Making a Choice (Outcome II)

Making A Choice (Outcome II)

EDUC

Z. Yasemin Ugursal

October 1, 2008

Title of Event: Berlin West Africa Conference (a.k.a. the Berlin Conference), November 15, 1884 - February 26, 1885 (Berlin, Germany).

Hypothesis:

This conference resulted in the signing and ratification of the General Act of the Berlin Conference on West Africa, which was a document that regulated European colonization and trade in Africa and established ground rules and justification for further occupation of African soil. This division of land by official boundaries and regulations is said to have sparked what is often referred to as the “Scramble for Africa” – the pursuit of official colonial rule on the continent. This arbitrary division of territories and peoples has had numerous and serious implications for the inhabitants of the continent that are still being dealt with today on local, national, regional, continental, and international levels. It is thus imperative for students to learn about the Berlin Conference in order to gain a better understanding and greater appreciation for the struggle of the majority of African nations and their diaspora around the world, some of whom may be members of the class.

Main Characters & Words That Describe Them:
Otto von Bismarck – Then chancellor of Germany; “master of diplomacy, connoisseur of power politics, architect of Germany’s imperial power, father of coalitions, partitions, and wars”.[1]
King Leopold II – Then ruler of Belgium. Authoritarian, ruthless, described by Cecil Rhodes as “a very Satan”.[2]
Congo River - (4,700 km) the largest river in Western Central Africa and the second longest in Africa; second most voluminous river in the world; easily navigable; relatively stable flow.
Niger River – (4, 180 km) the principal river of western Africa; clear waters; boomerang-shaped; was the focal trading point across the western Sahara. / Main Events:
German chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, called for a meeting of the 14 major western powers to negotiate over the allocation of African territory. The conference lasted for three months, culminating in a treaty entitled the General Act of the Berlin Conference on West Africa wherein parts of Africa were officially divided among European powers.
Where? / When?
The Berlin Conference took place over the course of three months (from November 15, 1884 – February 26, 1885) in Germany. / Problem, Conflict, or Goal
The stated goals of the conference were to settle land claims disputes primarily between Britain, France, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Outcome:
The outcomes of this event are multi-fold. On a practical level, the Congo Free State (now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo) was deemed essentially under the power of Leopold II; France saw acceptance of its claims to French Congo; Portugal lost most of its Congo claims; European powers recognized Germany’s new protectorates; free trade was declared along the Congo River and free navigation on the Niger River; and, an the slave trade was officially outlawed.
The Conference had direct effects on the people of Africa, arbitrarily dividing them or forcing them together with no consideration for tribal, linguistic, religious, or ethnic qualities.
The colonial era is said to have officially begun with the Conference, therefore it can be argued that any effects that colonialism had on the continent stemmed from this moment in history. This includes, but is not limited to, civil wars and other human atrocities, loss of cultures and traditions, African resistance and pan-Africanism, as well as the perpetual state of dependency that so many African nations have on the international community and the economic, social and political struggles that are still prevalent today. / Significance of this Historical Event:
The significance of this event is arguably more substantial than other factors that surround it. Regardless of how historians approach the outcomes of it, the perception that it was a symbolic event in the history of colonialism is generally accepted. While it can be argued that the partitioning of Africa took place over the period of several decades, that the Berlin Conference “represents the partition in a symbolic form”[3] and that it “paved the way for the ‘scramble’ for the continent”[4] is an outlook that is by and large undisputed.

Causes/Effects:

Possible Causes:

The desire for the prevention of an imminent war between Western powers for control over African soil. Some Western powers also wanted to secure and make official their land claims on the continent.

Effects:

Positive Effects

-The emergence of Pan-Africanism

-Outlawed Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

-Prevented a potential major war between

major Western powers

Negative Effects

-Initiation of the “Scramble for Africa”

-Divided African peoples and forced others together

-Atrocities carried out by King Leopold II in the Congo Free State

-Lead to centuries of civil wars across the continent (i.e. lives lost, destruction of social, political and economic infrastructure)

Sources/Proof:

1. Rick, E.J., Wallerstein, I. (1972). Africa: Tradition and Change. New York: Random House.

“The Berlin Conference recognized the imperialistic process that had already begun in Africa. It also made it “legitimate”, at least in European eyes. The result was a twenty-year “scramble for Africa” as European powers gobbled up territories for themselves” (p.260).

2. Boateng, E.A. (1978). A Political Geography of Africa. London: Cambridge University Press.

“The partition…into distinct territorial units ruled by different colonial powers had the effect of bringing several different tribal groups together for the first time under a single external political authority. But since the new political boundaries had been drawn without any serious reference to the wishes or interests of the local populations the resulting political units turned out to be no more than mere geographical expressions totally unrelated to the ethnic and socio-economic realities of the region. The many serious inadequacies of the boundaries drawn by the European powers…have been attributed both to the excessive preoccupation of these powers at the time of the partition with their own political and economic interests and the haste with which they undertook the two vital boundary-making processes of demarcation and delimitation…thus sowing the seeds for most of the subsequent conflicts and problems created by boundaries…subsequent events have shown that the most serious disruption caused by the colonial boundaries arose not so much from the physical defects of the boundaries themselves as from the fact that in some cases they forcibly brought together within the same political units and cultural moulds imposed from outside people who in most instances had never felt any special affinity with one another or any sense of belonging to the same social and political framework, while in other cases they split up peoples who were culturally homogenous” (p.109-110).

3. Gann, L.H. (1988). “The Berlin Conference and the Humanitarian Conscience”. In S. Förster et al. (eds.). Bismarck, Europe, and Africa: the Berlin Africa Conference 1884-1885. New York: Oxford University Press.

Gann argues that the Berlin Conference was a historical turning point for reasons that are different from most other historians. “The Conference…made some attempt to consolidate an imperial ethic. In this respect, the Conference wrote a new chapter in the history of empire building” (p.329). “Though concerned, for the most part, with parochial objectives, the participants in the Berlin Conference had helped to write a new chapter in the history of international obligations” (p.331).

4. Boahen, A. A. (1987). African Perspectives on Colonialism. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press.

The General Act “cleared the last main hurdle in the way of Scramble or Partition, that of a possible military conflict between the imperialists, and European occupation continued with renewed wim and vigor from then on” (p.33).

5. Wesseling, H.L. “The Berlin Conference and the Expansion of Europe: A Conclusion”. In S. Förster et al. (eds.). Bismarck, Europe, and Africa: the Berlin Africa Conference 1884-1885. New York: Oxford University Press.

“What then is the meaning of the events of 1884-5? In retrospect they seem very much to be a turning point, a watershed in the history of British imperialism and that of the partition of Africa. They mark the end of an era that could be labeled ‘the post-Napoleonic era’” (p.533).

1

[1] Wesseling. “The Berlin Conference and the Expansion of Europe: A Conclusion”. p. 527.

[2] Gann. “The Berlin Conference and the Humanitarian Conscience”. p.133.

[3] Wesseling. “The Berlin Conference and the Expansion of Europe: A Conclusion”. p. 533.

[4] Boateng. A Political Geography of Africa. p. 108.