Berlin Conference

Berlin Conference

international conference

Facet give	German colonial empire
Country	Germany
Edey de administrative territorial entity insyd	Berlin
Ein location	Germany
Coordinate location	52°30′45″N 13°22′57″E
Main subject	German colonial empire
Tym dem start	15 November 1884
End tym	26 February 1885
Interested in	German colonial empire, colony

Na de Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 be a meeting of colonial powers wey na dem conclude plus de signing of de General Act of Berlin, an agreement wey dey regulate European colonisation den trade insyd Africa during de New Imperialism period. Na de conference of fourteen countries be organised by Otto von Bismarck, de first chancellor of Germany, at de request of Leopold II of Belgium. Na dem meet on 15 November 1884 den, after an adjournment, dem conclude on 26 February 1885 plus de signing of de General Act.

Dem fi see de General Act of Berlin as de formalisation of de Scramble for Africa wey na e already dey in full swing. Na de conference contribute to ushering insyd a period of heightened colonial activity by European powers, wey dem sam times cite am as e be responsible for de "carve-up of Africa". However, sam scholars warn against overstating ein role insyd de colonial partitioning of Africa, wey dey draw attention to de chaw bilateral agreements dem conclude before den after de conference. Na a 2024 study find dat de borders wey na dem set per for de conference be those of de Congo region (wey na dese be subsequently revise), wey na chaw of Africa ein borders no take dema final form til over two decades later. Na Wm. Roger Louis concede, however, dat "na de Berlin Act get a relevance to de course of de partition" of Africa.

Na dem present an alternative point of view wey na de Conference be about denying new weapons to Africa. Na dem recently invent de machine gun, wich at de time na ebe a weapon of mass destruction, wey if dis fi be embargoed to Africa, der go be de possibility of a speedy conquest. Since na dem dey break embargoes, e go be essential make e act speedily. Na Ethiopia be able make e gain modern weapons from Imperial Russia, wich allow Ethiopia make e maintain ein independence. Na de Russian Revolution of 1917 be de death knell of dis embargo.

Na European powers sanso be driven by economic motivations, as na competition for de vast natural resources on de continent be crucial for industrialization den expansion. As na European industries grow, de raw materials such as rubber, minerals, ivory, den cotton make Africa highly valuable. In addition, na de control over de vast African markets allow European countries make dem sell manufactured goods, wey dey lead to economic dominance insyd resources den trade. Na de Berlin Conference materialize dese ambitions, wey formalize claims to areas rich insyd resources den establishing rules make dem deter conflict among de European powers. Na economic rivalries between Britain den France increase de urgency make dem secure colonies before na dem create monopolies insyd key areas such as de Congo Basin. Na Europe get an industrial surplus wich lead dem make dem find markets abroad, wey dey make de African colonies both dema supplier of raw materials as well as consumers of European products.

Na seven of de fourteen countries represent – Austria-Hungary, Russia, Denmark, de Netherlands, Sweden-Norway, de Ottoman Empire, den de United States – cam home widout any formal possessions insyd Africa.

Conference

Na de conference open on 15 November 1884 wey e close on 26 February 1885. Na de number of plenipotentiaries vary per nation, buh dese 14 countries send representatives make dem attend de Berlin Conference den sign de subsequent Berlin Act:

State	Colonial empire	Plenipotentiaries
Germany	German colonial empire	Otto von Bismarck Paul von Hatzfeldt Clemens Busch Heinrich von Kusserow
Austria-Hungary	Austrian colonial empire	Imre Széchényi von Sárvár-Felsővidék
International Congo Society	International Congo Society	Gabriel August van der Straten-Ponthoz Auguste, Baron Lambermont
Spain	Spanish colonial empire	Francisco Merry y Colom, 1st Count of Benomar
Denmark	Danish colonial empire	Emil Vind
United States	American colonial empire	John A. Kasson Henry S. Sanford Henry Morton Stanley (as Technical Adviser)
France	French colonial empire	Alphonse de Courcel
United Kingdom	British colonial empire	Edward Baldwin Malet
Italy	Italian colonial empire	Edoardo de Launay
Netherlands	Dutch colonial empire	Philip van der Hoeven
Portugal	Portuguese colonial empire	Antônio José da Serra Gomes António de Serpa Pimentel
Russia	Russian colonialism	Pyotr Kapnist
Sweden–Norway	Swedish colonial empire	Gillis Bildt
Ottoman Empire	Ottoman Empire	Mehmed Said Pasha

Uniquely, na de United States reserve de right make e decline anaa to accept de conclusions of de conference.

