Why did Africa get divided up between European countries?

The task of this conference was to ensure that each European country that claimed possession over a part of Africa must bring civilization, in the form of Christianity, and trade to each region that it would occupy.

How did European countries politically divide Africa?

During colonization, European powers divided the continent with little to no regard for ethnic, religious, or linguistic divisions. When these powers left the region, the borders they drew remained and have at times created conflict in the region and led some groups to begin movements for their own country.

How did European colonialism negatively impact African cultures?

The greatest negative impact of colonization was the exploitation of the natural resources by foreigners which did not benefit the local communities, but instead the colonizers. To gain access to the natural resources, there were major landscaping; which destroyed the otherwise peaceful lifestyle of the locals.

Why is there so much ethnic conflict in Africa?

Causes of Ethnic Conflict. Economic factors have been identified as one of the major causes of conflict in Africa. Theorists believe that competition for scarce resources is a common factor in almost all ethnic conflicts in Africa. It follows that multi-ethnic countries are likely to experience distributional conflicts …

How did colonization affect African culture?

Colonialism made African colonies dependent by introducing a mono- cultural economy for the territories. It also dehumanized African labour force and traders. It forced Africans to work in colonial plantations at very low wages and displaced them from their lands.

What conditions existing in a country either bring about or prevent ethnic divisions from becoming ethnic conflict?

Causes of ethnic conflict Proximate causes embrace four levels of conflict triggers: internal mass-level factors (what Brown calls “bad domestic problems”), external mass-level factors (“bad neighborhoods”), external elite-level factors (“bad neighbors”), and internal elite-level factors (“bad leaders”).

How was Africa divided?

In 1885 European leaders met at the infamous Berlin Conference to divide Africa and arbitrarily draw up borders that exist to this day. Lines of longitude and latitude, rivers and mountain ranges were pressed into service as borders separating the colonies.