trade within the colony
Impose no import duties for 20 yrs.
Encourage philanthropic and scientific enterprises
"I do not want to miss a good chance of getting us a slice of this magnificent African cake."
King Leopold II
Kevin P. Dincher

38. Promises, Promises
Leopold promised the European nations at the conference that he would build a nation of free Congo states, like the United States, and end the slave trade.

39. In the early 1880s, King Leopold II of Belgium paid for expeditions to the the Congo in the center of the African continent.
He claimed that, “millions of men still plunged in barbarism will be at the dawn of a better era.”
But he really wanted the Congo’s natural resources: copper, rubber and ivory.
He forced the locals to work for almost nothing and had them killed and tortured if they complained or disobeyed.

40. Instead, Leopold began a 70 year plunder of the Congo of its rubber, ivory, gold, diamonds, copper, and tin.
And, his Belgian forces enslaved Congolese peoples with regularity.

41. Leopold II Exploitation of resources
Ivory, Rubber, Minerals
One of the greatest international scandals of the early 20th century
Forced/slave labor
Starvation
Disease
Torture/mutilation
Directly and indirectly eliminated 20% of the population
10 to 13 million people
A 1906 Punch cartoon depicting Leopold II as a rubber vine entangling a Congolese man
Kevin P. Dincher

42. The Congo Free State : “The Profit Imperative”
Leopold drove slave traders out and portrayed it as humanitarian act.
Reality: he did it to gain control of region.
Leopold paid his ‘agents’ in the Congo a percentage of profits, encouraging them to make the trade more and more profitable.
Also authorized the use of as much force as was deemed necessary.

43. Harvesting Rubber

44. The Congo Free State : “The Profit Imperative”
Colony not profitable in first few years.
Soon the idea of free trade was abandoned
Natives could only trade with Leopold’s representatives, with 50% of profits going to Leopold himself.
Profit required cheap labor (gathering rubber is very labor intensive).

45. Belgian soldiers enforcing rubber sap quotas

46. Leopold’s Abuse of the Congo
Agents ‘encouraged’ young men to work by holding their wives and children captive until each man’s quota was met.
Many who resisted were killed on the spot.
Others were beaten with whips made from dried hippo hide with sharp edges.
20 lashes resulted in unconsciousness
100 lashes resulted in death.

47. Women kept hostage to force their husbands to go and gather rubber.
Rubber was harvested by climbing the rubber tree, tapping into it and letting the sap run all over the slave’s body, where it would congeal.
Later he would peel the rubber off his body, taking any body hair with it.
Rubber harvesters were given impossible quotas to fill each month.
In addition to enduring the hardships of gathering rubber in the jungle, many of them were killed by wild animals.

48. "The station chief selects the victims
"The station chief selects the victims....Trembling, haggard, they lie face down on the ground...two of their companions, sometimes four, seize them by the feet and hands, and remove their cotton drawers....Each time that the torturer lifts up the chicotte, a reddish stripe appears on the skin of the pitiful victims, who, however firmly held, gasp in frightful contortions....At the first blows the unhappy victims let out horrible cries which soon become faint groans....In a refinement of evil, some officers, and I've witnessed this, demand that when the sufferer gets up, panting, he must graciously give the military salute.”
-- Stanislas Lefranc, Belgian prosecutor
The chicotte, a particularly vicious type of whip made from rhinoceros hide.

49. Punishing “Lazy” Workers

50. Two victims (l.) who lost their hands, one because his wrists were tied too tightly, the other because company militia cut it off to claim him as killed and get a reward. Below, a father looks at the severed hand and foot of his daughter
Belgian Congo

51. Primary Source: Roger Casement, Report from the Congo Basin in 1903
Here Nkwabali took up the tale from Moyo, the Bangongo chief: ‘We said to the white men, We are not enough people now to do what you want us. Our country has not many people in it and we are dying fast. We are killed by the work you make us do, but the stoppage of our plantations, and the breaking up of our homes.’”

52. Mutilated People in the Congo Free State

53. "I have just returned from a journey inland to the village of Insongo Mboyo. The abject misery and utter abandon is positively indescribable. I was so moved, Your Excellency, by the people's stories that I took the liberty of promising them that in future you will only kill them for crimes they commit.“ John Harris (Missionary)
Kevin P. Dincher

54. The men in this photo are holding human hands.
Brutalities were brought to the attention of the world by the many Catholic missionaries who had moved to the region, along with various explorers. Reports included appointed officials outright murdering those who could not pay their taxes and then cutting off and drying their right hands to keep a tally of those who could not pay. Our people were forced to turn to cannibalism and murder to survive. The only food to be found was that off of our brothers' bodies, the only solace for our barbarity was hope that one day, Leopold would pay for his crimes. Finally, the Belgian Government decided to do something about these atrocities and turn the Congo Free State into a protectorate of the Belgian Government. It will soon be renamed the Belgian Congo and be remanded into the hands of parliament.
sun.menloschool.org

55. 5-8 Million Victims! (50% of Popul.)
It is blood-curdling to see them (the soldiers) returning with the hands of the slain, and to find the hands of young children amongst the bigger ones evidencing their bravery...The rubber from this district has cost hundreds of lives, and the scenes I have witnessed, while unable to help the oppressed, have been almost enough to make me wish I were dead... This rubber traffic is steeped in blood, and if the natives were to rise and sweep every white person on the Upper Congo into eternity, there would still be left a fearful balance to their credit Belgian Official

56. Leopold’s Abuse of the Congo
Revolt broke out.
Leopold sent troops into villages to exterminate the young men.
To make sure bullets weren’t wasted, soldiers were expected to return with the severed right hands of those they killed.
Soldiers who couldn’t meet quotas or spent bullets hunting would cut hands off of living women and children.
Between an estimated 8-10 million people died due to murder, mistreatment and starvation.

