Africa

resulted in surrounding all the old British possessions in West Africa with

a continuous band of French territory. There was, however, one region on

the west coast where, notwithstanding the lethargy of the British

government, British interests were being vigorously pushed, protected and

consolidated. This was on the lower Niger, and the leading spirit in the

enterprise was Mr Goldie Taubman (afterwards Sir George Taubman Goldie). In

1877 Sir George Goldie visited the Niger and conceived the idea of

establishing a settled government in that region. Through his efforts the

various trading firms on the lower Niger formed themselves in 1879 into the

``United African Company,'' and the foundations were laid of something like

settled administration. An application was made to the British government

for a charter in 1881, and the capital of the company increased to a

million sterling. Henceforth the company was known as the ``National

African Company,'' and it was acknowledged that its object was not only to

develop the trade of the lower Niger, but to extend its operations to the

middle reaches of the river, and to open up direct relations with the great

Fula empire of Sokoto and the smaller states associated with Sokoto under a

somewhat loosely defined suzerainty. The great development of trade which

followed the combination of British interests carried out under Goldie's

skilful guidance did not pass unnoticed in France, and, encouraged by

Gambetta, French traders made a bold bid for a position on the river. Two

French companies, with ample capital, were formed, and various stations

were established on the lower Niger. Goldie realized at once the

seriousness of the situation, and lost no time in declaring commercial war

on the newcomers. His bold tactics were entirely successful, and a few days

before the meeting of the Berlin conference he had the satisfaction of

announcing that he had bought out the whole of the French interests on the

river, and that Great Britain alone possessed any interests on the lower

Niger.

To complete the survey of the political situation in Africa at the time

the plenipotentiaries met at Berlin, it is necessary to

The position in Tunisia and Egypt.

refer briefly to the course of events in North and East Africa since 1875.

In 1881 a French army entered Tunisia, and compelled the bey to sign a

treaty placing that country under French protection. The sultan of Turkey

formally protested against this invasion of Ottoman rights, but the great

powers took no action, and France was left in undisturbed possession of her

newly acquired territory. In Egypt the extravagance of Ismail Pasha had led

to the establishment in 1879, in the interests of European bondholders, of

a Dual Control exercised by France and Great Britain. France had, however,

in 1882 refused to take part in the suppression of a revolt under Arabi

Pasha, which England accomplished unaided. As a consequence the Dual

Control had been abolished in January 1883, since when Great Britain, with

an army quartered in the country, had assumed a predominant position in

Egyptian affairs (see EGYPT.) In East Africa, north of the Portuguese

possessions, where the sultan of Zanzibar was the most considerable native

potentate, Germany was secretly preparing the foundations of her present

colony of German East Africa. But no overt act had warned Europe of what

was impending. The story of the foundation of German East Africa is one of

the romances of the continent. Early in 1884 the Society for German

Colonization was founded, with the avowed object of furthering the newly

awakened colonial aspirations of the German people.12 It was a society

inspired and controlled by young men, and on the 4th of November 1884,

eleven days before the conference assembled at Berlin, three young Germans

arrived as deck passengers at Zanzibar. They were disguised as mechanics,

but were in fact Dr Karl Peters, the president of the Colonization Society,

Joachim Count Pfeil, and Dr Juhlke, and their stock-in-trade consisted of a

number of German flags and a supply of blank treaty forms. They proposed to

land on the mainland opposite Zanzibar, and

The German flag raised in East Africa.

to conclude treaties in the back country with native chiefs placing their

territories under German protection. The enterprise was frowned upon by the

German government; but, encouraged by German residents at Zanzibar, the

three young pioneers crossed to the mainland, and on the 19th of November,

while the diplomatists assembled at Berlin were solemnly discussing the

rules which were to govern the game of partition, the first ``treaty'' was

signed at Mbuzini, and the German flag raised for the first time in East

Africa.

Italy had also obtained a footing on the African continent before the

meeting of the Berlin conference. The Rubattino Steamship Company as far

back as 1870 had bought the port of Assab as a coaling station, but it was

not until 1882 that it was declared an Italian colony. This was followed by

the conclusion of a treaty with the sultan of Assab, chief of the Danakil,

signed on the 15th of March 1883, and subsequently approved by the king of

Shoa, whereby Italy obtained the cession of part of Ablis (Aussa) on the

Red Sea, Italy undertaking to protect with her fleet the Danakil littoral.

One other event must be recorded as happening before the meeting of the

Berlin conference. The king of the Belgians had

Recognition of the International Association.

been driven to the conclusion that, if his African enterprise was to obtain

any measure of permanent success, its international status must be

recognized. To this end negotiations were opened with various governments.

The first government to ``recognize the flag of the International

Association of the Congo as the flag of a friendly government'' was that of

the United States, its declaration to that effect bearing date the 22nd of

April 1884. There were, however, difficulties in the way of obtaining the

recognition of the European powers, and in order to obtain that of France,

King Leopold, on the 23rd of April 1884, while labouring under the feelings

of annoyance which had been aroused by the Anglo-Portuguese treaty

concluded by Lord Granville in February, authorized Colonel Strauch,

president of the International Association, to engage to give France ``the

right of preference if, through unforeseen circumstances, the Association

were compelled to sell its possessions.'' France's formal recognition of

the Association as a government was, however, delayed by the discussion of

boundary questions until the following February, and in the meantime

Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Holland and Spain had all

recognized the Association; though Germany alone had done so—on the 8th of

November—before the assembling of the conference.

The conference assembled at Berlin on the 15th of November 1884, and

after protracted deliberations the ``General Act of

The Berlin Conference of 1884-85.

the Berlin Conference'' was signed by the representatives of all the powers

attending the conference, on the 26th of February 1885. The powers

represented were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, the

United States, France, Great Britain, Italy, Holland, Portugal, Russia,

Sweden and Norway, and Turkey, to name them in the alphabetical order

adopted in the preamble to the French text of the General Act.

Ratifications were deposited by all the signatory powers with the exception

of the United States. It is unnecessary to examine in detail the results of

the labours of the conference. The General Act dealt with six specific

subjects: (1) freedom of trade in the basin of the Congo, (2) the slave

trade, (3) neutrality of territories in the basin of the Congo, (4)

navigation of the Congo, (5) navigation of the Niger, (6) rules for future

occupation on the coasts of the African continent. It will be seen that the

act dealt with other matters than the political partition of Africa; but,

so far as they concern the present purpose, the results effected by the

Berlin Act may be summed up as follows. The signatory powers undertook that

any fresh act of taking possession on any portion of the African coast must

be notified by the power taking possession, or assuming a protectorate, to

the other signatory powers. It was further provided that any such

occupation to be valid must be effective. It is also noteworthy that the

first reference in an international act to the obligations attaching to

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