European Colonialism in Southern Africa
Imperialism is defined as "the process by which one state, with superior military strength and more advanced technology, imposes its control over the land, resources, and population of a less developed region" (Mason, 2011) Colonialism is a specific form of imperialism, which is defined as "the erection by a state of an apparatus of administrative control over peoples who are defined as distinct" (Colonialism and Imperialism, 2008). Basically, this means that once a country has gained control over a region, it sets up a government with rules and regulations that help establish more control over the region and its people. Other than the slave trade invading the coastal regions, Africa had been relatively free of European expansion until the mid-1880s. Within 15 years of European powers deciding to claim parts of Africa as their own, the entire continent other than Liberia and Ethiopia had been claimed in what is known as the Scramble for Africa (Mason, 2011).
Prior to the Scramble
Before the European powers set out to claim Africa as their own, they knew very little about the continent as a whole. Prior to what is known as the Scramble for Africa, Europe had only explored the coastal areas as a part of the slave trade. Their contact with Africans had been limited to capturing and transporting them to the Americas. Europeans referred to Africa as the "Dark Continent," a name which represented the fact that many maps had a blank interior; however, this was related to Europe's lack of exploration in the area, not to the actual structure of the area. There were actually about 700 self-governing societies in Africa before the Europeans invaded, which had successful social and political systems. Europeans felt that it was their duty to modernize Africa which meant organizing new societies and setting up governments within them; however, Africa was already very self-sufficient. Africans would have been better off if they had been left alone in the first place (Mason, 2011).
The Scramble for Africa
Reasons Behind Colonialism in Africa
There were a multitude of reasons for European colonialism in Africa, and many of them were based on expanding the economy after the progress made during the Industrial Revolution. While the Industrial Revolution led to an increase in production in Europe, it also caused an increase in demand. European governments needed to find new sources of raw materials in order to make their products, new markets to buy their products, and cheap sources of labor. They thought they had found all of this in Africa. They were partially correct on this. They were successful in finding great supplies of raw materials and found cheap labor; however, this labor came from exploiting African workers. They came in and took African resources, expecting them to then act as a market for their products, but due to the low wages and unfair treatment, this did not happen (Colonialism and Imperialism, 2008; Mason, 2011). Another reason for colonizing Africa was that Europeans felt a need to modernize Africa. This was based on the idea of social Darwinism, which led to a lot of condescending behavior towards Africans. Social Darwinism is the concept of applying Charles Darwin's ideas about evolution, which only applied to biological evolution of plants and animals, to the construct of society. To learn more about Darwin's work on evolution, read his book, The Origin of Species. Proponents of social Darwinism argued that only the fittest, such as the educated elite, had the right to survive. In applying this idea to Africa, Europeans thought that because of their technological advancements, they were better than Africa, and therefore must bring Africa into the modern era in order for them to survive. Also an effect of social Darwinism, many European missionaries also felt that it was their duty to bring Christianity into Africa. As Africans had not been introduced to Christianity, they were viewed as heathens with lost souls. As Christians, Europeans felt it was up to them to save the Africans' souls by introducing them to Christ (Mason, 2011). |
The steam locomotive was one of the major inventions of the Industrial Revolution implemented in Africa
by Unknown, used under Public Domain David Livingstone, a missionary from Scotland, preaches to Africans near the Zambezi River
by National Portrait Gallery, used under Public Domain |
The Berlin Conference of 1884-1885
After King Leopold II of Belgium claimed the Congo of his own, Otto von Bismarck, chancellor of Germany, organized the Berlin conference in order to establish rules and regulations on how the imperial powers would lay claim over an area. The purpose of the conference was to prevent the outbreak of a war in the case that multiple nations wanted to claim the same area in Africa. (Mason, 2011). Southern Africa was largely dominated by the British. The British South Africa Company was founded by Cecil Rhodes in October 1889 in order to further British rule in Africa. There were many goals, including encouraging immigration and colonization while promoting trade and commerce and to make deals with tribal chiefs that gave the British all mineral rights and ensured the protection and rights of the chiefs. They were also interested in extending a railway from South Africa to the Zambezi River (Zimbabwe, 2015). To learn more about the British South Africa Company, click here. |
South Africa
The Boer War
