During the first phase of the colonial period, between roughly 1880 and 1914, the African continent
was partitioned into more than 50 colonies. The process of carving up the continent and creating
new political entities had important long-term consequences. First, European powers developed a
large scale, centralized bureaucratic apparatus and established new rules and laws to govern their
colonial territories. Further, they established a much firmer control of geographical boundaries than
had previously existed in the region.
The creation of new geographical entities determined which previously independent states and
societies would, from then on, live within the same geographical boundaries. It also determined
which societies were left undivided, and which were cut across by international boundaries. And it
determined the size of the new entities. Sometimes very large and diverse areas and peoples were
incorporated into one large colony, such as Nigeria. In other instances, very small colonies were
created, such as the Gambia. In order to understand why Africa was colonised at the time and how
colonies were created we need to understand the process of partitioning.
Prior to the establishment of formal control after 1880, commercial ties had connected Africa and
Europe from as early as the 15th century when the Portuguese landed on the coast of West Africa.
This contact intensified with the rise of the slave trade, which was at its height in the 1700s until
the mid-1800s. To facilitate trade, Europeans established various coastal trading posts and forts,
mostly along the West African coast, but also in Northern and Southern Africa. Over time, some
of these posts developed into proto-colonies, or colony-like entities. The Cape Colony in Southern
Africa for example, came under colonial control already in the mid-17th century. Further, small
colonial administrations were established during the first half of the 19th century along the coast of
Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana) and Algeria. Still, Africans effectively prevented
Europeans from extending their presence into the hinterlands up until 1880. Hence, before the start
of colonial expansion, Europeans knew very little about the continent’s interior. This all changed
rapidly at the end of the 19th century with the partitioning of Africa by European colonial powers.
This process is also called the Scramble for Africa.
The aim of this chapter is to explain how the partitioning of Africa evolved and to look at the role
that both Africans and Europeans played in the process. We will start by discussing the
technological factors that enabled the European powers to occupy Africa. This will be followed by
an overview of the process of partitioning. The chapter ends with a discussion of the various driving
forces that have traditionally explained the partitioning of Africa.
- Key factors that enabled European colonial expansion
Until well into the second half of the 19th century, African societies successfully guarded their
continent against unwelcome European invaders. However, in the decades leading up to the 1880s,
a number of rapid technological developments took place that shifted the balance of power in
favour of the Europeans. At the same time, European countries had been developing stronger state
and administrative capacity in Europe already since the 16th century. The combination of strong
state capacity and technological advances enabled the Europeans, for the first time in history, to
expand into the African interior. In the next section the five key factors that enabled European
colonial expansion in Africa are discussed.
Quinine
Until the first half of the 19th century, the disease environment in parts of Africa was exceptionally
hostile to Europeans. Out of every 1000 European individuals travelling to tropical Africa between
250 and 500 would die, mostly as a result of contracting malaria. Therefore, the tropical parts of
Africa were not considered a suitable or attractive place for European settlement. For Africans,
malaria was often not as deadly. First, because when children survived malaria attacks, they
developed natural immunity. Second, due to past exposure, malaria had caused the development of
the sickle cell gene in humans which also provided some resistance to malaria. But the sickle cell
trait does not provide the cure to malaria as only people that inherit one sickle cell gene from their
parents are less susceptible to falling ill from malaria. In contrast, when people inherited two copies
of the gene they die before reaching the adult age.
Iron metallurgy: stronger and cheaper weapons
During the 19th century, the technology used to produce iron improved substantially. In Africa, the
most significant impact of these improvements was in the supply of better and cheaper firearms.
Europeans initially held most of these weapons and, naturally, this gave them a military advantage.
The development of the Maxim-gun, a semiautomatic weapon, later proved a crucial factor in the
establishment of European military superiority. Due to its increased speed of firing, and the fact it
was relatively light to carry, it became the standard machine gun of Europeans in Africa. Between
1880 and 1920, the disparity in military power between Africans and Europeans was at its height.
