Rise Of Colonialism In Africa

1. Historical Context

Prior to the 20th century, many things had happened in Europe and Africa. Although Africa was a place with severe famine, widespread diseases and natural disasters, Africa was at the same time found to be a “hidden gem” of rich resources - which attracted unprecedented attention from the West and results to fervent interest in “Scramble for Africa” (1884-5). Moreover, it was the period when Europeans painstakingly invented and crafted their traditions and decided elements of their culture were to be shared and promoted to Africa. As a result, the many events have motivated Europeans to rush to Africa, not only was it an open door for the West to influence a neighboring continent, but also an opportunity for Europeans of lower class to climb the social mobility ladder concurrently. Ranger

Rise of nationalism

As time pass, Africans from different societies form tribes and strive to create their own customs through laws, political system and rights to distinguish themselves from other communities and entitle their people with special privileges. Take the example of Tanganyika, where tribes are under indirect control – formation of these tribes would refine racial thinking in German times, and administrators insisted that all Africans belonged to a tribe, much like how each European belonged to a nation.

However, later on in the 20th century, African intellectuals had come to realize that modernizing changes does not occur in small –scale African communities, but in large-scale kingdoms. As a result, a rise of nationalism was stimulated over tribal traditions. Ranger supported his point by citing the King George IV’s visit to Northern Rhodesia in 1947, when the loyal address made included several nationalist elements. This marked the beginning of the era when African groups would invent their very own traditions with nationalist elements and later on would even express their national sovereignty by means of national anthems, flags and