The Scramble for Africa (or the Race for Africa) was the proliferation of conflicting European claims to African territory during the New Imperialism period, between the 1880s and the start of World War I.
The latter half of the nineteenth century saw the transition from the "informal" imperialism of control through military influence and economic dominance to that of direct rule. Attempts to mediate imperial competition, such as the Berlin Conference of 1884-85 among the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the French Third Republic and the German Empire, failed to establish definitively the competing powers' claims. These disputes over Africa were among the central factors precipitating the First World War.
European nations saw Africa as ripe for the taking. Some Europeans argued that by colonizing Africa, they were also exporting civilization to a continent which they regarded as evolutionary backward and undeveloped. It was a European responsibility to act as trustees of Africa until Africans were mature enough to govern themselves. However, colonization was in reality driven by commercial interests. Europe would benefit enormously from its exploitation of Africa. The de-colonization process would reveal the one-sidedness of colonial rule. The departing colonial powers left behind economies that were designed to benefit themselves. Crops grown, for example, required processing in Europe. The departing powers left behind few Africans equipped to lead their newly independent nations. Continue reading from New World Encyclopedia
Events Leading to the Scramble for Africa (Thought Co.)
The Scramble for Africa (OER Commons)
The Scramble for Africa (1876-1914) (SparkNotes)
The Long-Run Effects of the Scramble for Africa (Centre for Economic Policy Research)
The Scramble for Africa (Encyclopedia.com)
The Scramble for Africa (History with Mr. Green)
The Scramble for Africa (Common Lit)
Colonialism and the 'Scramble for Africa' (CNN)
Scramble for Africa (PBS LearningMedia)
