Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Colonising Africa: What happened at the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885?
Before European occupation, Africa boasted diverse, rich cultures and societies, including powerful kingdoms and empires, with established political, economic, and social systems and a wide range of religions and philosophies. However, with the European discoveries of a sea route around Africa’s southern coast in 1488 and America in 1492, the age of modern colonization began. When the Industrial Revolution progressed in the 19th century, European powers struggled to get natural and human resources in Africa, which was called the “Scramble for Africa”. In order to establish rules for colonization and trade in Africa, a meeting was convened by European powers in 1884-1885, called the Berlin Conference, without any African representative. Seven colonial rulers, France, Britain, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Belgium, drew borders artificially without historical, racial, or cultural considerations and started ruling most of the African continent. Only Liberia and Ethiopia managed to keep their independence. The colonization continued until African leaders fought for independence after the middle of the 20th century. Now, there are 54 fully recognized sovereign states in Africa.
Read the article and learn about the conference that determined the fate of Africa in modern history
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/26/colonising-africa-what-happened-at-the-berlin-conference-of-1884-1885
No comments:
Post a Comment