Short History Of... - The Scramble For Africa

Episode Date: August 25, 2024

The late 19th century was a period of imperialism for Europe, which resulted in a landgrab of epic proportions. The entire continent of Africa was sliced up, to be swallowed by five rival nations. In the blink of an eye, everything changed for the people of Africa, and within a decade, Europe controlled virtually the whole continent. But what prompted this undignified rush by foreign leaders to expand into Africa? What did colonialism do for the millions of subjugated New Europeans? And what legacy did this frenzy for territory leave behind? This is a Short History Of….The Scramble for Africa. A Noiser Production, written by Sean Coleman. With thanks to Anthony Bogues, Asa Messer Professor of Humanities and Africana Studies at Brown University. Get every episode of Short History Of a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material, and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's January 22nd, 1879. On the vast plains of Zululand, southwestern Africa, a British army camp lies in the shadow of a giant, rocky outcrop. Crickets chirp loudly in the dry grass. Their high-pitched hum has been a familiar backdrop to this entire campaign. Overhead, a vulture circles lazily, searching for its next meal. At dawn, Lord Chelmsford, the man in charge of the invading force, led a column of around two and a half thousand men down the wide cattle track leading to a deep riverbank a combination of british infantry and local conscripts of the natal native contingent or nnc they headed out to attack some zulu spotted hiding along in the ravine here in the camp the mood is cheerful among the thousand or so men staying behind their command is to defend

their position against a possible but highly unlikely zulu assault despite the rising heat colonel henry poulain shrugs on his heavy red tunic and fixes his white belt around the waist the bright scarlet wool of the British army coats stand in stark contrast to this otherwise neutral landscape. Temporarily in charge, Pullain strolls through the tents, chatting to the men enjoying their breakfasts, sharing jokes and bitter coffee. So far, this march into Zululand has been a walk in the park. For all the hype around Quechuaio's defiant and formidable warrior army, it seems the Zulu haven't been up for the fight.

Pullain squints up at the rocky outcrop towering some three hundred feet above the plain. Shaped like a crouching lion, it reminds him of the Sphinx on their regimental cap badge. The Zulu call this place Izan Dilwana. Pulain calls it Purgatory. It's about 10.30 when he hears a strange humming sound rising across the arid countryside. A low buzz, like a swarm of angry bees approaching. He turns to the distant cattle track, but there is nothing there. The humming gets louder.

Now a deep, ominous chant reaches his ears, and with it a rhythmic thumping sound. With a sinking heart, Kulain realizes it's the sound of Asagai spears being slammed into hide shields. The Zulu are coming. Before his eyes, the green plateau fills with thousands of half-clad Zulu warriors, sweeping over the rim of the ravine. warriors sweeping over the rim of the ravine. It's as though the river has burst its banks. Around 25,000 live young fighters bear down on the camp from all directions, their black and white shields touching side to side. They cover the rough ground at an incredible clip. A ferocious, unstoppable tidal wave, the impi, or battalion, attacks in a formation known as the Horns of the Buffalo. A main driving head in the center and a horn on each side to encircle the enemy.

Awe gives way to panic as Pullain realizes the camp will be surrounded in no time. Whistles sound, shouts go up, a call to arms and quickly. So confident was he of their military superiority that Lord Chelmsford told them not to bother building any defenses here. Now, by God, Pullain wishes they had. Pullain wishes they had. Scrambling into action, a squadron with awkward ground-mounted rocket launchers is sent out left, while a mounted troop canters forward to stem the advance on the right. The rocket battery is swamped instantly, and the cavalry is forced to retreat and regroup. Pullain orders five infantry companies to charge forward, along with two teams of field

guns and a couple of hundred men of the NNC. But it's too late. The center of the Buffalo's head overwhelms the forward defense. The horns close around the sides. Surging forward, the Zulu fire rifles and muskets and lunge expertly with their assegais, all while shrieking their famous war cries, the Isikoko. Terrified, the NNC infantry flees the field. With them goes any discipline in the British troops. It's every man for himself. Soon the track is blocked by panic-stricken soldiers screaming for help.

It takes the Zulu just a few hours to destroy the camp and at least half of Chelmsford's invading force. In all, only 30 of those who cheerfully breakfasted in the camp that morning survived the battle, and Pullain is not among them. Though the disaster deals a terrible blow to Britain's glorious dream of stretching her empire from the Cape to the Zambezi, it won't stop her, or her European rivals, from striking again. In late 19th century Europe, so little was known about the continent of Africa that most Europeans imagined it as a vacant no-man's land. But then a period of new imperialism began.

