AFRICA British interest in the empire increased during the last quarter of the nineteenth century until imperial expansion became a dominant theme in British thought and policy. The desire for empire and for the acquisition of colonies was not confined to England. Between 1879 and 1900 the nations of Europe divided almost the whole of Africa among, themselves, acquired large sections of Asia, and annexed hundreds of islands throughout the Pacific Ocean. The British added some 5 million square miles to their empire until by 1900 it included a fifth of all the land on the face of the globe. So eager were the nations for colonies and spheres of influence that competition brought dangerous international crises. ‘The most fundamental reason for imperialism was economic. England’s position is highly instructive. The wonderful prosperity it had enjoyed in the middle years of the century reached a climax about‘/’870, when British foreign trade was greater in value than the combined foreign trade of France, Germany and Italy. But after 1874 came a period of industrial and commercial depression, falling prices, and increased foreign competition. During a serious depression 9in the years 1876-1878 about ten percent of the working population was unemployed; a second depression quickly followed between 1883 and 1886. these two slumps, coming in rapid succession, ended the buoyant optimism of the mid-Victorians. Indeed, England was never again quite the same. In absolute terms her wealth continued to increase, her population to grow, and her foreign trade to expand, but the pace was slower than in the past, much slower than the rate of increase in Germany * or in the United States. In brief, Britain was no longer the only workshop in the world. There were other motives for imperialism. The possession of colonies was the symbol of a great power. Nations with colonies took pride in them; nations without them, such as Italy, struggled to obtain them and cast envious eyes at the huge British Empire. The acquisition of colonies became a game at which a nation must not be outdone by its neighbours. Imperialism was popular with both rich and poor. One can understand why manufacturers, merchants, shipowners, bankers and diplomats favoured it. What is surprising, the English lower classes also liked it, Empire meant employment. The upper classes were influenced by such misunderstood phrases from Darwinian evolution as “the survival of the fittest” and “the struggle for existence”, which appeared to justify the conquest of weaker peoples by the imperialists of Europe. It is only fair to add, however, that imperialism also carried a sense of mission. Europe must assume “the white man’s burden” and must take civilization to the backward peoples of the world. * The partition of Africa ‘The scramble for Affica was precipitated by three events. The first was the achievement of the explorer H. M. Stanley in erossing tropical Africa. In 1874 he plunged into the wilderness on the east coast with three other white men (who died on the way) and with alittle band of Arab guides and Negro porters. He made his way to the upper stretches of the Congo River and followed that great stream to the Atlantic. He attempted in vain to interest the British government in the Con; Basin and then reluctantly entered the service of King Leopold of Belgium, who eventually created the Congo Free State and became its ruler. A second development was the action of the Frenct ‘who pushed inland from thei settlements on the Senegal River, crossed to the upper reschen era’, Niger, consolidated this inland enapira, and began to conect it with their stations clone tae eee coast And in 1882 Bismarck annexed the teritory known as German Southwest Ate ee to that time the British might have had for the taking, ica, which up Salisbury’s diplomacy obtained a great deal of African terri : war with other powers, but the initial effort came from a eatante ae a without causing a merchants and shipowners- who penetrated or sent agents into the wilds of Aig nen —exPlorers, ‘vith native chiefs on which British diplomacy could base its elaima tn w ic? 2% Made treaties ‘Taubman Goldie united into the Royal Niger Company (1886) a nunten ues Attica Sit George imber of British firms trading on Escaneado con CamScannerthe Niger and pushed northward along the river, making treaties until he met the French. He thus acquired modern Nigeria for Britain. In East Africa Sir William Mackinnon and Sir john became advisers of the Sultan of Zanzibar and employed Stanley and Johnson to make treaties with the chiefs on the mainland. The British East Africa Company, chartered in 1888, obtained for Britain what is now Kenya and Uganda. Expansion in South Africa was the work of Cecil Rhodes. The son of an English clergyman, he went to South Africa in 1870 just as diamonds were discovered. Rhodes, who made a great fortune in diamonds and later in gold, became Prime Minister of Cape Colony in 1890. a year earlier he had obtained a charter for the British South Africa Company, which, pushing northwards claimed for England the territories known as Northern and Southern Rhodesia. But local agreements with African chiefs meant nothing unless they were backed by diplomacy in London and resulted in international treaties. In 1890 three important treaties concluded with Germany, France and Portugal delineated African boundaries and went far toward easing tension among the great powers. In Egypt British intervention was direct and involved the dispatch of considerable forces of the Crown to bombard Alexandria and to invade Egypt in 1882. even here the British claimed to be acting on the defensive, arguing that law and order had broken down under a new Egyptian regime. The Egyptian army was defeated at the battle of Tel el-Kebir. Egypt never formally became a British colony as such: it was “occupied” by Britain and what purported to be its own administration was placed under close British supervision. Through this fiction what was in reality a formidable and ambitious structure of colonial rule was constructed, second only to the government of India in its scope, its resources and the quality of its personnel. The Khedive’s ministers were “guided” by a British consul-General; the Egyptian financial system was directed by British financial advisers; Egyptian irrigation schemes were managed by British engineers, judicial advisers devised reforms of the legal system, Egyptian schools were inspected by British inspectors, the Egyptian army was commanded by a British Sirdar. In short, the British presence became increasingly intrusive: there were 170 British officials in Egypt in 1883 and 662 in 1906. The occupation of Egypt was a spectacular act of imperial expansion. The British government’s explanation for the invasion was that it was engaged in an operation to restore order and then to create a stable government and that it would have done this with French co-operation, had that been forthcoming. Much was said, after the invasion had actually been launched, about protecting the Suez Canal. NIGERIA Lttle is known about the history of Nigeria in ancient times, but archaeologists have discovered evidence that