33 - The Scramble for Africa: New Imperialism and the Triggers for the Second Congress of Berlin 1884-5

Footnotes of History

In this episode, your indefatigable young hosts delve deep into what is really the pinnacle of European Imperialism – the so-called Scramble for Africa, its effects, timeline and the apparent game that European powers seemed to be playing as it advanced.

Traditionally, Africa’s dangerous interior – including disease, dense and almost unnavigable river mouths and hostile populations made it almost impossible for Europeans to even consider “empiring” Africa in the ways that people usually anticipate.

This is reflective a wider trend really.

The risks are simply too great for a non-industrialised power to attempt any kind of subjugation.

It’s only really since Britain and Europe started to pull sharply away in terms of technology, living standards and general economic resource that their armies were able to conquer anything like the territory we see in this episode.

It’s a fascinating but also slightly unnerving period of colonisation and destruction that is important to properly understand if we are to avoid any kind of dodgy modern thinking on the subject.

What’s on the tape:

· Why the traditional “getting rich from the empire” ideas don’t make sense

· How Belgium – a country barely born by 1850 – bought off an intrepid explorer and manoeuvred under the noses of the Powers to become one of the largest land-owning powers in the Congo and the provocateur of the “scramble for Africa”

· Germany’s slightly pathetic reasons for calling the conference (it has to do with being a bit slow off the mark)

· A hint at the real life events that precipitated Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

· How a Britain and France double-act tricked Egypt into handing over the newly-constructed Suez Canal and a taster of how dangerous it is to stir up rebellions you can’t control

· Why Bismarck wasn’t as keen as you’d expect on empires

· Our “revenge of the landlords” theory of the Long Depression that identifies the economic incentives behind the land grab and New Imperialism

· How you can – from the results of the episode – see who would be the major players in WW1

· The devious (though potentially legitimate) pretences that some Powers used to legally capture African lands and colonise them

We reckon we’ve got a pretty interesting and unusual take on the period so get your safari kit on and your headphones plugged in.

Note: this is only part 1 of the Congress of Berlin (Africa) series – so subscribe to our email list footnotesofhistory.com to know exactly when the next episode will be out!