It resulted in a land grab of epic proportions, which saw the entire continent of Africa sliced up like a pie to be swallowed by five rival nations – Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Portugal – with Spain gathering up the crumbs. In the blink of an eye, everything changed for the people of Africa. Within a decade, Europe controlled virtually the whole continent, with 10 million square miles of new territory to govern, and 110 million dazed new subjects, acquired by fair means or foul.

But the passions generated by this colonial period poisoned the political climate in Europe, bringing it to the brink of war. Meanwhile, in Africa, the rampant empire building saw the continent stripped of its very soul. But what prompted this undignified rush by these foreign leaders to expand into Africa? What did colonialism do for Europe, or for that matter, for the millions of subjugated new Europeans? And what legacy did this frenzy for new territory leave behind. I'm John Hopkins from the Noiser Network. This is a short history of the Scramble for Africa.

The term the Scramble for Africa is believed to have been coined in 1884. Though historians disagree about its exact timescale, largely it's considered to cover the whole final phase of Africa's partition, beginning with the Prelude in 1876 and ending in 1912. But ever since Roman times, Europe had been nibbling at the mysterious continent to the south. With the conquests of Carthage and the annexation of Egypt, the ancient Romans began venturing into the northern reaches of Africa. Despite these early incursions, by the mid-1870s, much of the land is still a mystery to Europeans.

All that's known is that Africa straddles the equator with uncanny precision and that it is surrounded by a wonderful but dangerously rugged coastline. Though Europeans have established some coastal trading posts and a handful of settler colonies, no foreign explorer has penetrated very far into the interior. No one knows which is Africa's greatest river or where it leads, though many have already spent several decades trying to find out. Scottish explorer and missionary Dr. David Livingstone has established himself as one of the few famous figures in the exploration of Africa. He has been on a relentless quest to uncover the continent's mysteries since 1841, with a particular focus on finding navigable river routes.

Aside from the prestige of geographical discovery, locating major rivers and mapping their sources and courses means opening up easier routes between coastal trading posts. So far, Livingston and his fellow explorers have discovered that Africa is largely a fertile land with extensive mineral wealth. It is home to tribal and nomadic people who have, thus far, proved no match for the explorers and traders who have exploited them for slavery and labor. Inspired by Livingston, by the mid-1870s,

competition among explorers begins to heat up. A number of expeditions to Africa set out from all over Europe, funded by private geographical societies. All hope to discover new territory and, more importantly, open up a network of trade routes for their home countries. Anthony Bogues is the Asa Mesa Professor of Humanities and Africana Studies at Brown University. The first division of the Earth began with the voyages of Christopher Columbus to the so-called New World, which inaugurated the European colonial project.

The scramble for Africa is the second division of the earth. The Portuguese, who have previously led the way in mapping the African coastline and secured strategic ports on their trade routes, have done all they want for now. But the rest of Europe is suddenly taking an interest in the continent. Germany's Gerhard Rolfs explores the north, where modern-day Libya, Tunisia and Algeria can be found, while Gustav Nachtigal forges into what will become Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria.

forges into what will become Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria. France have an enthusiastic young explorer called Pierre Savignon de Brazza, or Brazza to his friends. He's only just adopted France as his homeland, having both Italian and French descent. In 1875, he sets out from the French coastal territory of Gabon, hoping to find a route inland. And in Britain there is Henry Morton Stanley. He is a journalist and explorer who has already made a name for himself as the man who found

Dr Livingstone when he was temporarily missing in Africa back in 1867. The half-Welsh, half-American Stanley is convinced that the river Dr. Livingstone thought was the source of the Nile is in fact part of the Congo. In 1874, he sets out to prove it. Little does he know that in doing so, he'll change the fortunes of the entire continent. After nearly three years battling disease, hostile locals, and logistical problems, Stanley makes his breakthrough. He finds a navigable route down the Congo River all the way to the coast in 1877. It opens up a viable route through a vast swathe of land, rich in rubber, timber, cocoa,

coal, and much more. On his return to Britain, he embarks on a celebratory tour, sharing the story of his expedition. He tells anyone who'll listen that Africa is a place where any enterprising entrepreneur can make a fortune. He entreats the British government to fund further exploration and to expand their already impressive colonial holdings. But by the time he publishes his account of the expedition through the Dark Continent,

it's already late in 1878, and the British government have got enough on their plate as it is. A year ago, Britain tried to annex the Boer Republic of the Transvaal. The Boers, those Dutch-descended white Afrikaners who settled in South Africa in the mid-17th century, are not stepping aside easily. Britain has bitten off more than she can chew with that fight, and it's rumbling towards all-out war. Britain has bitten off more than she can chew with that fight, and it's rumbling towards all-out war. And now, further north of the Cape, Lord Chelmsford is rattling his sabre at the Zulu king, and further afield, the Second Anglo-Afghan War is raging. Now's not the time for the British to consider setting up another colony.

