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Causes which led to partition. state of western Europe at the time. Germany, strong and united as the result of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, was seeking new outlets for her energies —new markets for her growing industries, and with the markets, colonies. Yet the idea of colonial expansion was of slow growth in Germany, and when Prince Bismarck at length acted Africa was the only field left to exploit, South America being protected from interference by the known determination of the United States to enforce the Monroe Doctrine, while
Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain already held most of the other regions of the world where colonization was possible. For different reasons the war of 1870 was also the starting-point for France in the building up of a new colonial empire. In her endeavour to regain the position lost in that war France had to look beyond Europe. To the two causes mentioned must be added others. Great Britain and Portugal, when they found their interests threatened, bestirred themselves, while Italy also conceived it necessary to become an African power. Great Britain awoke to the need for action too late to secure predominance in all the regions where formerly hers was the only European influence. She had to contend not only with the economic forces which urged her rivals to action, but had also to combat the jealous opposition of almost every European nation to the further growth of British power. Italy alone acted throughout in cordial co-operation with Great Britain.
It was not, however, the action of any of the great powers of Europe which precipitated the struggle. This was brought about by the ambitious projects of Leopold II, king of the Belgians. The discoveries of
Livingstone, Stanley and others had aroused especial interest among two classes of men in western Europe, one the manufacturing and trading class, which saw in Central Africa possibilities of commercial development, the other the philanthropic and missionary class, which beheld in the newly discovered lands millions of savages to Christianize and civilize. The possibility of utilizing both these classes in the creation of a vast state, of which he should be the chief, formed itself in the mind of
Leopold II. even before Stanley had navigated the Congo. The king's action was immediate; it proved successful; but no sooner was the nature of his project understood in Europe than it provoked the rivalry of France and
Germany, and thus the international struggle was begun.

Conflicting ambitions of the European powers.
At this point it is expedient, in the light of subsequent events, to set forth the designs then entertained by the European powers that participated in the struggle for Africa. Portugal was striving to retain as large a share as possible of her shadowy empire, and particularly to establish her claims to the Zambezi region, so as to secure a belt of territory across
Africa from Mozambique to Angola. Great Britain, once aroused to the imminence of danger, put forth vigorous efforts in East Africa and on the
Niger, but her most ambitious dream was the establishment of an unbroken line of British possessions and spheres of influence from south to north of the continent, from Cape Colony to Egypt. Germany's ambition can be easily described. It was to secure as much as possible, so as to make up for lost opportunities. Italy coveted Tripoli, but that province could not be seized without risking war. For the rest Italy's territorial ambitions were confined to North-East Africa, where she hoped to acquire a dominating, influence over Abyssinia. French ambitions, apart from Madagascar, were confined to the northern and central portions of the continent. To extend her possessions on the Mediterranean littoral, and to connect them with her colonies in West Africa, the western Sudan, and on the Congo, by establishing her influence over the vast intermediate regions, was France's first ambition. But the defeat of the Italians in Abyssinia and the impending downfall of the khalifa's power in the valley of the upper Nile suggested a still more daring project to the French government—none other than the establishment of French influence over a broad belt of territory stretching across the continent from west to east, from Senegal on the
Atlantic coast to the Gulf of Aden. The fact that France possessed a small part of the Red Sea coast gave point to this design. But these conflicting ambitions could not all be realized and Germany succeeded in preventing
Great Britain obtaining a continuous band of British territory from south to north,while Great Britain, by excluding France from the upper Nile valley, dispelled the French dream of an empire from west to east. King
Leopold's ambitions have already been indicated. The part of the continent to which from the first he directed his energies was the equatorial region.
In September 1876 he took what may be described as the first definite step in the modern partition of the continent. He summoned to a conference at
Brussels representatives of Great Britain, Belgium, France, Germany,
Austria-Hungary, Italy and Russia, to deliberate on the best methods to be adopted for the exploration and civilization of Africa, and the opening up of the interior of the continent to commerce and industry. The conference was entirely unofficial. The delegates who attended neither represented nor pledged their respective governments. Their deliberations lasted three days and resulted in the foundation of ``The International African
Association,'' with its headquarters at Brussels. It was further resolved to establish national committees in the various countries represented, which should collect funds and appoint delegates to the International
Association. The central idea appears to have been to put the exploration and development of Africa upon an international footing. But it quickly became apparent that this was an unattainable ideal. The national committees were soon working independently of the International
Association, and the Association itself passed through a succession of stages until it became purely Belgian in character, and at last developed into the Congo Free State, under the personal sovereignty of King Leopold.
At first the Association devoted itself to sending expeditions to the great central lakes from the east coast; but failure, more or less complete attended its efforts in this direction, and it was not until the return of
Stanley, in January 1878, from his great journey down the Congo, that its ruling spirit, King Leopold, definitely turned his thoughts towards the
Congo. In June of that year, Stanley visited the king at Brussels, and in the following November a private conference was held, and a committee was appointed for the investigation of the upper Congo.
Stanley's remarkable discovery had stirred ambition in other capitals than Brussels. France had always taken a keen interest

