A Brief History of Humanity: From Ancient Times to the 21st Century

Chapter 40 The Conquest of Africa

The map of Africa looks very much like a patchwork quilt, a strange pattern of large, small, and medium patches.These "patches" are territories belonging to different flags.Most of these territories were colonies annexed by European powers between 1880 and 1914.During that period, seven European countries rushed to join in this amazing struggle to carve up the "Black Continent".

The "Black Continent" Until the end of the 19th century, Africa remained in many ways the "Black Continent".For example, it is largely unknown to outsiders, and remains mostly an unexplored wasteland.Most of its inhabitants are black in complexion.The minds of many of them are rather closed and dark because the light of civilization has not yet shone there.

Egypt and some areas in the north of Africa are still historically ancient, but the vast interior of Africa is unknown and unconquered.It seemed to be safely guarded by deserts and remote distances, by jungles, fevers, and savage tribes. Before the 19th century, there was only one real colony in Africa established by a European power, and that was the Cape Colony established by the Dutch at the extreme south.

The British occupied the Cape Colony in 1814.France conquered Algeria to the north in 1830.There were many small trading posts on the western coast, where Europeans bought slaves and ivory.As late as 1880, nine-tenths of Africa remained in indigenous hands.Later, for various reasons, Europe broke in.

[-]. Good cause and bad effect
Between 1850 and 1900, Europeans took a renewed interest in Africa for four reasons: (1) Nationalism.Between 1848 and 1871, especially the war of unification between Germany and Italy, the patriotic spirit of European countries reached a high point, and finally, the enthusiastic subjects of France, Britain, Germany, and Italy were eager to expand their own territories. (2) THE CHURCH.Among Catholics and Protestants a great explosion of the same missionary zeal was to be done to abolish the African slave trade and convert pagan natives to Christianity. (3) Industrial Revolution.The Industrial Revolution brought about a huge increase in the quantity of manufactured goods of all kinds, and European capitalists were eager to open up new markets for their goods. (4) EXPEDITION.Bold explorers, driven by scientific curiosity or a love of thrills, traveled all over Africa, surveyed and mapped, and experienced strange adventures among cannibals and forest beasts.

Livingstone and Stanley One of the greatest African explorers was Dr. David Livingstone, a good Scot.He came to the Black Continent in 1840 as a doctor and missionary, and died there in 1873.He disappeared from 1869 to 1871 and was found by New York Herald reporter Henry M. Stanley. The story is too long to be told here, but it is well worth reading.After that, Stanley continued Livingstone's unfinished African expedition.

Stanley found Livingstone and returned to Europe, telling European cotton manufacturers that if they sold brightly colored clothes to naked savages in Africa, they could make huge profits.

Europe in Africa Due to the above reasons, European groups and great powers have been scrambling to go to Africa to seize strongholds and territories since about 1880.For example, King Leopold of Belgium, with the help of Stanley, obtained a very large African kingdom-the Congo Free State.At the same time, France acquired Tunisia on the northern coast of Africa, and erected a pole in the northern part of the Congo River Basin to show that this place belonged to it.Italy annexed a piece of land along the Red Sea.Britain sent troops to bring Egypt under its rule.Bismarck also helped Germany occupy four colonies.

This is just the beginning of a frantic battle for territory.

Methods of Acquiring Territories Creating an empire in Africa is easy.A few bottles of liquor, a few guns, and a few gaudy trinkets were enough to bribe an African chief to sign a treaty (which he couldn't read) putting his lands under the "protection" of a European power.Sometimes even this ceremony is unnecessary.It usually only takes two or three European diplomats sitting in Paris or London, holding a map in front of them, and drawing a few lines on it can divide tens of millions of square miles of African land between their countries.

[-]. Cecil Rhodes, Founder of the Empire

It is to be expected that Britain was so active in Africa, and Cecil Rhodes, as we know him, was chief among them.

The Cape to Cairo plan has been mentioned earlier. Britain won the Cape Colony from the Netherlands in 1814 and took control of Egypt in 1882, although it has not yet obtained complete domination.A discerning man can see from Cape Town in the south to Cairo in the north, 4000 miles away.Rhodes had that vision.

Days of Dreams This is an age when great plans are conceived in the minds of people.A few years earlier, in 1869, the Suez Canal had allowed ships from both the East and the West of the Old World to pass unimpeded; in the New World, the first railway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans was built.But a few years later, Russia built a 5000-mile railway across Siberia, and the German Kaiser was planning to build a railway across Asia Minor to the Persian Gulf.

Rhodes had great foresight, and Britain had human and financial resources, but the railway plan from Cape to Cairo encountered obstacles and was delayed for a long time.

Portugal's Obstacle The first obstacle encountered was Portugal.This small country proposed control over the territory of the vast area extending from the east coast of Africa to the west coast north of the Cape Colony, blocking the road that Rhodes wanted to build to Egypt.However, Rhodes established a company and occupied what is now Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Portugal only has two coasts left, and lacks the interior territory connecting them.

The German Obstacle The second obstacle was German East Africa.The founders of the German Empire wanted to expand this possession to include Uganda and all the way between King Leopold's Kingdom of the Congo and the Indian Ocean.

