Imperialism in Africa

Pamela HammondBrantley County High School

AP World History2008-2009

New African Kingdoms (1750-1914)

• Zulu– Southern Africa– led by Shaka– gained national identity and new kingdom– Well organized fighting force…most feared

in Africa– held own against British years later

• Sokoto Caliphate– Western Africa (Nigeria)– replaces Hausa and Songhai Empire– strongly Muslim, opposed to lax

incorporation of local traditions– enforced “jihad” to cleanse empire– encouraged education…center for Islamic

learning• Egypt and Ethiopia modernize

– Ethiopia retains Christian background, • import European knowledge, guns,

industry…• able to ward off occupation by Europe until

WWII

End of Slave Trade in Africa??

• By 1809 US and Br had ended the importation of slaves– Br. tried to keep other

countries from taking slaves from Africa

• Africans turned to Muslims to sell slaves…transported to East Africa

• Used slaves within Africa to operate new industries in palm oil

• Niger plantation life just has harsh as American plantations if not worse

“Let’s Go Legit”• African rulers looking to

supplement their income due to the dwindling slave trade turned to trade in gold, ivory, and palm oil

• Palm oil used for soaps, candles and lubricants in European markets– Ads used to encourage

hygiene and sanitation while in Africa

– Notice “White Man’s Burden” remark

• Niger Delta main location for palm oil trade

• Traded for manufactured goods from Europe

Why Europeans were not interested in Africa until 19th c.

• Europeans considered Africa the Dark Continent.

• So many geographical barriers e.g. thick forests.

• Tropical diseases such as Malaria.

• Transportation difficulties e.g. couldn’t use horses due to Tse Tse flies.

• Scientific discoveries made it easy to live in Africa (see picture)

• Explorations also made Africa known to the world

• This led to the scramble for Africa

Cinchona tree. Scientists discovered quinine, the cure for

Malaria from this tree.

Dark Continent Revealed• Adventurous explorers &

geographic societies sought to uncover the mysteries of inner Africa, – esp. the course of the main

rivers– curious about what mineral

wealth may lie inside Africa• David Livingstone (Scot) doctor,

missionary – explored southern and central

Africa– Zambezi R…Victoria Falls…

Congo River• Henry Stanley (Am) journalist went

in search of Livingstone when lost touch– explored Nile, Congo – claimed Congo for Belgium

(King Leopold II)

David LivingstoneHenry Stanley

“Dr. Livingstone I presume”

Extent of European Control by 1880

• There had been European possessions in Africa since the 16th century – mainly connected with the

slave trade– small coastal areas around

trading ports. • Before 1880 only 10% of Africa

was controlled by European Powers: – colonies dotted along the

coast of West Africa (from the defunct slave trade),

– settlements in southern Africa by Dutch, English & (long held) Portuguese, and

– Algeria in the north, conquered by the French.

And then…the “Scramble for Africa”

– Most visible example of new imperialism

– New imperialism not based on settlement of colonies

– European powers worked to directly govern large areas occupied by non-European peoples

– Driven by economic interests, political competition, cultural motives

“New Imperialism”

Nationalism a Factor

• Rise of Germany, Italy as powers contributed to the new imperialism

• Both nations jumped into race for colonization to assert status

• Nationalism also contributed to rise of new imperialism

• European leaders believed controlling colonies would gain them more respect from other leaders

Political Competition

• Imperialism in Africa reflected struggles for power in Europe, such as long-term rivalry between France, Britain

• France expanded control over West, Central Africa; Britain began to expand colonial empire to block French

In addition to practical matters of economics and politics, the new imperialism was motivated by cultural attitudes.

• European imperialists felt superior to non-European peoples

• Some began to argue humanity divided into distinct peoples, races

• Claimed biological differences existed between races

• Racist view—people of European descent superior to people of African, Asian descent

Cultural Motives• As result, some Europeans

believed rule in Africa justified

• Teaching Africans good government

• Some imperialists believed actions noble, their duty to educate those considered inferior

• Referred to their influence in Africa as “the white man’s burden,” after poem by Rudyard Kipling

Rule Justified

Cultural Motives

Darwin

• Defenders of imperialism often applied Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection to struggle between nations, races

• Darwin argued species more fit for environment will survive, reproduce

Cecil Rhodes

• Social Darwinism advocate Cecil Rhodes, “I contend that we are the finest race in the world and that the more of the world we inhabit the better…”

• Believed British-built railway would bring benefits of civilization to all Africans

Social Darwinism

• Social Darwinism notion stated certain nations, races more fit than others

• Social Darwinists believed “fit” nations came to rule over “less fit” nations, often showed discrimination against citizens of ruled nations

Justification

King Leopold II, Belgium & the Congo

• 1870s Henry Stanley, convinced the king to use his own money to open up Equatorial Africa, establish trading posts along the south bank of the Congo River

• Stanley used a combination of promises, threats and trickery when meeting a new chief, – attached a buzzer to his hand which

was linked to a battery– When the chief shook hands with

Stanley he got a mild electric shock. This device convinced the chiefs that Stanley had superhuman powers.

