The partition of Africa PDF

FOR ONLINE USE ONLY DO NOT DUPLICATE Chapter The partition of Africa Six Introduction In Chapter Five, you learnt about the relationship between Tanzanian, Asian and European societies before colon...

FOR ONLINE USE ONLY DO NOT DUPLICATE Chapter The partition of Africa Six Introduction In Chapter Five, you learnt about the relationship between Tanzanian, Asian and European societies before colonialism in Africa. In this chapter, LY you will learn how the colonialists scrambled for and divided Africa among themselves. You will also learn about the reasons for the establishment of colonialism in Africa. N O Reasons for the scramble for and partition of Africa Industrial development in Europe caused economic problems which made SE Europeans come to Africa and establish colonies in the last quarter of the 19th century. European powers competed for markets for their industrial products. They also competed for raw materials, cheap human labour and suitable areas for further economic investment. Generally, they competed U for areas which had many development opportunities. The areas were as follows: E (a) Coastal strips which had important trade points; N (b) Areas with good climate and fertile agricultural lands. Some of these LI areas were on the slopes of mountains like the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. Other areas were N along river valleys like those of the River Congo, the River Nile, the River Niger and the Suez Canal; O (c) Areas with big lakes and big rivers for transporting raw materials to their factories. In Tanganyika they were attracted to areas around Lake R Victoria, Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa; and FO (d) Areas rich in minerals and other resources like forests and wild animals. The above-mentioned competitions among European powers could have caused wars. In order to prevent wars from breaking out, the German 61 SOCIAL STUDIES STD 5.indd 61 30/07/2021 11:49  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY DO NOT Chancellor Otto von Bismarck (seeDUPLICATE Figure 1) called a conference of all the conflicting nations in Berlin so that they could discuss the division of the African continent. LY N O SE Figure 1: Chancellor Otto von Bismarck of Germany U The Berlin Conference The Berlin Conference was held between November 1884 and February E 1885. The countries which attended the conference were Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the United States of America, N Denmark, Holland, Russia, Greece, Austria-Hungary, Britain and Sweden. These countries drew up an agreement on how to divide Africa. The Berlin LI Conference adopted the following resolutions: N (a) Any European country which had seized a territory on any African coast, like the Germans who had seized the East African coast, O should inform other European countries; R (b) Any European country that seized an area must establish effective occupation. She must have an army capable of fighting against the FO indigenous people and defend their people and the activities done in the area; 62 SOCIAL STUDIES STD 5.indd 62 30/07/2021 11:49  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY (c) DO NOT King Leopold of Belgium DUPLICATE was recognized as the ruler of Congo, while the British ruled the areas around the River Niger. It was further agreed that all big rivers should be open to all the countries for transport. The rivers were Niger, Congo, Senegal and Zambezi; and (d) The slave trade must be stopped in all the colonies. East Africa was not divided at the Berlin Conference; thus two bilateral agreements were signed to partition the region between the British and the Germans, as explained below. LY The partition of East Africa N After the Berlin Conference, the colonialists divided Africa among themselves. East Africa was portioned and occupied by Britain and Germany. The division O was done between 1886 and 1890. Two agreements were signed by the Germans and the British. These were the 1886 Anglo-German Agreement and the Heligoland Agreement of 1890. (a) The 1886 Anglo-German Agreement SE U In 1886 the governments of Germany and Britain, as well as the Sultanate of Zanzibar met to divide East Africa. The Germans were given Tanganyika, Rwanda and Burundi, which were then known as German East Africa. Also, E the area from Witu to the north of Mombasa was put under the Germans. The British were given the area which is today called Kenya. The Sultanate N of Zanzibar remained with the islands of Pemba, Unguja and a strip of 16 LI kilometres along the East African coast (see Figure 3). By this agreement, these colonialists agreed to operate in the area without interfering with each N other. O R FO 63 SOCIAL STUDIES STD 5.indd 63 30/07/2021 11:49  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY DO NOT DUPLICATE Lake Rudolf LY Lake Albert UGANDA BRITISH EAST AFRICA N O Lake Edward Lake Victoria SE Witu Lamu Mt. Kilimanjaro U Pemba GERMAN EAST AFRICA E Lake Unguja N Ta n INDIAN ga ny OCEAN ik a LI Mafia N O KEY Lake N Unpartitioned Sultanate Empire Ruvuma River R yasa Germany Colony British Colony PORTUGUESE COLONY FO 0 87.5 175 300 Km Figure 3: Map of East Africa showing colonial divisions after the 1886 Agreement 64 SOCIAL STUDIES STD 5.indd 64 30/07/2021 11:49  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY (b) DO NOT DUPLICATE The Heligoland Agreement of 1890 The 1890 Agreement, known as the Heligoland Agreement, modified the 1886 Agreement. This agreement was between the British and German governments. The