The Berlin Conference, November 15 1884.

The Berlin Conference, which took place from 15 November 1884 to 26 February 1885, set the rules for European colonisation and trade in Africa during the era of New Imperialism.

Background

Before the Berlin Conference, European powers engaged in a series of diplomatic and exploratory efforts to extend their influence in Africa. French leaders, in particular, had already begun incursions into parts of Lagos, establishing connections with local trade networks similar to their methods in the Western Hemisphere. During the early 19th century, the rising European demand for ivory—a key material in luxury goods—drove merchants deeper into the African interior. 
In 1876, King Leopold II of Belgium established and led the International African Association, ostensibly aimed at research and the “civilising” of Africa. By 1878, he established the International Congo Society with economic motives, secretly acquiring investor shares and repurposing it for imperial goals. France, learning of these ambitions, dispatched its own explorers to secure their claims. In 1881, Pierre de Brazza, a French naval officer, ventured into the western Congo basin and raised the French flag over Brazzaville, now the capital of the Republic of Congo. Portugal also laid claims to the area, asserting historical claims based on old treaties and forming an alliance with Britain in 1884 to restrict Congo Society access to the Atlantic.
By the early 1880s, diplomatic gains, better geographic knowledge, and demand for resources like gold, timber, and rubber spurred European expansion. France took Tunisia in 1881 and expanded into the present-day Republic of Congo and Guinea by 1884. Meanwhile, Italy’s alliance with Germany pressured Bismarck to join the colonisation efforts. Britain, seeing French advances toward Ethiopia, the Nile, and the Suez Canal as threats to its trade route to India, intervened in Egypt, establishing control that lasted for decades.

The Conference

Seeking to defuse growing tensions, King Leopold II of Belgium persuaded France and Germany that mutual cooperation in African trade would benefit all parties. With British support and prompted by Portugal’s initiative, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck invited representatives from 13 European nations and the United States to the Berlin Conference in 1884 to establish a unified approach to colonising Africa.

The conference, held from November 15, 1884, to February 26, 1885, resulted in the Berlin Act, which outlined several key principles. One major resolution was the signing of an international prohibition on the slave trade by African and Islamic powers, enforced by European members within their territories. Originally called the “International Association for the Exploration and Civilization of Central Africa,” this entity was formally recognised in the General Act as the International Congo Society, solidifying its claims. In August 1885, shortly after the conference ended, it was announced that the territory would be called "the Congo Free State".

The Berlin Act also established free trade across the Congo Basin, including Lake Malawi and nearby regions, and guaranteed open navigation on the Niger and Congo rivers. Additionally, it introduced the “Principle of Effective Occupation,” which required colonial powers to demonstrate actual control through treaties, administration, and policing to validate their claims. This measure aimed to prevent superficial claims and mandated that new acquisitions be reported to other signatories.

Although the Act emphasised effective control as a criterion for territorial rights, it was often ignored in the interior, leading to disputes. The concept facilitated European territorial expansion with minimal governance. Germany and France debated its application, with Germany advocating for stringent enforcement to limit rival claims, while Britain, wary of German ambitions, assumed Germany would have limited gains and ultimately supported a more flexible interpretation.

The principle allowed colonial powers to establish minimal coastal bases and expand inward, avoiding stringent administrative obligations. Proposals for more thorough control, such as those suggested by Belgium, were rejected by Britain and France, enabling European powers to claim vast territories with minimal oversight.

The conference also addressed specific territorial disputes: Portugal proposed the “Pink Map,” linking Angola and Mozambique through the land now comprising Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi. While most attendees endorsed it, Britain issued an ultimatum in 1890, forcing Portugal to abandon its plan. A demarcation line from Say in Niger to Maroua on Lake Chad’s northeastern coast divided France and Britain’s territories, assigning France land north of the line and Britain to the south. The Nile basin went to Britain, while France claimed the Lake Chad basin. Additionally, a line passing through Yola, the Benue, and Dekoa to Lake Chad delineated Britain and Germany’s territories. Finally, Italy was granted land north of a line from the Tropic of Cancer and the 17th meridian east, stretching to the 15th parallel north and the 21st meridian east.

Aftermath

The Berlin Conference provided an avenue for European powers to channel their rivalries outward, offering new opportunities for expansion as they faced increasing competition from the United States, Russia, and Japan. It also fostered dialogue aimed at preventing potential conflicts. Colonialism, introduced across nearly all of Africa, left a legacy of fragmented states when independence was regained after World War II.

The Scramble for Africa intensified after the conference, as European powers were required to demonstrate effective control over territories in their spheres of influence. This principle of “effective occupation” spurred expeditions that coerced local rulers into signing treaties, often under threat or force.

By the late 19th century, Africa was largely claimed by European nations, at least nominally. By 1895, the only remaining independent states were Morocco, which was eventually colonised by Spain and France; Liberia, established with American support for freed slaves; and the Ethiopian Empire, which repelled an Italian invasion in the First Italo-Ethiopian War but fell to Italian occupation in 1936. The Majeerteen Sultanate and Sultanate of Hobyo in northern Somalia maintained independence until being annexed by Italy in the early 20th century.