imperialism-and-the-scramble-for-africa.docx

7/26/2019 Imperialism-and-the-Scramble-for-Africa.docx

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Imperialism

Imperialism:

The policy of extending a nations power by gaining political and economics control over moreterritory.

Largely observed in Africa and Asia where there was an abundant supply of valuable minerals

and raw materials, reuired by the developing industries of !urope.

"ountries had huge desire to acuire overseas possessions which led to rivalry between

!uropean nations.

Industrial growth in #$A and !uropean countries gave birth to the development of strong

navy and overseas bases.

$cramble for Africa:

%y &'(( over '() of the African content was under the colonial rule of !uropean nations.

$trategic "auses:

%ritish won control of "ape "olony in southern Africa and established a port.

Later the %ritish constructed the $ue* "anal which lin+ed the editerranean $ea and the -ed

$ea. This allowed !uropeans countries to travel to India and other Asian regions, faster. %ut

instability in !gypt meant that the ships were in danger.

As a result the %ritish too+ over the administration of !gypt. This occupationtriggered the

scramble for Africa.

Political power:"ountries loo+ed overseas in order to increase their wealth, power, prestige

and influence. The only way they could do it was by expanding to other countries.

!conomic "auses:

Industrial Revolution:The rapid increase in manufactured good in industries of !urope

created a need for new mar+ets aswell as greater investment opportunities. %usinessman

also hoped to find vast amount of raw materials which could power all their industries.

Medical advancement and Exploration:Africa was believed to be home to diseases such

as alaria. edical advancements such as an effective vaccine for alaria dramatically

reduced the fear in !uropeans of the /ar+ "ontinent. As a result more explorers ventured to

Africa, +een to find new resources, trading opportunities and to secure treaties with local

chieftains.

Weaponry:The development of advanced arms and artillery meant that the invaders were

better euipped to fight wars if the situation arose.

$ocial "auses:

Abolition of slave trade:%efore the wave of imperialism, !uropeans nations used to indulge

in trade of slaves with Africa. %ut the abolition of slavery in &01&, led the !uropean

businessman and leaders to opt for other forms of trade with Africa.

Superiority complex:The !uropeans were convinced of their racial superiority and believed

that it was their duty to spread their culture, norms and religion to the Africans. any

missionaries flew in Africa to spread "hristianity. This complex also led the !uropeans to

believe that they were not tyrants, but rather, they were improving the lives of other people.


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2or what reasons did the !uropean powers partition Africa in the nineteenth century3

4hen, and why, did the partition become a scramble3

After &015 a series of events accelerated this process of partition and turned it into a

scramble. The period of informal empire, when !uropean powers were anxious to trade

with Africa but reluctant to face the expense of acuiring and administering colonies, wasabout to end.

The chain of events, the 6accelerators6 which led to the scramble for Africa began with

the movement towards protection which ended the free trade era, and was stimulated by

Leopold IIs activities in the "ongo %asin7 the /e %ra**a Treaties with a+o+o7 the %ritish

occupation of !gypt in &0087 %ismarc+s entry into the race for colonies in &009 and his

convening of the %erlin 4est Africa "onference &009;05


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The discovery of gold and diamonds was a further impetus for colonialism and rivalry

?restige = !uropean nations felt it was essential to have colonies in order to maintain

prestigestatus with other !uropean nations, e.g. Bermanys !ast African colonies costher more than they were worth.

Individuals may have had their own motives such as missionaries wanting to bring

"hristianity to Africans, administrators wanting to serve their country and bring order to

the natives, those loo+ing for adventure and those who desired influence and power,e.g. -hodes.

!xplain the main reasons for the growth of C@ew ImperialismD

After the industrial revolution, there was a huge augmentation of coloni*ation and

scramble between !uropean countries for economic interests. These competitions were

pervaded and monopoli*ation of the capital started to ascend to through its *enith. This

would pave the way a new system for world economy and power. 4hen we loo+ at the

late &'th century, we see that there is a huge conflict between the !uropean countries for

overseas territories. This is called @ew ImperialismD or 2ree Trade Imperialism.

This new imperialism led to !uropean countries to split Asia and Africa among

themselves. The existence of competion between new nation state was the maEor

determinant in the growth of new imperialism.As the !uropean competion of the economic interests grew, !uropean states acuired to

find new mar+et and colonies abroad that provided ports and coaling stations for their

navies.

