Berlin Conference
:
For the Cold War conference see Berlin Conference of 1954 and see Congress of Berlin for the 1878 Congress The
Berlin Conference (
German:
Kongokonferenz or "Congo Conference") of
1884–
85 regulated
European colonization and trade in
Africa during the
New Imperialism period. Called for by
Bismarck, the first
Chancellor of Germany, its outcome, the
General Act of the Berlin Conference, is often seen as the formalization of the
Scramble for Africa.
In the
1880s, European interest in Africa increased dramatically.
Henry Morton Stanley's discovery of the
Congo River Basin (
1874–
1877) removed the last bit of
terra incognita from the maps of the continent. In
1878, King
Léopold II of Belgium, who had previously founded the
International African Society in
1876, invited Stanley to join him. The International African Society had the goal of researching and "civilizing" the continent. In 1878 the
International Congo Society was also formed, having more economic goals, but still closely related to the former society. Léopold secretly bought off the foreign investors in the Congo Society, which was turned to
imperialistic goals, with the African Society serving primarily as a
philanthropic front.
From
1879 to
1884 Stanley returned to the Congo, this time not as a reporter, but as an envoy from Léopold with the secret mission to organize a Congo state, which would become known as the
Congo Free State. At the same time, the French marine officer
Pierre de Brazza traveled into the western Congo basin and raised the French flag over the newly-founded
Brazzaville in
1881, in modern
Republic of Congo. Portugal, which also claimed the area due to old treaties with the native
Kongo Empire, made a treaty with Great Britain on
February 26,
1884 to block off the Congo Society's access to the
Atlantic.
At the same time, various European countries tried to get a foothold in Africa. France occupied
Tunisia and today's
Republic of the Congo in 1881 — which partly convinced Italy to become part of the
Triple Alliance — and
Guinea in 1884. In
1882, Great Britain occupied the nominally
Ottoman Egypt, which in turn ruled over the
Sudan and parts of
Somalia. In
1870 and 1882, Italy took possession of the first parts of
Eritrea, while Germany declared
Togo,
Cameroon and
Southwest Africa (now Namibia) to be under its protection in 1884.
Léopold II was able to convince France and Germany that common trade in Africa was in the best interests of all three countries. On the initiative of Portugal,
Otto von Bismarck,
German Chancellor, called on representatives of the
Austria–Hungary,
Belgium,
Denmark,
France,
Great Britain,
Italy, the
Netherlands,
Portugal,
Russia,
Spain,
Sweden–
Norway (union until 1905) and the
Ottoman Empire to take part in the Berlin Conference to work out policy. The Berlin Conference took place in 1884.
The General Act fixed the following points:
* The
Free State of the Congo was confirmed as private property of the Congo Society. Thus the territory of today's
Democratic Republic of the Congo, some two million square kilometers, was made essentially the property of Léopold II (because of the
terror regime instaured, it would finally become a Belgian colony).
* The 14 signatory powers would have free trade throughout the Congo basin as well as
Lake Niassa and east of this in an area south of 5° N.
* The
Niger and
Congo Rivers were made free for ship traffic.
* An international prohibition of the
slave trade was signed.
* The principle was set down that powers could only possess colonies if they actually possessed them (Principle of Effectivity).
* Any fresh act of taking possession on any portion of the African coast would have to be notified by the power taking possession, or assuming a
protectorate, to the other signatory powers.
It is also noteworthy that the first reference in an international act to the obligations attaching to "
spheres of influence" is contained in the Berlin Act.
A line running from
Say in
Niger to
Baroua, on the north-east coast of
Lake Chad determined what part belonged to whom. France would own territory to the north of this line, and Great Britain would own territory to the south of it. The
Nile Basin would be British, with the French taking the basin of the
River Chad. Furthermore, between the 11th and 15th degrees
longitude, the border would pass between
Ouaddaï, which would be French, and
Darfour in
Sudan, to be British. In reality, a
no man's land 200
kilometres wide was put in place between the 21st and 23rd meridian.
To the north of a line formed by the intersection of the 14th meridian and
Miltou was designated French, to the south being Germany's.
The separation came in the form of a line passing through
Yola, on the
Benoué,
Dikoa, going up to the extremity of
Lake ChadItaly was to own what lies north of a line from the intersection of the
Tropic of Cancer and the 17th meridian to the intersection of the 15th parallel and 21st meridian.
 |
Map showing European claimants to the African continent in 1913 |
The Scramble for Africa sped up after the Conference. Within a few years, Africa was at least nominally divided up south of the
Sahara. By
1895, only the settlements in Liberia, Orange Free State and Transvaal remained independent.
Abyssinia was able to fend off an Italian invasion from
Eritrea which lasted from 1889-1896 in what is known as the first
Italo-Abyssinian War, remaining the only free native state, but this was an exception in the continent of Africa. By 1902, 90% of all the land that makes up Africa was under European control. The large part of the
Sahara was French, while after the quelling of the
Mahdi rebellion and the ending of the
Fashoda crisis, the Sudan remained firmly under joint British–Egyptian rulership.
The Boer states were conquered by Great Britain in the
Boer wars from
1899 to
1902.
Morocco was divided between the French and Spanish in
1911, and
Libya was conquered by Italy in
1912. The official British annexation of Egypt in
1914 ended the colonial division of Africa. By this point, all of Africa, with the exceptions of Liberia and Ethiopia were under European rule.
*
History of Africa *
New Imperialism*
George Taubman Goldie*
Scramble for Africa
