Modern World History Chapter 11, Section 1 Scramble for Africa

Setting the Stage Imperialism – the seizure of a country or territory by a stronger power (mostly by industrialized European nations) in the 19th and 20th centuries to take advantage of raw materials and markets there which had the effect of the stronger nation dominating the political, economic, and social life of the weaker nation

Africa Before European Domination Before European domination of Africa, it was divided politically, and by ethnic and linguistic groups and by religion (#1) Though Europeans had contact with sub-Saharan Africans as early as the 1450s, the Europeans only held 10% of the continent by 1880 as powerful African armies kept them out (#2)

Africa Before European Domination Europeans were kept out of the interior of Africa due to rivers that were not navigable and the threat of disease, until riverboats helped them move inland (#3) Africans controlled their own trade networks in which different groups specialized in different products to trade with others (#4)

Nations Compete for Overseas Empires Europeans who entered the interior of Africa were explorers, missionaries or humanitarians who wanted to end the slave trade Their stories of adventure were spread through travel books and newspapers increasing interest in Africa (both #1)

The Congo Sparks Interest A Christian missionary from Scotland named David Livingstone went missing in central Africa for several years but was found by newspaper reporter Henry Stanley (#1) Stanley’s stories about the Congo sparked King Leopold of Belgium to hire him to help his nation obtain land there (#2)

The Congo Sparks Interest Leopold claimed he wanted the Congo to end the slave trade and to promote Christianity Instead, Leopold licensed companies who profited off of Africa labor to collect sap from rubber trees, and 10 million Congolese died from their mistreatment by them (#3) If villagers didn’t bring the quota of rubber required they had to pay the rest in severed hands

Forces Driving Imperialism Belief in European Superiority As European industrialized nations needed raw materials and markets they sought lands to control in Africa and other areas (#1) Countries saw gaining colonies as a source of national pride and competed with other European nations to gain as many colonies as possible (#1)

Belief in European Superiority Social Darwinism – use of Darwin’s theories of evolution and natural selection and applying them to human society, which led many Europeans to have racist beliefs that they were superior to other cultures Missionaries pushed for European expansion as they thought it would “civilize” these people in foreign lands as they converted them to Christianity

Factors Promoting Imperialism in Africa European technological superiority – Maxim gun (world’s first machine gun) allowed Europeans to subdue native people resisting with outdated weapons (#1) Technology gives Europeans means to control colonies (#2) steamboats, railroads, cables, and steamships promotes trade and communication both within the colony and between the colony and the home nation

Factors Promoting Imperialism in Africa Conquering malaria – the drug quinine allowed Europeans to enter the interior of Africa without fear of the disease (#3) African disunity – the variety of African languages and cultures along with internal conflicts between them made Africans unable to unite against the threat of Europeans (#4)

Division of Africa The scramble for Africa began in full by 1880 with the French now in West Africa and diamonds and gold discovered in South Africa (#1) Berlin Conference – a meeting of 14 European nations in 1884-1885 that set rules for the dividing of Africa into colonies so that they could avoid war between each other Only Liberia and Ethiopia were the free nations by 1914

Demand for Raw Materials Shapes Colonies Africa provided raw materials and resources like tin, copper, diamonds, and gold, but did not buy European goods (#1) Europeans set up cash crop plantations to grow peanuts, palm oil, cocoa, and rubber, which displaced food crops grown by farmers to feed their families (#2)

Three Groups Clash Over South Africa Africans, Dutch and British competed for control of South Africa for about 100 years (#1) Shaka – a Zulu chief who by 1816 had used highly disciplined warriors to create a large centralized state in South Africa Shaka’s successors tried to keep his kingdom (trying to fight guns with spears) but valiantly lost a war and their land to the British in 1879 (#2)

Boers and British Settle in the Cape Boers – the earliest Europeans to settle South Africa were these Dutch farmers who took land from the Africans and later clashed with the British over control of this region (#1) In the 1830s several thousand Boers began to move north to escape the British, but instead began fighting with the Africans land whose land they were taking (#2)

The Boer War In the 1860s-1880s diamonds and gold were discovered in South Africa, and outsiders flooded there and started a rebellion that the Boers blamed on the British Boer War – war beginning in 1899 between the Boers and British for control of South Africa that was eventually won by the British It was seen as the first modern “total war” for its brutal attacks on civilians After Boers lost their land was merged in 1910 into the British controlled Union of South Africa