The Partition of Africa

1. The Partition of Africa Chapter 27

2. Exploring the “Dark Continent” • Prior to the 1800’s, little was known of Africa other than north of the Sahara and the western and southern coasts • David Livingstone – Scottish doctor and missionary, explored Africa starting in the 1840s • Henry Stanley – British journalist and explorer, searched for Livingston • Reports of natural resources started a land grab • By 1914, 90% of the continent was controlled by European countries

3. Stanley and Livingstone

4. North Africa • Area north of the Sahara • French areas • 1830 King Charles X invades Algiers • Abd al-Qadir leads resistance to the French • 1840s French conquer Algiers • 1881 take Tunisia • Special rights granted in Morocco in 1904 • @ 1 million French citizens settle in French North Africa

5. North Africa (cont.) • British in Egypt and Sudan • Early 1800’s, Egypt independent Ottoman state under Muhammad Ali • Ali began to modernize Egypt and grow cotton • Suez Canal (Mediterranean and Red Seas) • built by the French • British bought from Egypt • 1882, Egypt became a British protectorate • Sudan resisted British control, taken over in 1898 (help of better weapons like machine guns) • Italy seizes Libya • 1911 Italy takes Tripoli from the Ottoman Empire and renames it Libya

6. West Africa • West coast traded with Europe starting in the 1500s (salt, gold, iron, slaves) • European slave trade ends in 1800s, shift to trading palm oil, ivory, rubber, cotton, and cacao beans • Steam ship & quinine (malaria) allowed for easier travel inland • Despite resistance, Britain and France conquer many of the lands • Liberia was the only independent western state in 1900 (ties to the U.S.)

7. Central and East Africa • Continued slave trade to Middle East and Asia after European slave trade ended • Congo • King Leopold II of Belgium makes the Congo his private plantation • Destroyed the natural resources • 1908 become the Belgian Congo • Ethiopia • Italy tries to conquer starting in the 1880s • Emperor Menelik II put down Italian attempts • Remained independent during imperialism Leopold II Menelik II

8. King Leopold’s Belgian Congo

9. The Berlin Conference(1884 - 1885) • 14 European countries (including the U.S.) • Came together to prevent war between European nations in Africa • European nations could lay claim to African lands if they told other European nations and could control the area • African nations were not invited • By 1914, only Liberia and Ethiopia were free

10. Southern Africa • Dutch settled Cape Town in 1652 (Afrikaners or Boers) • British took over area in early 1800s • Ended slavery, angered Afrikaners • 1830s – Great Trek • Boers left to create their own states (Transvaal and Orange Free State) • Conflict with Zulus • Afrikaners fought Zulu nation over land rights • British became involved and eventually defeated the Zulu nation

11. Southern Africa (continued) • Boer War (1899 – 1902) • British colonists moved into Boer territory looking for gold and diamonds • Boers resisted British control and fought back • Fighting included total war and concentration camps • Union of South Africa (1910) • After British victory in the Boer War, South Africa would all eventually be unified under British control • Constitution made it almost impossible for non-whites to vote

12. Total War and Concentration Camps of the Boer War

13. Cecil Rhodes: the Colossus of South Africa

14. Effects of Imperialism in Africa • Imperialists profited from mines, plantations, factories, ports, cheap labor, and taxes • Schools taught Western ideals • Most Africans accepted some European ideas while holding on to their own cultures • Western taught elite pushes for independence that will be won throughout the 20th century