Scramble of Africa

(noun)

Invasion, occupation, division, colonization and annexation of African territory by European powers during the period of New Imperialism, between 1881 and 1914 (called also the Partition of Africa or the Conquest of Africa). In 1870, only 10% of Africa was under European control; by 1914 it had increased to 90%, with only Ethiopia (Abyssinia), the Dervish State and Liberia still being independent.

Related Terms

Examples of Scramble of Africa in the following topics:

  • The North Africa Campaign

    • The North African Campaign of World War II (June 10th, 1940 - May 13th, 1943) resulted in the huge loss of Axis troops, which greatly reduced the military capacity of the Axis powers and led to all Italian colonies in Africa being captured.
    • The North African Campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from June 10th, 1940 to May 13th, 1943.
    • The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had colonial interests in Africa dating from the late 19th century (Scramble of Africa).
    • An attack on French North Africa was proposed instead, which would clear the Axis powers from North Africa, improve naval control of the Mediterranean Sea, and prepare for an invasion of Southern Europe in 1943.
    • This defeat in Africa led to all Italian colonies in Africa being captured.

  • Postcolonial Discourse

    • Postcolonial discourse is an academic discipline that analyzes the cultural legacies of colonialism and of imperialism.
    • As a genre of contemporary history, post-colonialism questions and reinvents the modes of cultural perception — the ways of viewing and of being viewed.
    • It was believed among white colonists that imperial stewardship of "less civilized" areas of the world would help lead to intellectual and moral reform of the peoples within these areas (largely people of color), and contribute to natural harmony among the human races of the world.
    • Especially in the colonization of the Far East and in the "Scramble for Africa" (1870–1914), the idea of a European identity justified the subjugation of indigenous peoples, the exploitation of their labor, and the despoliation of the natural resources of their countries.
    • Postcolonial literature is a body of literary writing that responds to the intellectual discourse of European colonization in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the Pacific, and other post-colonial areas throughout the globe.

  • Namibia

    • Unlike in other territories in Africa, no powerful ancient or medieval kingdoms and empires served as predecessors of the Namibian state today.
    • The San (also called Bushmen) are generally assumed to have been the earliest inhabitants of the region comprising today's Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa.
    • It is believed that they separated themselves early on from their Bantu brothers of Southern and Central Africa and moved to Southwest Africa.
    • The first European to set foot on Namibian soil was the Portuguese Diogo Cão, in 1485 during an exploratory mission along the west coast of Africa.
    • It was not until the 19th century, when European powers sought to carve up the African continent between them in the so-called Scramble for Africa, that Europeans—predominately Germany and Great Britain— became interested in Namibia.

  • Conclusion: European Empires in the New World

    • By the late 15th century, Europe—having recovered from the epidemic of the Black Death and in search of new products and new wealth—was seeking to improve trade and communications with the rest of the world.
    • This historic moment in 1492 sparked new rivalries among European powers as they scrambled to create New World colonies, fueled by the quest for wealth and power as well as by religious passions.
    • They also were victims of the arrogance of the Europeans, who viewed themselves as uncontested masters of the New World, sent by God to bring Christianity to the “Indians.”
    • West Africa, a diverse and culturally rich area, soon entered the stage as other nations exploited its slave trade and brought its peoples to the New World in chains.
    • Although Europeans would come to dominate the New World, they could not have done so without the slave labor of Africans and the exploitation of indigenous peoples.

  • European Exploration of Africa

  • European Consensus of Africa

  • Colonialism and Neocolonialism

    • India is an example of a British colony that did not achieve independence until the mid-20th century, remaining mired by foreign debts and lack of capital for decades after.
    • In the late 19th century, many European powers were involved in the so-called Scramble for Africa, in which many African colonies were established.
    • In this theory, the world economic system is divided into a hierarchy of three types of countries: core, semiperipheral, and peripheral.
    • Semiperipheral countries (e.g., South Korea, Taiwan, Mexico, Brazil, India, Nigeria, South Africa) are less developed than core nations but are more developed than peripheral nations.
    • By the end of the 19th century, most of the Americas were under the control of European colonial empires.

  • The Union of South Africa

  • Ancient Africa

    • By the first millennium BCE, ironworking had begun in Northern Africa and quickly spread across the Sahara into the northern parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
    • By 500 BCE, metalworking was fully established in many areas of East and West Africa.
    • European exploration of Africa began with Ancient Greeks and Romans.
    • These included small family groups of hunter-gatherers, such as the San people of southern Africa; larger, more structured groups, such as the family clan groupings of the Bantu-speaking people of central and southern Africa; heavily structured clan groups in the Horn of Africa; the large Sahelian kingdoms; autonomous city-states and kingdoms such as those of the Akan; Edo people, Yoruba and Igbo people (also misspelled as Ibo) in West Africa; and the Swahili coastal trading towns of East Africa.
    • This map depicts a sample of the diverse cultures, kingdoms, and empires of pre-colonial Africa.

  • E-Mail as an Entry Point

    • Virtually every business and individual with internet access has an email account of some sort.
    • There are a variety of mechanisms designed to do exactly that.
    • Encryption - Encryption takes a message and scrambles the contents of that message upon sending.
    • Anti-virus Software - Anti-virus programs are designed to record libraries of data on common viruses, and scan all incoming email traffic (as well as internal files and databases) for signs of malicious software.
    • This image shows the transmission of an email from one device to another.