So, disappointed, Stanley must look elsewhere for a benefactor for his explorations in the Congo. Over in Belgium, King Leopold II hears of Stanley's travels in Central Africa. When Stanley talks of the unfathomable riches which might await an enterprising capitalist, Leopold gets to thinking. Despite a weight and enterprising capitalist, Leopold gets to thinking. Why not use his 15 million francs of disposable wealth to play the part of that capitalist? Stanley tours Europe, cap in hand, touting his idea of exploiting Africa's riches, but gets rebuff after rebuff. It soon becomes clear that no one is ready to commit to a new exploration.

Which leaves an opening for an enterprising Belgian king. Privately, Leopold states, I do not want to miss the chance to get us a slice of this magnificent African cake. And so he invites Stanley over to Belgium and agrees to fund an expedition to the Congo in 1881. On the surface, Leopold presents his interest as a humanitarian one. Europe has long since banned slavery, but the trade still thrives in Africa. The king has often spoken publicly about the need to abolish it once and for all. So when people say, OK, we want to abolish slavery, you know, I kind of smile to myself because I said,

OK, but you guys made the biggest profits out of it. Now you want to abolish it, right? That doesn't quite ring authentic in my view, except that you are actually now giving us a reason for your possession and occupation. Now, under the guise of philanthropy and exploration, the King creates the International African Association. It will facilitate Stanley's expedition to map the Congo Basin

and establish Belgian control over the region. Stanley is delighted. He sees this as a real opportunity to continue his investigations into the region, to bring commerce to Central Africa and, according to him, help civilize it. What Stanley doesn't realize is that his expedition will lay the groundwork for the creation of the Free State of the Conga, a personal colony controlled and abused by King Leopold II. It will also mark the beginning of the colonization of Africa.

But that's all yet to come. By 1884, Leopold's endeavors in Africa are ruffling feathers amongst other European leaders. Not least because the area covered by the Congo Basin that he's trying to lay claim to is enormous, and it's been proven quite useful as a trade route. England, France, Germany, and Italy have all woken up to the fact that Africa has vast natural resources to be exploited, and they're also keen to grow their empires. I think that for the Europeans at this point in time, it was about raw materials, rubber, timber, etc. But it was also about trade routes. It was also about prestige, because for European nations to have colonies

was a prestigious thing, even if it was not profitable. You saw yourself as a European nation with power operating in a geopolitical world when you had a set of colonies. By this stage, England has ironed out the skirmishes in her existing colonies and is seeking to expand again. Germany is feeling bullish after victory in the Franco-Prussian War, and France wants to regain some glory after that disappointment. For all of them, colonialization is a convenient fast track to political supremacy. is a convenient fast track to political supremacy. Their competing imperial armies have already begun pushing inland in Africa, but that looks set to bring the main European nations into major confrontation.

It's time for a bit of paper diplomacy. It is Saturday, the 15th of November, 1884. In Berlin, a horse-drawn carriage rattles over cobblestones still slick from the recent rain. The city is shrouded in a dense fog. As the carriage slows, Sir Edward Mallet, Britain's ambassador to Germany, peers up at the imposing building which will host him and his European counterparts for the next few days. The stately palace of German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck is designed to intimidate. Its near-Renaissance architecture, a testament to Prussian power and ambition.

Tall windows line the frontage, their reflections ghostly with mist. Mallet steps down from the carriage, drawing his coat around him. The horses scuff listlessly as he's ushered inside by liveried footmen. Ornate stone carvings depicting scenes of battle adorn the entrance. All serve to remind a visitor of the might of the German Empire. The warmth inside does little to ease the tension in his shoulders.

