The Scramble For Africa

"The Scramble for Africa" was mostly about the European countries racing to colonized territories in Africa. The Europeans nations were the ones that set borders on the continent of Africa. It began in 1881 with France, when it moved into Tunis. After many years of ignoring the continent of Africa, Europe felt that it had to put influence of the countries of it. The countries involved in the Scramble for Africa were Britain, France, Belgium and Germany. Britain's colonization of Africa began when the Suez Canal was built through Egypt. This canal was opening opportunities for the British to take over Africa. Little by little they began to conquer East Africa, but they wanted to expand upward for diamonds and gold. It took the British two wars to defeat the Boers, who were Dutch, to conquer African territory. The French's main concern for colonizing Africa was for its resources. After their defeat in the Franco-Prussia War, they wanted commercial gain and prestige so the wanted to move eastward. Belgium was one the most important reasons why they titled this the "Scramble for Africa." The King of Belgium just wanted to pt his flag on territory and was willing to pay any amount of money for it. Belgium contributed it most sense of urgency for land during the "Scramble for Africa." Germany joined the "Scramble for Africa very late. They barely got any land. The Africans left used and conquer. They felt as if the imperialist were taking over what was theirs and had no say in anything.