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the initial scramble of africa
the initial scramble of africa
an account on causes for the scramble for africa
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Africa used to be a convenient battlefield between two global superpowers，the United States and the Soviet Union. In the cold war era, the continent was not taken seriously by the superpowers. However, different from the previous time, the African continent now is regarded as a vital battlefield due to its energy resources and other raw materials. China, India and the United States and other powerful countries are in the scramble for Africa (Volman, 2009). New emerging powers such as China are challenging and even usurping the western hegemony in Africa. In this paper, it will firstly introduce the formation of new scramble for Africa. Following this, it will take china’s oil hunger in Angola for example, to analyze the rise of China in Africa. Then it will analyze how the United States – symbol of Western Hegemony – respond to China’s threaten to it what it had done in Africa to solid supremacy in the continent. Finally, it will compare China’s activities with American measures taken in Africa, and find out how China is challenging Western Hegemony in Africa.
2.0 The formation of ...
The African empires, kingdoms, and cities had many achievements before the arrival of the Europeans. Some of these achievements had influences many other places in the world. Three major achievements were the trading systems, their military forces and strengths of its people, and the wealth and success.
It is thought-provoking, in the sense that Africa’s need for foreign created a race to the bottom, much like what Pietra Rivoli described in The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy. Due to some African states’ reliance on foreign aid in order to mine and profit on their resources, they allow business standards to be lowered and for Chinese firms to tip the contracts moresoever in the favor of Chinese firms. This lowers the potential earnings of African states by lowering royalty rates, for example. Additionally, Burgis’ research was thorough and transparent. When he did not receive a response or if his questions were dodged, he made it obvious to the readers. Sure, some could view this book as too anecdotal to be used as a credible source of Africa’s situation. However, this is due to the nature of the system Burgis is writing about; after all, they are shadow states for a reason. Some readers will be saddened by this text, others angry, most curious to learn more, but above all, everyone will be intellectually stimulated and
Conquest and colonization has always played a role in the history of European powers. Throughout the centuries many different European empires have attempted to make their mark on multiple different continents. Some have found success, while others have failed. One case in particular, in which European nations could not quite find stability, was in North America. Factors such as the American Revolution, U.S. westward expansion, and the Monroe Doctrine pushed European nations out of North America. Afterwards, the late 19th century marked the beginning of New Imperialism. As New Imperialism began, Africa became important to European nations in their “Scramble for Africa”.
It seems China’s interest in African countries is not in territorial occupation, but rather in international prominence and expanding its rapidly growing economic agenda. Kenya’s richness in commodities and weak commercial laws are an idealistic setting for rapid market entry, therefore China has been able to effortlessly influence and expand its mercantilist ambitions without distress of competition from the west. Even though the United States is focused in providing conditional aid to Kenya, the effects of Chinese expansion in Kenya on U.S. interest are alarming, for China is offering cold hard cash that is f...
In this section, I will provide a brief history of U.S. military involvement on the African continent, starting with the Barbary Wars and working up through the current date. This historical documentation will highlight the change in the role the United States has played in Africa [post 9-11???]. Prior to 9-11, the United States’ interactions were mainly [capture summary here]. Since [?], however, the continent has faced a marked increase in violent extremism and terrorism leading the United States to partner with many African nations in counterterrorism initiatives. These, and other initiatives, mean an increasing number U.S. service members are deploying to Africa to take part in training, humanitarian issues and military operations. These military activities are run by United States African Command, a recently created combatant command.
Throughout the twentieth century, Rhodesia from 1960’s to the late 1970’s have always been in a struggle to fight for their independence. They had to deal with the British colonist that settled into their land and had taken over control of the country for the past couple of years. Due to the decolonisation of African countries after the second world war it gave many influences and reasons for Rhodesia to search to become an independent country. That all changed when they fully receive their independence in 1980 and during that time they fought for the control of their country, Rhodesia. The name was later changed to Zimbabwe due to a revolutionary struggle they had in their country. The battle to govern Rhodesia and also by the agreement of the Internal Settlement between the fighting forces to find and create peace
During the late 19th century and the early 20th century many of the European nations began their scramble for Africa which caused Many Africans to suffer from violence like wars, slavery and inequality. Although the Europeans felt power as though they were doing a great cause in the African continent during the Scramble for Africa; Africans had many reactions and actions including factors as rebellion for freedom, against the white settlers and violent resistance.
