FORM 6 HISTORY 2 – IMPERIALISM AND TERRITORIAL DIVISION OF THE WORLD (COLONIZATION OF AFRICA) [PDF] » Page 3 of 4

MANIFESTATIONS OF EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM IN THE 19^TH CENTURY

Military alliances and the notion of European balance of power

A. MILITARY ALLIANCES:-

The defeat of France during Franco – Prussian war of 1871 had a tremendous impact in Europe. Before the war, the European powers were Britain and France but after the war, the new powers were Britain and Germany which meant that there was a shift in the balance of power.

After the defeat of France, Bismarck directed his efforts to isolate France in order to maintain her in a weak and defeated position by farming military alliances.

Bismarck forged military alliances with different European countries, this included;

(a) The Dual Alliance of 1879.

In 1879, Germany and Austrian – Hungary signed a treaty which formed a defensive alliance called the “dual Alliance” This alliance was intended to strengthen and protect Germany from France and at the same time protect Austria – Hungary against Russia. By 1870, Austria – Hungary was threatened by Russian Army ships in the Balkan regions and feared that Russia might attack her.

(b) The Triple Alliance of 1882.

In 1882, Bismarck formed the Triple Alliance which was intended to be defensive and to completely isolate and weaken France. The triple alliance came into existence by admitting Italy into the “Dual Alliance”.

France and Italy had both been interested in Tunisia; Italy became frustrated and started looking for alliance against France. The Triple alliance would therefore defend Germany, Austria and Italy.

(c) The Dual Alliance of 1892.

By 1992, both France and Russia felt insecure and they decided to make a defensive agreement called the Dual Alliance against the triple alliance of 1882. In this alliance, the two powers agreed to help each other incase of an attack by Germany.

(d) The Anglo – Japanese Alliance of 1902.

For many years Britain had concentrated on looking after vast empire and had kept out of European affairs, this policy was known as splendid isolation. When her colonial rural such as France and Russia combined to form the dual alliance of 1892; Britain was forced to forge an alliance with Japan with the objective of protecting her economic interests in the Far East.

(e) The Triple Entente of 1907.

In 1907, Russia was admitted into the “Dual alliance”, which led to the formation of the Triple Entente, consulting of Britain, Russia and Japan. These powers agreed to help each other in case of war.

In order to maintain stability in Europe, the European powers adopted the nation of balance of power.

The causes of militarism and arms race in Europe in the 19^thC.

Arms race, refers to the intense competition between nations to accumulate technologically advanced and military strategic weapon system. The most prominent instance of such competition was the rapid developed by the USA and the soviet union of more and better nuclear weapons during the cold war.

The term arms race its original usage describes a competition between two or more parties for military supremacy. Each party. Competes to produce large number of weapons, greater armies or superior military technology.

Factors for the Arms Race.

Some of the factors for Arms Race in Europe are;

i. The need to maintain balance of power among nations so that no one nations should military be threat to other.

ii. The cold war that existed between U.S.A and U.S.S.R and their respective camps.

iii. The developed world war was looking for more influence and control in the third world countries and other saw armament as a way of
increasing that capacity

iv. Armed race was meant to scare other countries of the world and make them fear the big powers such as U.S.A and U.S.S.R.

IMPACTS OF THE ARMED RACE

The following are some of the impacts of the armed race

i. Many people lost their lives due to the use of nuclear or chemical weapons e.g:- Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan during the second
world war.

ii. It reduced the level of resources that could have been utilized in the provision of social and economic welfare of the people in the super
power states and the world countries

iii. It sharpened the hostility between western block under U.S.A and Eastern Block under U.S.S.R.

iv. The emergence of terrorists. Using various weapons of mass destruction.

B. THE NOTION OF EUROPEAN BALANCE OF POWER.

This refers to a policy whereby European powers used military alliances as the determining factor in maintaining stability in Europe.

The factors that led to the use of this policy:-

(a) Rise of European nationalism.

During this period, colonies were seen as a sign of prestige. They became a test and proof of a nation’s superiority. This belief was bound to force the European powers to look for colonies in Europe, thus disturbing the balance of power.

(b) Development of monopoly capitalism.

