Imperialism The Partition of Africa - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Imperialism

The Partition of Africa

World History Standards

W. 20

Describe the natural resources and geographic features of Africa, their

role

in attracting European economic interests, and their impact on

global

trade.

W.

21 Analyze the outcomes of the Berlin Conference and the impact of

superimposed

boundaries on African indigenous populations, and

compare

the geographic progression of imperialistic claims on the

African

continent by European empires

.

W.

22 Describe successful (e.g., Ethiopia) and unsuccessful (e.g., Zulu Wars

and

Ashanti Wars) examples of African resistance to European

imperialism

.

Africa in the Early 1800s

In the late 1800s, Britain, France, Germany, and other European nations began claiming African territories

Across Africa, people spoke hundreds of languages and developed varied governments ranging from large states to small village communities

Africa in the Early 1800s

Before 1800, much of North Africa fell under part of the Muslim world, remaining under the declining Ottoman Empire

By the early 1800s, an Islamic revival spread across West Africa, beginning among the Fulani people in Nigeria

The scholar and preacher Usman dan Fodio called for social and religious reforms based on sharia law

Africa in the Early 1800s

Usman and his successors set up a powerful Islamic state in northern Nigeria

Their success inspired other Muslim reform movements in West Africa, and more than a dozen Islamic rulers rose to power

Islamic states had long influenced eastern Africa where a profitable trade had arisen in the slave trade

Africa in the Early 1800s

In South Africa, the Zulus emerged as a major force under the leadership of

Shaka

Though

Shaka

waged relentless wars and conquered many nearby peoples, he set off mass migrations and wars

By the 1830s, the Zulus faced the threat of the Boers, descendants of Dutch farmers forced from the Cape Colony by the British

Africa in the Early 1800s

Although the Zulus held their own at first, their spears could not defeat Boer guns, and the struggle for Zulu land would continue until the end of the century

Though European nations began outlawing the slave trade, it continued to Asia

In 1787, the British organized Sierra Leone as a colony for former slaves, and later freed slaves from the US established Liberia

Europeans Advance into Africa

In the 1800s, medical advances and the river steamship changed the course of African history

European explorers began pushing into the interior of Africa to map its great rivers, enduring great hardships

Europeans Advance into Africa

Catholic and Protestant missionaries followed the explorers into the African interior

Missionaries built schools, medical clinics, and churches in their desire to help the Africans

Missionaries still took on a paternalistic view of Africans, seeing them as children in need of guidance

A Scramble for Colonies

King Leopold II of Belgium hired Henry Stanley to explore the Congo River basin and arrange trade treaties with African leaders in 1879

Leopold dreamed of conquest and profit, and his activities set off a scramble by other nations to colonize Africa

In 1884, European powers met in Berlin to attempt to peacefully establish rules for the colonization of Africa

A Scramble for Colonies

At the Berlin Conference, European powers recognized Leopold’s claims to the Congo, but called for free trade on the Congo and Niger rivers

They agreed a European power could not claim any part of Africa unless it set up a government office there

In the 20 years after the Berlin Conference, the European powers partitioned almost the entire

continent, redrawing the map with little regard for traditional settlements or ethnic boundaries

Horrors in the Congo

Leopold and other wealthy Belgians exploited the riches of the Congo: copper, rubber, and ivory

Laborers were savagely beaten or mutilated by their Belgian overseers

International outrage eventually led to Leopold turning over his personal colony to the Belgian government and it became the Belgian Congo in 1908

The French in Africa

France began colonizing Africa in the 1830s, conquering Algeria at the cost of tens of thousands of French lives and many more Algerians

France then extended its influence along the Mediterranean into Tunisia and into West and Central Africa

At its height, France controlled an empire in Africa as large as

the continental US

The British in Africa

British claims in Africa were more scattered, but included more heavily populated regions with rich resources

The British took chunks of West and East Africa, took control of Egypt, and pushed into the Sudan

The British in Africa

In South Africa, the British forced out the Boers when the British purchased the colony from the Dutch in 1814

Though the Boers tried to establish their own republics further north, when gold and diamonds were discovered, this brought conflict again

The

Boer War

(1899-1902) involved bitter guerrilla fighting, and though the British won, victory came at a great cost

Resisting Imperialism

Across the continent, Africans resisted European imperialism

The French met resistance to imperialism in Algeria and across West Africa where

Samori

Toure

was attempting to build his own empire

The British fought the Zulus in southern Africa and the Asante in West Africa

Resisting Imperialism

The Germans fought wars against the Yao and Herero in East Africa

The Germans fought an especially fierce war against the

Maji-Maji

in 1905

The Germans finally won after burning thousands of acres of farmland, leaving thousands to starve to death

Ethiopia Stands

Ethiopia managed to resist European colonization and maintain independence

In the late 1800s,

Menelik

II began modernizing his country, hiring European experts to plan roads and bridges and set up a school system

Ethiopia Stands

Menelik

II imported weapons and European officers to train his army

In 1896 when Italy invaded Ethiopia,

Menelik

was prepared and defeated the Italians at the battle of Adowa

Ethiopia was the only African nation aside from Liberia to preserve its independence from European colonialism