African scramble Page 27 of the history of modern world. Thus, most of this extra colonization took place in the last thirty years of the nineteenth century. During this time 10 million square miles of land and 150 million people were taken over by European states; the British Empire was nearly doubled. Most of this expansion was in two areas, Africa and South East Asia. Africa, in particular, with its vast empty spaces inhabited by primitive peoples, seemed a tempting prize. The result was a rush for land so great that it was labeled by journalists’ the Scramble for Africa’. In 1875 only one-tenth of Africa was owned by European countries. Twenty years later nine-tenths belonged to them and the only independent powers south of the Sahara were Abyssinia, Liberia and the Boer states. The scramble soon resembled a race. One French writer decided it was a disease which he called Kilometritus or Miomania! In 1885 the lager European nations even signed the Treaty of Berlin which laid down the rules by which the scramble was to be conducted. Any power which effectively occupied an African territory was to notify other governments immediately. This would give it the right of possession. In addition the two rivers, Niger and Congo, were to be free to all and slavery was to be abolished. The question has often been asked, why at this particular time? One reason increased production of goods and surplus profits, had already been mentioned. Possibly an even more important one was the Congress of Berlin which settled the map of Europe in such a way that only war could change it. The most powerful nation, Germany, was ruled by a man who desired peace, and precarious balance of power existed. Nations were forced to look elsewhere to add to their possessions. Weak, undefended Africa offered a few easy wars against spear-throwing tribesmen, Sporting wars’ Bismarck called them, but nothing as nasty as a European conflict between equals. Three less important factors assisted the scramble. Explorer, like Stanley and Livingstone, had collected enough information to make the so-called Dark Continent less unknown.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 23:55:16 +0000
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