19th Century Imperialism

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19th Century Imperialism

• Africa

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MODERN IMPERIALISM INTEREST IN AFRICA (SINCE
MID-19TH CENTURY)

• Work of Explorers. David Livingstone, Scottish
  missionary and doctor, spent many years
  (18401873) serving the peoples and exploring the
  lands of central Africa.
• Henry M. Stanley, American newspaper reporter,
  headed an expedition in 1871 that "found" the
  presumably "lost" Livingstone.
• Later Stanley undertook additional explorations.
  In well-publicized reports these two men, as well
  as other explorers, described the geography,
  resources, and peoples of Africa.

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Other Groups Interested in Africa.

• The glowing reports of explorers reawakened
  Europe's interest in Africa. Business leaders saw
  economic opportunities.
• Missionaries wanted to convert the blacks to
  Christianity. Nationalists dreamed of empire
  building unopposed by the primitive Africans.

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Colonial Africa
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Imperialism in Africa

• Great Britain
• To Protect Trade Routes to the East.
• In 1815 Britain acquired from Holland the Cape
  Colony.
• It included Capetown, a port at southernmost
  Africa that served as a supply base for British
  ships enroute to India.
• In 1875 Prime Minister Disraeli purchased from
  the bankrupt ruler of Egypt sufficient stock to
  give Britain control of the Suez Canal.
• By sailing through the canal, British ships
  eliminated the long voyage around Africa.
• In 1882 Britain established a protectorate over
  Egypt.
• Britain's trade route to Indiavia Gibraltar, the
  Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal, and the Red
  Seabecame known as the lifeline of the British
  Empire.

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Imperialism in Africa 2

• Great Britain
• 2. To Gain a Rich Empire.
• Cecil Rhodes, foremost empire builder in Africa,
  dreamed of an unbroken north-south line of
  British territory to be linked by a Cape-to-Cairo
  railroad. Rhodes' ambition became British policy.
  
• By 1914 the British dominated South Africa,
  Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Northern Rhodesia (now
  Zambia), Kenya, Uganda, and the Sudan, as well as
  Egypt.
• After World War I, Britain acquired the final
  link for the railroad, the former German East
  Africa, or Tanganyika (now Tanzania).
• Also, by the beginning of the 20th century,
  British control was firmly established in Sierra
  Leone, Gambia, the Gold Coast (now Ghana), and
  Nigeriaall on the west coast of Africa.

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Imperialism in Africa 3

• France
• For economic gain and nationalist glory, the
  French gained a considerable African domain.
• By 1847 the French had subdued the Moslem tribes
  and gained control of Algeria.
• Between 1881 and 1912 France acquired Tunisia,
  Morocco, West Africa (now Benin, Guinea, Ivory
  Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and
  Upper Volta), Equatorial Africa (now Chad,
  Central Africa, Congo, and Gabon), and Madagascar
  (now Malagasy).
• Italy.
• A imperialist late starter Italy controlled
  Eritrea, Italian Somaliland, and Libya by 1914.
• In 1936 Italy conquered and annexed Ethiopia.

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Imperialism in Africa 4

• Portugal.
• As a 16th-century maritime power, Portugal early
  established supply bases and trading posts on the
  east and west coasts of Africa.
• In the mid-1970's Portugal granted independence
  to its African territories Portuguese Guinea
  now Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and Angola.
• Spain.
• By the early 20th century, Spain controlled
  Spanish Morocco (opposite Gibraltar) and Spanish
  Sahara on the Atlantic coast of Africa.
• In 1956 Spain ceded Spanish Morocco to newly
  independent Morocco.
• In 1976 Spain surrendered Spanish Sahara now
  Western Sahara to Mauritania and Morocco.
• Belgium.
• In 1876 King Leopold II and a group of Belgian
  capitalists founded a private company to manage
  the Congo region.
• The company reaped huge profits from rubber and
  ivory but shockingly mistreated the natives.
• In 1908 the Belgian government took control of
  the Congo.
• In 1960 Belgium granted independence to the
  Congo (now Zaire).

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Conflicts in African Imperialism

• Boer War
• Boers were Dutch descendants in South Africa
• Afrikaans (Dutch settlers in South Africa) called
  Boers, objected to British rule.
• Many took up arms against Britain and were
  eventually defeated.
• Khartoum
• Local native people (aboriginal) objected to
  British rule of Sudan. They chased the British
  out of southern Sudan.
• Germany challenged France over Morocco (1905,
  1911), but France retained control .

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