Berlin Conference (1884 – 1885) and colonial partition
Late Modern Era / 19th Century · ~1800 – 1914
The Berlin Conference was a meeting of fourteen states, mostly European, held in Berlin from November 1884 to February 1885 and hosted by the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Its main business was trade and navigation on the Congo and Niger rivers, and the rules for claiming new territory on the African coast. No African rulers were represented at the table.
The conference is often linked to the 'Scramble for Africa', the rapid division of the continent among European powers between about 1880 and 1914. In 1880 Europeans controlled only parts of the coast and a few regions such as Algeria and the Cape. By 1914 only Ethiopia and Liberia were still independent. The conference did not itself divide Africa, but it set diplomatic rules for the process, and the borders drawn in this period still shape African states today.
Things happened, and the rest is history
Leopold II and the Congo
EventWhat happened
From 1876 King Leopold II of the Belgians organises the International African Association and then hires Henry Morton Stanley, who between 1879 and 1884 signs treaties with local chiefs along the Congo River. Leopold uses these treaties and a private company to build a claim of his own in central Africa. Other powers, among them France, Britain and Portugal, dispute the claims.
The rest is history
Rivalry over the Congo basin was one of the direct reasons for calling the conference. The United States recognised Leopold's association in April 1884, and Germany and France followed. At Berlin the powers agreed to recognise the Congo Free State under Leopold's personal rule. It became notorious for forced labour and violence, and in 1908 Belgium took it over as a colony.
Sources
- BookHochschild, Adam. King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998.
- BookPakenham, Thomas. The Scramble for Africa, 1876-1912. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1991.
Britain occupies Egypt (1882)
EventWhat happened
In 1882 Britain sends an army to Egypt during the Urabi revolt and defeats the Egyptian forces at Tel el-Kebir in September. British troops stay on, and British officials take control of Egyptian finances and government. France, which had shared financial control with Britain, is left out.
The rest is history
The occupation angered France and pushed it to seek gains elsewhere in Africa, such as the Congo and West Africa. Many historians count it among the events that set off the Scramble, though they debate how far it was the main cause. British troops remained in Egypt for decades, and Egypt was formally made a protectorate in 1914.
Sources
- BookRobinson, Ronald, and John Gallagher, with Alice Denny. Africa and the Victorians: The Official Mind of Imperialism. London: Macmillan, 1961.
- BookPakenham, Thomas. The Scramble for Africa, 1876-1912. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1991.
Brazza's treaty with the Teke king
EventWhat happened
In 1880 the French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza signs a treaty with Makoko, the king of the Teke, on the north bank of the Congo near present-day Brazzaville. The treaty places the Teke lands under French protection. In 1882 the French parliament ratifies it.
The rest is history
The treaty gave France a claim on the north bank of the Congo in competition with Leopold and Stanley. It showed how treaties with local rulers could be used to found claims, a practice the Berlin conference later discussed. French Congo grew from this base, and Brazzaville became a capital of French Equatorial Africa.
Sources
- BookPakenham, Thomas. The Scramble for Africa, 1876-1912. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1991.
- BookWesseling, H. L. Divide and Rule: The Partition of Africa, 1880-1914. Westport: Praeger, 1996.
The Anglo-Portuguese treaty of 1884
EventWhat happened
In February 1884 Britain and Portugal sign a treaty recognising Portuguese claims to the mouth of the Congo, in return for guarantees of free navigation and trade. France, Germany and others object strongly, and the treaty is never ratified. It is abandoned in June 1884.
The rest is history
The failure of the treaty showed that claims to the Congo could not be settled by two powers alone. Portugal then proposed an international conference, and Bismarck and the French prime minister Jules Ferry agreed to host it in Berlin. Invitations went out in October 1884 to fourteen states.
Sources
- BookFörster, Stig, Wolfgang J. Mommsen, and Ronald Robinson, eds. Bismarck, Europe, and Africa: The Berlin Africa Conference 1884-1885 and the Onset of Partition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Germany claims colonies (1884)
EventWhat happened
In 1884 Germany, which had no African colonies, declares protection over several areas. Togoland and Cameroon follow in July, after treaties made by Gustav Nachtigal, and the merchant Adolf Lüderitz's claim at Angra Pequena in South West Africa is recognised in 1884. German East Africa follows in 1885 through treaties made by Carl Peters.
The rest is history
Bismarck had earlier shown little interest in colonies, and historians still debate why he changed course. Explanations include trade interests, domestic politics and diplomatic leverage against Britain. These claims made Germany a colonial power just as the conference opened. Germany lost its colonies after the First World War.
Sources
- BookFörster, Stig, Wolfgang J. Mommsen, and Ronald Robinson, eds. Bismarck, Europe, and Africa: The Berlin Africa Conference 1884-1885 and the Onset of Partition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
The conference meets in Berlin
EventWhat happened
From 15 November 1884 to 26 February 1885 delegates meet at Bismarck's residence in the Wilhelmstrasse. Fourteen states take part, among them Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Russia, the Ottoman Empire and the United States. The General Act signed at the end guarantees free trade in the Congo basin and free navigation on the Congo and Niger.
