Africa and the metropole
Africa had always been a land less explored and much talked about during the imperial age and the age of discovery that preceded it. The reason being the vicinity of the African continent to Europe and the number of times the peninsula is circum-navigated during explorations. It was only rumoured that past Egypt and the Sahara desert, great African kingdoms lay inland, rich and full of resources. In this essay, we will see how the allure of Africa has led to one final push in the colonial era, causing a scramble for territory and the exertion of inhumane will in the name of competition and even peace.
Africa as a continent had been mapped and explored in what is known as the Age of Discovery in the fifteenth century. It was towards the later part of the imperial age in which Africa was taken seriously as a colonial resource albeit the already established sea routes along the coastal line of the continent. This was because of the Arab influence on the eastern and northern parts of Africa which was hostile to the European powers. Arab trade with sub-Saharan Africa began from the early 7th century and led to gradual colonisation of some of the West African cities, but their numbers were small and the influence of colonialism was not yet felt. The European explorers who have colonized parts of Africa in the 17th and early 18th centuries have built forts and quarters in uninhabited islands and areas along the coastlines in order to serve as regions of influence over the inhabited lands. In fact, throughout the period of global colonization in the Americas, Asia and Australia, Africa was hitherto untouched and for the most part, unexplored. In some ways, it could be said that there was no relation at all between Africa and its metropole before its invasion and colonization began.
The Scramble for Africa. Towards the end of the 19th century, tensions were raising among the imperial powers of Europe after heady conquests for more than half a century in various parts of the world. The age of new imperialism has begun where formal colonization became the name of the game and all eyes of the imperial powers were set on Africa—the largest stretch of land known in the world, as yet unexplored and unconquered with an abundance of natural resources. The relationship between its future metropoles and Africa can be summed up as one of risk and adventure coupled with imperialistic ambitions. The tensions however have caused for the partition of the African continent with many of the imperial powers claiming large chunks of geographical areas to themselves including Britain, Portugal, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium and other emerging imperialist nations.
Mercantilism played little role in the colonization of Africa as did capitalism or the zest for capitalism. As Lenin would describe, Imperialism, at that time was the highest stage of capitalism. Colonial lobbies in Europe have succeeded in securing grants for colonizing Africa and at that time, the unexplored lands of the continent were appreciated for their wealth of natural resources.
Initial colonization of Africa happened bit by bit by way of explorations. Colonization as a concept in modern history came to existence by way of initiative shown by the explorers as and when they visited new portions of the world. Adventurous merchants also played a similar part in colonization, as a result of which, not more than ten percent of the African continent was colonized by the end of the 19th century. Portugal, UK and France held notable territories along the coast, but mainland Africa was still unconquered until the colonization scramble began at the onset of the 20th century.
As an open market, Africa offered countries like Britain, France and Germany, a trade surplus meaning a market is capable of buying more from the colonial powers than they sold overall. The fruits of colonization world over were being reaped and the surplus capital found greater benefits as investment in Africa, where there was less competition for the abundant raw materials available. All these factors made the continent irresistible for the metropole during the emerging capitalist period, dubbed as the New Imperialism period. The imperial powers have claimed portions of the continent for themselves with the British, Portugese and French assuming control over major regions while emerging imperial powers like Italy and Belgium also claiming smaller portions. There were inefficient measures to find order and meaning in this race by the European nations at this point, but in vain. The invasion of Africa had already begun ().
The French and Portuguese along with other imperial powers aimed for direct control over their colonies, also called as direct rule, which ran in a centralized way. Britain, on the other hand, similar to its colonization style in Asia, sought to appoint local rulers or leaders as administrators on behalf of the empire, thereby setting up an ‘indirect rule’. France, for example, instituted two large colonial federations in Africa in order to administer the French rule in Africa and every change or order to be passed in the colonies originated from the empire itself. Loyalty was taken to be a factor in appointing the administrators rather than any traditional semantics. The German centralised administration more or less resembled fortresses and military establishments in its colonies which drew resistance from the natives. Belgian colonial rule was much harsher than the above two in direct rule. The African natives were only allowed limited education so that they can study the bible or take orders effectively (Khapoya, 1998). The shortcomings of direct rule were that there was greater level of animosity building up in the subjects, as seen by the Germans through surprise uprisings all over East Africa.
The wealth of the natural resource in Africa was thoroughly exploited by all the colonial powers. Economics or rather return on investment was given much attention to and the colonies all over the continent saw such systems as enforced labour, land acquisitions, giving preference to cash crops while the need for food crops hadn’t yet been satisfied, opposing or even completely stopping the inter-African trading patterns in order to diminish the presence of a local economy, etc. The colonial powers have deliberately made sure that their African colonies remain non-industrialised so that the supply of raw materials to Europe shall remain unhindered. The colonial rule has given rise to many an uprising in the African communities including the Zulu rebellion, Boer war, just to name a few. As brazenly displayed by the Belgian colonialists, the colonies Africa wide never included the natives in any administrative positions. In fact, the imperialists saw the territories with large native populations as a military resource rather than cultural or trade opportunities. Natives served as clerks or in other lowly jobs and were used only to follow out government policy. Many cruelties were dealt to the natives in the name of colonization, one of the prime examples being the Congo Free State under the direct rule of the Belgian King Leopold II. The king’s pawns had unrestricted access to the country, to plunder its resources and exploit the natives. Between the years 1885 and 1908, almost a half of the native population of Congo Free State perished under the rule of King Leopold numbered in millions. Genocides of African populations first came into the picture thanks to colonization with tribes like Namaqua and Herero subject to ‘extermination’ by the then colonial power of Germany (Mason, 1947).
All in all, the colonization of Africa reaped disastrous results, the effects of which are felt even today. The race for territory, capital and resources with bourgeois mentalities have resulted in the death and exploitation of many of the natives. Even Britain, who advocated free trade, had made the most of the colonization of Egypt and South Africa and has displayed most hideous practices like Apartheid and capital gain in the process. It is no surprise that the collective colonial exploitation of a virgin resource like Africa has been a direct cause for World War I. What was supposed to be harmless explorations has turned into a practice of inhumane tribulations, one after the other, until the entire African race became the victim.
Reference List
Forbath, P. (1977). The River Congo: The Discovery, Exploration and Exploitation of the World's Most Dramatic Rivers. New York: Harper & Row. Print.
Khapoya, B. V. (1998). The African Experience. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Print.
Mason, D. S. (1947). A concise history of modern Europe: liberty, equality, solidarity (2nd ed.). Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. Print.