Mali is a landlocked country in North West Africa. It is bordered with Algeria to the South, Niger to the East, Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire to the south and Senegal and Mauritania to the west. Modern day Mali is nowhere close to what it was at its peak in the 1300s. It was a flourishing empire, and one of the three empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade. It covered twice the size of modern day France, meaning around 1,500,000 kilometres square. However during the Scramble of Africa, France seized control of Mali making it a part of French Sudan. After the independence from the French, French Sudan became the Federation of Mali. However Senegal left, leaving Sudan occupying Mali. After a coup in 1991, Mali became an independent country. Now however, Mali is 1,240,000 Kilometres Square with a Gross Domestic Product of just 631 dollars per capita, compared to 43,185 dollars per capita in the United Arab Emirates. Mali has a population of around 14 million people. The southern part of Mali is more populated because it features the Niger and Senegal rivers. Mali’s prominent natural resource is gold. Actually it is the third largest producer of gold in all of Africa, but however the country is still poor. One of the arising problems in Mali, is humanitarian rights. The Tuareg rebellion, and a political upheaval generated by a March military coup led to a deterioration in respect to the human rights in Mali. After the occupation of the North, the respect to the human rights in Mali fell drastically forcing about 400,000 northern residents being displaced. Several armed groups, took control of territories in the North, and abused civilians. This abuse includes sexual abuse, looting and pillaging houses, and setting executions, rec...
Between the 9th and 11th centuries, the kingdom of Ghana, established by the Soninke people in the 4th century, prospered in Northwest Africa. The kingdom became very rich because its location was in the middle of the trading routes of northwest Africa and it had many resources. Ghana traded salt for gold with its Northern neighbor. Also Ghana taxed every trader who went through Ghana to fund their army. The kings of Ghana ruled from their capital of Kumbi Saleh. The country had a rich cultural tradition that was reflected in religion. The kingdom of Ghana fell because of droughts, attacks, and lack of gold.
The Scramble for Africa, named for the speed at which Africa was partitioned and colonized, began with King Leopold II 's conquest of the Congo. However, it did not end with the Belgian occupation of the Congo. Just as Leopold 's Congo was demarcated by the vast extraction of raw materials, most notably rubber, other European powers used African colonies as resource markets. However, economic motivations were not the sole stimulus for colonial expansion into Africa during the late 19th century. The causalities of the Scramble for Africa, and subsequent partition, are the result of a complex interplay between social, political, and economic forces both within Africa and within Europe. The colonization of Africa could not have been as extensive
(a) Africans and Europeans have relations that date all the way back to the origins of humans and human migrations. Scholars have hypothesized that Homo erectus found in Europe about 800,000 years ago originated and migrated from Africa Europeans and Africans also had religious relations; which is evident from the spread of Christianity, introduced by the Byzantines, throughout Africa specifically in North Africa, the Nile Valley, and the Horn of Africa. Aside from religious relations, Africans and Europeans also had economic and political relations as a result of European colonization and conquest of the African regions. Economic relations were a result of Europeans coming into Africa and taking natural resources to benefit from in the production of goods and trade. Another specific example of economic relations between Europeans and Africans is the practice of mercantilism, in which European nations were the mother countries and countries of Africa were the colonies. As the mother country, Europeans, would take natural resources from the colony, African regions, to produce goods, which would then be sold back to the colony. This also attributed to the political relations between Africans and Europeans because the economic desires of the Europeans often led to them controlling the Africans to maximize profit and their own personal benefits; which is directly related to slavery, one of the biggest relations between Africans and Europeans. Slavery and the slave trade in turn created social relations because slaves were considered to be a class of their own. Another social relation that resulted from slavery was the creation a “new race” known as the...
“Ghana, a land full of gold. Africa, a land full of resources.” Where is Ghana and what is it known for? In my paper, we will learn the location, population, how they citizens received their known name, and many more interesting facts.
The New Imperialism and the Scramble for Africa 1880-1914. Jeff Taylor, n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.
The craftiness of colonialism on Africa changed its history forever but there were good and bad effects because they built schools and improved medical care but they also had segregated benefits and resource drainage.
There is no doubt that European colonialism has left a grave impact on Africa. Many of Africa’s current and recent issues can trace their roots back to the poor decisions made during the European colonial era. Some good has resulted however, like modern medicine, education, and infrastructure. Africa’s history and culture have also been transformed. It will take many years for the scars left by colonization to fade, but some things may never truly disappear. The fate of the continent may be unclear, but its past provides us with information on why the present is the way it is.