1. Age of Imperialism

2. Imperialism – Take over of a country or land by a stronger country.

3. Industrialization stirred ambitions in many European nations.
Powerful nations wanted more resources and new markets.
Powerful nations looked to Africa as a source of raw materials and a market for industrial products.

4. Africa was divided into hundreds of ethic groups.
These groups spoke over 1,000 different languages.
While some groups were large, others were no larger than a small village.

5. Outside of trade, Europeans knew little about Africa before the Industrial Revolution.
European travel into the interior was extremely limited.

6. Rainforests, swamps and cataracts made it a difficult for the Europeans to explore Africa.
Europeans also feared diseases such as malaria and sleeping sickness.

7. By the early 1800s, the invention of steam powered boats allowed the Europeans to navigate the African rivers.
By 1829, Europeans were protected from malaria by quinine.

8. In the late 1860s, Dr. David Livingstone, a missionary from Scotland, traveled deep into the central Africa to promote Christianity.
In England, Livingstone’s writings and lectures ignited the public's imagination about Africa.

9. After several years without any news from Livingstone, rumors spread that Livingstone was taken captive, lost or dead.
In 1871, The New York Herald hired Henry Stanley to investigate the situation.

10. After 8 months of searching, Stanley finally found Dr. Livingstone.
Stanley greeted him “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”

11. Stanley continued to explore Africa.
Stanley’s expeditions sparked the interest of King Leopold II of Belgium.

12. Leopold gained control of a large region of land in the Congo.
In the Congo, Leopold set up a colony 80 times larger than Belgium.
Colony – Land controlled by another country

13. Leopold plundered the natural resources of the Congo and forced the natives to work for him.
Over 10 million Congo natives died due to these abuses.

14. The actions of Leopold alarmed many other European nations.
These nations also began to set up colonies in Africa.

15. Due to industrialization, European nations were able to take over Africa and conquer the native people.

16. Europeans possessed much more powerful weapons
Europe – Machine guns
Africa – Outdated weapons

17. Wars between various ethnic and tribal groups within Africa further helped the Europeans conquer Africa.

18. Berlin Conference European nations feared war among themselves.
In 1884, 14 European nations met to regulate the colonization of Africa.
Africa was not represented.

19. At the Berlin Conference, nations agreed that any European country could take land in Africa with few restrictions.

20. As late as 1880, Europeans controlled only 10 percent of the continent’s land.
By 1914, Europe controlled nearly all of Africa
Only Liberia and Ethiopia remained independent.

22. As European countries competed for colonies in order to gain power and natural resources, competition for territory increased the tensions between Britain, France and Germany.

24. By 1900, the British Empire extended over five continents
France controlled much of Africa.

25. Pink = British, Blue = French, Red = German

26. Germany began colonizing late and therefore controlled only a small portion of Africa.

27. The Moroccan Crisis Britain gave France possession of Morocco in 1904.
Germany supported the Moroccan movement to gain independence.
Conflict between Britain, France and Germany over Morocco nearly erupted in war several times.

28. After Germany protested against the French possession of Morocco in 1911, Britain supported France.
Germany ultimately backed down and was given part of the French Congo.

29. As tensions between industrialized countries grew, many other problems developed in Europe during the Age of Imperialism.
These problems included militarism, the development of powerful alliances and nationalism.