aim of the Heligoland Agreement was to change the boundaries which had been agreed upon and to reallocate areas which were not in the 1886 Agreement, including Uganda. The Heligoland Agreement set conditions upon which the areas of conflict were to be resolved. The decisions included in the new agreement were: LY (i) The area of British administration was increased from the east to the west of Lake Victoria. Thus, Uganda was put under British rule; (ii) Germany agreed that the British would rule over Witu, Zanzibar and N the whole area under the Sultan; O (iii) The British agreed to give Heligoland Island in the North Sea to the Germans. The Germans liked Heligoland Island because it was an SE important navy marine base to them; and (iv) The 16-kilometre strip was taken from the Sultanate of Zanzibar and given to Germany (see Figure 4). U E N LI N O R FO 65 SOCIAL STUDIES STD 5.indd 65 30/07/2021 11:49  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY DO NOT DUPLICATE LY N O SE U E N LI N O Figure 4: East Africa after the Heligoland Agreement of 1890 R After the Berlin Agreement of 1885 and other agreements, the African FO continent was conquered by imperial powers like German, Britain, France and Belgium. The conquest was necessary because Africans were not ready to be under the European powers. 66 SOCIAL STUDIES STD 5.indd 66 30/07/2021 11:49  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY DO NOT DUPLICATE Methods used by the imperialists to control the colonies At the beginning of colonialism, they used business companies to expand and carry out colonial administration. Examples of such companies were the German East Africa Company (GEACO) under Carl Peters and the British East African Company (BEACO) under William Mackinnon. The imperialists and their companies cheated Africans by making them sign false treaties. When the Africans discovered that they had been cheated, they dishonoured the treaties. As a result, the imperialists started wars of conquest to control them forcibly. LY However, by the 1890s, most of the companies had failed to rule the colonies; hence, colonial states and governments were established and controlled the colonies. The common method used to establish colonialism was conquest. N The European powers conquered African societies and colonised them. O Almost all the colonial powers used this method. Exercise 1 Answer the following questions: 1. SE In which year was the Berlin Conference convened? U 2. Who became the ruler of Congo after the partition of Africa? 3. Name the three rivers which the imperialists agreed to use for E transport purposes. N 4. Describe the methods used by the colonialists to invade East Africa. LI 5. Name two African countries which were not occupied by the colonialists. N The scramble for more colonies at the time of partitioning Africa O The struggle to partition Africa continued until 1900. The British colonised the following countries: Gambia, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast (Ghana), R Bechuanaland (Botswana), Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Basotho (Lesotho), Swaziland (Eswatini), Nyasaland FO (Malawi), Zanzibar, British East Africa (Kenya), Uganda, part of Somalia, Sudan, Egypt and Nigeria. France colonised Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Congo- Brazzaville, Central 67 SOCIAL STUDIES STD 5.indd 67 30/07/2021 11:49  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY DO African Republic, Gabon andNOT DUPLICATE a West African colony which was later divided into the following colonies: Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory coast, Niger, Dahomey and Chad. Belgium took Congo, Germany took Cameroon, Togo, Southwest Africa and German East Africa (Tanganyika, Burundi and Rwanda). Italians took Libya and a part of Somalia. Portugal took Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau and the islands of Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe. Spain took Western Sahara and Equatorial Guinea (see Figure 5). LY N O SE U E N LI N O R FO Figure 5: Map showing the partition of Africa by 1913/1914 68 SOCIAL STUDIES STD 5.indd 68 30/07/2021 11:49  FOR ONLINE USE ONLY Exercise 2 DO NOT DUPLICATE Answer the following questions: 1. Why did Chancellor Otto von Bismarck of German convene the Berlin Conference? 2. Five countries which attended the Berlin Conference were _________, _________, _________, _________, and _________. 3. List the four resolutions agreed upon at the Berlin Conference. LY 4. What were the characteristics of the areas which the European powers preferred to others during the scramble for and the partition of Africa? N Exercise 3 O Answer the following questions: 1. 2. SE Why was the Berlin Conference important to the colonising countries? Why were lakes and areas along rivers preferred by the colonising countries? U 3. Mention two treaties signed for dividing East Africa, apart from the Berlin Agreement. E Vocabulary N Imperialism a political system in which one country rules another country LI or countries. It is associated with colonialism whereby capitalistic countries moved to other countries to exploit N them O Partition the division of something such as the division of Africa in the last quarter of the 19th century R Settler a foreigner settling in a foreign country permanently and FO owning resources such as land Scramble struggling for something like when European powers struggled for colonies in Africa in the last quarter of the 19th century 69 SOCIAL STUDIES STD 5.indd 69 30/07/2021 11:49