Historical Background 1880-1990
Colonisation of Africa 1880-1914
Causes for Western Colonisation:
1. Economic
The Berlin Conference 1884-85
3. Social
Impact of Colonisation 1914-1962:
Historiography:
Essential Questions:
Key Facts:
Causes for Western Colonisation:
1. Economic
- Western search for commodities (spices, sugar, silk, slaves) - African nations had discovered diamonds in 1860 and gold shortly afterwards
- Need to export industrial surplus
- Access to trade routes
- Power politics in Europe (recent formation of Germany and Italy)
- "Scramble for Africa" - Leopold 1876: "I do not want to miss a good chance of getting us a slice of this magnificent African cake"
- Established treaties with local chiefs to gain control - Leopold: "The treaties must be as short as possible and, in a couple of articles, grant us everything"
The Berlin Conference 1884-85
- Led by King Leopold, though he did not attend, and tasked with the division of the African continent
- No African nation's invited
- European powers claimed to be democratic, yet exploited a powerless African continent
- Outcomes:
- Leopold acquires a colony in the Congo basin 80x the size of Belgium (Congo Free State)
- ‘Principle of Effective Occupation’ - No power should be able to gain territory legally unless they are able to exercise actual control over the land
- End of slave trade
- Free trade between colonisers
3. Social
- Aimed to establish a long-term state
- Herbert Spencer (Social Darwinism): "might makes right"
- France referred to colonisation as a "civilizing mission
- England as the "White Man's Burden" - advocated by Cecil Rhodes and Theodore Roosevelt
- Individuals on the ground to encourage imperialism
- Means to demonstrate military superiority
- Strategic positioning
- Emergence of new powers (Japan, Germany, Italy)
Impact of Colonisation 1914-1962:
- Limitation of power of king and local chiefs
- Collaboration between Belgian colonial authorities, church and missionaries
- Political power given to Tutsi's, resulting in ethnic divide and violence when government was introduced
- Introduction of Identity Cards
- Large-scale conversion to Christianity
- Establishment of formal education
- Creation of Political Parties
- Introduction of cash-crops (cotton, cassava)
- Refugees fleeing to Uganda and elsewhere
Historiography:
- Hochschild on the Berlin Conference: "expression of the age... whose enthusiasm for democracy had clear limits, and slaughtered game had no vote."
Essential Questions:
- What caused the rapid colonisation of Africa
- What was the impact on development in African nations?
- What was the colonial impact on ethnic groups?
Key Facts:
- 1880: 10% of Africa colonised, 1914: 90% of Africa colonised
- After death of Mutari III in Jul 1959 - ethnic violence led to deaths of anywhere from 10,000-100,000 people, mostly Tutsi (first ethnic violence)
- Coffee was major cash crop, accounting for over 75% of country's exports
- Population 1978: 89.7% Hutu, 9.77% Tutsi (remainder were Twa, expats etc.)