Nevertheless, many African societies possessed firearms, sometimes in large quantities. Most guns
were initially obtained in return for trading slaves. All West African states owned substantial
quantities of firearms, and some states in the interior of East Africa also possessed large arsenals
of weapons. However, most of these were old and heavy firearms, and rarely included machine
guns. Moreover, many African armies initially lacked any training in how to handle firearms. The
military advantage meant that the conquest of territory was relatively easy and comparatively cheap
for Europeans.
Steamboat
Another important technological discovery that preceded the partitioning was the invention of the
steam engine. The steam engine had transformed industrial production and the transportation of
goods over land in Europe. It also revolutionised the transport of goods by sea through the dramatic
reduction of transport costs and time making direct trade between Europe and Africa profitable. In
the second half of the 19th century, European ports – previously used for the trade of slaves and
manufacturing goods – evolved into havens for the trade of manufacturing goods and tropical
foodstuffs such as groundnuts, cacao, and palm oil. These steamboats, carrying goods between
Africa and Europe, also transported a new generation of explorers.
The most famous of all was David Livingstone. Livingstone travelled from the UK to Africa in
1840 as a Christian missionary. His initial aim was to spread the gospel among Africans in southern
Africa. During his first decade in Africa, he made three long journeys northwards which showed
him the social devastations that the slave trades had caused. This convinced him that to abolish the
slave trade, it was important to advance European commercial interest as an alternative to the slave
trades and to evangelize African populations. His motto became ‘Christianity, Commerce and
Civilization’. Livingstone believed that the key to achieving these goals was to explore Africa’s
interior. In doing so, he was the first to demonstrate that quinine was the key to surviving the
continent’s hostile disease environment.
Administrative capacity
Improvements in the ‘technology of government administration’ also played a role in the conquest
of Africa (Curtin, 1995: 401). Since the 15th century, Europeans had been strengthening their
administrative powers. This development accelerated first in France, following the French
revolution and during Napoleonic rule. Later also in Britain and other parts of Europe, where
successive administrative reforms were implemented. As a result the major powers in 19th
-century
Europe were better able to administer an overseas empire and could set up a colonial government
more efficiently than in the past. Within Europe, there was great confidence in the ability to manage
and rule large overseas empires.
Racism, racial superiority, regeneration of African peoples
The confidence in ruling overseas areas was part of a more general European attitude towards the
world. Driven by its material prosperity and supremacy, Europe reassessed its position towards the
rest of the world. This was combined with a firm belief in a ‘natural order of things’, an idea that
gained prominence with the appearance of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Darwin’s work was
understood by some to provide scientific confirmation of the supremacy of the white race. Thus,
Europeans felt entitled to rule others. The conquest of the ‘backward’ races by the ‘superior’ race
was seen as part of an inevitable, natural process. Racism flourished during the period, peaking
between 1880 and 1920. This had a profound influence on how the colonial regimes were
organised. In this view, colonisation was also seen as a form of imperial responsibility, which
provided a justification for colonial conquest.
Although the above set of factors facilitated the colonization process at the end of the 19th century,
it is still not straightforward to determine the moment at which partitioning officially began. It is
perhaps best understood as an evolutionary development in which various African and European
interests and actions interacted in what seemed an unstoppable process. What started as commercial
contact led to increasing influence of European powers in various coastal regions in Africa. Map 1
82
indicates the regions in which European powers were present prior to the partitioning, and in which
direction they advanced to seize territory.
Initially, European territorial annexation advanced most rapidly in the northern and the southern
parts of the continent. At South Africa’s southern tip, the Dutch had founded the Cape Colony in
- From the early 19th century onwards, the British started to take over control of this region.
The discovery of diamonds and gold in the 1860s and 1870s increased the pace at which Britain
annexed territory. The balance of power that had previously been established between Africans and
Europeans came under pressure. The Zulu in particular, and also the Xhosa, put up such determined
resistance that the British were forced to halt their expansion, at least temporarily. In 1879, the
Zulu even defeated the British in the famous battle of Isandlwana. However, some months later a
reinforced British army eventually defeated and destroyed the Zulu kingdom. In the meantime, the
struggle between the British and the Dutch Boers for power in the region intensified. This
ultimately led to the Anglo-Boer wars at the end of the 19th century. In 1910, the British eventually
defeated the Boers and established the Union of South Africa.