The Partition of Africa

1. The Partition of Africa 25.2

2. On the eve of the scramble • European nations explored Africa in the late 1800s and learned that: • It is about four times the size of Europe • It was very diverse and included many different cultures and languages

3. On the eve of the scramble • North Africa • In the 1400s, North Africa was mainly ruled by Ottomans. • By the 1800s, the Ottomans were losing control of Northern Africa. • West Africa • Islamic reform- Muslim leaders tried to revive Islam • Several new Muslim states arose. • East Africa • Also influenced by Islam • Shipped slaves to the middle east via trade ships • Southern Africa • Shaka united the Zulu

4. European contacts • European nations began outlawing slavery in the early 1800s. • British freed some slaves and some U.S. slaves settled in Liberia. • 1847- Liberia became an independent nation.

5. Explorers • Mungo Park and Richard Burton were interested in the geography of Africa such as the Niger, Niger, and Congo rivers.

6. Missionaries • Catholic and Protestant missionaries all tried very hard to spread Christianity throughout Africa. • They sincerely wanted to help the African people, and built schools and medical clinics as well as churches.

7. The great Scramble begins • Berlin Conference • In 1884, European powers met at a conference in Berlin, Germany to discuss Africa. • They called for free trade on the Congo and Niger rivers. • Agreed that if there was not a government office present in Africa, that country could not control the area. • After 20 years, only Liberia and Ethiopia remained independent.

8. Horrors in the congo • Wealthy Belgians exploited the Congo’s resources. • Horrifying stories about the terrible treatment of workers there soon left the region. • Because of this outrage, the Congo was turned over to the Belgian government in 1908.

9. Carving up a continent • France took a large part of Africa in the early 1800s, which at one point was larger than the U.S’s hold on Africa. • Britain had more heavily populated areas, but it’s claims were smaller and more spread out.

10. The boer war • The discovery of gold and diamonds in the Boer republics began the Boer war in the late 1800s. • The war lasted from 1899 to 1902, and eventually the British won. • 1910- British united Cape Colony and former Boer republics into the Union of South Africa. • Racial segregation remained until 1993.

11. Africans fight back • Nehanda of the Shona in Zimbabwe was a woman who became an African military leader and inspired others to fight for their own freedom. • 1905- Maji-Maji rebellion. The Germans only won in the end by using a scorched earth policy and leaving the local people to starve. • Ethiopia however, successfully resisted by being well prepared for Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1896.

12. Impact • In the end, some Africans rejected their own culture and traded it for western ways. • Other Africans stuck to their own African traditions. • In the early 1900s, African leaders were attempting to gain independence for Africa.