The Late 19th Century and WWI
Wikimedia Commons · Adalbert von Roessler · Public domainImperialism and the Scramble for Africa
European colonial expansion across Asia and the partition of Africa.
60-Second Review
Express reviewA condensed, point-by-point summary of the module, for reviewing right before a test or exam.
- Defining the "New Imperialism": Formal and Informal Empire. The "New Imperialism" of 1870-1914 brought roughly 84 percent of the world's land under European control.
- Economic, Ideological, and Technological Engines of Expansion. Industrial capitalism, racialized ideology, and new technology together powered colonial expansion after 1870.
- Africa on the Eve of Partition: States, Trade, and Explorers. Around 1870 only about 10 percent of Africa lay under European control amid sophisticated existing African states.
- Leopold II and the Congo Free State. Leopold II's personal Congo Free State (1885-1908) became the most brutal single episode of the partition.
- The Berlin Conference and the Rules of Partition. The 1884-1885 Berlin Conference, with no African representative present, set the diplomatic rules for partition.
- The Partition by Power: Britain, France, Germany, and Italy. Britain and France built the largest African empires; Germany carried out genocide; Italy was defeated at Adwa.
- African Resistance to Colonial Conquest. From the Mahdist state to the Ashanti Wars, African societies mounted sustained resistance to European conquest.
- Legacies: Artificial Borders and the Roots of Decolonization. Borders drawn without regard for African realities, plus extractive economies, left lasting legacies still visible today.
This module continues after "The Unification of Italy and Germany" in the syllabus. If you haven't reviewed it yet, it may help set the context.
Key points
11. Defining the "New Imperialism": Formal and Informal Empire22. Economic, Ideological, and Technological Engines of Expansion33. Africa on the Eve of Partition: States, Trade, and Explorers44. Leopold II and the Congo Free State55. The Berlin Conference and the Rules of Partition66. The Partition by Power: Britain, France, Germany, and Italy77. African Resistance to Colonial Conquest88. Legacies: Artificial Borders and the Roots of Decolonization
Visual module map
1Defining the "New Imperialism": Formal and Informal Empire
2Africa on the Eve of Partition: States, Trade, and Explorers
3The Berlin Conference and the Rules of Partition
4The Partition by Power: Britain, France, Germany, and Italy
5Legacies: Artificial Borders and the Roots of Decolonization
Alternative visual view: a simplified sequence of some of the module's key points, in their order within the syllabus.
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Final test
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Optional mini-games
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Further reading
Bibliography and cited sources used to create this module.
- Thomas Pakenham, The Scramble for Africa: White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912.
- Adam Hochschild, King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa.
- John A. Hobson, Imperialism: A Study.
- Ronald Robinson and John Gallagher, Africa and the Victorians: The Official Mind of Imperialism.
- Daniel R. Headrick, The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century.
- Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Empire, 1875-1914.
- Jeffrey Herbst, States and Power in Africa: Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control.
- General Act of the Berlin Conference (26 February 1885), available via the Avalon Project, Yale Law School, avalon.law.yale.edu.