– The agreements allowed the Belgians into the Congo to take its rich natural resources. 

• 1880--France laid a claim to the region as well by establishing an alliance with the African ruler to create a “protectorate” of France– Disagreements ensue

Belgium's King Leopold II (far left) soon took control, reaping fabulous personal profits through the sale of land and development rights.

Scandalously little was reinvested in schools like the one shown here.

A man who exploited Congo's resources (rubber) and contributed to up to 10 million deaths due to overwork and disease.

"He left us in poverty. He exploited our raw materials and left us with nothing."

Britain in Egypt• 1882—Egypt fails to

pay debts from Suez Canal

• Takes over Egypt– builds up country, – builds Aswan Dam on

Nile at the turn of the century

– helps control flooding– improves agriculture.

• Push south and took over the Sudan– Battle of Omdurman

(1898): General Horatio H. Kitchener defeated Sudanese tribesman and killed 11,000 (use of machine gun) while only 28 Britons died

• Four Feathers

The Kiosk of Trajan is in the foreground, while the Temple of Isis is at the right rear. The

reservoir of the first Aswan Dam flooded the complex for much of each year.

The Great Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel

Berlin Conference• 1884-1885• Called by Otto von Bismarck• Br, Fr, Ger, It, Bel, Port meet (Africa absent)• Western powers lay the rules for dividing up

Africa– establish the principle of "effective occupation" to

claim territory– They made the Congo a free trade zone – Outlawed slavery and the slave trade that the

Arabs and Africans were still practicing.– “Paper Partition”– led to the GREAT PUSH into the interior reaches of

the continent by competing European armies.• Ignored traditional tribal boundaries …would

create problems later

Berlin Conference

• Name the only countries not controlled by a European power.

• Liberia (US)• Ethiopia

The Story of South Africa• Cape of Good Hope founded by

Portuguese• Dutch take over Cape…establish

Cape Colony/Cape Town…vibrant trade…Dutch farmers move in (Boers or Afrikaners) to take adv. of excellent soil and climate

• British take control over coastal areas…Boers move inland in a journey known as the Great Trek (diamonds, gold, and copper later found)

• 1868 diamonds discovered in Kimberly—big rush to acquire…Br. move into the interior to take control by 1871

• Zulus unhappy of British encroachment…taking grazing land…WAR…Br. won but barely…Zulu nationalism intensifies

Zulu War, 1879

Enter Cecil Rhodes• “From the Cape to

Cairo”….“I’d annex the planets if I could.”

• Fortune made in diamonds (De Beers)…pushes northward and conquers more and more land…names for self Rhodesia (Zimbabwe & Zambia)

• Boer/Afrikaner discontent continues to grow when Br. tries to take over their territory…– Orange Free State and Transvaal– rich in gold, diamonds, coal and

iron • Rhodes Scholarship

First Boer War• 1880-81:

– Gold discovered late 1800s– Boers refused to grant

political rights to foreigners– British immigrants move into

Boer territory demand more land and privileges

– Boers had had enough• imported modern guns…

employed guerrilla warfare (Ger. allied with Boers…hoped to gain more land)

– The Transvaal Boers defeated the British in the first Anglo-Boer War (also called the Anglo-Transvaal War).

Second Boer War

• 1899-1902: • The UK defeated the Boers in the second

Anglo-Boer War (the South African War). • Boers use guerrilla warfare again• The British found themselves at a

disadvantage, due to the size of the territory, lack of familiarity with the terrain and the mobility and skills of the "Boers".– In an effort to bring the war to an end, the British

responded with a scorched-earth policy. This included burning down the farms and homes of the "Boers", and putting their women and children in concentration camps.

– Some 26,000 "Boer" women and children and 14,000 black and colored people were to die in appalling conditions.took over all of So. Africa

British Concentration Camps

End of the Boer Wars

• British win and consolidate their lands in South Africa

• Eventually South Africa is given autonomy (1913)• Most of the white settlers in South Africa are

Dutch, but the land is owned by Britain• Most of the population is black• Minority, white dominated, government

establishes system of “Apartheid” – Complete separation of the races– Non-whites made into second class citizens in their own

land– Stays in place until 1996 when international pressure

forces South Africa to eliminate Apartheid

Scramble for Africa

• Consequences – Traditional way of life disrupted

• Pastoral and warrior traditions• Grazing lands depleted• Most Africans were little affected until Christianity went

against traditions Islam gains grounds– Economic exploitation of Africans

• Africans saw Europeans as rivals for profits• Resistance movements failed

– European racism imported into Africa– Spread of European culture

• Christian mission school educate African children– Spread of Western technology

• Guns change warfare (violence increases, greater devastation)

– Rise of African Nationalism