Scramble for Africa

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The Scramble for Africa was the invasion, conquest, and colonisation of most of Africa by seven Western European powers, which were driven by the Second Industrial Revolution during the late 19th and early 20th centuries through the era of "New Imperialism". Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom were the contending powers. The 1884–1885 Berlin Conference regulated European colonisation and trade in Africa, and is seen as emblematic of the "scramble". In the last quarter of the 19th century, there were considerable political rivalries among the European empires, which provided the impetus for the colonisation. The later years of the 19th century saw a transition from "informal imperialism" – military influence and economic dominance – to direct rule. With the decline of the European colonial empires in the wake of the two world wars, most African colonies gained independence during the Cold War, and decided to keep their colonial borders in the Organisation...

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