The development of capitalism to the monopoly stage had various demands in Europe. Due to monopoly capitalism, there was need for raw materials, markets and cheap labour which could only be satisfied through acquiring colonies. To prevent European countries from searching for colonies in Europe, the European powers adopted the notion of European balance of power so as to maintain stability.

(c) Emergence of Germany and Italy.

After Germany and Italy achieved their unification, they joined the race for colonies to meet the demands of monopoly capitalism. To maintain stability in Europe, The European powers decided to adopt a notion of European balance of power.

Due to monopoly capitalism, there was a need for markets, raw materials and investment areas. Their needs could only be achieved by acquiring colonies but the European countries were not supposed to look for colonies inside Europe, thus an outlet had to be created and this led to the scramble for and partition of Africa.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF COLONIALISM IN AFRICA

Colonialism refers to the domination or control of one country by another economically, politically and socially.

Reasons for the colonization of Africa

The development of capitalism in Europe led to the industrial revolution which started in Britain in 1750 and by the end of 18^th Century Britain was the only industrialized nation in the world. However, in the 19^th Century, other European countries such as France, Belgium, Germany and Italy also industrialized.

The industrialization of almost all European countries meant that there was no where to expand within Europe, hence there was need to find colonies.

From 1870, monopoly capitalism demanded for the following:-

– Markets

– Raw materials

– Cheap labor

– Investment areas

– Areas to resettle surplus labour force.

Therefore, it was these demands which made capitalism to change to its monopolistic stage called “imperialism”.

Colonialism was therefore linked with the development of capitalism in Europe, in the sense that it was undertaken to meet the demands of monopoly capitalism.

AGENTS OF IMPERIALISM

Before the establishment of colonialism, the capitalist nations sent colonial agencies to pave way for colonial rule. These agents included;

– Explorers

– Missionaries

– Traders

 How explorers, Missionaries and traders paved way for establishment of colonial rule in Africa.

(a) They reported about the wealth in Africa which would enrich the European capitalist countries. The information given by the Missionaries, Explorers and Traders excited the interests of European countries to come and seek their fortune in Africa. Dr. Living stone reported that East Africa had fertile soil and the environment was suitable for European settlements, given the economic conditions in Europe, such as the need for raw materials, they had to rush to Africa.

(b) They ennglish-swahili/courage” target=”_blank”>couraged African chiefs to sign treaties which later became justified claims for the occupation of African territories. Moffat, an Anglican Missionary, ennglish-swahili/courage” target=”_blank”>couraged chief Lubengula to sign a treaty with British, which eventually led to the British colonization of Zimbabwe.

(c) Some of the agents for example Christian missionaries’ brain washed the minds of the Africans through their preaching and teachings. They softened the minds of the Africans to be God fearing because of the preaching, devour African Christians believed that Christianity was the greatest gift from Europe and this was reflected in Nigeria and Buganda where the Africans welcomed colonization.

(d) The Christian missionaries paved way for the establishment of the colonies rule because they regarded colonial rule as necessary for both
the spread of Christianity and the abolition of slave trade in Africa

(e) They chartered companies laid down the initial infrastructure those later facilitated colonial administration policies. The roads and railways
became a source of reinforcement in terms of troops and manpower.

(f) They appealed to European government to come and occupy parts of Africa which they have visited and developed. For example
Dr. Livingstone appealed to Britain to come and occupy central Africa and Britain responded by colonizing central Africa.

SCRAMBLE FOR AND PARTITION OF AFRICA

As capitalism developed stage by stage, it pressed different demands on Africa. During competitive industrial capitalism, the capitalist powers advocated for the abolition of slave trade because it was seen as a necessary for the acquisition of raw materials and markets. When competitive capitalism changed to monopoly capitalism, the capitalist powers were involved in a struggle to acquire colonies, a process called “The scramble for Africa.”

The scramble for Africa refers to the way European powers struggled to acquire colonies in Africa.

Partition of Africa refers to the difference steps taken by the colonial powers to divide Africa into territories and fixing colonial boundaries.

The major powers that were involved in this exercise were Britain, Germany, France and Belgium.