What is now South Africa was the most sought after area during the Scramble due to the presence of diamonds and gold. South Africa had already been settled by the Dutch in the 17th century. The Dutch descendants became known as the Boers. During the Scramble, it was Britain that eventually ended up laying claim over South Africa. As the British explored and claimed the land further, the Boers were forced northward. This eventually led to the Boer War, in which Britain used around 4,000 troops in order to defeat the Boers. At this point, the area became known as the Union of South Africa on May 31, 1910 as an act of the British Parliament (Mason, 2011). Learn more about the Boers and their disagreements with the British by clicking here. Apartheid There was a period of reconstruction from 1902-1910, which led to a constitution that ensured that the white settler minorities would have total rule over the black majority. This led to the period known as apartheid, which was a time of segregation and severe racism against blacks living in South Africa. There were laws implemented making this completely legal. This was supposedly meant to bring peace to South Africa. Learn more about the formation, development, laws, opposition, and eventual end of apartheid here. During the time, blacks and any other non-whites suffered greatly. They could not work, and many starved. Eventually, a group known as the African National Congress Youth League was founded, which was a very important group in the battle against apartheid. The president of the African National Congress was Albert Luthuli. There were also three younger leaders that become very important in the fight for equality: Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, and Nelson Mandela. In 1952, they formed a defiance campaign with the help of the South African Indian Congress. This eventually led to the adoption of the Freedom Charter, which you can read here. The white government still fought against this. The 1973 worker strikes by the black trade unions marked the start of a new period of resistance. There were also many organized strikes by students. At this time the United Nations General Assembly denounced apartheid. South Africa was the only area left in Africa that was still entirely dominate by whites. This led to a global push for the denunciation of South Africa. Outside powers were pressured to declare sanctions against South Africa, including President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. After a period of many battles for equality, strikes, demonstrations, transition of leaders, and imprisonment, Nelson Mandela became president of the African National Congress in 1991. He worked with F.W. de Klerk, the white president of South Africa at the time, to negotiate a peaceful solution that would allow blacks a right to take part in the government. They came to an agreement in 1993 and were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for it. An interim constitution was agreed on by political leaders, which was to take effect after the first election to allow voting privileges for all. This election occurred in April 1994, in which the African National Congress won nearly two-thirds of the votes. On May 10, 1994, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the first president of the Republic of South Africa. The effects of apartheid are still evident today, as seen in this article. |
A 1957 documentary about Apartheid in South Africa. used under CC BY
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Madagascar
France already had a presence in what is now Madagascar when the Scramble began. At the time, Madagascar was not unified, with many different peoples living on the island. According to the rules established during the Berlin Conference, Madagascar was recognized as a French colony in 1890; however, Rainilaiarivony, head of the army in the Majunga area, did not agree with allowing the French to takeover. In 1895, France sent in troops to Majunga to exile the prime minister. The queen signed a treaty that made Madagascar an official French protectorate and was allowed to maintain her title but only served as a figure without any power. The French extended their rule inland and took over more and more areas on the island. On August 6, 1896, the French parliament voted to send General Joseph-Simon Gallieni to annex the island of Madagascar. Gallieni exiled the queen and began a conquest to subjugate the different independent peoples and the island was unified in 1905. While local leaders were allowed, French administrators replaced the government and implemented the teaching of French in schools and customs duties that favored French products (Madagascar, 2015). To learn more about the history of Madagascar, click here.
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French General Joseph Gallieni
by George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress), used under Public Domain |
Mozambique
Before the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th century, the people of Mozambique had already developed complex, functional communities based on agriculture, cattle raising, mining, crafts, and trade. The social unit was the household, each of which was led by
the elder male and also contained his wives, their unmarried children, and
adult sons and their families. Their society had typical gender roles, with the
women raising the children, collecting food from the crops, and preparing the
food; the men were responsible for keeping the cattle, hunting, tool-making,
and a range of crafts.
