France, which had lost two provinces to Germany in 1870 looked to Africa to gain more territory. Britain looked towards Egypt and the control of the Suez canal as well as pursuing territory in gold rich southern Africa. Germany, under the expert management of Chancellor Bismarck, had come late to the idea of overseas colonies, but was now fully convinced of their worth.

percussion caps were being incorporated into cartridges - what previously came as a separate bullet, powder and wadding, was now a single entity, easily transported and relatively weather proof. The second innovation was the breach loading rifle. Older model muskets, held by most Africans, were front loaders, slow to use (maximum of three rounds per minute) and had to be loaded whilst standing. Breach loading guns, in comparison, had between two to four times the rate of fire, and could be loaded even in a prone position. Europeans, with an eye to colonization and conquest, restricted the sale of the new weaponry to Africa maintaining military superiority.

In 1880 the region to the north of the river Congo became a French protectorate following a treaty between the King of the Bateke, Makoko, and the explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza. In 1881 Tunisia became a French protectorate and the Transvaal regained its independence. In 1882 Britain occupied Egypt (France pulled out of joint occupation), Italy begins colonization of Eritrea. In 1884 British and French Somaliland created. In 1884 German South West Africa, Cameroon, German East Africa, and Togo created, Río de Oro claimed by Spain.

Britain's imperialist involvement in the scramble for Africa occurred in response to the actions of the French and even German. Britain had a history of African trade agreements and, compared to its European counterparts, the highest degree of control in Africa. France and Britain began an earnest race for the Niger in 1883, agreeing then to divide the territory--Lagos to Britain and Timbuktu for France.

Britain was not an instigator in the scramble for Africa, but rather a reactionary nation who responded to the actions of other forces. As French and German forces threatened loose trade deals, Britain set up protectorates and colonies. As British holdings in Egypt and in East Africa were threatened, Britain fought to maintain its power.

1) In part the attraction of colonialism was the Glory of Conquest, and 2) in part the so-called White Man's Burden to rescue the rest of the world from themselves. [Are these two forms of arrogance, military and cultural, still a part of Western society?]

1865 Leopold II becomes King of Belgium and begins the New Imperialist rant; that is he starts giving speeches in which he pushes the glories of exploration and conquest. In the 1870s Leopold sets his sights on the heart of Africa ( Conrad's "Heart of Darkness") and in 1876 sends H. M. Stanley up the Congo to establish trading posts and the beginnings of the Belgian Free Congo State (the setting for Conrad's novel). This opens up the question of control of the bulk of sub-Saharan Africa (West, Central and East Africa).

1880 France establishes a French Protectorate on the north bank of the Congo in direct response to the Belgian Congo on the south bank

1882 Britain conquers Egypt, heating up fierce, unbridled competition among all the powers of Western Europe for control of the African continent

1885-1898 Germany (under Bismarck) and France cooperate against Britain in Africa. Pushing south from Algeria, East from Senegal and North from the Congo, France (under Jules Ferry) conquers much of Western Africa (and some of Central). The British greatly expand their holdings by pushing into the interior from their coastal colonies in the West, from South Africa north and east, and from Egypt south. Germany enters the fray with Togoland and Cameroon in West Africa, Southwest Africa (Namibia) and German East Africa or Tanganyika (now most of Tanzania); also Italy (Libya, Somalia) and Spain (coastal West Africa).

1885 British troops pushing south from Egypt encounter resistant from a large Muslim Sudanese army which defeats General Charles Gordon in a massacre at Khartoum.

Belgian Congo, however, King Leopold II, who had financed the expeditions that staked Belgium's claim in Berlin, embarked on a campaign of ruthless exploitation. His enforcers mobilized almost the entire Congolese populations to gather rubber, kill elephants for their ivory, and build public works to improve export routes. For failing to meet production quotes, entire communities were massacred. Killing and maiming became routine in a colony in which horror was the only common denominator. After the impact of the slave trade, King Leopold's reign of terror was Africa's most severe demographic disaster.