The conference he's here to attend has been convened to establish some rules for the division of Africa and regulate the ensuing colonization. If they get it right, they'll prevent any more conflict among themselves. Heels clicking along the polished wooden floor, Mallet strides down a corridor lined with rich tapestries and portraits of stern-faced Prussian ancestors. Their eyes follow him all the way to the conference room. As the huge, gilded doors swing open, a servant announces Mallet's arrival to the room. A waft of polished wood, cigar smoke, and cologne greets him, as around twenty-five

men, European diplomats and their assistants, stand in huddles. They all turn to look at him, their expressions guarded, postures stiff. The low mumble of conversation pauses, only starting up again as he steps inside. Scanning the assembly, Mallet finds that most are familiar faces. Not a single one is African. These mostly grey-haired gentlemen represent 14 European nations, along with a delegation from the United States. Most of these countries have warred with one another at some point in history, but for now, old enmity must be swept aside. There is work to be done.

At the head of the gleaming Teak conference table stands Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. His piercing blue eyes flicker an acknowledgement of Mallet's arrival. The German leader is a towering figure, both in stature and political clout. With everyone assembled, the Berlin Conference of 1884 can begin. On the Chancellor's command, the men settle at their places, and two servants swing open a huge set of doors at the end of the room to reveal an enormous map of the continent of Africa pinned to the wall. The map shows a vast but empty land, with no real borders, and a mass of assumptions

about river courses and distances. All of it is about to be carved into pieces and doled out to the countries represented by the men in this room, none of whom have ever set foot in Africa. And nearly 4,000 miles away, millions of Africans have no idea that their future is being decided by a group of white men around a table in a grand palace in Berlin. You are looking at an intense period of history in which an entire European political and economic and social system really just focuses on Africa.

That's what that Berlin Conference is about. That's what the division, that's what that map is about. When Leopold sits down and draws his finger around parts of Central Africa, that becomes the Congo. All of that is a certain intensification of the European project upon an Africa that was already denuded because of the Atlantic slave trade. With little concern for the people they are making these life-changing decisions about, over the course of two months,

with a short Christmas break, the Berlin Conference will divide Africa into territories ready for colonization. To make sure everything is fair, they established two rules. Firstly, European nations cannot annex their designated territory If everything is fair, they establish two rules. Firstly, European nations cannot annex their designated territory unless they can prove they've actually occupied it. To do this, they must establish some form of base there and appoint officials to administrate it on the ground.

Secondly, they can't lawfully occupy that land without the agreement of a ruling African leader, ideally in the form of a plea for protection either from neighboring factions or other colonial powers. This agreement must be submitted on paper in the form of a treaty. So instead of having to take their new lands by force, if the Europeans make a pact with a local leader, whether that leader understands it or not, the land and its people can be annexed. With rules like that, even a small place like Britain can exert mighty ambitions. place like Britain can exert mighty ambitions. Britain is an island. It doesn't have enough military force to occupy India, occupy parts of the Caribbean, and to occupy parts of Africa. Doesn't. It's an island. So how could it do this? How could it become the largest empire that the world had seen since the Roman times? It could do this because it engaged in a

set of technologies of rule in which it had arrangements with chiefs, arrangements with African rulers. In February 1885, as the conference draws to a close, the assembled delegates sign the Act of Berlin. The agreement commits all signatories to abolish slavery and allow free trade. But significantly, it also ratifies the new borders that have been drawn arbitrarily on the African map, awarding parcels of land to each European power. Britain and France take the lion's share. Already occupying most of South Africa, Britain now gains key ports in Egypt, Nigeria, and the Gold Coast, modern-day Ghana. But the bulk of her new territory, called British East Africa,

includes what we know today as Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Zambia. France already has a toehold in Arabic-speaking North Africa. Today's Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco are already under French protection. Now they lay claim to much of West and Central Africa too. What will go on to become Mozambique and Angola are declared Portuguese East and West Africa too. What will go on to become Mozambique and Angola are declared Portuguese East and West Africa respectively. And King Leopold II, whose actions kicked the whole scramble off, gets the vast area of land defined as the Congo Basin. The division of Africa is complete, on paper anyway. But since none of these men have set foot there,

they have no idea what or who they'll find in their newly acquired lands. What they don't understand, or seem to consider, is that the six to ten thousand tribes they're about to displace are already autonomous political units, existing perfectly happily as they were. They will all be carved up in the colonial process, their lands bisected and their peoples separated. Water tables will be cut off from their sources, ancient households divided. As Africa is brought under colonial rule, the lines etched on the map in Berlin are now ready to be drawn in the sand.

