African History & Imperialism

Throughout the history of Africa, imperialism and colonization from outside sources kept the continent in upheaval. This colonization began at the end of the Middle Ages and continued until the 20th century. Overall, Africa was subject to a number of atrocities, most notably slavery. War and conflict also spread across the continent for hundreds of years.

Features

The site of many religious conflicts, Africa has strong Christian and Muslim bases. These religions stemmed from years of influence by European colonization and Middle Eastern influence.

Significance

Slavery represented a major cultural disaster for the continent. Muslim Africans and Europeans took part in the slave-trading business.

Considerations

Europeans waged a number of major conflicts against Africa nations in an effort to subjugate the population. Notably, the Napoleonic Wars spread into Egypt and the British faced a protracted conflict with the Zulu Kingdom in South Africa.

Geography

From the 15th century until the 20th century, European nations partitioned Africa into a variety of colonies. The most influential of these were Portugal, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Germany.

Effects

Imperialism ended in Africa during the 20th century. Beginning with the decolonization of Libya in 1951, the trend continued through the 1980s. Some European countries did not want to relinquish control of their colonies, resulting in a number of conflicts.

References

• African Slave Trade and European Imperialism
• Zulu War
• Europe's Colonization of Africa

Resources

• African History Sourcebook
• Imperialism in Africa to World War I