Saturday, 1 June 2024

You can't understand African HIstory without the Berlin Conference

Let's dig in.

"The Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 set the rules for dividing Africa among European powers, with no African representation."

That's right. Europeans met and decided the rules for dividing up the continent of Africa for themselves. No matter what the indigenous people to the lands thought or wanted, these people believed they had the divine right to do as they pleased.

And get this, they act like these claims should still be honored today. Can you imagine?

But let's get to some details on what happened during this meeting regarding the continent of Africa.

The Berlin Conference, convened by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, was a turning point in African history. European powers, without consulting any African leaders, divided the continent into spheres of influence, claiming territories to avoid conflicts among themselves.

This conference formalized the Scramble for Africa, leading to arbitrary borders that ignored existing ethnic and cultural boundaries. The decisions made at this conference had profound and often devastating impacts on African nations, sowing seeds of conflict and division that are still evident today.

In fact, this is what has led to the boundaries we see today of the 54 African nations and the lack of control on the continent for Africans. #Africa 

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