The struggle for the Congo. in West Africa, and in the years 1875 to 1878 Savorgnan de Brazza had carried out a successful exploration of the Ogowe river to the south of the
Gabun. De Brazza determined that the Ogowe did not offer that great waterway into the interior of which he was in search, and he returned to
Europe without having heard of the discoveries of Stanley farther south.
Naturally, however, Stanley's discoveries were keenly followed in France.
In Portugal, too, the discovery of the Congo, with its magnificent unbroken waterway of more than a thousand miles into the heart of the continent served to revive the languid energies of the Portuguese, who promptly began to furbish up claims whose age was in inverse ratio to their validity.
Claims, annexations and occupations were in the air, and when in January
1879 Stanley left Europe as the accredited agent of King Leopold and the
Congo committee, the strictest secrecy was observed as to his real aims and intentions. The expedition was, it was alleged, proceeding up the Congo to assist the Belgian expedition which had entered from the east coast, and
Stanley himself went first to Zanzibar. But in August 1879 Stanley found himself again at Banana Point, at the mouth of the Congo, with, as he himself has written, ``the novel mission of sowing along its banks civilized settlements to peacefully conquer and subdue it, to remould it in harmony with modern ideas into national states, within whose limits the
European merchant shall go hand in hand with the dark African trader, and justice and law and order shall prevail, and murder and lawlessness and the cruel barter of slaves shall be overcome.'' The irony of human aspirations was never perhaps more plainly demonstrated than in the contrast between the ideal thus set before themselves by those who employed Stanley, and the actual results of their intervention in Africa. Stanley founded his first station at Vivi, between the mouth of the Congo and the rapids that obstruct its course where it breaks over the western edge of the central continental plateau. Above the rapids he established a station on Stanley
Pool and named it Leopoldville, founding other stations on the main stream in the direction of the falls that bear his name.
Meanwhile de Brazza was far from idle. He had returned to Africa at the beginning of 1880, and while the agents of King Leopold were making treaties and founding stations along the southern bank of the river, de
Brazza and other French agents were equally busy on the northern bank. De
Brazza was sent out to Africa by the French committee of the International
African Association, which provided him with the funds for the expedition.
His avowed object was to explore the region between the Gabun and Lake
Chad. But his real object was to anticipate Stanley on the Congo. The international character of the association founded by King Leopold was never more than a polite fiction, and the rivalry between the French and the Belgians on the Congo was soon open, if not avowed. In October 1880 de
Brazza made a solemn treaty with a chief on the north bank of the Congo, who claimed that his authority extended over a large area, including territory on the southern bank of the river. As soon as this chief had accepted French protection, de Brazza crossed over to the south of the river, and founded a station close to the present site of Leopoldville. The discovery by Stanley of the French station annoyed King Leopold's agent, and he promptly challenged the rights of the chief who purported to have placed the country under French protection, and himself founded a Belgian station close to the site selected by de Brazza. In the result, the French station was withdrawn to the northern side of Stanley Pool, where it is now known as Brazzaville.
The activity of French and Belgian agents on the Congo had not passed unnoticed in Lisbon, and the Portuguese government saw that no time was to be lost if the claims it had never ceased to put forward on the west coast were not to go by default. At varying periods during the 19th century
Portugal had put forward claims to the whole of the West African coast, between 5 deg. 12' and 8 deg. south. North of the Congo mouth she claimed the territories of Kabinda and Molemba, alleging that they had been in her possession since 1484. Great Britain had never, however, admitted this claim, and south of the Congo had declined to recognize Portuguese possessions as extending north of Ambriz. In 1856 orders were given to
British cruisers to prevent by force any attempt to extend Portuguese dominion north of that place. But the Portuguese had been persistent in urging their claims, and in 1882 negotiations were again opened with the
British government for recognition of Portuguese rights over both banks of the Congo on the coast, and for some distance inland. Into the details of the negotiations, which were conducted for Great Britain by the 2nd Earl
Granville, who was then secretary for foreign affairs, it is unnecessary to enter; they resulted in the signing on the 26th of February 1884 of a treaty, by which Great Britain recognized the sovereignty of the king of
Portugal ``over that part of the west coast of Africa, situated between 8 deg. and 5 deg. 12' south latitude,'' and inland as far as Noki, on the south bank of the Congo, below Vivi. The navigation of the Congo was to be controlled by an Anglo-Portuguese commission. The publication of this treaty evoked immediate protests, not only on the continent but in Great
Britain. In face of the disapproval aroused by the treaty, Lord Granville found himself unable to ratify it. The protests had not been confined to
France and the king of the Belgians. Germany had not yet acquired formal footing in Africa, but she was crouching for the spring prior to taking her part in the scramble, and Prince Bismarck had expressed, in vigorous language, the objections entertained by Germany to the Anglo-Portuguese treaty.
For some time before 1884 there had been growing up a general conviction that it would be desirable for the powers who were interesting themselves in Africa to come to some agreement as to ``the rules of the game,'' and to define their respective interests so far as that was practicable. Lord
Granville's ill-fated treaty brought this sentiment to a head, and it was agreed to hold an international conference on African affairs. But before discussing the Berlin conference of 1884-1885, it will be well to see what was the position, on the eve of the conference, in other parts of the
African continent. In the southern section of Africa, south of the Zambezi, important events had been happening. In 1876 Great Britain had concluded an agreement