The scramble has begun in earnest. The European nations hurry to secure their commercial interests in the form of chartered companies, trade routes, outposts and federations. They waste no time penetrating the African interior and wooing its leadership with guns, trinkets and alcohol. By winning over local leaders and promising to protect them from other settlers or neighboring enemies, these new colonizers secure their spurious treaties.

These pieces of paper, written in a language unknown to the African leaders and often signed only with a dab or mark, allow the colonizing Europeans to physically claim the territories assigned to them in Berlin. Since most of Africa is not united in its leadership and is barely emerging from centuries of the slave trade, this initial stage of occupation proves to be a simple enough task. After all, making promises to a broken society is the diplomatic equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel. You're looking at an Africa then with hundreds of different ethnic groups and nations. You're looking at an Africa in which there is a diversity of languages.

But then you are looking at this continental Africa with all that diversity, facing a Europe that is absolutely united, that has had a long history, 200, 300 years of running a colonial project. And now they descend upon you in a situation where you are already weakened because you have had 12 million people extracted from your population and carried over to the new world. If the Europeans have learned anything from the first colonial project in the Americas,

it is that discovering and claiming lands is only the tip of the iceberg. For a colony to be profitable, the ruling party needs to be able to occupy it completely and extract its resources without any resistance. The best way to go about this is to present an altruistic ideology to the watching world. By claiming to only intend to improve the lot of the people you are subjugating, you can be applauded for your honorable intentions. And if you happen to reap rich rewards from your philanthropy, it's a win-win. Suddenly, train tracks, roads, docks, ports, and shipping lanes are all hurriedly constructed,

as are schools, churches and other trappings of the so-called civilized world. With the four-pronged benevolent ideology of abolishing slavery, establishing Christianity, bringing civilization and continuing scientific exploration, Europe digs its claws into Africa. Naturally, this process is often met with resistance, which leads in some cases to a far heavier-handed, often brutal process of taming these new subjects and bringing them into line with European values. All these reasons are ideological covers or ideological reasons that people tell themselves

as they embark upon a project of occupation and sometimes genocide and massacre. Because that's how the European colonial project operated. It had so-called high moral ideological cover, quite frankly, for certain practices that it was engaged in, which was about theft, genocide, massacres, and carving of people's property. In return for what they claim to be the enlightenment of their new subjects, the colonial overlords have unfettered access to the country's resources.

Rubber, diamonds, cocoa, gold, cobalt, coal, groundnuts. Rich pickings indeed for these entrepreneurial colonists, just as Stanley predicted. But settling their new lands is not always easy. Efforts to civilize the colonies are hampered by climate, the lack of infrastructure, supply issues and disease, not to mention the lions, snakes and spiders. And then, of course, there's the people themselves. Not all of these newly acquired European subjects want what's on offer. Many will fight tooth and nail to preserve what they had before. And some fight harder than others.

When Italy decides to expand its colonial empire by conquering Ethiopia, the Ethiopians, under the leadership of Emperor Menelik II, have other ideas. In March 1896, the Italians suffer a significant defeat at the Battle of Adwa. The victory secures Ethiopian independence. In fact, it becomes the only African nation to successfully resist European colonization during the Scramble for Africa. Meanwhile down in South Africa, the British are facing a resistance of their own. The First Anglo-Boer War had already been and gone when, back in 1880, Britain's attempt

to take the Transvaal was met with fierce resistance. The conflict ended two years later in a decisive victory for the Boers. Britain retreated to lick her wounds, but now there is a renewed interest in claiming those Boer-controlled parts of South Africa, especially since they've recently discovered the area is rich in gold and diamonds. A second Anglo-Boer war looks to be in the offing. And it's not just in South Africa that Britain faces conflict. In Rhodesia, the Ndebele and Shona peoples put up a ferocious fight against the white settlers.

And in Kenya, the Nandi hold off no fewer than six punitive British explorations. The French, too, are meeting opposition to their invasion, although their colonial project takes a different approach to the British. While Britain seeks to educate and govern its subjects, the French want to assimilate theirs completely. In their colonies, the French build replicas of Marseille, Lyon, and Paris. Coastal towns enjoy

Mediterranean-style promenades and port facilities. And the people are not just colonial subjects. They are French citizens. The French was for about assimilation because French culture was the best thing since sliced bread, okay, in their view, on who would want to be a French citizen. Which is why the national liberation wars against France are always the bitterest national wars.

