Unit 21: Paper 3 (HL) — History of Africa & the Middle East
Topic 21.8: European imperialism and the partition of Africa (1850–1900) Questions
Practice 20 exam-style questions for IB History Topic 21.8. Review the question stems below, then unlock the full Question Bank to access markschemes, model answers, and AI grading.
1Choose1 mark
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Which combination of factors gave European powers a decisive military advantage in Africa by the 1880s?
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Which of the following best describes the main economic driver of European interest in Africa after 1873?
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Unlock Question3Examine15 marks
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Examine the economic causes of the European partition of Africa between 1870 and 1900.
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Discuss the role played by traders, missionaries and explorers in preparing the way for the European partition of Africa.
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Examine the internal weaknesses that made it difficult for African states to resist European colonization in the late nineteenth century.
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Compare and contrast the reasons for British expansion in Egypt and in South Africa in the late nineteenth century.
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Analyse the role of chartered companies, such as the Royal Niger Company, in the process of European partition in Africa.
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Evaluate the importance of strategic factors in causing the European partition of Africa.
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Unlock Question9To what extent15 marks
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To what extent was the decline of the Ottoman Empire responsible for opening North Africa to European control?
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Discuss the reasons why Germany, under Bismarck, suddenly annexed African territories in 1884.
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Compare and contrast European causes and African conditions in explaining the speed of the Scramble for Africa.
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Examine the reasons why the Berlin West Africa Conference excluded African rulers from its proceedings, and the consequences of this exclusion.
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Evaluate the extent to which Bismarck's colonial policy in 1884 was driven primarily by European diplomacy rather than by genuine interest in African empire.
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Discuss the reasons why some African rulers chose collaboration with European powers rather than armed resistance during the Scramble for Africa.
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Examine the reasons why African states were unable to prevent European conquest during the Scramble for Africa.
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Compare and contrast the methods used to establish European claims in the Congo basin with the methods used to establish German claims in East and West Africa.
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To what extent did the Berlin West Africa Conference (1884-85) accelerate the European partition of Africa?
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Evaluate the importance of King Leopold II's role in the partition of the Congo basin.
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Evaluate the claim that humanitarian motives were the main justification, rather than the main cause, of European partition in Africa.
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Analyse the impact of the principle of effective occupation, agreed at the Berlin West Africa Conference, on the pace of the Scramble for Africa.
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