Fn the other hand, for !uropean states establishment of colonies abroad was a source of

international prestige. Their aim was not conuest of the new territory because they

already have coloni*ed these Asian and African countries

Imperialism was tied to social /arwinism. $ocial /arwinist theories were used to Eustify

!uropean imperialism and colonialism. According to this theory, superior races mustdominate the inferior races by military force to show how strong and competent they are.

!conomic reasons: There was a great demand for natural resources and products not

found in 4estern countries, such as rubber, oil, and tin. Instead of trading for these

products with these countries, they choose the direct control over the areas that raw

materials were found. The growing of !uropean industry, the increase in production

capacity, and the surplus of capital created the necessity of finding new mar+ets, new

sources of raw materials, and new areas for capital investment in the big countries.

2urthermore, economic expansion demanded cheap labor, access to or control of

mar+ets to sell or buy product.

!uropeans believed that they had moral responsibilities for non;!uropean peoples.

According to the !uropeans, they would bring civili*ation to the non;civili*e ignorantcountries. oreover, they were more humanitarian and humanism should be brought to

the unenlightened countries.

Bovernments were involved in imperialism more for defensive than aggressive

reasons. Gow far do you agree with this claim about the period from c.&01( to &'((3

Hou should refer to %ritain and at least two other !uropean countries in youranswer.


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Imperialism was not completely defensive or aggressive

economic motives, including the search for inexpensive raw materials, mar+ets and

opportunities for investment. These might be seen as either defensive or aggressive.

Fn the one hand, countries tried to protect themselves from more competition during a

period of domestic depression. Fn the other hand, these motives led countries to try to

exclude rivals, but the economic gains seemed limited. Imperialism was seen as a means to gain international power and reputation. 2or

example, 2rance sought to reassert itself after the &01(;1& defeat by ?russia. The new

Italy had the dream of imperial expansion to reflect its view of itself as a maEor power.

%ritain gave priority to its growing empire rather than the continent as the symbol of its

greatness. This motive could also be defensive. !gypt and !ast Africa were important to

%ritish interests in India.

As one country moved into parts of Africa, others felt bound to establish their own regions

of influence. %ritain and Bermany, or %ritain and 2rance, or Bermany against %ritain and

2rance might be seen as examples of this. The same was true of "hina and other regions

in the 2ar !ast.

$ocial /arwinism might be seen today as evidence of !uropean aggression but at the

time it seemed neither aggressive nor defensive but altruistic. Individuals such as -hodes

and "arl ?eters will probably be seen as aggressive.

Bovernments tried to defuse possible tensions, for example at the "onference Treaty of

%erlin &009=05, &005

%erlin Act of &005:

The Beneral Act fixed the following points:


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The "ongo 2ree $tatewas confirmed as the private property of the "ongo $ociety, which

supported Leopold6s promises to +eep the country open to all !uropean investment.

The &9 signatory powers would have free trade throughout the "ongo %asinas well as La+e

@iassa.

The @igerand "ongorivers were made free for ship traffic.

A ?rinciple of !ffectivity based on Jeffective occupationJ, see below< was introduced to stoppowers setting up colonies in name only.

Any fresh act of ta+ing possession of any portion of the African coast would have to be

notified by the power ta+ing possession, or assuming aprotectorate, to the other signatory

powers.

The principle of effective occupationstated that powers could acuire rights over colonial lands

only if they possessed them or had Jeffective occupationJ: in other words, if they had treaties with

local leaders, if they flew their flag there, and if they established an administration in the territory to

govern it with a police force to +eep order. The colonial power could also ma+e use of the colony

economically. This principle became important not only as a basis for the !uropean powers to acuire

territorial sovereignty in Africa, but also for determining the limits of their respective overseas

possessions, as effective occupation served in some instances as a criterion for settling disputes over

the boundaries between colonies.

The %erlin Act was also the first time where the term Cspheres of influenceD was introduced to the

world.

"onseuences of %erlin Act

The most important conseuence of the %erlin Act was the reduction of tensions that had

resulted from the 2rench explorations in the "ongo basin $avorgnan de %ra**a, &01>;&011

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