Over in West Africa, Samore Touré, the founder of the Wassoulou Empire, is one leader who most definitely doesn't want to become French. Centered in what is now Guinea and stretching into present-day Mali, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso, his empire has united several ethnic groups since 1870. Touré is not about to hand that over to these white invaders. He wages an eight-year campaign of incredible skill and military tenacity against the French. Ultimately, though, he is captured and exiled to Gabon, where he will later die. In Angola, Chief Mandume of Ovambo masters an army of 40,000 to defy the Portuguese. But more often than not, it's the colonists who hold all the cards.

As the skirmishes continue into the early 1900s, Germany inflicts nothing short of genocide on the people of German East Africa, modern-day Tanganyika, and Southwest Africa, or Namibia as we now know it. Under Germany's brutal rule, more than two-thirds of the Herero people and half of the Namo are annihilated between 1904 and 1908. In a continent ravaged by bitter, ferocious fighting, some battles perfectly exemplify how little the white colonists understand the African mind or culture, and how little they care to learn. It's the 25th of March, 1900. The sun hangs high in the sky, casting a golden glow over the Ashanti town of Kumasi on the Gold Coast.

Inside the royal palace, Ya Asentewa, the queen mother of the Ashanti, is being helped into her ceremonial headdress, gold jewelry, and brightly colored kente cloth robes which denote her stature in this town. Finally, ready, she emerges from under the towering thatched rooftops into the dusty courtyard, her bracelets jingling as she walks. Outside the heat is oppressive. She joins an anxious group of elders gathered on a platform covered by a decorated canopy. With the Ashanti king exiled by the British, it falls to them to greet this morning's rather unwelcome guest of honour. A little way ahead, a group of schoolchildren shuffle nervously.

In fact, the whole community is here, awaiting the arrival of the representative of the Queen of England, who now, apparently, governs this region. the Queen of England, who now, apparently, governs this region. The hubbub of voices starts to quieten, and, peering past her subjects, Yaa Asantewaa sees the dust rising around a group of new arrivals. On horseback and surrounded by soldiers bearing rifles are a handful of foreigners in their white colonial pith helmets. They dismount, and one red-faced man approaches the platform. He is introduced as Sir Frederick Hodgson,

and the woman behind him is his wife. Falteringly, the cluster of children break into a tuneless rendition of God Save the Queen. For now, Yaa Asantewaa hangs back. She has a deep distrust of this envoy from the foreign queen. He has shown his colors before. Though he claims to be here to collect a payment for the Anglo-Ashanti war, which left them under British control, she knows very well what he's really after. Sir Frederick Hodgson wants the sacred golden stool. It's an artifact of ancient ritual,

used only when a new king claims his power as leader. More than just a ceremonial seat, it represents the unity and spirit of the Ashanti people. seat it represents the unity and spirit of the ashanti people sure enough as an uneasy silence falls and the colonial governor clears his throat and begins his speech he wastes no time demanding the priceless item be brought out the queen is entitled to the stool he declares she must receive it The queen is entitled to the stool, he declares. She must receive it. Ja Asantewa looks expectantly at the tribal elders, but all they do is mutter ineffectually among themselves. Not one lifts his face in defiance of this British arrogance.

Silence stifles the courtyard as Hodgson waits imperiously for his demand to be met. Yaa Asanteewaa has seen enough, but she pushes through the feeble elders and stands defiant in front of Hodgson before turning her back on him and addressing her people. Is it true, she asks, that the bravery of the Ashanti is no more? The assembled chiefs frown, but offer no counter-argument. Behind her, Hodgson blusters as his tense soldiers finger their weapons. If you, the men of Ash ashanti will not go forward she tells him then we the women will we will fight till the last of us falls in the battlefields yah asante was called to action drums up a force of thousands of Ashanti men to repel the British. With no safe route out of town, Hodson, his wife, and their entourage of soldiers are forced to retreat to the temporary safety of the British offices in Kumasi.

There, with a stockpile of supplies and the support of a small army of Nigerian houses, they're able to settle in for a siege. True to her word, Yaa Ashantiwa takes full control of the Ashanti forces. They fight the besieged British envoy and all who try to rescue him for three months, until Hodgson and his friends make a daring escape in June. till Hodgson and his friends make a daring escape in June. Even with Hodgson gone, the battle with the British continues until September, when Comasi is finally recaptured and the Ashanti fight is over.