British influence consolidated in South Africa. with the Orange Free State for an adjustment of frontiers, the result of which was to leave the Kimberley diamond fields in British territory, in exchange for a payment of L. 90,000 to the Orange Free State. On the 12th of April 1877 Sir Theophilus Shepstone had issued a proclamation declaring the Transvaal— the South African Republic, as it was officially designated—to be British territory (see TRANSVAAL.) In December 1880 war broke out and lasted until March 1881, when a treaty of peace was signed.
This treaty of peace was followed by a convention, signed in August of the same year, under which complete self-government was guaranteed to the inhabitants of the Transvaal, subject to the suzerainty of Great Britain, upon certain terms and conditions and subject to certain reservations and limitations. No sooner was the convention signed than it became the object of the Boers to obtain a modification of the conditions and limitations imposed, and in February 1884 a fresh convention was signed, amending the convention of 1881. Article IV. of the new convention provided that ``The
South African Republic will conclude no treaty or engagement with any state or nation other than the Orange Free State, nor with any native tribe to the eastward or westward of the Republic, until the same has been approved by Her Majesty the Queen.'' The precise effect of the two conventions has been the occasion for interminable discussions, but as the subject is now one of merely academic interest, it is sufficient to say that when the
Berlin conference held its first meeting in 1884 the Transvaal was practically independent, so far as its internal administration was concerned, while its foreign relations were subject to the control just quoted.
But although the Transvaal had thus, between the years 1875 and 1884, become and ceased to be British territory, British influence in other parts of Africa south of the Zambezi had been steadily extended. To the west of the Orange Free State, Griqualand West was annexed to the Cape in 1880, while to the east the territories beyond the Kei river were included in
Cape Colony between 1877 and 1884, so that in the latter year, with the exception of Pondoland, the whole of South-East Africa was in one form or another under British control. North of Natal, Zululand was not actually annexed until 1887, although since 1879, when the military power of the
Zulus was broken up, British influence had been admittedly supreme. In
December 1884 St Lucia Bay—upon which Germany was casting covetous eyes—had been taken possession of in virtue of its cession to Great Britain by the
Zulu king in 1843, and three years later an agreement of non-cession to foreign powers made by Great Britain with the regent and paramount chief of
Tongaland completed the chain of British possessions on the coast of South
Africa, from the mouth of the Orange river on the west to Kosi Bay and the
Portuguese frontier on the east. In the interior of South Africa the year
1884 witnessed the beginning of that final stage of the British advance towards the north which was to extend British influence from the Cape to the southern shores of Lake Tanganyika. The activity of the Germans on the west, and of the Boer republic on the east, had brought home to both the imperial and colonial authorities the impossibility of relying on vague traditional claims. In May 1884 treaties were made with native chiefs by which the whole of the country north of Cape Colony, west of the Transvaal, south of 22 deg. S. and east of 20 deg. E., was placed under British protection, though a protectorate was not formally declared until the following January.
Meanwhile some very interesting events had been taking place or: the west coast, north of the Orange river and south of the Portuguese province of
Mossamaede. It must be sufficient here to touch very briefly on the events that preceded the foundation of the colony of German South-West Africa. For many years before 1884 German missionaries had settled among the Damaras
(Herero) and Namaquas, often combining small trading operations with their missionary work. From time to time trouble arose between the missionaries and the native chiefs, and appeals

Germany enters the field. were made to the German government for protection. The German government in its turn begged the British government to say whether it assumed responsibility for the protection of Europeans in Damaraland and
Namaqualand. The position of the British government was intelligible, if not very intelligent. It did not desire to see any other European power in these countries, and it did not want to assume the responsibility and incur the expense of protecting the few Europeans settled there. Sir Bartle
Frere, when governor of the Cape (1877-1880), had foreseen that this attitude portended trouble, and had urged that the whole of the unoccupied coastline, up to the Portuguese frontier, should be declared under British protection. But he preached to deaf ears, and it was as something of a concession to him that in March 1878 the British flag was hoisted at
Walfish Bay, and a small part of the adjacent land declared to be British.
The fact appears to be that British statesmen failed to understand the change that had come over Germany. They believed that Prince Bismarck would never give his sanction to the creation of a colonial empire, and, to the
German inquiries as to what rights Great Britain claimed in Damaraland and
Namaqualand, procrastinating replies were sent. Meanwhile the various colonial societies established in Germany had effected a revolution in public opinion, and, more important still, they had convinced the great chancellor. Accordingly when, in November 1882, F. A. E. Luderitz, a Bremen merchant, informed the German government of his intention to establish a factory on the coast between the Orange river and the Little Fish river, and asked if he might rely on the protection of his government in case of need, he met with no discouragement from Prince Bismarck. In February 1883 the German ambassador in London informed Lord Granville of Luderitz's design, and asked ``whether Her Majesty's government exercise any authority in that locality.'' It was intimated that if Her Majesty's government did not, the German government would extend to Luderitz's factory ``the same measure of protection which they give to their subjects in remote parts of the world, but without having the least design to establish any footing in
South Africa.'' An inconclusive reply was sent, and on the 9th of April
Luderitz's agent landed at Angra Pequena, and after a short delay concluded a treaty with the local chief, by which some 215 square miles around Angra
Pequena were ceded to Luderitz. In England and at the Cape irritation at the news was mingled with incredulity, and it was fully anticipated that
Luderitz would be disavowed by his government. But for this belief it can scarcely be doubted that the rest of the unoccupied coast-line would have been promptly declared under British protection. Still Prince Bismarck was slow to act. In November the German ambassador again inquired if Great
Britain made any claim over this coast, and Lord Granville replied that Her
Majesty exercised sovereignty only over certain parts of the coast, as at
Walfish Bay, and suggested that arrangements might be made by which Germany might assist in the settlement of Angra Pequena. By this time Luderitz had extended his acquisitions southwards to the Orange river, which had been declared by the British government to be the northern frontier of Cape
Colony. Both at the Cape and in England it was now realized that Germany had broken away from her former purely continental policy, and, when too late, the Cape parliament showed great eagerness to acquire the territory which had lain so long at its very doors, to be had for the taking. It is not necessary to follow the course-of the subsequent negotiations. On the
15th of August 1884 an official note was addressed by the German consul at
Capetown to the high commissioner, intimating that the German emperor had by proclamation taken ``the territory belonging to Mr A. Luderitz on the west coast of Africa under the direct protection of His Majesty.'' This proclamation covered the coast-line from the north bank of the Orange river to 26 deg. S. latitude, and 20 geographical miles inland, including ``the islands belonging thereto by the law of nations.'' On the 8th of September
1884 the German government intimated to Her Majesty's government ``that the west coast of Africa from 26 deg. S. latitude to Cape Frio, excepting
Walfish Bay, had been placed under the protection of the German emperor.''
Thus, before the end of the year 1884, the foundations of Germany's colonial empire had been laid in South-West Africa.
In April of that year Prince Bismarck intimated to the British government, through the German charge d'affaires in London,

