As European empires settled colonies around the world, their leaders decided to call a conference to organize how the rest of the world might be colonized while attempting to minimize the bloodshed of Europeans during the project. The meeting, known as the Conference of Berlin, was the peak event of the “Scramble for Africa,” during which European empires attempted to colonize as much of Africa and Asia as possible. After reviewing the assigned reading in your textbook and module resources, choose one European empire for study. How did your chosen European empire expand to new regions? What were the political, religious, and economic implications of this expansion?
As you consider the answers posted by classmates, compare the empires of the East and West. How did your chosen European empire compare to an existing Asian or African empire? Use your textbook for specific information.
Reply to peers after answering the question above.
Peer 1
While I had heard of the Scramble for Africa before, I had never looked at it in depth before, and I certainly had never looked into the empires that took place in the scramble. I decided to take a look at that first empire that came to mind when it came to Africa and its relationship with Europe: Great Britain.
Leading up to the Scramble for Africa, Britain already had a presence in Africa, and not for a very good reason. Slave trade. Between 1562 and 1807, up to three million people from Africa were captured by the British and enslaved throughout the Americas. While Britain got rich from this, West Africa’s population took a massive blow. By the 1870s, Europe only controlled about 10% of the country, with Great Britain having control mostly in the Cape Colony and Natal, basically South Africa belonged to them.
Initially, Britain was first and foremost concerned about its connections to India, and India’s connections were with both Egypt and South Africa as well. Thus, Britain was interested in both as well. However, once these two areas were conquered by Great Britain, they decided to further conquer the continent by building a Cape-to-Cairo railway throughout the continent. This would ensure they at least took control of the surrounding area of the railway and thus be able to eventually continue to spread out. Another reason they did this was not just for land, but the resources that land had as well. Britain was very interested in the potential of rich material deposits in certain areas such as Transvaal, where gold had been discovered. They weren’t get interested in gold for the sake to get rich, but with Britain becoming a massive power as the first post-industrial nation, wealth was very necessary for their economy. If they could beat Germany and France to that area, they could corner that commercial wealth for themselves, not just from gold, but other mineral like valuables that were common in African soil. By doing this, Britain soon owned upwards of 30% of the African population.
A small thing to note also was the fact that while Britain contributed to the mass enslavement of many natives to Africa, by the 1870s, they instead saw more opportunity towards mineral goods and trade within Africa. Because of this, they tried to abolish slavery within the country, further motivating their push into territories and fighting for land to control the enslavement of others.
David, Dr Saul. History – British History in Depth: Slavery and the ‘Scramble for Africa’. BBC. BBC, February 17, 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/scramble_for_africa_article_01.shtml.
Peer 2
Hope this finds you well, and that you had a great weekend.
The European empire I chose from this weeks module is Great Britain.
I chose this due to my discover of their major involvement with slavery, specifically, the slave trade.
This took place between the years of 1562-1807. At this time, the British had already made their presence known due to their involvement with African enslavement. By capturing millions from South Africa, Great Britain profited, in consequence, Africa lost control as well as wealth. Britain continued to vanquish other territories such as India and Egypt. This success led Britain to expand their objective which was to progress in the riche, this included resources from land, trade, shipping and material/ gold. These riches would provide more power/ control/ and increase their economy.
David, Dr Saul. History – British History in Depth: Slavery and the ‘Scramble for Africa’. BBC. BBC, February 17, 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/scramble_for_africa_article_01.shtml.
