The History of Imperialism in Africa

From the fifteenth century to the nineteenth century, only ten percent of Africa had been colonized by European powers. This ten percent of colonies were typically located on the coast of the continent in order to be used in the slave and ivory trade. The middle regions of Africa were largely left uncolonized by European powers in the Age of Conquest. More than a thousand native tribes in Africa controlled eighty percent of the continent until the early 1880’s (“Background Essay”). However, in the late nineteenth century, the “scramble for Africa” occurred, leading to Europe’s almost complete control of the African continent. European powers began colonizing Africa because the Industrial Revolution increased the need of colonies as sources of supplies and raw materials, and new advancements made travel to the continent possible. Nevertheless, the altruistic goal of bringing “Christianity, commerce, and civilization” to Africa was used as a justification for colonialism, a justification used by many, such as Henry Morton Stanley and David Livingstone, missionaries and creators of European maps of Africa (“Background Essay”).

European powers began fighting for control over the African continent. However, organization was needed to foster trade and prevent violence. Otto van Bismarck, chancellor of Germany, met with Belgium, Austria-Hungary, Denmark, France, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden-Norway, and the United States in Berlin, Germany. Thus, the Berlin Conference took place from November 15, 1884 to February 26, 1885. During this meeting, a process for the colonization of Africa was created (“Background Essay”); the Berlin Conference General Act defined borders designated only by European powers. This conference permanently impacted Africa as European countries drew state boundaries with no concern for the continent’s native cultural, linguistic, or social structures (“The Berlin Conference: Dilemma: Opening”), as no African leaders were present. These determined boundaries directly led to modern African nation-states, and Europe gained control of all of Africa, except Liberia and Ethiopia, by 1914. Ironically, five countries present at the Berlin Conference did not actually gain territory, and these five countries had more input in the division of Africa than the Africans themselves did (Myers). Although African borders assigned in the Berlin Conference are a cause of present-day inner turmoil, because changing them will be to no avail, they were only one factor that led to Africa’s modern instability; other causes are related to political and economic occurrences.

The randomly assigned borders of the Berlin Conference ignored native ethnic and linguistic boundaries (“Background Essay”). In essence, these were two causes for major problems in Africa that continue to this day: the divided linguistic and ethnic groups and the combination of separate African societies together (Maddox). Communities were split; various different and sometimes conflicting social groups were put together (“Background Essay”). For example, the Conference placed the conflicting groups of the Ibo and the Yoruba together, which led to the Nigerian civil war of 1967-1971 (Myers). Violence in Africa today can be linked to the initial violence used in the creation of Africa: Europe needed to control their territories, so they had to send in troops and forces because the native Africans fought back. Violent struggles from colonialism and imperialism still affects the African continent: for example, in British East Africa, the struggle for control lasted until the beginning of World War I. In German East Africa, revolts began in the 1800’s and continued to the beginning of the 20th century. World War I finally ended the struggle in Somalia. It took ten years to control Sudan. In German Southwest Africa, hundreds of thousands of people were killed. In the Belgian Congo Free State, five to ten million people were killed. Only Ethiopia won against European power (Myers). Because the boundaries only served the European powers and their interests, post-colonialism Africa had corrupt leaders, racism, civil wars, class distinction, and in some places, cruelty and forced labor (“Background Essay”).

However, Africa’s modern instability is not only due to the boundaries; it was more orderly and systematic and had more than one cause. Although the borders resulting from the Berlin Conference did impact the African continent, Africa has learned to cope and deal with the results. The idea that the borders were not the only factor in present-day turmoil is supported by the argument that redrawing the boundaries would not solve any present instability, and so redrawing the boundaries is not the answer (Maddox). If one border is changed, then all other African nation-states’ boundaries may need to be altered, once again highlighting that changing borders in not the solution (Myers). According to history, whenever African states attempt to take over other African states, they fail. For example, Libya failed to absorb Chad, and Uganda failed to absorb Tanzania or Kenya. Also, any attempts to unify African States does fare well either. Examples include Ethiopia and Eritrea, which could not be added together, which led to Eritrea eventually gained independence. Although tensions remained, eventually leading to war. The union of the Italian and British Somalilands to become Somalia failed as well. And although Tanganyika and Zanzibar did combine to form Tanzania, there was still conflict present. The only two places where redistribution of land has been of benefit were Sudan and Darfur. The Congo and Nigeria, for example, continue to remain in conflict and have a long way to go to reach stability (Maddox). No matter where the boundaries were drawn, modern problems would have transpired anyway. Another cause of the instability in Africa, which had been occurring before the Berlin Conference boundaries were enforced, were the various types of government of the native African societies. Because of the numerous and different political structures, conflicts on the African continent had been occurring before the borders and continued after them. According to Jeffrey Herbst, “modern African states have become hollow. They have hard shells encasing very weak institutional infrastructures” (Maddox). Because of this system, the rulers and urban elite have access to power and wealth, which pits them against the rural masses for internal control, thus leading to conflicts and further instability. Mahmood Mamdani argues the “political conflict occurs because urban elites seek to gain power by enforcing an often ethnicized despotism among the population,” that further leads to current unrest in the African continent (Maddox). Africa’s larger problem, however, was “violent integration of African societies into the modern world economy, which was occurring before the scramble for Africa and would undoubtedly have occurred without it" (Maddox).

Although the borders assigned in the Berlin Conference affected native social groups and present unrest, the borders are not the only originators of modern instability as reassigning borders will not correct Africa’s problems today. Africa’s turmoil today has its roots in various other causes: colonialism as a whole, various forms of government, and a forceful transition to a modern economy. However, hope for Africa’s stability is still possible: a few Africa states, such as Senegal, Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, and South Africa, have been able to create better political and social structures (Maddox).