Nachtigal's mission to West Africa. that ``the imperial consul-general, Dr Nachtigal, has been commissioned by my government to visit the west coast of Africa in the course of the next few months, in order to complete the information now in the possession of the Foreign Office at Berlin, on the state of German commerce on that coast. With this object Dr Nachtigal will shortly embark at Lisbon, on board the gunboat `Mowe.' He will put himself into communication with the authorities in the British possessions on the said coast, and is authorized to conduct, on behalf of the imperial government, negotiations connected with certain questions. I venture,'' the official communication proceeds,
``in accordance with my instructions, to beg your excellency to be so good as to cause the authorities in the British possessions in West Africa to be furnished with suitable recommendations.'' Although at the date of this communication it must have been apparent, from what was happening in South
Africa, that Germany was prepared to enter on a policy of colonial expansion, and although the wording of the letter was studiously vague, it does not seem to have occurred to the British government that the real object of Gustav Nachtigal's journey was to make other annexations on the west coast. Yet such was indeed his mission. German traders and missionaries had been particularly active of late years on the coast of the
Gulf of Guinea. German factories were dotted all along the coast in districts under British protection, under French protection and under the definite protection of no European power at all. It was to these latter places that Nachtigal turned his attention. The net result of his operations was that on the 5th of July 1884 a treaty was signed with the king of Togo, placing his country under German protection, and that just one week later a German protectorate was proclaimed over the Cameroon district. Before either of these events had occurred Great Britain had become alive to the fact that she could no longer dally with the subject, if she desired to consolidate her possessions in West Africa. The British government had again and again refused to accord native chiefs the protection they demanded. The Cameroon chiefs had several times asked for
British protection, and always in vain. But at last it became apparent, even to the official mind, that rapid changes were being effected in
Africa, and on the 16th of May Edward Hyde Hewett, British consul, received instructions to return to the west coast and to make arrangements for extending British protection over certain regions. He arrived too late to save either Togoland or Cameroon, in the latter case arriving five days after King Bell and the other chiefs on the river had signed treaties with
Nachtigal. But the British consul was in time to secure the delta of the river Niger and the Oil Rivers District, extending from Rio del Rey to the
Lagos frontier, where for a long period British traders had held almost a monopoly of the trade.
Meanwhile France, too, had been busy treaty-making. While the British government still remained under the spell of the

French and British rivalry in West Africa. fatal resolution of 1865, the French government was strenuously endeavouring to extend France's influence in West Africa, in the countries lying behind the coastline. During the year 1884 no fewer than forty-two treaties were concluded with native chiefs, an even larger number having been concluded in the previous twelve months. In this fashion France was pushing on towards Timbuktu, in steady pursuance of the policy which resulted in surrounding all the old British possessions in West Africa with a continuous band of French territory. There was, however, one region on the west coast where, notwithstanding the lethargy of the British government, British interests were being vigorously pushed, protected and consolidated. This was on the lower Niger, and the leading spirit in the enterprise was Mr Goldie Taubman (afterwards Sir George Taubman Goldie). In
1877 Sir George Goldie visited the Niger and conceived the idea of establishing a settled government in that region. Through his efforts the various trading firms on the lower Niger formed themselves in 1879 into the
``United African Company,'' and the foundations were laid of something like settled administration. An application was made to the British government for a charter in 1881, and the capital of the company increased to a million sterling. Henceforth the company was known as the ``National
African Company,'' and it was acknowledged that its object was not only to develop the trade of the lower Niger, but to extend its operations to the middle reaches of the river, and to open up direct relations with the great
Fula empire of Sokoto and the smaller states associated with Sokoto under a somewhat loosely defined suzerainty. The great development of trade which followed the combination of British interests carried out under Goldie's skilful guidance did not pass unnoticed in France, and, encouraged by
Gambetta, French traders made a bold bid for a position on the river. Two
French companies, with ample capital, were formed, and various stations were established on the lower Niger. Goldie realized at once the seriousness of the situation, and lost no time in declaring commercial war on the newcomers. His bold tactics were entirely successful, and a few days before the meeting of the Berlin conference he had the satisfaction of announcing that he had bought out the whole of the French interests on the river, and that Great Britain alone possessed any interests on the lower
Niger.
To complete the survey of the political situation in Africa at the time the plenipotentiaries met at Berlin, it is necessary to

The position in Tunisia and Egypt. refer briefly to the course of events in North and East Africa since 1875.
In 1881 a French army entered Tunisia, and compelled the bey to sign a treaty placing that country under French protection. The sultan of Turkey formally protested against this invasion of Ottoman rights, but the great powers took no action, and France was left in undisturbed possession of her newly acquired territory. In Egypt the extravagance of Ismail Pasha had led to the establishment in 1879, in the interests of European bondholders, of a Dual Control exercised by France and Great Britain. France had, however, in 1882 refused to take part in the suppression of a revolt under Arabi
Pasha, which England accomplished unaided. As a consequence the Dual
Control had been abolished in January 1883, since when Great Britain, with an army quartered in the country, had assumed a predominant position in
Egyptian affairs (see EGYPT.) In East Africa, north of the Portuguese possessions, where the sultan of Zanzibar was the most considerable native potentate, Germany was secretly preparing the foundations of her present colony of German East Africa. But no overt act had warned Europe of what was impending. The story of the foundation of German East Africa is one of the romances of the continent. Early in 1884 the Society for German
Colonization was founded, with the avowed object of furthering the newly awakened colonial aspirations of the German people.12 It was a society inspired and controlled by young men, and on the 4th of November 1884, eleven days before the conference assembled at Berlin, three young Germans arrived as deck passengers at Zanzibar. They were disguised as mechanics, but were in fact Dr Karl Peters, the president of the Colonization Society,
Joachim Count Pfeil, and Dr Juhlke, and their stock-in-trade consisted of a number of German flags and a supply of blank treaty forms. They proposed to land on the mainland opposite Zanzibar, and

