DRASTIC CHANGES

"By the first decade of the twentieth century, the "Scramble for Africa" was over. Virtually all of the continent belonged to one or another European empire: French, British, Portuguese, Belgium, German, the odd corner or two for Spain, or Italy. The exceptions were Ethiopia, where the emperor's army had repelled an Italian advance in 1896, and Liberia, which had been created by former slaves from the United States."

THE CONQUEST OF AFRICA

The Scramble for Africa

Part 1

"Now, of course, all of this might not necessarily lead to outright colonization, to colonialism, as opposed to other forms of influence, had there not been multiple industrial powers involved in this scramble. But the dynamic of getting there first, and, thus, establishing, not just tapping new markets, but establishing secure new markets, preserved new markets, of establishing secure sources of raw materials."

Part 2

"This notion of 'We better get there or the French will beat us,' 'We better get there before the French or the Germans will pour in,' etc., and claim these kinds of advantages. After all, capitalism is largely about competition, and these were competing capitalist powers. And this lent a kind of self-generating momentum and, of course, contributes to the remarkable speed of the takeover overall."