Rhodes saw that this would place a fence between Rhodesia and Egypt, so he urged the British government to act immediately.This time his efforts were only half successful.According to the agreement signed in 1890, Germany voluntarily gave up Uganda, but Britain allowed German East Africa to expand inland to the Congo state.German ownership thus cut off the road from Cape to Cairo.Later, when Britain tried its best to break through the obstacles of the German Congo State and wanted to obtain a narrow strip of Congo from King Leopold, Germany took a strong protest method to prevent the deal from being concluded.Germany opposed the Cape-Cairo plan until World War I in 1914.

The French Obstacle The third obstacle was the desire of France to establish a great French empire in North Africa.The French extended inland not only from Tunisia and Algeria in the north, but also from various strongholds on the west coast, and soon took control of the Sahara and Sudan.Sudan is a fertile and fertile region in the southern Sahara.If they could get Abyssinia and the upper Nile, their empire would extend from Cape Verde in the west to the Gulf of Aden in the east, and from the west coast to the east coast.

However, it is impossible for France's empire from east to west and Britain's empire from north to south to exist at the same time, and one must make way.

The crux of the contentious situation in Sudan lies in the eastern part of Sudan, including the area south of the Nile.This area is called Egyptian Sudan because it was previously owned by Egypt.Here the plans of the two empires collide.However, in 1880, Egypt lost this area due to the uprising of the indigenous people.As a powerful country ruling Egypt, Britain regarded the Egyptian Sudan as its sphere of influence.In addition, France suggested that the Egyptian Sultan should belong to the first power to occupy it.

The Fashoda Incident Therefore, France sent several expeditions to occupy the Egyptian Sudan, one of which successfully reached the town of Fashoda on the Nile River in the Egyptian Sudan in 1898, and proudly raised the French flag.A British general immediately rushed more troops to Fashoda, hoisted British and Egyptian flags at a nearby fort, and ordered the French to retreat.

For a moment it seemed certain that France and Great Britain would go to war here.After furious controversy, however, France withdrew its expedition, ceded the Egyptian Sultan to Britain, and abandoned its dream of an empire across Africa.

The Boers' Obstacle Meanwhile, the British discovered another obstacle.Between the Cape Colony in South Africa and Rhodesia, the Dutch colonizers the Boers once created two small republics.Boer means "farmer".The Boers originally lived in the Cape Colony, but moved away to escape British rule.

For many years, the two Boer republics, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, were allowed to remain independent, and were in fact independent.But after the discovery of some of the richest gold deposits in the world in the Transvaal, things were different.The wealth-plundering English flooded into the Transvaal until it outnumbered the Dutch peasants.The British government sent troops to suppress the border, advocating that newcomers be given voting rights in the Boer government.However, the Boers felt that this would mean losing their independence.Because the British miners accounted for the majority, they could vote to win the power of the Boers.

The Boer War of 1899-1902 The Boers refused to give in, arms in hand.Like the Romans, the Boers were both farmers and warriors.For more than two years, the two small republics persisted in their struggle against the British Empire.But this kind of power disparity will only have one result.The Boers, simply overwhelmed by their numbers, finally accepted the peace on British terms, and the two conquered republics were annexed as colonies.But the United Kingdom soon gave them the right to set up representative conferences, which means they basically have autonomy.

Within a few years, the defeated Boer leaders, through ingenious political maneuvering, had gained control of all South African governments.The military failure of the Boers turned out to be a political success.In the end, these most influential Boers willingly surrendered to the British Empire.It is because of their help that Britain finally realized the plan from Cape to Cairo in 1919.

[-]. Anglo-French agreement

Britain and France have long been rivals, often even enemies.Indeed, they came close to fighting in 1898 at the Fashoda incident.However, the polite concession of the French government paved the way for the friendship between the two countries, so the two sides reached an Anglo-French agreement in 1904.

The 1904 Agreement Under the 1904 Agreement, Britain and France declared that they would no longer oppose each other in Africa.France secretly promised Britain to continue to control Egypt in advance, and even promised that if Britain wanted to control Egypt, it should act as soon as possible.In return, Britain also secretly agreed to allow France to rule Morocco.Morocco is an independent, semi-barbaric country located in the northwest corner of Africa, directly opposite Gibraltar.Both powers also agreed to give each other diplomatic support in carrying out these plans.

The first Moroccan crisis in 1905 France immediately implemented the 1904 agreement.Relying on the support of Britain, France began to intervene in Morocco's affairs, telling the Moroccan sultan what to do.But Germany was outraged at being ignored by Britain and France.So German Kaiser Wilhelm II visited Morocco in 1905 and publicly stated that he felt that Morocco was an independent country.

Encouraged by Germany, the Sultan of Morocco refused to follow the "instructions" of France and advocated that the powers hold a conference on Moroccan affairs.The French understood that rejecting this proposition would mean a dispute with Germany, and France was not ready for such a dispute since its ally, Russia, had just been defeated in a war with Japan.So France agreed to deal with Morocco through an international conference. In 1906, the conference was held in Algeciras, Spain.

