Scramble and Partitioning of Africa There are all kinds of silences and each of them means a different thing. There is the silence that comes with morning in a forest, and this is different from the silence of a sleeping city. There is silence after a rainstorm, and before a rainstorm, and these are not the same. There is the silence of emptiness, the silence of fear, the silence of doubt. There is a certain silence that can emanate from a lifeless object as from a chair lately used, or from a piano with old dust upon its keys, or from anything that has answered to the need of a man, for pleasure or work. This kind of silence can speak. Its voice may be melancholy, but it is not always so; for the chair may have been left by a laughing child or the last notes of the piano may have been raucous and gay. Whatever the mood or the circumstance, the essence of its quality may linger in the silence that follows. It is a soundless echo.” -Beryl Markham, West with the Night (Excerpt). A New Dawn for Africa In the late 19th Century Africa was to open her eyes set deep in the antagonistic saga of the much-publicized Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade to yet another umbrous episode in her history and one that would wend the course of her future a great deal, with far-reaching long-term out-turns. This a-gogo rigmarole would come to be known simply as the ‘Scramble for Africa', between 1870 and 1960, and one that turned the attention of the nations of Europe, seeking new outlets for trade and settlement, to territorial wars and bizarre ambitions to colonize vast tracts of land in Africa that were many times the extent of these nations. The scramble for Africa and its partitioning begun in the 1870's, with no clear rules of engagement guiding the divvying up. It was an open invitation for Germany, France, Portugal, Belgium, Italy and Spain to expand their territories, and all of whom excepting Germany had previously been involved in Africa during the tremendous Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. By 1914, the whole of Africa, excluding Liberia and Ethiopia, were under colonial rule. Indeed, it was an audacious and highly ambitious scheme to take over Africa – 30.3 million km2 – in its entirety under European Rule. It would be the arena for the nations of Europe to settle their growing power struggles. ‘Furthermore, the continent of Africa was hardly ever looked upon as a historical entity. On the contrary, emphasis was laid on everything likely to lend credence to the idea that a split had existed, eternally, betwixt a white Africa and a black Africa, each unaware of the other's existence.' The scramble for Africa begins in 1860's – 1870's when the French and British start exploring systematically North and West Africa and sign bilateral agreements assigning spheres of influence. The scramble was completed with the Franco-Spanish partition of Morocco and the annexation of Libya by Italy in 1912. In the end, it took over 85% of Africa. Prelude to the Scramble for Africa In the late 1860's, Germany was enjoying a rapid growth in its influence and, was overly ambitious about expanding her power base in Europe and beyond. The 1870 loss of France in the Franco-Prussian War had set-off her complete unification and creation of the German Empire, by the Treaty of Franrfurt. Otto Von Bismarck, former Chief Minister of Prussia, became the foremost German Chancellor. "Just a century before the Scramble for Africa, Britain, Portugal, Netherlands and France had established trading stations in the West Coast of Africa. Their profits were very large, and in exchange for rum, trinkets, beads and worthless arms, coconut oil, ivory, rubber and other products were obtained. That resulted in the starting of a regular line from Hamburg to the West Coast and also one through the Suez Canal to the East Coast. Bismarck realized he had a most urgent problem to solve: Either to restrain German immigration or failing in that to keep it in the control of the empire. America was closed, Asia was all taken, his only opportunity was colonization in Africa. He ordered German ships of war to visit the African Coast and established consulates at different ports. Treaties were made with the natives for the purpose of acquiring colorful titles and large tracts of land. The German flag was raised and the country declared to be under German protection" NGM – Africa Since 1888. During this period of Germany's dominance, and long before she ventured into Africa, Britain, France and Turkey were entangled in a delicate and exceptional dance of power and dominance of Egypt. From 1875 to 1880, Britain had sought to exploit and takeover the Suez Canal of Egypt , which had been completed in 1869 at a cost of USD 4 Million. It was a strategic terminus to expand her trade relations with India. Furthermore, Egypt was strategically located and highly sought frontier. Thence, Britain sought the help of France to penetrate and take over Egypt. Its current leader, Khedive Ismail , would be first target of the operation, who in aim to modernize Egypt, relying on huge foreign loans, had run it into a deep bankruptcy pit. Britain and France guaranteed to normalize Egypt's finances and trade on condition the Khedive was deposed. Accordingly, in 1879, Khedive Ismail or Ismail Pasha was succeeded by his son Tawfiq, who was a much softer target and not difficult to persuade. In 1880-1882, Britain single-handedly quelled and thwarted the Egyptian Uprising that culminated at the Battle of Tel-el-Kabir , in 1882. The no-show by France would be a decision she gravely regretted. To protect the Nile River, Britain would also seek to occupy Uganda (1894) and Sudan (1898). Utterly disappointed and in a bid to restore her now deflated ego, France turned to West Africa, establishing a protectorate over Porto Nove, in 1882, with plans to expand her dominance in this frontier. This set-off a chain of events. First, it encourage Germany to stake a claim in Africa, occupying Togo, Cameroon, South West Africa and Tanzania (the then Tanganyika). In turn, Belgium began her quest for new territories in Africa. King Leopold II of Belgium formed the Africa International