Background
During the Scramble for Africa in the late nineteenth century, European powers divided Africa and its resources into political partitions at the Berlin Conference of 1884-85. By 1905, control of almost all African soil was claimed by European governments, with the only exceptions being Liberia (which had been settled by African-American former slaves) and Ethiopia (which had successfully resisted colonization by Italy). Britain and France had the largest holdings, but Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, and Portugal also had colonies. As a result of colonialism and imperialism, Africa suffered, in addition to the loss of sovereignty, control of its natural resources like gold and rubber. Europeans often justified this using the concept of the White Man's Burden, an obligation to "civilize" the peoples of Africa.
Read more about this topic: Decolonization Of Africa
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