Sources

• Chamberlain, Muriel E. (2014). The Scramble for Africa. London: Longman, 1974, 4th edn. ISBN 0-582-36881-2.
• Craven, M. 2015. "Between law and history: the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 and the logic of free trade." London Review of International Law 3, 31–59.
• Crowe, Sybil E. (1942). The Berlin West African Conference, 1884–1885. New York: Longmans, Green. ISBN 0-8371-3287-8 (1981, New ed. edition).
• Förster, Stig, Wolfgang Justin Mommsen, and Ronald Edward Robinson, eds. Bismarck, Europe and Africa: The Berlin Africa conference 1884–1885 and the onset of partition (Oxford University Press, 1988) online; 30 topical chapters by experts.

• Hochschild, Adam (1999). King Leopold's Ghost. ISBN 0-395-75924-2.
• Katzenellenbogen, S. 1996. It didn't happen at Berlin: Politics, economics and ignorance in the setting of Africa's colonial boundaries. In Nugent, P. and Asiwaju, A. I. (Eds.), African boundaries: Barriers, conduits and opportunities. pp. 21–34. London: Pinter.
• Petringa, Maria (2006). Brazza, A Life for Africa. ISBN 978-1-4259-1198-0.
• Lorin, Amaury, and de Gemeaux, Christine, eds., L'Europe coloniale et le grand tournant de la Conférence de Berlin (1884–1885), Paris, Le Manuscrit, coll. "Carrefours d'empires", 2013, 380 p.

Read further

• Craven, Matthew. The invention of a tradition: Westlake, the Berlin Conference and the historicisation of international law (Klosterman, 2012).
• Leon, Daniel De (1886). "The Conference at Berlin on the West-African Question". Political Science Quarterly 1(1).
• Förster, Susanne, et al. "Negotiating German colonial heritage in Berlin's Afrikanisches Viertel." International Journal of Heritage Studies 22.7 (2016): 515–529.
• Frankema, Ewout, Jeffrey G. Williamson, and P. J. Woltjer. "An economic rationale for the West African scramble? The commercial transition and the commodity price boom of 1835–1885." Journal of Economic History (2018): 231–267. online
• Harlow, Barbara, and Mia Carter, eds. Archives of Empire: Volume 2. The Scramble for Africa (Duke University Press, 2020).
• Mulligan, William. "The Anti-slave Trade Campaign in Europe, 1888–90." in A Global History of Anti-slavery Politics in the Nineteenth Century (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2013). 149–170 online.

• Nuzzo, Luigi (2012), Colonial Law, EGO – European History Online, Mainz: Institute of European History. Retrieved 25 March 2021 (pdf).
• Rodney, Walter. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (1972) –
• Shepperson, George. "The Centennial of the West African Conference of Berlin, 1884–1885." Phylon 46#1 (1985), pp. 37–48. online
• Vanthemsche, Guy. Belgium and the Congo, 1885–1980 (Cambridge University Press, 2012). 289 pp. ISBN 978-0-521-19421-1
• Waller, Bruce. Bismarck at the crossroads: the reorientation of German foreign policy after the Congress of Berlin, 1878–1880 (1974) online
• Yao, Joanne (2022). "The Power of Geographical Imaginaries in the European International Order: Colonialism, the 1884–85 Berlin Conference, and Model International Organizations". International Organization.

External links

• "The Berlin Conference", BBC In Our Time
• General Act of the Berlin Conference. South African History Online.