In November of 1885, the European powers convened to divvy up the African continent in order to avoid a world war. Each individual nation had to conquer the land in order to truly control it, but in the eyes of European powers, the African continent was essentially a new source of raw materials for them to use. In response to the European Scramble for Africa, African leaders oftentimes attempted to create diplomatic ties instead of letting Europeans make them colonies; however, sometimes European aggression and mistreatment forced Africans to resort to hostility to protect their sovereignty.
As the Europeans were losing their colonies in the New World to independence movements, their eyes turned south to the African continent as the newest …show more content…
His stance that above all else the Ashanti must remain free in order to protect their culture and heritage, but remain friendly with the Europeans is one many African leaders tried to take (Doc 2). The Royal Niger Company, commissioned by the British government to take over the Niger Delta, had a standard form for the African chiefs to sign their territory away. This form is a general form with places for the chiefs to sign their names and for the document to be dated, due to this generality and the possible language barrier there is no way of knowing if the African chiefs really knew what they were signing (Doc 1). Although the chief signed a contract with Europeans, the villagers of the territory may not have respected the new authority of the Europeans and fought back to protect what they saw as their land. Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia wrote a letter to several European nations asking for aid in recovering territory lost to “the hands of the Muslims.” This plea for aid is unexpected considering the fact …show more content…
Once the natives realized that diplomacy was a lost cause they resorted to fighting for their freedom. Ndansi Kumalo, an African veteran of the Ndeble Rebellion against the British invasion of south Africa, said “We surrender to the White people…we were treated like slaves…how the rebellion started I do not know; there was no organization…we made many charges but each time we were defeated.” This view of the cruelty with which the Europeans treated the Africans is not surprising considering Kumalo is a veteran of a rebellion against European advances (Doc 4). While the Ndeble Rebllion ended in an African defeat, as most did, the Ethiopian figth against Italian incursion was one of the few success stories. In a Ethiopian painting of a battle between the Italians and the Ethiopian in which the Ethiopians were victorious, one can easily see the disparity in numbers and the fact that both sides seemed to have equal access to firepower (Doc 5). These two factors and the fact that Ethiopia moved from diplomacy to military retaliation as soon as they saw what the Europeans were really doing are probably the reason why Ethiopia was the only African nation to avoid colonization by a European power. Since the Europeans were so superior in weaponry in much of the conflicts within Africa, chiefs would tell their people that the
As the Europeans were losing their colonies in the New World to independence movements, their eyes turned south to the African continent as the newest …show more content…
His stance that above all else the Ashanti must remain free in order to protect their culture and heritage, but remain friendly with the Europeans is one many African leaders tried to take (Doc 2). The Royal Niger Company, commissioned by the British government to take over the Niger Delta, had a standard form for the African chiefs to sign their territory away. This form is a general form with places for the chiefs to sign their names and for the document to be dated, due to this generality and the possible language barrier there is no way of knowing if the African chiefs really knew what they were signing (Doc 1). Although the chief signed a contract with Europeans, the villagers of the territory may not have respected the new authority of the Europeans and fought back to protect what they saw as their land. Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia wrote a letter to several European nations asking for aid in recovering territory lost to “the hands of the Muslims.” This plea for aid is unexpected considering the fact …show more content…
Once the natives realized that diplomacy was a lost cause they resorted to fighting for their freedom. Ndansi Kumalo, an African veteran of the Ndeble Rebellion against the British invasion of south Africa, said “We surrender to the White people…we were treated like slaves…how the rebellion started I do not know; there was no organization…we made many charges but each time we were defeated.” This view of the cruelty with which the Europeans treated the Africans is not surprising considering Kumalo is a veteran of a rebellion against European advances (Doc 4). While the Ndeble Rebllion ended in an African defeat, as most did, the Ethiopian figth against Italian incursion was one of the few success stories. In a Ethiopian painting of a battle between the Italians and the Ethiopian in which the Ethiopians were victorious, one can easily see the disparity in numbers and the fact that both sides seemed to have equal access to firepower (Doc 5). These two factors and the fact that Ethiopia moved from diplomacy to military retaliation as soon as they saw what the Europeans were really doing are probably the reason why Ethiopia was the only African nation to avoid colonization by a European power. Since the Europeans were so superior in weaponry in much of the conflicts within Africa, chiefs would tell their people that the