The German flag raised in East Africa. to conclude treaties in the back country with native chiefs placing their territories under German protection. The enterprise was frowned upon by the
German government; but, encouraged by German residents at Zanzibar, the three young pioneers crossed to the mainland, and on the 19th of November, while the diplomatists assembled at Berlin were solemnly discussing the rules which were to govern the game of partition, the first ``treaty'' was signed at Mbuzini, and the German flag raised for the first time in East
Africa.
Italy had also obtained a footing on the African continent before the meeting of the Berlin conference. The Rubattino Steamship Company as far back as 1870 had bought the port of Assab as a coaling station, but it was not until 1882 that it was declared an Italian colony. This was followed by the conclusion of a treaty with the sultan of Assab, chief of the Danakil, signed on the 15th of March 1883, and subsequently approved by the king of
Shoa, whereby Italy obtained the cession of part of Ablis (Aussa) on the
Red Sea, Italy undertaking to protect with her fleet the Danakil littoral.
One other event must be recorded as happening before the meeting of the
Berlin conference. The king of the Belgians had

Recognition of the International Association. been driven to the conclusion that, if his African enterprise was to obtain any measure of permanent success, its international status must be recognized. To this end negotiations were opened with various governments.
The first government to ``recognize the flag of the International
Association of the Congo as the flag of a friendly government'' was that of the United States, its declaration to that effect bearing date the 22nd of
April 1884. There were, however, difficulties in the way of obtaining the recognition of the European powers, and in order to obtain that of France,
King Leopold, on the 23rd of April 1884, while labouring under the feelings of annoyance which had been aroused by the Anglo-Portuguese treaty concluded by Lord Granville in February, authorized Colonel Strauch, president of the International Association, to engage to give France ``the right of preference if, through unforeseen circumstances, the Association were compelled to sell its possessions.'' France's formal recognition of the Association as a government was, however, delayed by the discussion of boundary questions until the following February, and in the meantime
Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Holland and Spain had all recognized the Association; though Germany alone had done so—on the 8th of
November—before the assembling of the conference.
The conference assembled at Berlin on the 15th of November 1884, and after protracted deliberations the ``General Act of

The Berlin Conference of 1884-85.

the Berlin Conference'' was signed by the representatives of all the powers attending the conference, on the 26th of February 1885. The powers represented were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, the
United States, France, Great Britain, Italy, Holland, Portugal, Russia,
Sweden and Norway, and Turkey, to name them in the alphabetical order adopted in the preamble to the French text of the General Act.
Ratifications were deposited by all the signatory powers with the exception of the United States. It is unnecessary to examine in detail the results of the labours of the conference. The General Act dealt with six specific subjects: (1) freedom of trade in the basin of the Congo, (2) the slave trade, (3) neutrality of territories in the basin of the Congo, (4) navigation of the Congo, (5) navigation of the Niger, (6) rules for future occupation on the coasts of the African continent. It will be seen that the act dealt with other matters than the political partition of Africa; but, so far as they concern the present purpose, the results effected by the
Berlin Act may be summed up as follows. The signatory powers undertook that any fresh act of taking possession on any portion of the African coast must be notified by the power taking possession, or assuming a protectorate, to the other signatory powers. It was further provided that any such occupation to be valid must be effective. It is also noteworthy that the first reference in an international act to the obligations attaching to
``spheres of influence'' is contained in the Berlin Act.
It will be remembered that when the conference assembled, the
International Association of the Congo had only been

Constitution of the Congo State. recognized as a sovereign state by the United States and Germany. But King
Leopold and his agents had taken full advantage of the opportunity which the conference afforded, and before the General Act was signed the
Association had been recognized by all the signatory powers, with the not very important exception of Turkey, and the fact communicated to the conference by Colonel Strauch. It was not, however, until two months later, in April 1885, that King Leopold, with the sanction of the Belgian legislature, formally assumed the headship of the new state; and on the 1st of August in the same year His Majesty notified the powers that from that date the ``Independent State of the Congo'' declared that ``it shall be perpetually neutral'' in conformity with the provisions of the Berlin Act.
Thus was finally constituted the Congo Free State, under the sovereignty of
King Leopold, though the boundaries claimed for it at that time were considerably modified by subsequent agreements.
From 1885 the scramble among the powers went on with renewed vigour, and in the fifteen years that remained of the

The chief partition treaties. century the work of partition, so far as international agreements were concerned, was practically completed. To attempt to follow the process of acquisition year by year would involve a constant shifting of attention from one part of the continent to another, inasmuch as the scramble was proceeding simultaneously all over Africa. It will therefore be the most convenient plan to deal with the continent in sections. Before doing so, however, the international agreements which determined in the main the limits of the possessions of the various powers may be set forth. They are:— I. The agreement of the 1st of July 1890 between Great Britain and
Germany defining their spheres of influence in East, West and South-West
Africa. This agreement was the most comprehensive of all the ``deals'' in
African territory, and included in return for the recognition of a British protectorate over Zanzibar the cession of Heligoland to Germany.
II. The Anglo-French declaration of the 5th of August 1890, which recognized a French protectorate over Madagascar, French influence in the Sahara, and British influence between the Niger and Lake Chad.
III. The Anglo-Portuguese treaty of the 11th of June 1891, whereby the

Portuguese possessions on the west and east coasts were separated by a broad belt of British territory, extending north to Lake Tanganyika.
IV. The Franco-German convention of the 15th of March 1894, by which the

Central Sudan was left to France (this region by an Anglo-German agreement of the 15th of November 1893 having been recognized as in the

German sphere). By this convention France was able to effect a territorial )unction of her possessions in North and West Africa with those in the Congo region.
V. Protocols of the 24th of March and the 15th of April 1891, for the demarcation of the Anglo-Italian spheres in East Africa.
VI. The Anglo-French convention of the 14th of June 1898, for the delimitation of the possessions of the two countries west of Lake Chad, with the supplementary declaration of the 21st of March 1899 whereby

France recognized the upper Nile valley as in the British sphere of influence.
Coming now to a more detailed consideration of the operations of the powers, the growth of the Congo Free State, which

