Colonial Rule Africa

West Africa Europeans did not hesitate to deceive Africans in order to get their land and natural resources. Driven by rivalries among themselves, Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium and Portugal place almost all of Africa under European rule between 1880 and 1890 (#1,#2) West Africa had been most affected by the slave trade in the early 1800’s(#3) But by the 1890’s the slave trade had been abolished in all the major countries in the world (#4)

West Africa As slavery declined, Europe’s interest in other forms of trade increased Europeans traded manufactured goods for peanuts, timber, hides and palm oil (#5) The British established settlements along the Gold Coast and Sierra Leone This caused increasing tensions with local African governments who feared for their independence In 1874 Great Britain annexed the west coastal states as the first British colony of Gold Coast. (#6) It also established a protectorate over warring Nigerian groups (#7)

West Africa France controlled the largest part of West Africa (#8) Germany controlled Togo, Cameroon, and present day Namibia (#9)

North Africa Egypt had been part of the Ottoman Empire In 1805 an officer of the Ottoman army named Muhammad Ali seized power and established a separate Egyptian state (#10) Ali introduced a series of reforms to modernize Egypt He modernized the army, set up a public school system, and helped create small industries (#11) The development of the steam ship gave Europeans a desire to build a canal east of Cairo to connect the Mediterranean and Red Seas (#12) The Suez Canal was started in 1854 and completed in 1869 (#13, 14)

North Africa Great Britain bought Egypt’s share in the Suez Canal (#15) Britain suppressed a revolt against foreign influence, and Egypt became a British protectorate in 1915. (#16) The British believed they should control the Sudan, south of Egypt In 1881 the Muslim cleric Muhammad Ahmad seized control of the Sudan and wiped out the British army at Khartoum The British seized the Sudan again in 1898

North Africa The French had colonies in North Africa. By 1879 150,000 French had settled in the region of Algeria The French government established control there, along with making protectorates of Tunisia and Morocco (#17) Italy joined the competition for North African colonies by trying to take over Ethiopia In 1896 the Italians were defeated In 1911 Italy seized Turkish Tripoli which it renamed Libya (#18)

Central Africa European explorers had generated European interest in the dense tropical jungles of Central Africa David Livingstone explored Central Africa (#19) He arrived in Africa in 1841 and explored for 30 years When Livingstone disappeared for a while the New York Herald sent a journalist Henry Stanley to find him (#20) Stanley stayed in Africa and encouraged the British to send settlers to the Congo River Basin When Britain refused Stanley turned to King Leopold of Belgium to settle the river basin (#21)

Central Africa King Leopold hired Henry Stanley to set up Belgian settlements in the Congo (#22) Belgium’s claim to the vast territories of the Congo worried other European states France also tried to settle territories in Central Africa (#23) France received the territories north of the Congo River and Belgium received territories to the south

East Africa By 1875 Britain and Germany had become the chief rivals in East Africa (#24) At the 1884 Berlin Conference, the major European powers divided up East Africa giving recognition to German, British and Portuguese claims (#25) No African delegates were present at this conference

South Africa The European presence in Africa grew most rapidly in the south. By 1865 close to 200,000 white people had move to the southern part of Africa The Boers, also called Afrikaners, were the descendants of the original Dutch settlers who occupied Cape Town in South Africa in the 17th century (#26) In the 1830’s the Boers fled British rule and established the independent republics of Transvaal and the Orange Free State (#27) The Boers believed white supremacy was ordained by God

South Africa The Boers frequently battled the Zulu, an indigenous people (#28). The Zulu had risen to prominence under their great ruler, Shaka (#29) The British later defeated the Zulu Cecil Rhodes directed British policy in South Africa in the 1880’s (#30) In 1896 the British government forced him to resign as prime minister of Cape Colony after finding out he planned to overthrow the Boer government of the South African Republic without British approval (#31)

South Africa Conflict broke out between the Boers and the British which led to the Boer War which lasted from 1899 to 1902 (#32,33) In 1910 the British created the independent Union of South Africa combining the Cape Colony and the Boer Republics (#34) This was a self governing nation within the British Empire To appease the Boers, the policy was that only whites could vote (#35)

Colonial Rule in Africa By 1914 only Liberia, which had been created by freed United States slaves and Ethiopia were African nations free of European domination (#36) Britain used indirect rule in most of its colonies in Africa (#37) This allowed the indigenous people to keep their traditions and customs Most other European governments used direct rule in Africa (#38) The French ideal was to assimilate the African peoples

Rise of African Nationalism A new class of African leaders emerged in the early 20th century (#39) Most were intellectuals who were educated in colonial and western schools (#40) They often admired Western culture and wanted to introduce Western ideas and institutions to their culture They often resented the foreigners because they saw the gap between Western democratic theory and Western colonial practice (#41) During the first quarter of the 20th century, resentment turned to action as native people began to organize political parties and movements to end foreign rule (#42)