The rest is history
The Act also declared the slave trade should be suppressed, and said that new coastal claims must be notified to other powers and backed by 'effective occupation'. This rule pushed powers to send officials and troops inland to secure what they claimed. The Act did not set borders, which were later agreed in bilateral treaties. The United States did not ratify it.
Sources
- PrimaryGeneral Act of the Berlin Conference on West Africa. Signed at Berlin, 26 February 1885.Articles on free trade, navigation and effective occupation.
- BookFörster, Stig, Wolfgang J. Mommsen, and Ronald Robinson, eds. Bismarck, Europe, and Africa: The Berlin Africa Conference 1884-1885 and the Onset of Partition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Recognition of the Congo Free State
EventWhat happened
During the conference the delegates accept the International Association of the Congo as a sovereign state, and Leopold becomes its ruler. Its recognition is announced in 1885. Leopold rules it as a personal possession, not as a Belgian colony.
The rest is history
The Free State's rule relied on forced labour to gather rubber, and reports by missionaries and the British consul Roger Casement exposed abuses. International pressure led to the Belgian takeover in 1908. Estimates of the death toll in these years are debated, but many historians say it ran to millions.
Sources
- BookHochschild, Adam. King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998.
Partition by treaty after Berlin
EventWhat happened
Between 1885 and 1914 the powers agree on borders through bilateral treaties, such as the Anglo-German agreement of 1890 and the Anglo-French convention of 1898. Wars and expeditions back up the claims, for example the British conquest of the Sokoto region and French campaigns in West Africa. Many peoples resisted, and some campaigns lasted years.
The rest is history
By 1914 only Ethiopia and Liberia were independent. Borders were often drawn along rivers or lines of latitude and longitude, and they cut across existing societies. Most of these borders were kept when African states became independent from the 1950s onward.
Sources
- BookWesseling, H. L. Divide and Rule: The Partition of Africa, 1880-1914. Westport: Praeger, 1996.
- BookPakenham, Thomas. The Scramble for Africa, 1876-1912. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1991.
Africa was carved up at the conference table
Popular beliefThe legend
It is often said that at Berlin the European powers sat around a map and sliced Africa into colonies, drawing the borders still used today. In this telling the conference started the Scramble for Africa.
The rest is history
The General Act contained no partition of the continent and no map of borders. The Scramble had begun before 1884, and most borders were settled afterwards, in separate treaties and often after years of negotiation or fighting. The conference did set rules for claiming coast and approving the Congo Free State, which encouraged the rush. Many historians therefore treat it as a stage in the partition, not its origin.
Sources
- BookFörster, Stig, Wolfgang J. Mommsen, and Ronald Robinson, eds. Bismarck, Europe, and Africa: The Berlin Africa Conference 1884-1885 and the Onset of Partition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
- BookWesseling, H. L. Divide and Rule: The Partition of Africa, 1880-1914. Westport: Praeger, 1996.
Africa's borders were drawn by ignorant Europeans on empty maps
Popular beliefThe legend
Many people believe the borders were drawn by officials in Europe who knew nothing of the land, with straight lines ruled across unknown territory. The lines are said to have been invented in Berlin.
The rest is history
Some borders are indeed straight lines, set by latitude, longitude or geometry, and many divided communities. But a large share of borders followed rivers, watersheds and older boundaries, and negotiators used reports from explorers and officers. Research suggests that borders cut across many ethnic groups, though how far this reflects arbitrary drawing is debated. The treaties were agreed over decades, not in Berlin.
Sources
- ArticleMichalopoulos, Stelios, and Elias Papaioannou. "The Long-Run Effects of the Scramble for Africa." American Economic Review 106, no. 7 (2016): 1802-1848.
- BookWesseling, H. L. Divide and Rule: The Partition of Africa, 1880-1914. Westport: Praeger, 1996.
Colonisation as a civilising mission
Popular beliefThe legend
It is often repeated that the conference was held to bring civilisation, Christianity and an end to slavery to Africa. Delegates at Berlin are said to have acted mainly out of humanitarian concern.
The rest is history
The General Act did include pledges to end the slave trade and to protect missions and native peoples. Humanitarian language was real and widely used in Europe. But the main aims were trade access and avoiding conflict between the powers, and the pledges were poorly enforced. The Congo Free State, approved at Berlin, became one of the best-known cases of abuse.
Sources
- PrimaryGeneral Act of the Berlin Conference on West Africa. Signed at Berlin, 26 February 1885.Article 6 on the welfare of native peoples and the suppression of slavery.
- BookHochschild, Adam. King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998.
Bismarck as the master planner of partition
Popular beliefThe legend
Bismarck is often pictured as the mastermind who called the conference to divide Africa and make Germany a colonial power. His hosting of the meeting is taken as proof of a grand plan.
The rest is history
Bismarck's motives are debated. He had been cool towards colonies, and the conference answered a dispute between Britain, Portugal, France and Leopold over the Congo that others had started. Germany's own colonial claims in 1884 were partly an unplanned turn. He left office in 1890, and most of the partition happened after that.
Sources
- BookFörster, Stig, Wolfgang J. Mommsen, and Ronald Robinson, eds. Bismarck, Europe, and Africa: The Berlin Africa Conference 1884-1885 and the Onset of Partition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.