the Nok people lived southwest of the city of Jos in central Nigeria from about 500 BC to AD 200. The northern part of the present territory of Nigeria was the site of organi: + Middle Ages. By the 8" century, the region southwest of Lake Chad ws are tie sea i Empire, which in 1086 adopted Islam. By about 1300 Bornu was a flourishing, centref I bon culture, rvalling Mali in the west, Bormu reached its zenith as an independent kingdom under Take Alooma, who extended his rule over many of the eastern Hausa states that had Saat ee west of Kanem-Bornu since the 11" century, the western states fell under the inthe che Following the breakup of Songhai and the decline of Kanem-Bornu in th 16" sway of Songhai. states regained their independence and continued to flourish until the early 19” conen tn Hause ir i ly 19% 7 who then burst into prominence, had been established thr. Hatealand nt: The Fulani > ‘ough ‘ R century. Inthe southem part of the county, the Yoruba had thet on sa SeHe the late 16 ruled in Benin in the present south-central parts; and the Ibo in the en se sn ne, West the Edo . east, in ar delta. All these people had functioning states before or around AD 1400, ind north of the Niger Escaneado con CamScanner" British Encroachment The Portuguese, English and others established slave-trading stations in the Niger delta area in the 17 and 18" centuries, The interior was first penetrated by explorers seeking the source of the Niger River. In the 19" century palm oil became such an important article of commerce that the delta region was known as Oil Rivers. A British consul was sent to Calabar and later to Lagos, where British traders were firmly established. In 1861 Britain took full possession of Lagos Island. After the conclusion of several treaties with native chiefs, the British Oil Rivers Protectorate was established in southern Nigeria. In 1886 the Royal Niger Company was granted a charter under which it governed the territory of the protectorate, raising an armed constabulary and establishing government services. The name of the protectorate was changed in 1893 to the Niger Coast Protectorate. The Kingdom of Benin in the southwest was added to the area in 1897 and, after further expansion in the southeast, the region became the Protectorate of Southern Nigeria in 1900. The charter of the Royal Niger Company was revoked in the same year, and the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria was proclaimed. = The Protectorates Neither of the two protectorates was under full British control at the time of its establishment. The entire are of present Nigeria was, however, acknowledged to the British under agreements made ‘between Great Britain, Germany and France that divided much of Africa in the so-called spheres of influence. British troops engaged in military conflicts with followers of Muslim emirs in the north and with Nigerian peoples who were still engaged in the slave trade after it had been prohibited by the British in 1807. British domination became complete in 1914, when the two administrations were merged as the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. For administrative purposes the country was divided into the Colony of Lagos and two groups of provinces in the protectorate, the Northern and Southern provinces. Frederick Dealtry Lugard was the first govemnor-general of united Nigeria. He left some local functions of government to the traditional tribal chiefs or councils, which acted under the supervision and with the assistance and advice of British administrators. In 1922 the League of Nations mandate of Cameroon was added, administratively, to the protectorate. In the same year the Nigerian legislative council, which had limited legislative authority over the Colony of Lagos and the Southern provinces, was inaugurated; the Northern provinces remained under the jurisdiction of a British governor. The former League of Nations mandate of Cameroon became a United Nations trust territory in 1946 and remained under British administration. = Independence: Nigerian demands for self-government after World War II resulted in a series of short-lived constitutions. The first, in 1947, established provincial legislatures with limited participation in the government by the indigenous peoples of Nigeria. By succeeding constitutional changes, Nigeria was provided with a federal type of government, and the provinces were consolidated into three regions (Eastern, Western and Northern), each with a measure of autonomy. In 1954, in response to popular demand, and in recognition of the complex mix of racial and religious backgrounds within the country, Nigeria became a federation. Each region was given the option, dependent on certain safeguards for the federation, to assume a self-governing status. Internal self-government was granted to the Eastern and Western Regions in 1957 and to the Northern Region in 1959. On October 1, 1960, Nigeria became independent within the Commonwealth of Nations, On October 7 it was admitted to membership in the United Nations. The first prime minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, headed a coalition government representing the major parties of the Norther and Easter regions. The governor-general was Nnamdi Azikiwe, who became president when Nigeria adopted a republican form of government in 1963. Meanwhile, in 1961, the northem section of the former British Cameroon voted to become part of Nigeria. > Escaneado con CamScannerCivil War Political bickering and corruption that left young officers increasingly impatient finally culminated in a military coup in January 1966. Prime Minister Balewa and two regional premiers were killed. A military government was established by the army commander Major General Johnson Aguiyi- Tronsi, who abolished the federal system. In July Northern officers led a countercoup and killed Ironsi. His successor revived the federation. During this period many Ibo living in the north were killed or sought refuge in their homelands in the east. Relations between the federal government and the Ibo continued to deteriorate. In May 1967 the federal government announced its intention to split the Eastern region into three states, which would leave the Ibo without access to the sea and cut them off from the region’s oil-rich areas. The Eastern Region then seceded and proclaimed itself the Republic of Biafra. Civil war broke out and lasted for two and a half years before Biafran resistance was overcome in January 1970. Government The central reality of Nigeria’s political life since independence in 1960 has been the rivalry and suspicion between the traditional Muslim, Hausa and Fulani domination in the north, and the modern, Westernized south led by Yoruba and Ibo politicians. Following military rule during the period from 1966 to 1979, civilian government was restored under a constitution promulgated in 1978, which was suspended following a military coup in 1983. Promulgation of a new constitution in 1989 was expected to pave the way for return to civilian rule in the early 1990s, but following a military coup in 1993, this constitution has been rescinded, and progress has been slow. Escaneado con CamScanner