Not all struggles with the colonials end in war, though. Some territories fall under what can only be described as brutal authoritarian dictatorships. One such colony is the Free State of the Congo. This is the immense expanse of land in Central Africa given to King Leopold II at the Berlin Conference. It is his own private fiefdom rather than a Belgian colony. Instead of improving the Congo, Leopold sets about denuding it. In fact, his long reign is so brutal that the indigenous population is halved while Leopold and his men amass huge personal fortunes. Congolese men, women, and children are forced to collect huge quotas of rubber for export. If they don't meet the targets, they face a punishment of hand amputation, or worse.

Scottish inventor John Dunlop's development of the pneumatic tyre leads to a huge increase in demand for rubber. Correspondingly, Leopold's profits rise, as does the misery inflicted on the people of the Congo. By 1903, reports of atrocities compiled by Christian missionaries and British envoys finally reach the world press. Leopold is exposed. But it still takes another five years for the Belgian government to wrestle the land from him. At the same time, Britain, at the height of her imperial power, has reached boiling point with those troublesome Africana Boers down in South Africa. Rushes for both diamonds and gold have heightened interest in the colony as a whole.

Now, Britain is determined to take control of the two independent Boer republics, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State in South Africa, where the majority of this mineral wealth can be found. What follows is the Second Boer War, which starts just before the turn of the century, War, which starts just before the turn of the century, Britain's bloodiest, most costly engagement since its run-in with Napoleon 85 years previously. Having lost the First Boer War, the British now feel better prepared to beat the Afrikaners. But the conflict they think will be done in a few months ends up lasting three years and involves nearly half a million imperial troops.

It sees Britain employ a scorched earth policy in removing Boer and African resistance. Around 45 concentration camps are established to inter-boer civilians, including women and children. A further 20 camps hold black Africans considered to pose a threat to British rule. Conditions in both sets of camps are dire, with disease, malnutrition and physical abuse leading to the deaths of an estimated 28,000 Afrikaners and 20,000 black Africans. Britain emerges triumphant from this shameful period of her colonial history, but the conflict leaves a legacy of bitterness and hatred among Afrikaners that will endure for generations. Ultimately, it spawns an Afrikaner nationalism that will strangle South Africa for generations to come.

Even in those territories where resistance is minimal, the imposition of European rule is bittersweet at best. In many places, rapid development comes at the expense of personal freedom for the local people. Any developments that do arise are designed to help the European project rather than African society. No colonial power ever sets out to allow its indigenous people to self-govern under foreign rule. Superficially, Europe can still claim to be helping their colonies grow and thrive. Schools have been established, hospitals built, communication links forged. In other colonial projects, like India, the railways and roads actually connect towns and cities. In contrast, all of Africa's overland transport and shipping infrastructure

is built from the mines or plantations to the ports. It is all about extracting Africa's resources and sucking the life out of her. The European colonial project is not one of economic integration and therefore some kind of development. The European colonial project is about extractivism. And what you are identifying is the ways in which that extractivism essentially created a certain kind of economic structure that still, quite frankly, shapes much of Africa. The scramble for Africa has given the European nations power, wealth and glory.

But it's only a temporary distraction from the rivalries that made the Berlin Conference necessary in the first place. War may have been delayed in Europe for a couple of decades, but even empire building can't prevent it altogether. In 1914, World War I breaks out. The conflict suddenly calls on Africans to make the ultimate sacrifice for their new mother countries, even if they've never set foot on their soil. To natives of the European countries involved, conscription is a structured legal obligation.

But the recruitment of African soldiers involves coercion and forced labor. Even where enlistment is voluntary, it is heavily influenced by a desire to appease the colonial authorities. While it seems strange that these men would be shipped out to Europe desire to appease the colonial authorities. While it seems strange that these men would be shipped out to Europe to fight in a war that has nothing to do with them, that was the ultimate end of the colonial project, to extend empire beyond the confines of one's own country and create new subjects. In partitioning Africa, the Europeans took an entire continent of black Africans and

lumped them all together under the banner of what they call a native. Hundreds of ethnic, religious, and tribal groups are all molded into one persona, onto whom loyalty to a distant ruler can be imposed and enforced. The native is created by the colonial project. And in creating new subjectivities for that native, what then happens is that you can call on those persons to fight a war that's not their wars, that is your wars. During World War I, at least 165,000 Africans die