The Portuguese arrived on the Island of Mozambique early in the 16th century and quickly gained control of the area, as well as Sofala, a port city. They expanded their rule to the interior and set up trading posts. There was a power struggle between Portugal and the Arabs for control of the coastal trade, but in the 19th century, European powers became the most involved, especially Britain and France. This changed again by the 1880s, at which time Portugal had gained control of trade and the economy; however, this was only in a small area. In 1897, the Portuguese and African armies took control of southern Mozambique from the Gaza leadership. At the time of the Scramble, labor was needed at the sugar plantations, South African ports, and diamond and gold mines. Portugal and Germany had made an agreement on Portuguese control of northern Mozambique; however, there was a disagreement with the British over the western and southern borders. As Britain's military was far superior, they got to define these borders (Mozambique, 2015). The Portuguese regime known as the New State was established in 1926. The purpose was to ensure that all capital investment and revenue went to the Portuguese above any other group. Portugal exploited Africans during this period and directed Portuguese settlers to jobs and opportunities that the Africans were not allowed. In the late 1950s, this caused enough discontent that African leadership emerged to let the colonial powers know they were not happy with their rule. These groups developed outside Mozambique, because the colonial rulers dealt with any dissent with imprisonment, deportation, and execution. The Mozambique Liberation Front was established in 1962 in what is now Tanzania. Eduardo Mondlane became their president, but Samora Machel became their leader after Mondlane was killed in 1969. After a staged Portuguese coup in 1974, many Portuguese settlers left the Mozambique, which led to Mozambique becoming an independent state on June 25, 1975 with Machel as its president (Mozambique, 2015). |
CFM Railway station in Maputo, Mozambique, an example of Portuguese colonial architecture
by Maurits Vermeulen, used under CC BY-SA |
The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
Zambia, Zimbabwe, and MalawiDuring the colonial period, the countries now known as Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, were a part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland which was created by the British in 1953. Formerly Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland, now known as Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, respectively, the area was colonized by the British South Africa Company (Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, 2015). The Zambezi River divided the two Rhodesian countries. Initially, the British divided the area north of the Zambezi River into two parts: North-Eastern Rhodesia and North-Western Rhodesia. The areas were unified in 1911 and became known as Northern Rhodesia. The British wanted Northern Rhodesia in order to provide labor for the gold and coal mines discovered in Southern Rhodesia (Zambia, 2015). Malawi was initially known as the Nyasaland Districts protectorate, formed by the British in 1891. In 1893, it became the British Central Africa Protectorate. In 1907, the colony became known as Nyasaland. While the British imperialists built infrastructure and introduced the cultivation of cash crops prior to the unification with Northern and Southern Rhodesia, they were only interested in helping the European settlers and did little to help the Africans that had already been living there (Malawi, 2015).
There was so little support for blacks that they frequently showed their opposition of the Federation and their predominantly pro-white policies. In Nyasaland, many nationalist movements grew out of this opposition. In 1959, these movements caused enough of a disturbance that a state of emergency was declared, which led to the British realization that they would have to transfer their power to the blacks, as they were in an overwhelming majority. The Federation was dismantled in 1963, and Malawi became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations on July 6, 1964. After some dispute between ministers, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, leader of the nationalist movement that led to the disintegration of the Federation, was elected president on July 6, 1966 when Malawi officially became a republic (Malawi, 2015). Northern Rhodesia was plentiful in copper resources, but as the BSAC owned the mineral rights, they were able to maintain most of the profits while exploiting workers by paying them extremely low wages. This led to many strikes at the mines. In 1965, the copper industry experienced a major drop-off, which led to even greater unemployment among Africans. In 1958, the United National Independence Party (UNIP) was formed by a group of radicals led by Kenneth Kaunda that wanted Zambia to become an independent African state. On October 24, 1964 the independent Republic of Zambia was formed after the Federation dissolved and UNIP was in a great majority with the support of just under one-third of white voters. The country joined the Commonwealth of Nations and Kaunda was chosen to serve as executive president. The country regained mineral rights from the BSAC, allowing less leakage of profits from the copper industry. The copper industry boomed again with the help of the Vietnam War, causing Zambia to become the third largest copper producer in the world (Zambia, 2015). In the last years of the Federation, Africans in Southern Rhodesia became more discontent and politically conscious. They continuously pushed for independence. Joshua Nkomo led many groups that opposed the Federation but were quickly banned by a government consisting mainly of whites. Nkomo formed the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), which was also banned. Soon after, Robert Mugabe left ZAPU to join the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), which caused tension between two African ethnic groups, with the minority Ndebele following Nkomo and the Shona majority following Mugabe. With the dissolution of the Federation in 1963, Southern Rhodesia again became a British colony. The Rhodesian Front (RF), a conservative group that came into power after the dissolution of the Federation, wanted "Rhodesian independence under guaranteed minority rule" (Zimbabwe, 2015). Ian Smith became prime minister. After his government had made several failed attempts at persuading the British to grant Southern Rhodesia independence, the Unilateral Declaration of Independence was declared on November 11, 1965. In response, Britain attempted to destroy the Rhodesian economy. A constitution was approved by the predominantly white Parliament in November