57. The “Hand” Tax
Hands cut off as proof of killing or punishment: received payment for hands and “proved” that supervisors were not “wasting” bullets on game hunting

58. Leopold’s men then proceeded to rape the land of its riches, especially ivory and rubber, ruthlessly using forced labor to get the job done.
"It was most interesting, lying in the bush, watching the natives quietly at their day's work. Some women ...were making banana flour by pounding up dried bananas. Men we could see building huts and engaged in other work, boys & girls running about, singing.... I opened the game by shooting one chap through the chest. He fell like a stone....Immediately a volley was poured into the village.”
"Six shots & four deaths were sufficient to quiet the mocking.”--Henry Stanley

59. The village of Baringa before and after it was burned & converted into a rubber plantation, it being easier to clear a village than a deeply rooted jungle
Belgian Congo

60. Leopold’s Conscience??

61. Negative press about what the Belgians were doing in the Congo
The Belgian King Leopold II says to the USA " I'll give you enough rubber to make you an elastic conscience" 

62. “Heart of Darkness” Joseph Conrad (1857-1914) Marlow’s & Conrad’s
journey into
“Heart of Darkness”

63. The First Modern Genocide?
From the Congolese population declines by one-half to 10 million due to
1) murder
2) starvation/exhaustion
3) disease
4) low birth rate
An estimated 10 million people died during this time

66. Effects of Imperialism on Congolese Continued
They were forced to collect sap from rubber plants by European Companies that King Leopold II issued.
A near 10 million Congolese died from the brutality of Leopold’s rule.
Humanitarians all around the world wanted big changes because of the horrible acts of Leopold.
The Belgium Government took control in 1908, away from the vicious Leopold.
There was slavery throughout Africa and they were beaten and forced to work but that would soon be over because they were going to gain independence from Belgium soon.

67. Effect on the Congo: The Human Rights Movement
Public pressure eventually forced Leopold to sell the Congo Free State to the Belgian government. It became The Belgian Congo in 1908
The Belgian Government ended the worst of the atrocities, but still controlled the fate of the African natives “For their own good.”
The African natives were never consulted about their future

68. Imperial Power Removed In Congo
In 1908 the Congo was surrendered by King Leopold II to Belgium.
It was renamed the Belgium Congo.
Working conditions were harsh but the Belgium rule improved them significantly.
People began to demand self rule.
The Belgium government agreed to give their political power to the people because they were so confident that they would later regain control.
The Belgium Government was wrong, on June 30,1960, Congo gained their independence.
Joseph Kasavubu and Patrick Lumumba were the new president and prime minister of the Belgium Congo.

69. Benefits and Modernization
The Belgian modernized the colony
The Belgians built railroads and automobiles
They brought over electricity and telephones
("Encyclopedia Britannica,“).

70. Cultural Imperialism
The Belgians forced many different Congo tribes to live together
The Belgians set up Belgian style schools
The Congolese lost their native language and way of religion
The Belgians brought a new system of law
(Everything Culture," ).

71. Resistance and Independence Movements
Congo rebelled from beginning
The first Congolese party started in whose name was Congo nation movement
In 1959 riots broke out and Congo people demanded independence
Congo became an independent republic on June 30, 1960
("Encyclopedia Britannica," ).

72. Consequences on the Occupied Region
When the Belgians left the country was unstable
The Congo lost a lot of its resources
Most people live in poverty
Government corruption has caused civil wars
picture:mydailyclarity.com
(Democratic Republic of the Congo, n.d.).

73. BELGIANS IN AFRICA
1908
Belgium gained control of Congo (Congo Free State) from King Leopold II
Leopold was infamous for the cruelty of his rule in the Congo
Congo Free State (today’s Democratic Republic of Congo)
80 times the size of Belgium
Source of uranium

74. Modern Status Congo Belgium GDP-$37,900 per year Literacy rate-99%
HDI-.867 (rank 18)
GDP-$300 per year
Literacy rate-67.2%
HDI-.239 (rank 168)
seputarforex.com
(The World Factbook, n.d.).

75. Italian Colonies in Africa

76. ITALIANS IN AFRICA 1882-1896 1896 1912 Eritrea (along the Red Sea)
Somaliland (along the Indian Ocean, part of today’s Somalia)
1896
Defeated in attempt to conquer Abyssinia (Ethiopia)
1912
Won Tripoli from Ottoman Turks

77. Portuguese Colonies in Africa

78. PORTUGUESE IN AFRICA
Under “old imperialism” Portugal gained African territory and led the early trans-Atlantic African slave trade
Angola
Mozambique
Portuguese territory in Africa, 1810

79. Spanish Colonies in Africa

80. SPANISH IN AFRICA Spain had very few possessions in Africa
Tip of Morocco
Rio de Oro
Rio Muni

81. Modern boundaries, drawn by Europeans