Berlin Conference - General Act

General Act

The General Act fixed the following points:

• To gain public acceptance a primary point of the conference was the ending of slavery by Black and Islamic powers. Thus, an international prohibition of the slave trade throughout their respected spheres was signed by the European members. It was primarily because of this point that Joseph Conrad sarcastically referred to the conference as "the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs" in his novella Heart of Darkness.
• The Congo Free State was confirmed as private property of the Congo Society thereby ensuring that Leopold's promises to keep the country open to all European investment was retained. Thus the territory of today's Democratic Republic of the Congo, some two million square kilometers, was made essentially the property of Léopold II (but later would eventually become a Belgian colony).
• The 14 signatory powers would have free trade throughout the Congo Basin as well as Lake Niassa and east of this in an area south of 5° N.
• The Niger River and Congo River were made free for ship traffic.
• A Principle of Effectivity (see below) was introduced to stop powers setting up colonies in name only.
• Any fresh act of taking possession of any portion of the African coast would have to be notified by the power taking possession, or assuming a protectorate, to the other signatory powers.
• Which regions each European power had an exclusive right to 'pursue' the legal ownership of land (legal in the eyes of the other European powers).

The first reference in an international act to the obligations attaching to "spheres of influence" is contained in the Berlin Act.