Essay on The Scramble for Africa - 1662 Words

The Scramble for Africa is one of the best examples of colonization in world history. Europe alone managed to colonize the entire African continent in a period of roughly twenty five years, spanning from 1875 to 1900. The quest for power by European nations was only one of the driving forces for this race for colonization. The geographical location and the natural resources to be exploited in certain regions of the continent were important factors in the race for land. Another factor that contributed to the colonization of Africa was the end of the slave trade. The need for new capitalism to exist between Europe and Africa after the call for the abolition of slavery became great. European traders were searching for new avenues for making†¦show more content†¦The Congo basin area was not just of interest to Belgium; France and Portugal also had interest in this region with the area to the north of the river Congo became a French protectorate. The Kingdom of Congo had also bee n a target of Dutch and Portuguese interest for centuries. The Portuguese government established a treaty with Great Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Lord Granville, which recognized Portugal’s claim to both banks at the mouth of the Congo leading to the sea, thus cutting off Leopold’s access to this area. However, the King of Belgium continued to annex other regions and by 1890, his holds in Africa were 75 times the size of Belgium. During this time of colonization by Belgium under Leopold, brutality was horrific, resulting in millions of the Congo region’s native people being terrorized into submission or killed in the effort (â€Å"Democratic Republic of Congo profile†). For Great Britain, the loss of the colonies in America in the late 1700s was a huge blow politically and economically. Interest in colonizing Africa became strong after this period. The British had already acquired Cape Colony, located in southern tip of Africa from the Dutch in the 1600s. When the Suez Canal opened in 1869, British Foreign Minister Benjamin Disraeli a large portion of the share holdings from the Egyptian ruler, establishing a strong British influence in the region after the French abandoned the joint occupation. The ultimate goal of theShow MoreRelatedThe Scramble for Africa1154 Words   |  5 Pages What was the Scramble for Africa? The Scramble for Africa was a period of time where major European countries fought over and colonized land in Africa, stretching from South Africa to Egypt. The scramble for Africa began shortly after the slave trade, and ended at WW1, and is a strong representation of the ‘New Imperialism’. The first country to act was Belgium, who colonized Congo at 1885, but soon, other countries such as Portugal and Great Britain joined in in order to not miss out. FirstlyRead MoreScramble for Africa1841 Words   |  8 PagesWhat were the major historical factors explaining ‘the scramble for Africa’? In order to approach this essay question, my analysis will be divided into two parts. The first section will define what the scramble for Africa means. In the subsequent sections, I will refer to the case history of colonization of Africa by some European countries, the motives behind their actions and its consequences on Africa particularly. The scramble for Africa was described as the golden period of European expansionismRead MoreScramble for Africa835 Words   |  4 PagesEuropean powers were involved in Africa since the mid-1500s but had restricted their area of influence to only the coastal regions of Western Africa, where powers such as Great Britain established hubs for their highly profitable slave trade (David). Over a period of nearly three hundred years, European ships had transported more than 11 million people from Africa to different areas of the world, including America after the slave trade was abolished in Europe, and sold them into slavery (David)Read MoreThe Scramble for Africa980 Words   |  4 Pagesto discuss the division of Africa between European powers, said powers both occupied and colonized Africa. Many different intricate societies who each had different reactions to the Scramble for Africa composed Africa of the era. While a large majority of Africans reacted to the Europeans presence viol ently, others relied on religious apple or polite denials to soften the blow of imperialism. Violent reactions to European imperialism spanned across all parts of Africa; however, large weapons gapsRead MoreThe Scramble for Africa Essay1032 Words   |  5 PagesThe scramble for Africa represents the most thorough and systematic process of colonialism in world history. The European colonial powers managed to conquer and control almost the entire continent of Africa in a short, twenty-five year period from about 1875 to 1900. Some of the European states involved were already well-established global powers; the others were up and coming nations that desired to emulate and compete with the dominant imperial states. Various factors allowed for and contributedRead MoreScramble Africa And The Aftermath Essay2328 Words   |  10 PagesScrambling Africa and the Aftermath. One common phenomenon between many nations of the world is the colony. The United States, Canada, South Korea, Niger, India, Kenya, Australia, and the Republic of South Africa and more shared the pros and cons of colonial systems. They are all former colonies to the extent that India, Nigeria, South Africa, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand are members of the Commonwealth, they are former colonies of the United Kingdom and they all continue to concede the nominalRead MorePartition and Scramble of Africa1582 Words   |  7 Pagesunprecedented manner, even though there was little interest in Africa up to the 1870s. In fact, up to 1880 Europeans ruled merely 10% of the African continent. Yet within 30 years, by 1914, European nations will have claimed all of Africa except Liberia (a small territory of freed slaves from the United States) and Abyssinia (Ethiopia), which had successfully held off Italian invaders at the battle of Adowa in 1896. The partitioning of Africa was seen as a means of easing tensions between European statesRead MoreAnalysis Of The Scramble For Africa 1152 Words   |  5 Pagesto the scramble for Africa. Though there was no one that stood in the place of a mother to tell the European powers that they needed to share, the single greatest power of the time, Great Britain, surly tried to play the part of mamma. â€Å"The scramble for Africa is subject to countless studies†¦ no single event set off the scramble†. Taking a look at two of the factors that played a massive role in the scramble, globalization, and natural resources, a picture to why the scramble for Africa took placeRead MoreThe Scramble for Africa Essay583 Words   |  3 Pagestribes in Africa. The Africans had no choice, their opinions didn’t matter, they were just like the land: they were just property. Life for the Africans wasn’t always run by imperialist. Although Europeans did have ties with the Europeans in the 1450s, the Europeans didn’t have control over much land. The land they did have control over was costal; they were afraid to venture any further because of the high risk of malaria. Another factor was African tribes having a strong militaries. Africa was brokenRead MoreThe Scramble For African Colonization Of Africa1733 Words   |  7 Pages The Scramble for Africa had a massive impact on the lives of the citizens that lived there. In the 1870’s when Germany became the new leader in the European industry with chemicals and electrical products. This time was known as the second industrial revolution when transportation in the country came about it effected routes of trade became easily available thus making. The growth of European colonization of Africa which was unique because they started to colonized later than everyone else. For