of 1970, and Rhodesia officially became a republic on March 2, 1971; however tensions with British remained prevalent. In 1978, an agreement was made with black leaders to elect "a transitional government that would provide for both enfranchisement of blacks and protection of white political and economic interests" (Zimbabwe, 2015). In April 1979, the name Zimbabwe was chosen by the government. Zimbabwe received international recognition as an independent nation on April 18, 1980, at which time Mugabe became the first official prime minister. Fighting between Mugabe’s and Nkomo’s supporters continued both on and off the battlefield until an agreement between the two was reached in December 1987. At this time, Mugabe became the executive president of Zimbabwe. He still holds the title today (Zimbabwe, 2015). To learn more about the history of Zimbabwe post-Federation, visit the history section of the country's Britannica page. To learn more about the formation and disintegration of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, check out this work by Carl G. Rosberg, Jr. |
African miners working in an underground copper mine in Northern Rhodesia
by D. Smith, used under Public Domain |
Botswana
Botswana is part of the Kalahari Desert area and was made up of Tswana states. From 1867 to 1869, Botswana had a gold rush in which there was a great influx of British miners and prospectors; however, in 1871 the gold rush was over and Southern Africa's first large industrial area was formed in Kimberley, just south of Botswana, due to the diamond mines. This led to many workers from Botswana migrating southward in order to find work. The Germans colonized southwest Africa during the Scramble and wanted to expand across the Kalahari, but the British wanted to keep passageways through Botswana open in order to expand into the area that became the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. This led to the British claiming a protectorate over the Tswana states and Kalahari in 1885, which made the area part of the Bechuanaland Protectorate, which was controlled by South Africa. At this time, there was still only British settlement in the border areas. In 1895, the BSAC made an attempt to expand interior. Three Tswana kings stopped this from happening, but they were forced to allow the BSAC to build a railway through the area to Rhodesia. From this point, Botswana acted as "a mere appendage of South Africa, for which it provided migrant labour and the rail transit route to Rhodesia" (Botswana, 2015). In the 1930s there were attempts by the British to reform the administration and introduce new industries through mining and agriculture development, but the Tswana chiefs strongly disputed this, which caused the area to be divided into eight self-sufficient "tribal" reserves and five white settler farm blocks. The rest of the territory was classified as crown lands (Botswana, 2015).
South Africa began losing its ability to control and support Bechuanaland in the late 1950s, which meant that the area needed to be made more politically and economically self-sufficient. This led to the formation of a legislative council in 1961. Seretse Khama led the Bechuanaland Democratic Party, later known as the Botswana Democratic Party, which was founded in 1962, and the Bechuanaland People's Party was founded in 1960. After the British began working towards political change in 1964, Bechuanaland was able to become a self-governing state in 1965 with Seretse Khama as its prime minister. The next year, Bechuanaland became the Republic of Botswana, and Seretse Khama became the first president. As an independent nation, Botswana was still financially dependent on Britain for five years. After diamonds were discovered at Orapa, economic development thrived (Botswana, 2015). |
The British Bechuanaland Protectorate
by The Scottish Geographical Magazine, used under Public Domain |
Namibia
The earliest people known to live in Namibia were the San, which were a nomadic group that survived by hunting and gathering. They had practically no military technology, so they were forced to the desert margins. Much of what is known of their history comes from rock paintings and engravings left in Twyfelfontein, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. The southern area of Namibia was first conquered by the Nama, a group with a larger, more organized clan system. There were also many other peoples settling in different areas of Namibia at the time. The first European contact came in the 1670s, but they played no real role until 1860. The different peoples had various conflicts. One of the main conflicts occurred in central Namibia between the Herero, who were migrating southward, and the Nama, who were heading northward. In 1870 a peace treaty was signed between the Herero and the Germans on the Herero border. After this time, it seemed almost absolute that the British would annex the area; however, they viewed the land as valueless and backed out. This allowed Germany to colonize the area, which led to many wars with the Namibian peoples. This eventually led to a genocide of the Herero people. As BBC News reports, the Germans only recently admitted to this and apologized for it (Namibia, 2015).
During World War I, South African troops invaded and captured the area; however, nearly everything except the diamond mines was retaken by the Germans. There was much resistance by black Africans living in Namibia, which led to a class C mandate being awarded by the League of Nations to the British crown, which allowed South African authorities to settle further into Namibia, exploit black Africans, and take away nearly all of their rights. This officially made Namibia part of South West Africa (Namibia, 2015). Learn more about the League of Nations mandate system here. In 1947, Namibians began petitioning the United Nations to free them from British South African rule. This led to a United Nations assumption of sovereignty and push for Namibian liberation, but the white South Africans still claimed Namibia as theirs. There was much resistance to colonial rule, but from 1958-60, blacks began focusing more on liberation. Because their petitions had been ineffective, parties began forming to strike against the South Africans with the help of the United Nations. A 1971-72 strike led to a major change in nationalism with more nationwide participation in the fight for liberation. In 1988, South Africa invaded Angola and faced major losses after a terrible defeat. This caused a major turning point for Namibia, as the Union of South Africa was forced to withdraw from Angola completely. This led to a negotiation with the United Nations that called for "a UN-supervised transition to elections, a new constitution, and independence for Namibia" (Namibia. 2015). |
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