The Scramble for Africa
New Imperialism
• Old Imperialism
– Creating trading outposts
– Letting the areas control themselves as long as they
traded
• New Imperialism
– Formal government structures to control the colony
– Actively moving Europeans into the new colony
– Actively mining the colony for resources
– Claiming new territory FOR their country
• Importance of planting a flag
New Imperialism: Forces Behind it
• Social Darwinism/Racism
– In the struggle of nations, the fittest survived
• So a colony (conquered) contained weaker races
– Created a hierarchy, strongest at the top, weakest at
the bottom
• Acceptable to mistreat and ignore the inferior races
• National Pride
– Each nation saw colonies as a way to show off their
power
– The more you had, the more powerful you were
– Nationalism!!
New Imperialism: Forces Behind it con’t
• Capitalism
– Vast profits can be made through cheap labor and cheap
materials
– Needed a new source for raw materials outside of Europe
• Had to maintain order to do this
• Needed a cheap (or free) labor force
• Raw materials the countries were looking for:
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Diamonds
Rubber
Oil
Metal (Tin, Gold, Silver, Copper, etc)
Labor (cheap or free)
Foods and Spices (coffee, oils, sugar)
New Imperialism: Forces Behind it con’t
• Religion and Democracy
– Moral duty to improve the lives of the natives
– Meant to bring the Christian religion to the “savage”
people – democratic thinking
– Native people looked at as “primitive” and lacking
civilization or morals
• Militarism
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Controlling areas offered strategic advantage
US in Asia – Philippines – Oil
Great Britain – Suez Canal in Egypt
Soldiers
• Natives were often conscripted to be solders for the European
armies
– Sepoys and Gurkahs in India
Problems with New Imperialism
• Ruling imperialist areas from home
– Hard to respond to problems
• Unhappy native populations
– Peasant revolts were common
– Did encounter resistance but usually futile
• Government Structures
– Protectorate – territory dependent on another
government for protection
Solutions with New Imperialism
• Direct Rule
– European leaders put in charge of colony’s operations
– All political, military, and economic leaders were European
• Ex: Queen Victoria as Empress of India?
• Indirect Rule
– Use existing native chieftains and leaders to control local
population
– Lowered cost of governing colony
– But gave the natives more claim to their own rule
• Cost and Reward
– Colony = affordable when producing new profits
• Europeans did not want to build economies in their colonies
• Wanted raw goods, and purposely kept industry and technology
out of colonial areas
Major Areas of Imperialism
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Africa (English, French, Germans, Belgians)
Southeast Asia (French, US, Dutch, English)
Latin America (US, French)
China (Germany, France, English, US, Japan)
India (English)
Middle East (English, French)
Africa Before Europe
Missionaries and Quinine
• Missionaries had been going into Africa long before
the Europeans decided to heavily exploit it
– Goal: Convert native populations to Christianity
• Until 1850s it was difficult for Europeans to explore
Africa
– Water obstacles, unfamiliar terrain, dangerous animals,
mosquitoes (malaria)
– Once the drug quinine started to be used before going to
Africa in the 1850s, that changed quickly
• Europeans could now survive in greater numbers, allowing them
to conquer more effectively and quickly
• Lead to increased fighting amongst the Europeans for controlling
lands of Africa
Demand for Raw Materials
• Cecil Rhodes
– English businessman and political leader
• Wanted African economy controlled by Britain
• Specialized in the diamond trade, copper, gold, etc.
• Diamonds (blood diamonds)
– Africa – world’s largest producer of diamonds (almost
70%)
– Blood Diamonds (Kimberley Process)
– $12.7 Billion (modern production)
– Demand expected to DOUBLE in 20 years (due to
China and US demand)
Division of Africa
• Berlin Conference
– 14 nations met in 1884-1885 to lay down rules for
the division of Africa
• Agreed that any country claiming land had to notify
other nations of the claim
• Then proving it could control the area
– No African rulers were invited to attend
Congo and Belgium
• Privately controlled by King Leopold II
– Controlled the rubber trade
– Used the Congolese people as free slave labor
– Incredibly cruel
• Paid field workers to whip workers
• Used torture to increase production
– Ex: practice of cutting off hands
South Africa
• South and Central Africa
– Livingstone and Stanley
• Henry Stanley – journalist
• David Livingstone – missionary and explorer
– South African Violence
• Zulu Resistance
– Shaka Zulu
• Dutch Ranchers - Afrikaaners