The growth of the Congo State. occupied, geographically, a central position, may serve as the starting- point for the story of the partition after the Berlin conference. In the notification to the powers of the 1st of August 1885, the boundaries of the
Free State were set out in considerable detail. The limits thus determined resulted partly from agreements made with France, Germany and Portugal, and partly from treaties with native chiefs. The state acquired the north bank of the Congo from its mouth to a point in the unnavigable reaches, and in the interior the major part of the Congo basin. In the north-east the northern limit was 4 deg. N. up to 30 deg. E., which formed the eastern boundary of, the state. The south-eastern frontier claimed by King Leopold extended to Lakes Tanganyika, Mweru and Bangweulu, but it was not until some years later that it was recognized and defined by the agreement of May
1894 with Great Britain. The international character of King Leopold's enterprise had not long been maintained, and his recognition as sovereign of the Free State confirmed the distinctive character which the Association had assumed, even before that event.
In April 1887 France was informed that the right of pre-emption accorded to her in 1884 had not been intended by King Leopold to prejudice Belgium's right to acquire the Congo State, and in reply the French minister at
Brussels took note of the explanation, ``in so far as this interpretation is not contrary to pre-existing international engagements.'' By his will, dated the 2nd of August 1889, King Leopold made Belgium formally heir to the sovereign rights of the Congo Free State. In 1895 an annexation bill was introduced into the Belgian parliament, but at that time Belgium had no desire to assume responsibility for the Congo State, and the bill was withdrawn. In 1901, by the terms of a loan granted in 1890, Belgium had again an opportunity of annexing the Congo State, but a bill in favour of annexation was opposed by the government and was withdrawn after King
Leopold had declared that the time was not ripe for the transfer.
Concessionaire companies and a Domaine de la Couronne had been created in the state, from which the sovereign derived considerable revenues—facts which helped to explain the altered attitude of Leopold II. The agitation in Great Britain and America against the Congo system of government, and the admissions of an official commission of inquiry concerning its maladministration, strengthened, however, the movement in favour of transfer. Nevertheless in June 1906 the king again declared himself opposed to immediate annexation. But under pressure of public opinion the Congo government concluded, 28th of November 1907, a new annexation treaty. As it stipulated for the continued existence of the crown domain the treaty provoked vehement opposition. Leopold II. was forced to yield, and an additional act was signed, 5th of March 1908, providing for the suppression of the domain in return for financial subsidies. The treaty, as amended, was approved by the Belgian parliament in the session of 1908. Thus the
Congo state, after an existence of 24 years as an independent power, became a Belgian colony. (See CONGO FREE STATE.)
The area of the Free State, vast as it was, did not suffice to satisfy the ambition of its sovereign. King Leopold maintained that the Free State enjoyed equally with any other state the right to extend its frontiers. His ambition involved the state in the struggle between Great Britain and
France for the upper Nile. To understand the situation it is necessary to remember the condition of the Egyptian Sudan at that time. The mahdi,
Mahommed Ahmed, had preached a holy war against the Egyptians, and, after the capture of Khartum and the death of General C. G. Gordon, the Sudan was abandoned to the dervishes. The Egyptian frontier was withdrawn to Wadi
Haifa, and the vast provinces of Kordofan, Darfur and the Bahr-el-Ghazal were given over to dervish tyranny and misrule. It was obvious that Egypt would sooner or later seek to recover her position in the Sudan, as the command of the upper Nile was recognized as essential to her continued prosperity. But the international position of the abandoned provinces was by no means clear. The British government, by the Anglo-German agreement of
July 1890, had secured the assent of Germany to the statement that the
British sphere of influence in East Africa was bounded on the west by the
Congo Free State and by ``the western watershed of the basin of the upper
Nile''; but this claim was not recognized either by France or by the Congo
Free State. From her base on the Congo, France was busily engaged pushing forward along the northern tributaries of the great river. On the 27th of
April 1887 an agreement was signed with the Congo Free State by which the right bank of the Ubangi river was secured to French influence, and the left bank to the Congo Free State. The desire of France to secure a footing in the upper Nile valley was partly due, as has been seen, to her anxiety to extend a French zone across Africa, but it was also and to a large

The contest for the upper Nile. extent attributable to the belief, widely entertained in France, that by establishing herself on the upper Nile France could regain the position in
Egyptian affairs which she had sacrificed in 1882. With these strong inducements France set steadily to work to consolidate her position on the tributary streams of the upper Congo basin, preparatory to crossing into the valley of the upper Nile. Meanwhile a similar advance was being made from the Congo Free State northwards and eastwards. King Leopold had two objects in view—-to obtain control of the rich province of the Bahr-el-
Ghazal and to secure an outlet on the Nile. Stations were established on the Welle river, and in February 1891 Captain van Kerckhoven left
Leopoldville for the upper Welle with the most powerful expedition which had, up to that time, been organized by the Free State. After some heavy fighting the expedition reached the Nile in September 1892, and opened up communications with the remains of the old Egyptian garrison at Wadelai.
Other expeditions under Belgian officers penetrated into the Bahr-el-
Ghazal, and it was apparent that King Leopold proposed to rely on effective occupation as an answer to any claims which might be advanced by either
Great Britain or France. The news of what was happening in this remote region Of Africa filtered through to Europe very slowly, but King Leopold was warned on several occasions that Great Britain would not recognize any claims by the Congo Free State on the Bahr-el-Ghazal. The difficulty was, however, that neither from Egypt, whence the road was barred by the khalifa
(the successor of the mahdi), nor from Uganda, which was far too remote from the coast to serve as the base of a large expedition, could a British force be despatched to take effective occupation of the upper Nile valley.
There was, therefore, danger lest the French should succeed in establishing themselves on the upper Nile before the preparations which were being made in Egypt for ``smashing'' the khalifa were completed.
In these circumstances Lord Rosebery, who was then British foreign minister, began, and his successor, the 1st earl of

