africa came under the direct jurisdiction of Europe after the initial carving out of the continent referred to as the 'Scramble for Africa'. This partition was fulfilled at the Conference of Berlin 1884-85 resulting in the political mapping of the continent. Thus, Africa facilitated the extension of the European hegemonic powers overseas. This colonization rendered the African continent the play-toy of wealthy European imperialists who raked the profits from the resource-rich territories. The period between 1880 and 1919 saw an upsurge of African resistance to colonial rule this was the period of African nationalism. The Africans were now exasperated with their economic and social situation. Thus discontent and protest was bound to surface. During colonialism generally there was the raising of a small group usually through education and a diffusion of European culture. For the French and the British the style of education was different, the French was one of making French men in Africa while the British was more indirect. However it was this group that benefited from education whether French or British were to play a key role in the decolonisation process. Crowder states that the First World War raised the hopes of this emergent class all over Africa that they would be given positions of significance and respect from the colonizers; however these hopes were never realised. The traditional elites were also disgruntled with colonisation as many of them lost their positions and respect not only from the colonizers but also from their people. Moreover, where they retained their positions many of them became puppets of the colonisers. The loss of real power, respect and social standing became a source of discontent among many of them. Neither set of elites were satisfied with colonial rule. An international congress which was convened under the auspices of the comintern at Brussels on February 1927 resulted in the formation of the league against imperialism and for national independence; this provided further impetus for the decolonisation schemes. The congress was attended by 180 delegates from Western Europe, north central and South America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa. The congress brought together socialists like the independent labour party, the radical leaders in colonial territories and representatives from Africa including Messali Hadj, Abd al-Kadir f...
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... In some parts of Africa, European control ended by the early 1970's however a visible and dramatic legacy of colonial rule remained in the form of white colonial elites. due to the apartheid restrictions attempts were made to form political organizations there was the south African native national congress under the leadership of Clements Kadalie, there was also the industrial and commercial workers union whose membership grew to two hundred thousand despite the whites despite attempt to hold on to power. And although they did not receive full sovereignty until later the significance of the political groups played a significant role. Thus, in the former British colonies of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and South Africa, the small white minority held onto power over the disenfranchised and repressed black African populations well into the 1980's. It was only with the ending of white rule in Rhodesia in 1980, and the final crumbling of the racist policies of apartheid in S. Africa in 1990 that decolonization finally reached all parts of this continent. Nevertheless although their struggle was long it was still through the educated elite with mass support that final independence was achieved.
Europe, in the late 1800’s, was starting for a land grab in the African continent. Around 1878, most of Africa was unexplored, but by 1914, most of Africa, with the lucky exception of Liberia and Ethiopia, was carved up between European powers. There were countless motivations that spurred the European powers to carve Africa, like economical, political, and socio–cultural, and there were countless attitudes towards this expansion into Africa, some of approval and some of condemnation.
Whilst there is some debate on the differences between colonialism, imperialism and ‘informal empire’, this article is more concerned with the period of ‘high’ imperialism in Africa from the 1880s - more commonly known as the scramble for Africa. Unlike earlier models of colonialism, high imperialism was more concerned with gaining spheres of influence. These spheres were gained through treaties, local agreements or by force if necessary. This facilitated the development of new trade networks to offload the surplus of production and to procure rights of access to raw resources. The availability of cheap labour was exploited, strategic land and maritime locations were acquired and the national prestige of the imperial power became elevated. The rhetoric to ‘stamp out the evil’ of slavery and slave-trading and the mantra proclaiming a ‘civilising mission’ on the ‘Dark Continent’ were also functional aspects of European imperialism. However, this article is primarily concerned with the process and experience of decolonisation in Africa.
By 1885, little to no independent countries existed throughtout the whole African continent. This was due to the imperialism done by strong European countries. Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, and Spain are to blame. There are many possible contributing factors as to why the European countries decided to completely carve up Africa, split it up, imperialize the whole of the continent. Because of the need for resources Africa could supply, the European desire for power, and the European's reaction to the White Man's burden, they took control of almost every square mile in Africa through imperialization.
Africa being a huge conflict between the power struggles against natives and each other. The Western powers decided a sit down would be in order. They decided to call this sit down, The Berlin Conference. The conference of Berlin was also known around the world as the Congo conference. On November 15, 1884 Austria- Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden- Norway, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) and the United States met to discuss the politics over Africa. At the request of Portugal, the meeting was called together so all major powers in the western hemisphere could discuss and negotiate the control of Africa. The conference attempted to assign a set of realities that were already taking place on the continent. Preceding to 1870, the British, French, Portuguese, and Germans acquired territory and control of large amounts of land on the African continent. This period was known as the “scramble for Africa.” This conference promoted discussing the control of the slave trade and promoting philanthropic generosit...
The End of Apartheid - HistoryWiz South Africa. (n.d.). HistoryWiz: for students, teachers and lovers of history. Retrieved February 19, 2011, from http://www.historywiz.org/end.htm
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries there were was a great deal of imperialism being done by Europe, specifically in Asia and Africa. Africa was a big focal point for this imperialism when the Berlin Conference cut the continent up for their spheres of influence. These spheres of influence enacted a variety of different responses by the colonized people. The colonized people responded to this imperialism with three reactions: warm welcome, hatred, or caution in hopes for preservation of their way of life.