fighting for European countries they never asked to be a part of. Africa's human resources are plundered, just like everything else she had to offer. But fighting in those trenches, alongside other colonial subjects from different parts of Africa, has a significant effect. Oppressed Africans suddenly realize they all have something in common. What you have were these soldiers from the different colonies who were fighting these wars who suddenly began to talk to each other. And as they began to talk to each other, they began to realize that they had a common colonial problem. So that is not surprising that emerging from the First World War,

you get all these anti-colonial organizations. Some were there before 1914, but post-1914, there's a really upsurge. And part of that upsurge has to do with the soldiers in the trenches having that sort of conversations with each other. In the aftermath of the First World War, European economies are stretched. There is barely enough to keep the home fires burning. Having expended so much effort on acquiring African empires, Europe loses interest in managing them. At the same time, a number of anti-colonial movements are sparked. The African soldiers have realized, perhaps for the same time, a number of anti-colonial movements are sparked. The African soldiers have realized, perhaps for the first time, that their colonial rulers

are just as mortal, just as fallible as anyone else. They've returned from the front with a sense of solidarity and Africanness. Political movements begin to form. The South African Native National Party, that will go on to become the ANC, aims to unite all Africans in the fight for their political and social rights. By the time World War II ends, with the loss of tens of thousands more African soldiers, the ground has been firmly laid for African independence movements to reclaim their lands. On March 6, 1957, the Gold Coast declares its independence from Britain.

Becoming known as Ghana, it sets a precedent for other African nations to follow. While most colonies are relinquished in the post-war years, some linger well into the 1970s. But those Africans taking back control are largely not interested in restoring their country to its former state. The scars of colonialism become the continent's permanent borders. The arbitrary lines drawn up in Berlin remain in place long after the Europeans relinquish control. And in places, the ramifications for the people divided in the process only get worse as colonialism recedes. In Sudan, the division created an Arab and Muslim north and an African Christian south.

Exacerbated by colonial administrative policy, the north saw more development and the south was marginalized. The deep-seated division this created has led to civil wars and continued conflict to this day. In Nigeria, the borders lumped rival ethnic and religious groups together, leading to conflicts like the Biafran War and ongoing tensions in the Niger Delta. The Rwandan genocide of 1994 would not have happened had the colonial borders not increased ethnic tensions between the Hutu and the Tutsi. And even the transition to independence doesn't necessarily bring peace.

The African elites who replaced the old colonials keep many of their laws, rules, and structures. They simply step in in place of the white rulers and continue to enforce the concept of might is right. Many anti-colonial movements did what? Their political objective was what? The creation of a sovereign state. That objective was not for the transformation of that colonial state. It was to take over that state. The colonial state is built on might is right. So you take over that state. You don't think about transformation of the state. And I would say to you, if you take over a state

and you do not transform that colonial state, then it is going to transform you, quite frankly, no matter what wishes you have in your head. It can be argued that it's the difficult recovery from colonialism that leads to some of the most barbaric dictatorships the world has seen. Uganda's Idi Amin, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, and Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, to name but a few.

Still, today, many African nations, despite their vast mineral and environmental resources, flounder in relative poverty. their vast mineral and environmental resources flounder in relative poverty. Recently, there have been some signs that parts of Africa may finally be emerging from the shackles of colonialism. Kenya has become a hub for technological invention in Africa. The so-called Silicon Savannah has created a mobile money platform that's transformed millions of lives. Despite what some see as an authoritarian rule under Paul Kagame, Rwanda has seen unprecedented economic growth in the past decade, with a focus on stability, anti-corruption, and tourism. Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Ethiopia have all begun to experience economic growth.

Despite these few successes, the impact of colonialism continues to be felt on the continent today. Its people, their culture and identity, and the landscape itself were all permanently scarred by the scramble for Africa, one of the darkest periods of the continent's history. Next time on Short History Of, we'll bring you a short history of Elvis Presley. Elvis Presley was a human being who was born in Tupelo, 1935, and died in August 1977 in Graceland.

That was a human being called Elvis Aaron Presley. But in the course of his career, he created this thing called Elvis. You know, one word, five letters, Elvis. That has almost entirely survived him intact. The suit goes marching on, you know. Elvis, the thing that is Elvis, that he created, can sort of never die and just reincarnate itself.

That's next time. If you can't wait a week until the next episode, you can listen to it right away by subscribing to Noisa Plus. Head to www.noisa.com forward slash subscriptions for more information.