There were two theories that explain the scramble for and partition of Africa namely:-

A. AFRO-CENTRIC THEORY (Marxist theory)

This theory claimed that the factors that led to the scramble for and partition of Africa were economic.

(i) The need for monopoly markets.

The need for monopoly markets came due to increase production of industrial products that lacked enough demands in Europe. To make matters worse, between 1823 and 1896, the world passed through a stand still economic depression where by trade came to stand still, prices were law and profits were small hence the capitalists put a lot of pressure on their government to acquire colonies for selling the manufactured commodities.

(ii) The need for tropical raw material.

The tropical treasure theory, put forward by Nobson and Lenin assert that Africa was partitioned because it was highly endowed with a lot of raw materials for industrial development in Europe hence the European powers rushed to Africa to acquire colonies that would act as sources of raw materials.

(iii) The need for cheap labour.

There was a contradiction between the employers and the workers whereby to maximize profits, the employers had to decrease wages and intensify exploitation. The workers, however resisted this through trade unions, they demanded higher wages and good working conditions all of which reduced the profit of the employers. The solution to this problem was to look for colonies in Africa where they can get cheap labour.

(iv) The need for investment areas.

Scholars such as Adam Smith claimed that the availability of excess capital for investments in European countries forced Europe to take part in the scramble for Africa. The capitalists had accumulated a lot of capital that they could not invest in Europe because the markets were saturated, to solve this crisis, they decided to look for colonies where they can invest their capital and obtain high rates of profits.

(v) The need to resettled surplus labour force.

The industrial revolution and the capitalist system produced not only surplus capital but also surplus labour force. As more and more machines came into use, more and more people found themselves out of work, the solution to this problem was found in the acquisition of colonies where surplus labor force could be settled.

B: EUROPEAN THEORY:-

This theory claims that political and social factors caused the scramble for Africa.

(i) Before the Franco – Prussian war 1871, the major European powers were Britain and France was defeated by Germany and she lost her territories of Alsace and Lorraine which were rich in coal and iron. The emergence of Germany changed the balance of power and this forced her to rush to Africa to acquire colonies. The defeat of France made her to rush to Africa to acquire colonies as a way of compensating for the loss in Europe.

(ii) Rise of European nationalism.

During the mid 19^th century, a tide of nationalism was seeping across Europe, extreme nationalism let to slogans like, “my country right or wrong” During this period, the possession of an Empire was seen as a test of nations strength , hence European powers rushed to Africa to acquire more and more colonies thus causing scramble.

Social factors:-

(i) Need to stop slave trade.

The European powers asserted that, they came to Africa to acquire colonies because of the need of stopping slave trade. They claimed that colonial rule was a necessity if slave trade was to be abolished completely in Africa.

(ii) Need to introduce Western Civilization.

The European powers argued that their civilization had reached the highest possible standards, thus they had a duty to impose it on those people who were not civilized, the Africans were believed to be uncivilized hence they struggled for colonies so as to introduce Western civilization.

Strategic factors

Strategic factors were also one of the factors that led to the scramble for and partition of Africa. Britain controlled Uganda because she wanted to protect the source of river Nile; She controlled Kenya because of the sea route to India.

Britain and France struggled for Egypt because of the Suez Canal which shortened the route to India.

THE BERLIN CONFERENCE 1884 – 1885.

The Berlin conference gave international recognition to a struggle for colonies that had been going on for a long period of time. By the 1880’s the scramble for colonies in Africa had reached serious proportions and there were dangers that if it was not controlled, a major war may erupt among the European powers.

To avoid the war, the chancellor of Germany, Otto Van Bismarck convened an international conference of European powers that had interests in Africa.

The conference took place between November 1884 and February 1885. The main aim of the conference was to ensure that the scramble for and partition of Africa takes place peacefully without resulting to a war.

Various European powers attended the conference, these included Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Belgium. Denmark and the USA attended as observers.

– Principles of Berlin Conference

During the conference, a number of resolutions were reached by the European powers.

These included the following;

(a) The principle of effective occupation.

This principle stated that all European powers that had colonies in Africa had to effectively control their colonies by establishing infrastructures such as roads and railways. The powers also agreed to maintain law and order in their colonies.

