Tema 4 Naciones e Imperios

The Imperialism:
European imperialism in Africa

EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM IN AFRICA.   (transcript)

In the late 1800s imperialist European nations gained control over much of Africa.

Imperialism is the domination of one country’s political, economic and cultural life by another. European countries had been establishing colonies and building empires since the late 1400s. Imperialism brought wealth and power to Europeans, but the people living in colonies were often oppressed, abused and in some cases even killed.

"In fourty years Europe gobbled up virtually all of Africa south of the Sahara with tremendous brutality. The purpose of this conquest, like most conquest in History, was to make money for the conquerors and they did so hand over fist and killed millions of people in the process”

Most European thought colonization was essentially a noble undertaking. After all, they said Europeans had strong economies, well – organized governments and powerful armies and navies, meanwhile African nations were troubled by economic weakness and political divisions.

The transatlantic slave trade which did not end until the end of 1800s had drastically reduced the population of African societies. The slave trade had also contributed to inter – tribal warfare.

European powers were fueled by the technology and the Industrial Revolution.

New weapons and steam powered locomotives and ships gave European the ability to move quickly and fight wars with proven efficiency. European manufactories wanted to access to natural resources such as rubber and petroleum.

African colonies could also service vital ports for European merchants and naval ships.

European missionaries urged Africans to give up their traditional beliefs and accept western ways of religion.

Missionaries opened hospitals and schools throughout the colonies.

Sometimes, they also furthered the political and economic goals of imperialist nations.

Many Europeans exploited and oppressed native Africans. Some of the worst oppression occurred in the Congo. King Leopold and other wealthy Belgians exploited the land and people in the Congo. African labours were forced to harvest ivory and rubber. Conditions were so horrible that the population in some areas declined drastically. Belgian exploitation of the Congo set off a scrambled for colonies. Britain, France and Germany rush to make claims in the region.

But Joseph Conrad, a British seaman, witnessed the hurts of imperialism in Africa and was moved to write a novel about the dark side of imperialism. Conrad’s novel:  “Heart of darkness” is a story of a journey up a great river, deep into the Belgian Congo. A businessman named Marlow is sent into the Congo to discover what has happened to a riverboat station chief named Kurtz. When Marlow finally finds Kurtz, he is horrified by what he sees. Kurtz has gone insane. He has set himself up as a kind of pagan god. He demands total obedience and his reign brings death to the jungle.

Conrad’s novel brought the horrors of the imperialism into light for the European readers, but it did not in the scramble for colonies.

By the early 1900s only Liberia and Ethiopia had resisted the European colonization. For the rest of Africa, there lay ahead a long and difficult struggle for independence.