Imperialism in Africa [Image source:

Imperialism Latin word from the days of the Roman empire domination of a country’s political, economic, and social life by another country

Causes for nineteenth-century European Imperialism 1. Economics 2. Nationalism 3. Balance-of-Power 4. White Man’s Burden

“Take up the White Man’s burden – Send forth the best ye breed – Go bind your sons to exile To serve your captives’ need; To wait in heavy harness On fluttered folk and wild – Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half-devil and half-child.” - Rudyard Kipling

[Image source: Initially, European holdings were limited to coastal areas near the mouths of rivers along the trade routes to Asia.

Missionaries such as David Livingstone often expanded European knowledge of the interior of Africa as a result of their travels. [Image source:

[Image source: The travels of these explorers allowed their respective nations to lay claim to those lands.

Chancellor Otto von Bismarck of Germany convened a conference to discuss the procedures for establishing colonies. [Image source:

Berlin Conference met in late-1884/early-1885 set the criteria for claiming colonies in Africa initiated the “Scramble for Africa” - succeeded in deflecting European attention and aggression outward - resulted in the partitioning of Africa

Countries at the Conference of Berlin: Great Britain France Spain Belgium Italy Portugal Germany

In Africa, only two countries allowed to remain independent: EthiopiaLiberia

[Image source: King Charles X started France on the road to empire when he ordered his troops to invade Algeria in 1830.

It took France ten years and 100,000 troops to conquer and occupy all of Algeria.

France went on to conquer Tunis in 1881 and secure special rights in Morocco in 1904.

[Image source: Meanwhile, Great Britain was chewing up territory elsewhere in Africa.

Britain acquired Southern Africa from the Dutch during the Napoleonic Wars, in an effort to maintain their trade routes to their empire in the Orient. [Image source

British interests collided with an expanding Zulu Empire. [Image source: Into The Fire by Mark Churms ]

After some initial defeats, the British managed to extend their hegemony over most of southern Africa. [Image source:

[Image source: In 1859, the French entrepreneur, Ferdinand de Lesseps, set up a company to build the Suez Canal.

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The Suez Canal provided a more direct route between Europe and East Asia. [Image source:

[Image source Great Britain gained control of the canal in 1875 when Egypt sold its shares to pay off some debts. Mediterranean Sea Red Sea

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Concern over the security of the Suez Canal led Britain to take a greater interest in the affairs of Egypt. [Image source:

Egypt became a protectorate of Great Britain in 1882 after the defeat of a nationalist revolt led by Ahmed Arabi. [Image source:

[Image source: During the 1880s, an Islamic revival, led by a self- proclaimed deliverer known as the Mahdi, threatened British interests in Egypt.

His force swept across the Sudan, re- instituting fundamentalist practices. [Image source:

Among the practices revived by the Mahdi was slavery. [Image source:

The British ultimately defeated the forces of the Mahdi at the Battle of Omdurman. ]

“Whatever happens, we have got, the Maxim gun, and they have not.” [Image source: - Hillaire Belloc

[Image source: Many people, such as Britain’s competitors in colonization, the French, hoped that Britain would fail miserably in their efforts to establish a global empire.

British and French interests collided at Fashoda in 1898, almost resulting in a shooting war between the two great imperialist powers. [Image source:

The British met opposition in places like West Africa, when they sought to conquer and subdue the Ashanti Empire of Queen Yaa Asantewaa. [Image source:

The French also ran into difficulties when they tried to defeat Samory Touré, the “Black Napoleon” of the Western Sudan, in the late-nineteenth century. [Image source:

King Behanzin of Dahomey turned out to be a formidable foe for the French as well. [Image source:

Relative late-comers to the Scramble for Africa included: Belgium Italy Germany

King Leopold II of Belgium aspired to be the ruler of a large empire like his fellow European monarchs. [Image source:

He managed to claim virtually all the land drained by the Congo River for Belgium. [Image source: /316kunit3/studentprojects/conrad/congo.jpg]

Leopold was able to claim the Congo for Belgium because he promoted the fiction that his rule would be benign. In reality, the colony became one large plantation producing rubber. [Image source:

Natives who failed to harvest their quota of latex were often punished by having their hands cut off. [Image source:

Italy declared war on the Ottoman Empire in 1911, seizing Tripoli and renaming it Libya.

Menelik II succeeded in conquering many smaller kingdoms, creating a reunified Ethiopian Empire. [Image source:

An expanding Ethiopia collided with an expanding Italian Empire, resulting in a brief war.

The Italians suffered a humiliating defeat at the Battle of Adowa in [Image source:

As a result of their victory at Adowa, Ethiopia managed to be one of the only African nations to maintain it’s independence. [Image source:

Much against Chancellor Bismarck’s desire, nationalist groups in Germany succeeded in driving Germany into the ranks of Imperialist powers in Africa. [Image source:

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