The Anglo-Congolese agreement of 1894.
Kimberley, completed, negotiations with King Leopold which resulted in the conclusion of the Anglo-Congolese agreement of 12th May 1894. By this agreement King Leopold recognized the British sphere of influence as laid down in the Anglo-German agreement of July 1890, and Great Britain granted a lease to King Leopold of certain territories in the western basin of the upper Nile, extending on the Nile from a point on Lake Albert to Fashoda, and westwards to the Congo-Nile watershed. The practical effect of this agreement was to give the Congo Free State a lease, during its sovereign's lifetime, of the old Bahr-el-Ghazal province, and to secure after His
Majesty's death as much of that territory as lay west of the 30th meridian, together with access to a port on Lake Albert, to his successor. At the same time the Congo Free State leased to Great Britain a strip of territory, 15 1/2 m. in breadth, between the north end of Lake Tanganyika and the south end of Lake Albert Edward. This agreement was hailed as a notable triumph for British diplomacy. But the triumph was short-lived. By the agreement of July 1890 with Germany, Great Britain had been reluctantly compelled to abandon her hopes of through communication between the British spheres in the northern and southern parts of the continent, and to Consent to the boundary of German East Africa marching with the eastern frontier of the Congo Free State. Germany frankly avowed that she did not wish to have a powerful neighbour interposed between herself and the Congo Free State.
It was obvious that the new agreement would effect precisely what Germany had declined to agree to in 1890. Accordingly Germany protested in such vigorous terms that, on the 22nd of June 1894, the offending article was withdrawn by an exchange of notes between Great Britain and the Congo Free
State. Opinion in France was equally excited by the new agreement. It was obvious that the lease to the Congo Free State was intended to exclude
France from the Nile by placing the Congo Free State as a barrier across her path. Pressure was brought to bear on King Leopold, from Paris, to renounce the rights acquired under the agreement, and on the 14th of August
1894 King Leopold signed an agreement with France by which, in exchange for
France's acknowledgment of the Mbomu river as his northern frontier, His
Majesty renounced all occupation and all exercise of political influence west of 30 deg. E., and north of a line drawn from that meridian to the
Nile along 5 deg. 30' N.
This left the way still open for France to the Nile, and in June 1896
Captain J. Marchand left France with secret instructions to lead an expedition into the Nile valley. On the 1st of March in the following year he left Brazzaville, and began a journey which all but plunged Great
Britain and France into war. The difficulties which Captain Marchand had to overcome were mainly those connected with transport. In October 1897 the expedition reached the banks of the Sue, the waters of which eventually flow into the Nile. Here a post was established and the ``Faidherbe,'' a steamer which had been carried across the Congo-Nile watershed in sections, was put together and launched. On the 1st of May 1898 Marchand started on the final stage of his journey, and reached Fashoda on the 10th of July, having established a chain of posts en route. At Fashoda the French flag was at once raised, and a ``treaty'' made with the local chief. Meanwhile other expeditions had been concentrating on

The French at Fashoda.
Fashoda—a mud-flat situated in a swamp, round which for many months raged the angry passions of two great peoples. French expeditions, with a certain amount of assistance from the emperor Menelek of Abyssinia, had been striving to reach the Nile from the east, so as to join hands with Marchand and complete the line of posts into the Abyssinian frontier. In this, however, they were unsuccessful. No better success attended the expedition under Colonel (afterwards Sir) Ronald Macdonald, R.E., sent by the British government from Uganda to anticipate the French in the occupation of the upper Nile. It was from the north that claimants arrived to dispute with the French their right to Fashoda, and all that the occupation of that dismal post implied. In 1896 an Anglo-Egyptian army, under the direction of
Sir Herbert (afterwards Lord) Kitchener, had begun to advance southwards for the reconquest of the Egyptian Sudan. On the 2nd of September 1898
Khartum was captured, and the khalifa's army dispersed. It was then that news reached the Anglo-Egyptian commander, from native sources, that there were white men flying a strange flag at Fashoda. The sirdar at once proceeded in a steamer up the Nile, and courteously but firmly requested
Captain Marchand to remove the French flag. On his refusal the Egyptian flag was raised close to the French flag, and the dispute was referred to
Europe for adjustment between the British and French governments. A critical situation ensued. Neither government was inclined to give way, and for a time war seemed imminent. Happily Lord Salisbury was able to announce, on the 4th of November, that France was willing to recognize the
British claims, and the incident was finally closed on the 21st of March
1899, when an Anglo-French declaration was signed, by the terms of which
France withdrew from the Nile valley and accepted a boundary line which satisfied her earlier ambition by uniting the whole of her territories in
North, West and Central Africa into a homogeneous whole, while effectually preventing the realization of her dream of a transcontinental empire from west to east. By this declaration it was agreed that the dividing line between the British and French spheres, north of the Congo Free State, should follow the Congo-Nile water-parting up to its intersection with the
11th parallel of north latitude, from which point it was to be ``drawn as far as the 15th parallel in such a manner as to separate in principle the kingdom of Wadai from what constituted in 1882 the province of Darfur,'' but in no case was it to be drawn west of the 21st degree of east longitude, or east of the 23rd degree. From the 15th parallel the line was continued north and north-west to the intersection of the Tropic of Cancer with 16 deg. E. French influence was to prevail west of this line, British influence to the east. Wadai was thus definitely assigned to France.
When, by the declaration of the 21st of March 1899, France renounced all territorial ambitions in the upper Nile basin, King

