Q. Africa was chopped into states artificially created by accident of European competition. Analyse. [UPSC-2013]
Ans:
Till middle of 19th century, Africa was known as a dark continent as it was one of the least unknown part of the world. Apart from few coastal areas, it great interior remained unexplored until 19th century main reasons being inhospitable condition, not very profitable business potential because of backwardness and simple demands of the people.
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However, the situation changed in 2nd half of the 19th century. Major factors which drew European attention to Africa were: [Not a core demand of the question so mention in brief]
- Series of scientific exploration revealed the resources and potentialities of Africa. e.g. the famous journeys of adventurers like Livingstone, Stanley etc. investigated courses of rivers, great lakes, features of deserts etc.
- Missionaries were active to bring the Negros into Christianity. ©crackingcivilservices.com
- European nations being debarred from South America by the Monroe Doctrine turned their attention to Africa for the tropical products (raw materials) needed by the Industrial revolution.
- Medical advances against African diseases like malaria (use of quinine), new inventions of steam engines and hulled boats, the ideas of Charles Darwin evolutionary theory, Eugenics movement and racism, strategic importance of the area etc. worked toward a rush among European countries for occupation of more territories.
Africa was chopped into states artificially created by accident of European competition:
- The partition of Africa was not a gradual process, but a extraordinarily rapid development. It began in early 1880s and was completed before the outbreak of the Great War.
- Within the short period all of Africa, except Liberia and Ethiopia, was divided between and occupied by the European imperial powers namely, Britain, France, Gennany, Belgium, Portugal, Spain and Italy.
- It has bwn described as the “partition” of Africa or —scramblex by the European powers to occupy their areas of influence and trade. ©crackingcivilservices.com
- The rapidity with which the partition was effected was largely due to the addition of new comers Italy and Germany.
- The unification of Italy and Germany and the link of the imperial ambition the national prestige gave a major impetus to the scramble of Africa. As Asia was largely occupied and America was closed to Europeans by Munroe Doctrine these new comers focused mostly towards Africa.
- The appearance of these new comers stimulated the activity of the powers like France and Britain who already had interests in Africa.
- In 1879 the French sent missions to push French imperial interests inland into Upper Senegal, and the Belgians attempted to intrude into the Congo Basin. The Germans also planted their flag in Togo and the Cameroon in 1884.
- This alarmed the British who also began preparations to move into the interior of Africa.
- France seized Tunis in 1881, and next year England entered upon her occupation of Egypt. Italy aggrieved by the French seizure of Tunis secured foothold in Eritrea. Portugal also expanded his early possession.
- Thus, the scramble of Africa has begun before Berlin conference had met.
- To settle the disputes and rivalry claims and to avoid any armed confrontation among the imperial powers an international conference was held in Berlin in 1884 under the chairmanship of Bismarck.
- This Berlin conference was attended by every west European nation except Switzerland, but not by even a single African state.
- It recognised the existence of the Congo Free State under the leadership sovereignty of the Leopold. But trade in it was open to all nations and the navigation of the rivers should be free to all.
- Four main rules to be followed in acquiring territory in Africa. were agreed upon by all the powers.
- First, before any power claimed an area, it should inform the other signatory powers so that any that deemed it necessary could make a counterclaim.
- Second, that all such claims should be followed by annexation and effective occupation before they could be accepted as valid. i.e. no annexation should be made of territory which was not effectively occupied.
- Third, that treaties signed with African rulers were to be considered as legitimate titles to sovereignty.
- Fourth, that each power could extend its coastal possessions inland to some extent and claim spheres of influence. ©crackingcivilservices.com
- These rules were embodied in the Berlin Act ratified on 26 February 1885. It must be clarified that the Berlin conference did not start but merely accelerated race for empire building that was already in progress.
- Almost all powers expanded their territories:
- French extended from Algeria in the north to Guinea Coast in the west. It has ambition to extend the French empire across the Sahara from Ocean to Ocean. Morocco became French protectorate in 1912. She also acquired Madagascar in 1896.
- Britain pushed northward from the Cape Colony and stretched from Cape to Cairo. In the north in controlled Egypt and had sway over Sudan. It also had Gambia, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and Nigeria on the west and part of Somaliland in the east coast.
- Portugal acquired Angola and founded Mozambique.
- Italy got Lybia. It tried to annex Abyssinia but met with heavy disaster in 1896.
- This is generally referred to as ‘paper partition’ because the actual partition took much longer time longer time (due to internal rebellions by Africans against the European powers). In the African map, about thirty per cent of all boundaries in Africa are in straight lines, because the continent of Africa was partitioned on paper map, in the conference rooms of Europe.
This scramble often led to frictions and diplomatic complications, but the Powers made up their differences and avoided war by a series of treaties among themselves such as Berlin conference of 1884-85 and Algeciras conference of 1906.
By 1910, in place of numerous independent states a completely new and numerically smaller set of some forty artificially created colonies had emerged and the colonial system had been firmly imposed upon Africa. ©crackingcivilservices.com