The Alheciras Conference decided that French and Spanish officers should train Morocco's armed police force, but Morocco was clearly defined as an independent sovereign state.The decision of the conference seemed to put France out of control of Morocco.

The Agadir Incident of 1911 During the Second Moroccan Crisis in 1911, France saw an opportunity to tear up the Treaty of Alheciras.It so happened that some indigenous tribes rebelled against the Sultan at that time.France claimed that the lives of foreigners in Morocco were in danger, so it sent troops to attack Morocco and stationed there.

Germany intervenes again.A German gunboat, the Leopard, was sent to the port of Agadir on the coast of Morocco, apparently to protect German citizens, but its real purpose was to demonstrate to France that Germany must not be ignored.War between Germany and France seemed inevitable.But Britain has shown that it supports French ideas, and that Russia is also a reliable helper.

After a long period of angry negotiations, the parties reached an agreement.Germany recognized that Morocco was under the protection of France. As compensation for agreeing to tear up the treaty of Alheciras, France must cede about 10 square miles of the French Congo to Germany.

Italy's dealings with France and Great Britain Although Italy was an ally of Germany, it became a close partner of France and Great Britain. Italy was outraged when France occupied Tunisia, very close to Sicily, in 1881.But in the early 20th century, Italy secretly agreed not to oppose the British and French conquest of North Africa. big province. In 1911, Italy did claim these places.

[-]. What does modern imperialism mean?

The desire and policy of civilized nations to rule over weaker or "backward" peoples, such as blacks in Africa and the nations of India, is called imperialism.As the history of Asia and Africa shows, imperialism was a major part of the history of the century preceding the First World War, and especially the last few decades.

Imperialist contagion All the great powers of Europe, as well as a few small ones, were infected with imperialist frenzy.Britain and Russia expanded their already vast empires until the former covered a quarter of the world's landmass and the latter a seventh.France created a new colonial empire in Africa and Indochina larger than the one it gave Britain in the eighteenth century.

Germany has acquired 100 million square miles of Africa, several islands in the Pacific Ocean, and a sphere of influence in China, and is trying to use "peaceful infiltration" to control the entire Turkish Empire.Italy, Portugal, Belgium and Spain all gained share in Africa.The Dutch already had a wealthy empire in the East Indies.

Japan learned from European imperialism, annexed China's Taiwan Province and North Korea, gained a sphere of influence in "Manchuria", and began to be like Alexander, eager to conquer the new world.In this way, until 1914, most of the backward nations in Africa, Asia, and East India had either been annexed by the imperialist countries, or were about to be marked by the imperialist countries for conquest.

Latin America's Exception If it weren't for the United States, Latin America must have suffered the same fate as Asia and Africa.The timid young republics of South and Central America, rich in natural resources and prone to frequent revolutions, would have been excellent targets for rival imperialist powers.But the United States, more or less supported by Britain, does not allow the powers of the Old World to conquer any territory in the New World.The Monroe Doctrine is a warning to the whole world.In the end, the Latin American republics enjoyed great freedom to advance in their own way; several of them, notably Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, were greatly developed.

U.S. imperialism However, the U.S. government itself has become somewhat imperialist. During the 1846-1848 war with Mexico, the United States annexed territories including what is now California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and the states of New Mexico. Purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867 and the Philippine Islands, Puerto Rico, and Cuba from Spain in 1898.The Philippines and Puerto Rico were annexed, while Cuba became a protectorate.

From 1898 to 1899, the United States acquired Hawaii and part of the Samoa Islands.In 1903, it leased the Panama Canal Zone.Since then, it has controlled (not really owned) Nicaragua, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, and purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark.In fact, the entire area around the Caribbean Sea became the US sphere of influence - a region under the overall control of the United States.

Reasons for Modern Imperialism The reasons why any powerful country pursues imperialism are somewhat the same.In almost all cases imperialism is motivated by:
(1) Patriots desire more territory for their country.

(2) Merchants are eager to acquire colonies where they can sell manufactured goods and obtain raw materials, and also want to invest in mines under the protection of their country's flag.This economic motive is perhaps the strongest cause of imperialism.

(3) Feeling that the occupation of a certain place is necessary for national defense.Japan once declared that it would annex North Korea for national security considerations.

(4) Missionary spirit—the desire to civilize or Christianize backward races.Unfortunately, this motive is often used as an excuse for selfishness and greed.For example, King Leopold of Belgium claimed to bring the happiness of Christian civilization to the uncivilized blacks in Central Africa, but in fact what he brought to them was pain—giving all the money to the king and his business partners. pain.This kind of thing is very common.

Modern Imperialism - A Cause of War Imperialism has led to many wars. The war between the United States and Spain in 1898, the war between Britain and the Boers from 1899 to 1902, the war between Russia and Japan from 1904 to 1905, and the war between Italy and Turkey from 1911 to 1912 are all the phases we are talking about. The most important war in the world, and dozens of smaller skirmishes.Also, as we'll get to soon, imperialism was one of the main causes of the outbreak of World War I from 1914 to 1918.

(End of this chapter)