Association, in 1879, curving out for himself a vast personal empire in the Congo. Portugal, which had maintained trade ties and presence in West Africa since the decline of the Trans-Atlantic Trade, objected Belgium's presence in the region. That's how things stood as Otto Von Bismark convened the 1884 Berlin Conference. View of Suez Canal and the Al Salam Bridge in Egypt. Photo Courtesy The Berlin Conference The Berlin Conference – November, 1884 to February, 1885 – was going to be immensely monumental in how the affairs of partitioning Africa were going to be carried out hereafter. While it had been convened primarily to discuss the limits of Central Africa (more proper the Congo Free State) following territorial dissent between Portugal and Belgium, it also sought to outline a few rules and regulations that would assist the nations of Europe to carry on their affairs in Africa with minimal friction. The Berlin Conference came to signify the official start of the scramble for Africa, because it laid down a framework and structure for the nations of Europe to divide up Africa. In this, as in most things imperial, the process was not aimed at friendly competition, and even less consideration given to the extant systems of the natives – local and regional. Henceforth, the process of partitioning would follow two main ethos – diplomacy and military conquest – and guided by the four balefully broad principles passed in Berlin. Firstly, the Hinterland Principle stipulated that a power claiming the coast also had the right to claim the interior of that region. Secondly, the Effective Possession Principle required that the nations of Europe sign treaties with the local tribe leaders. Thirdly, the Effective Communication Principle required the nations of Europe ti exert significant control of the territory they were claim. Last but not least, the Free Navigation Principle required that all navigable rivers and maritime routes should be open for all, without any restriction or tariffs into any region. "Berlin 1885: The Division of Africa" The Winner Takes It All Hence, the nations of Europe re-commenced the scramble of Africa in earnest, drawing up new boundaries and prospecting new colonies; although as it might have been expected slipping up on and sometimes completely disregarding the principles of the Berlin Conference. This was exacerbated by the continual back and forth of swapping of territories and tracts of land. As a result, it would en-kindle mercurial tempers as the nations of Europe clashed over the ownership and split of some areas (specially those considered to be fertile or mineral rich) claimed by more than one party. This led to the signing of partition treaties like the Anglo-German Agreement of 1886 over East Africa. Still and all, the parties seemed to agree on how to go about gaining dominance, and where diplomacy failed in taking control military conquest gained the victory; which sometimes took precedence over diplomacy because forging treaties was time-consuming and always hindered by language and social-cultural difference. The French in particular favoured military conquest. On many occasions, treaties were signed with the African "native" leaders recognizing their territories as protectorates. Britain in East Africa had Kenya and Uganda; in Central Africa, Nyasaland, Northern Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia; in South Africa, Bechuanaland, Swaziland, Basutoland and the Union of South Africa; in North Africa, Egypt and Sudan; and finally in West Africa it had the Gold Coast, Nigeria, Gambia and Sierra Leonne. This translated to a region of more that one million km2. France had secured French Congo, Chad and French Central Africa in Central Africa; in West Africa it had Senegal, Ivory Coast, Dahomey, Upper Volta, Mali, Guinea, Mauritania and Niger; In North Africa, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco; and in North-Eastern Africa it had French Somaliland and Eritrea. Germany held a small colony, with Tanganyika in East Africa, Rwanda and Burundi in Central Africa and Togo and Cameroon in West Africa. Belgium held Belgian Congo. Portuga l had Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea. Spain held S. Guinea and Spanish Morocco. Italy held Libya and Italian Somaliland. Map of land occupation in the scramble for Africa. Photo Courtesy The Resistance of Colonial Rule Although the response of colonial rule varied from society to society, Africa was largely split between resistance and collaboration. The great equalizer, was that the visitors, now the gritty colonizers, were a sworn enemy that had seized all the useful land from the hands of the natives and disrupted all extant systems. The omen for Africa – which had not been party to the Berlin Conference – was that it was plunged into a half century of civil sedition. Then in their turns, the African societies were overwhelmed by a savage and warlike state of dailyhood that was enliven by the inequitable distribution of resources. These resistance psyche swept through Africa opposing by means of uprising, which were also a relatively new tactic: fighting seemingly unbeatable rivals with superior might of weapons and resources. Much of the early resistance of colonial rule in Africa was easily defeated and the repercussions were unbearable. Most of the African societies had no serious defense against the nations of Europe, once they were defeated, the first course of action was that they were driven further from the lands they were fighting for and forced to retreat or serve as labourers. In the overall scheme of things in the resistance of colonial rule in Africa, these early attempts were not altogether futile, but precursors to a rabble-rousing future.

Source Images

  • https://thisiskenyahome.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/scramble-for-africa-1.jpg?w=800
  • https://thisiskenyahome.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/view-of-the-suez-canal-in-egypt.jpg
  • https://thisiskenyahome.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/scramble-for-africa-map.jpg
  • https://thisiskenyahome.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/scramble-for-africa.jpg?w=800