Partition of Africa — European activity and New Imperialism
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Flip to reveal answersWhat does 'New Imperialism' refer to in the context of Africa?
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Question
What does 'New Imperialism' refer to in the context of Africa?
Answer
The rapid, formal seizure of African territory by European powers from the late 1870s to c.1900, moving beyond trade to direct political control.
Question
How did the decline of the Ottoman Empire contribute to European activity in Africa?
Answer
It weakened Ottoman control over North Africa, creating a power vacuum that European powers and indebted local rulers (like Egypt) stepped into.
Question
What was 'legitimate commerce'?
Answer
Trade in goods like palm oil, ivory, and rubber that replaced the slave trade after Britain abolished slavery (1833) and pushed other powers to follow.
Question
Name two technologies that made European conquest of inland Africa possible, and what each did.
Answer
Quinine prevented malaria deaths; the Maxim gun (1884) gave small forces overwhelming firepower against larger African armies.
Question
Why was the Suez Canal (opened 1869) strategically vital to Britain?
Answer
It cut the sea journey from Britain to India from about three months to three weeks, making Egypt's stability a core British interest.
Question
What triggered Britain's occupation of Egypt in 1882?
Answer
Urabi Pasha's nationalist revolt against foreign financial control threatened British debts and the Suez Canal, prompting invasion and occupation.
Question
What were the two mineral discoveries that raised South Africa's economic value?
Answer
Diamonds at Kimberley (1867) and gold on the Witwatersrand (1886).
Question
What rule did the Berlin Conference (1884-85) establish, and why did it matter?
Answer
It required 'effective occupation' — real control, not just a claim — for a territory to be recognised, turning the Scramble into an active race between powers.
Question
Compare the economic and strategic causes of the British occupation of Egypt.
Answer
Economic: unpaid debts owed to European banks. Strategic: protecting the Suez Canal, in which Britain held major shares from 1875. Both combined to trigger the 1882 invasion.
Question
What is the 'civilizing mission' and why is it a debated cause of imperialism?
Answer
The claim Europeans had a duty to bring religion and 'progress' to Africa. Historians debate whether this was a sincere belief or a propaganda justification for economic/strategic conquest.
Question
How did national rivalry between Britain, France, and Germany accelerate the Scramble?
Answer
Each colonial claim (e.g. France in Tunisia 1881, Britain in Egypt 1882) triggered fear of exclusion in rivals, causing rapid, sometimes low-value land grabs like Germany's 1884 claims.
Question
Who was Cecil Rhodes and what did he represent?
Answer
A British businessman/politician who used his diamond and gold fortune to fund a 'Cape to Cairo' vision of British expansion through Africa.
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Topic 10.5 hub
European imperialism and the partition of Africa (c.1840–1920)
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