(Redirected from Conference of Berlin): ''See also
Congress of Berlin (1878) and
Berlin Conference of 1954 (Cold War).''
The conference of Berlin
The 'Berlin Conference' ( or "Congo Conference") of
1884–
85 regulated
European colonization and trade in
Africa during the
New Imperialism period, and coincided with Germany's sudden emergence as an imperial power. Called for by
Portugal and organized by
Bismarck, the first
Chancellor of Germany, its outcome, the 'General Act of the Berlin Conference', is often seen as the formalization of the
Scramble for Africa.
Early history of the conference
In the
1880s, European interest in Africa increased dramatically.
Henry Morton Stanley's discovery of the
Congo River Basin (
1874–
1877) removed the last bit of ''terra incognita'' from the maps of the continent. In
1878, King
Léopold II of Belgium, who had previously founded the
International African Society in
1876, invited Stanley to join him. The International African Society had the goal of researching and "civilizing" the continent. In 1878, the
International Congo Society was also formed, having more economic goals, but still closely related to the former society. Léopold secretly bought off the foreign investors in the Congo Society, which was turned to
imperialistic goals, with the African Society serving primarily as a
philanthropic front.
From
1879 to
1884, Stanley returned to the Congo, this time not as a reporter, but as an envoy from Léopold with the secret mission to organize a Congo state, which would become known as the
Congo Free State. At the same time, the French marine officer
Pierre de Brazza traveled into the western Congo basin and raised the French flag over the newly-founded
Brazzaville in
1881, in what is currently the
Republic of Congo. Portugal, which also claimed the area due to old treaties with the
Kongo Empire, made a treaty with the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on
February 26,
1884 to block off the Congo Society's access to the
Atlantic.
At the same time, various European countries tried to get a foothold in Africa. France occupied
Tunisia and today's
Republic of the Congo in 1881 — which partly convinced Italy to become part of the
Triple Alliance — and
Guinea in 1884. In
1882, the United Kingdom occupied the nominally
Ottoman Egypt, which in turn ruled over the
Sudan and
Somaliland. In
1870 and 1882, Italy took possession of the first parts of
Eritrea, while Germany declared
Togo,
Cameroon,
South West Africa ''(now
Namibia)'' and
German East Africa to be under its protection in 1884.
The conference
Léopold II was able to convince France and Germany that common trade in Africa was in the best interests of all three countries. On the initiative of Portugal,
Otto von Bismarck,
German Chancellor, called on representatives of
Austria–Hungary,
Belgium,
Denmark,
France, the
United Kingdom,
Italy, the
Netherlands,
Portugal,
Russia,
Spain,
Sweden-Norway (union until 1905), the
Ottoman Empire, and the
United States to take part in the Berlin Conference to work out policy. However, the United States did not actually participate in the conference. The Berlin Conference took place in 1884.
The General Act
The General Act fixed the following points:
★ The
Free State of the Congo was confirmed as private property of the Congo Society. Thus the territory of today's
Democratic Republic of the Congo, some two million square kilometers, was made essentially the property of Léopold II (because of the
terror regime established, it would eventually become a Belgian colony).
★ The 14 signatory powers would have free trade throughout the Congo basin as well as
Lake Niassa and east of this in an area south of 5° N.
★ The
Niger and
Congo Rivers were made free for ship traffic.
★ An international prohibition of the
slave trade was signed.
★ A Principle of Effectivity (see below) was introduced to stop powers setting up colonies in name only.
★ Any fresh act of taking possession of any portion of the African coast would have to be notified by the power taking possession, or assuming a
protectorate, to the other signatory powers.
★ Africa was divided between the main powers of Europe
It is also noteworthy that the first reference in an international act to the obligations attaching to "
spheres of influence" is contained in the Berlin Act.
The Principle of Effectivity
This stated that powers could only hold colonies if they actually possessed them, in other words if they had treaties with local chiefs, if they flew their flag there, and if they established an administration in the territory to govern it with a police force to keep order. The colonial power also had to make use of the colony economically. If the colonial power did not do these things, another power could do so and take over the territory. It became important to get chiefs to sign a protectorate treaty and to have a presence sufficient to police the area.
Between Portugal and the United Kingdom
The Portuguese Government presented a project known as the "
Pink Map" in which the colonies of Angola and Mozambique were united. All the countries but United Kingdom agreed with this project.
In 1890 the British Government, in breach of the
Treaty of Windsor and of the Treaty of Berlin itself, launched an ''
Ultimatum'' forcing the Portuguese to withdraw from this area.
Between France and the United Kingdom
A line running from
Say in
Niger to
Baroua, on the north-east coast of
Lake Chad determined what part belonged to whom. France would own territory to the north of this line, and the United Kingdom would own territory to the south of it. The
Nile Basin would be British, with the French taking the basin of
Lake Chad. Furthermore, between the 11th and 15th degrees
longitude, the border would pass between
Ouaddaï, which would be French, and
Darfur in
Sudan, to be British. In reality, a
no man's land 200
kilometres wide was put in place between the 21st and 23rd meridian.
Between France and Germany
The area to the north of a line formed by the intersection of the 14th meridian and
Miltou was designated French, that to the south being German.
Between Britain and Germany
The separation came in the form of a line passing through
Yola, on the
Benoué,
Dikoa, going up to the extremity of
Lake Chad.
Between France and Italy
Italy was to own what lies north of a line from the intersection of the
Tropic of Cancer and the 17th meridian to the intersection of the 15th parallel and 21st meridian.
Consequences
European claims in Africa, 1914
The
Scramble for Africa sped up after the Conference, since even within areas designated as their sphere of influence, the European powers still had to take possession under the Principle of Effectivity. In central Africa in particular, expeditions were dispatched to coerce traditional rulers into signing treaties, using force if necessary, as for example in the case of
Msiri, King of Katanga, in 1891.
Within a few years, Africa was at least nominally divided up south of the
Sahara. By
1895, the only independent states were:
★
Liberia, founded with the support of the
USA for returned slaves;
★
Abyssinia (Ethiopia), the only free native state, which fended off Italian invasion from
Eritrea in what is known as the first
Italo-Abyssinian War of 1889-1896.
The following states lost their independence to the British Empire roughly a decade after (see below for more information):
★
Orange Free State, a
Boer republic founded by Dutch settlers;
★
South African Republic (Transvaal), also a Boer republic;
By 1902, 90% of all the land that makes up Africa was under European control. The large part of the
Sahara was French, while after the quelling of the
Mahdi rebellion and the ending of the
Fashoda crisis, the Sudan remained firmly under joint British–Egyptian rulership.
The Boer republics were conquered by the United Kingdom in the
Boer war from
1899 to
1902.
Morocco was divided between the French and Spanish in
1911, and
Libya was conquered by Italy in
1912. The official British annexation of Egypt in
1914 ended the colonial division of Africa. By this point, all of Africa, with the exceptions of Liberia and Ethiopia, were under European rule.
See also
★
Congo Free State
★
Leopold II of Belgium
★
Cecil Rhodes
★
Msiri
Further reading
★ Maria Petringa. ''Brazza, A Life for Africa'', 2006. ISBN 9781-4259-11980.
★ Adam Hochschild, ''King Leopold's Ghost'', 1999. ISBN 0-395-75924-2
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