Since the 1880?s, when European nations colonized Africa, Europe had almost complete control over the continent, but this changed during the 1950?s and 60?s. By 1958, ten African countries had gained their independence, and sixteen more joined the list in 1960 alone. Although these nations? gain of independence demonstrates the ability of blacks to overpower their white oppressors, Baldwin argues ?The word ?independence? in Africa and the word ?integration? here are almost equally meaningless; that is, Europe has not yet left Africa, and black men here are not yet free? (336). While black people had been legally free in the United States since 1863, two decades before the European colonization of Africa, they were still not truly free, almost a century later.
Labor unions strengthened and the men at the head of politics granted the working class far more power than they were given previously. Africa had seen new advancements in leadership. New African leaders began to emerge where there had previously not been any. These newly appointed leaders called for Africans to reexamine their heritage and learn from and take pride in their past. In addition, there was a call for Nationalism. Africans wanted to end all forms of foreign control and influence to be able to take charge of their political, social and economic affairs. Africans above all wished to rid themselves of any form of influence from Europe and stand alone as their own country. Moreover, Nationalism laid the basis for African independence
European imperialism in Africa caused Africans to lose their independence and culture. After a long time, “the wave of Independence across Africa in the 1950s and 1960s brought to the end around 75
In the early 1880’s, the powers of Europe started to take control of regions in Africa and set up colonies there. In the beginning, colonization caused the Africans little harm, but before long, the Europeans started to take complete control of wherever they went. The Europeans used their advanced knowledge and technology to easily maneuver through the vast African landscape and used advanced weapons to take control of the African people and their land. The countries that claimed the most land and had the most significant effect on Africa were France, England, Belgium, and Germany. There were many reasons for the European countries to be competing against each other to gain colonies in Africa. One of the main reasons was that the Europeans believed that the more territory a country was able to control, the more powerful it could become and the more powerful it would be seen as by other countries. Other reasons for the desire to control African land included the many natural resources that could only be found in Africa, such as diamonds, gold, and as time progressed, rubber. It also provided new markets in surrounding places so that manufactured goods could be sold for a larger profit. The Europeans had many motives for imperialism in Africa. Yet the true motives were often shielded as they tried tom present themselves as humanitarians when in reality they were making Africa a terrible place to live with brutality and harsh treatment of the African natives. The ways of the Europeans had many physical and emotional costs for the people of Africa. The imperialism process also took a toll on the people of Europe. The European imperialistic colonization in Africa was motivated by the desire to control the abundant natural resources an...
At the end of WWII is when decolonization was brought up as a serious topic of discussion. Over 200,000 Africans had fought in Europe and Asia for the Allies’ freedom and democracy which showed quite the contradiction. They were fighting for something that wasn’t even going to truly benefit them. In 1945 is when the 5th Pan African Conference met to go over the possibility of granting back independence to the colonized areas. Ghana played a significant role during the decolonization process in Africa because Ghana was the first Sub-Saharan African majority government to gain independence in 1957. Not only did Ghana gain independence, but they did this by acting nonviolently. For years following th...
Before the Europeans began the New Imperialism in Africa, very little was known about the inner parts of the continent. However, after some explorers delved deeper into the heart of Africa, the Europeans soon realized how economically important this area was, and how much they could profit from it. At the time, Britain had only small occupations of land in Africa, but after they realized that they could make money from the rich resources from the inner regions of Africa, they wanted to invade the African countries and take over. This led to the scramble and ultimately, the partition of Africa. During the Age of Imperialism, from 1870-1914, Britain was a major country, which proved to be true in the “carving up” and division of Africa. Britain was one of the strongest of the European countries, and had the power to take over much of the most valuable lands with the most rich and abundant supplies of raw materials and other resources. There were five main reasons for their imperialism. They were political and military interests, humanitarian and religious goals, ideological, exploratory, and lastly, but most importantly, economic interests.
"The wind of change is blowing through this [African] continent, and whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact. We must all accept it as a fact, and our national policies must take account of it" (Macmillan). This speech, made by the prime minister of England in 1960, highlights the vast changes occurring in Africa at the time. Changes came quickly. Over the next several years, forty-seven African countries attained independence from colonial rule. Many circumstances and events had and were occurring that led to the changes to which he was referring. The decolonization of Africa occurred over time, for a variety of complex reasons, but can be broken down into two major contributing factors: vast changes brought about in the world because of World War II and a growing sense of African nationalism.
The Berlin Conference of 1884 peacefully divided Africa between world leaders. The conference, also known as the Congo Conference, looked at Africa as a great source of wealth in many areas to be shared among the participating countries. The division that took place at no time had at interest the people of Africa. By the time Africa regained its freedom in the 1950’s most areas had developed severe political and racial division. The result of this turbulence and division is the occurrence of such violent civil wars and genocides in African countries such as Rwanda.
An overwhelming majority of African nations has reclaimed their independence from their European mother countries. This did not stop the Europeans from leaving a permanent mark on the continent however. European colonialism has shaped modern-day Africa, a considerable amount for the worse, but also some for the better. Including these positive and negative effects, colonialism has also touched much of Africa’s history and culture especially in recent years.