(b) Notification principles

This principle stated that in the process of colonial acquisition, the European powers had to notify or inform other powers about their colonial possessions so as to minimize clashes over the same colonies because the aim of the conference was to ensure that the scramble and partition of Africa takes place peacefully.

(c) Fire navigation on the Niger and Congo basins.

The European powers agreed that the Niger and the Congo basins will be free for navigation by all European powers. This was to avoid any European power from monopolizing the two water ways which may cause conflicts.

(d) Abolition of slave trade.

The European powers agreed to stop slave trade in their colonies and introduce legitimate trade. Legitimate trade would enable the capitalist powers to acquire markets and raw materials which were the needs of monopoly capitalism.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF COLONIAL RULE IN AFRICA

The partition of Africa marked the end of Africans political independence and the beginning of subjection to foreign rule. In the process of establishing colonial rule, the Europeans powers used different techniques depending on the nature and attitude of the native population towards colonial intrusion.

These techniques included the following:-

(a) Treaty signing.

This was one of the most common techniques used by the Europeans to establish colonial rule in Africa. This method was used in areas that did not oppose the establishment of colonial rule. The colonial powers convinced African local leaders to sign treaties of protection, protecting them against their local and foreign rivals. It should be noted that these treaties were used by the colonial powers to control African territories. In Tanganyika Karl Peters signed treaties with African chiefs which led to German colonization of Tanganyika.

(b) Use of force.

Sometimes, the colonial powers used the military to establish colonial rule in Africa. This method was used in areas that resisted the establishment of colonial rule in East Africa, the Germans used the military against the Hehe in Tanganyika, and the British used the military against the Nandi in Kenya and Kabalega of Uganda. The colonial powers used the military because they were determined to exploit African resources.

(c) Alliances

This method was mainly used in areas where two societies were in conflicts in situation of enmity, the colonial powers allied with one society against the other and finally control all of them together. In Tanganyika the Germans allied with the Sangu and Bena against the Hehe, but after defeating the Hehe the Germans controlled all of them together. In central Africa, the British allied with chief Lewanyika of Lozi Kingdom against Lobengula but when Lobengula was defeated, the British controlled all of them together.

(d) Gun butt diplomacy.

This is the colonial powers used treaties of force rather than force itself to force Africans to submit to colonial rule. This method was used by the German in 1884 to force a Sultan of Zanzibar to submit to Karl Peters treaty. In 1897, the British used this method to force Jaja of Opobo to submit to their control.

(e) Mercenary technique.

This was a method whereby the colonial powers used Africans to fight against other Africans. The Africans, who were used had no blood ties with those being invaded. In Tanganyika the Germans used the Rugaruga to defeat their fellow Africans.

AFRICAN REACTION TOWARDS COLONIAL RULE

The imposition of colonial rule in Africa did not go unchallenged, the Africans reaction to colonial rule was not homogeneous it varied from one society to another.

The techniques which the Africans used against the colonial rules establishment included the following:-

(a) Active resistance.

This was a physical African reaction characterized by the use of arms or violence against the establishment of colonial rule. Sometimes, active resistances was a spontaneous reaction while in some societies, it needed long preparations. Active resistance occurred in societies that were economically strong and capable of staging a strong resistance. This method was used by the Hehe in Tanganyika against the Germans and the Nandi against the British in Kenya.

(b) Passive resistance.

This was a form of African reaction against colonial rule and penetration which did not involve the use of arms or violence but the colonized people simply refused to cooperate or to have any contacts with the colonizers. This form of African reaction was due to natural calamities such as diseases that hindered the Africans to stage an active resistance. The Maasai for example are naturally war like people but during the establishment of colonial rule, they reacted passively because they had been weakened by Cholera.

(c) Adaptation technique.

This was used where the African ruling class sought friendship from the colonizers so that they can get arms and new fighting techniques. It should be noted that these arms and the new fighting tactics, were used against the same colonizers who gave them the arms. Adaptation technique was used by King Menelik of Ethiopia who sought friendship from the Italians to obtain guns, but he used the same weapons to defeat the Italians in 1895.

FORM 6 HISTORY 2 – IMPERIALISM AND TERRITORIAL DIVISION OF THE WORLD (COLONIZATION OF AFRICA)

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