Fate of the Bar-el-Ghazal.
Leopold revived his claims to the Bahr-el-Ghazal province under the terms of the lease granted by Article 2 of the Anglo-Congolese agreement of 1894.
This step he was encouraged to take by the assertion of Lord Salisbury, in his capacity as secretary of state for foreign affairs during the negotiations with France concerning Fashoda, that the lease to King Leopold was still in full force. But the assertion was made simply as a declaration of British right to dispose of the territory, and the sovereign of the
Congo State found that there was no disposition in Great Britain to allow the Bahr-el-Ghazal to fall into his hands. Long and fruitless negotiations ensued. The king at length (1904) sought to force a settlement by sending armed forces into the province. Diplomatic representations having failed to secure the withdrawal of these forces, the Sudan government issued a proclamation which had the effect of cutting off the Congo stations from communication with the Nile, and finally King Leopold consented to an agreement, signed in London on the 9th of May 1906, whereby the 1894 lease was formally annulled. The Bahr-el-Ghazal thenceforth became undisputedly an integral part of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. King Leopold had, however, by virtue of the 1894 agreement administered the comparatively small portion of the leased area in which his presence was not resented by France. This territory, including part of the west bank of the Nile and known as the
Lado Enclave, the 1906 agreement allowed King Leopold to ``continue during his reign to occupy.'' Provision was made that within six months of the termination of His Majesty's reign the enclave should be handed over to the
Sudan government (see CONGO FREE STATE.) In this manner ended the long struggle for supremacy on the upper Nile, Great Britain securing the withdrawal of all European rivals.
The course of events in the southern half of the continent may now be traced. By the convention of the 14th of February

Portugal's trans-African schemes.
1885, in which Portugal recognized the sovereignty of the Congo Free State, and by a further convention concluded with France in 1886, Portugal secured recognition of her claim to the territory known as the Kabinda enclave, lying north of the Congo, but not to the northern bank of the river. By the same convention of 1885 Portugal's claim to the southern bank of the river as far as Noki (the limit of navigation from the sea) had been admitted.
Thus Portuguese possessions on the west coast extended from the Congo to the mouth of the Kunene river. In the interior the boundary with the Free
State was settled as far as the Kwango river, but disputes arose as to the right to the country of Lunda, otherwise known as the territory of the
Muato Yanvo. On the 25th of May 1891 a treaty was signed at Lisbon, by which this large territory was divided between Portugal and the Free State.
The interior limits of the Portuguese possessions in Africa south of the equator gave rise, however, to much more serious discussions than were involved in the dispute as to the Muato Yanvo's kingdom. Portugal, as has been stated, claimed all the territories between Angola and Mozambique, and she succeeded in inducing both France and Germany, in 1886, to recognize the king of Portugal's ``right to exercise his sovereign and civilizing influence in the territories which separate the Portuguese possessions or
Angola and Mozambique.'' The publication of the treaties containing this declaration, together with a map showing Portuguese claims extending over the whole of the Zambezi valley, and over Matabeleland to the south and the greater part of Lake Nyasa to the north, immediately provoked a formal protest from the British government. On the 13th of August 1887 the British charge d'affaires at Lisbon transmitted to the Portuguese minister for foreign affairs a memorandum from Lord Salisbury, in which the latter formally protested ``against any claims not founded on occupation,'' and contended that the doctrine of effective occupation had been admitted in principle by all the parties to the Act of Berlin. Lord Salisbury further stated that ``Her Majesty's government cannot recognize Portuguese sovereignty in territory not occupied by her in sufficient strength to enable her to maintain order, protect foreigners and control the natives.''
To this Portugal replied that the doctrine of effective occupation was expressly confined by the Berlin Act to the African coast, but at the same time expeditions were hastily despatched up the Zambezi and some of its tributaries to discover traces of former Portuguese occupation.
Matabeleland and the districts of Lake Nyasa werespecially mentioned in the
British protest as countries in which Her Majesty's government took a special interest. As a matter of fact the extension of British influence northwards to the Zambezi had engaged the attention of the British authorities ever since the appearance of Germany in South-West Africa and the declaration of a British protectorate over Bechuanaland. There were rumours of German activity in Matabeleland, and

Rhodesia secured for Great Britain. of a Boer trek north of the Limpopo. Hunters and explorers had reported in eulogistic terms on the rich goldfields and healthy plateau lands of
Matabeleland and Mashonaland, over both of which countries a powerful chief, Lobengula, claimed authority. There were many suitors for
Lobengula's favours; but on the 11th of February 1888 he signed a treaty with J. S. Moffat, the assistant commissioner in Bechuanaland, the effect of which was to place all his territory under British protection. Both the
Portuguese and the Transvaal Boers were chagrined at this extension of
British influence. A number of Boers attempted unsuccessfully to trek into the country, and Portugal opposed her ancient claims to the new treaty. She contended that Lobengula's authority did not extend over Mashonaland, which she claimed as part of the Portuguese province of Sofala.
Meanwhile preparations were being actively made by British capitalists for the exploitation of the mineral and other resources of Lobengula's territories. Two rival syndicates obtained, or claimed to have obtained, concessions from Lobengula; but in the summer of 1889 Cecil Rhodes succeeded in amalgamating the conflicting interests, and on the 29th of
October of that year the British government granted a charter to the
British South Africa Company (see RHODESIA.) The first article of the charter declared that ``the principal field of the operations'' of the company ``shall be the region of South Africa lying immediately to the north of British Bechuanaland, and to the north and west of the South
African Republic, and to the west of the Portuguese dominions.'' No time was lost in making preparations for effective occupation. On the advice of
F. C. Selous it was determined to despatch an expedition to eastern
Mashonaland by a new route, which would avoid the Matabele country. This plan was carried out in the summer of 1890, and, thanks to the rapidity with which the column moved and Selous's intimate knowledge of the country, the British flag was, on the 11th of September, hoisted at a spot on the
Makubusi river, where the town of Salisbury now stands, and the country taken possession of in the name of Queen Victoria. Disputes with the
Portuguese ensued, and there were several frontier incidents which for a time embittered the relations between the two countries.
Meanwhile, north of the Zambezi, the Portuguese were making desperate but futile attempts to repair the neglect

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