The history of Africa is calculated for thousands of years, it is from here, according to the scientific world, that mankind originated. And here, too, many peoples returned, however, already in order to establish their dominance.

The proximity of the north to Europe led to the fact that Europeans in the 15-16th century actively penetrated the continent. Also the African west, it was controlled by the Portuguese at the end of the 15th century, they began to actively sell slaves from the local population.

The Spaniards and the Portuguese were followed by other states from Western Europe: France, Denmark, England, Spain, Holland and Germany to the "dark continent".

As a result, East and North Africa came under European oppression, more than 10% of African lands were under their rule in the middle of the 19th century. However, by the end of this century, the size of colonization reached more than 90% of the mainland.

What attracted the colonists? First of all, natural resources:

• wild trees of valuable species in large quantities;
• growing a variety of crops (coffee, cocoa, cotton, sugar cane);
• precious stones (diamonds) and metals (gold).

The slave trade also grew.

Egypt has long been drawn into the capitalist economy on a world level. After the Suez Canal was opened, England began to actively compete, who would be the first to establish his dominance in these lands.

The British government took advantage of the difficult situation in the country, prompting the creation of an international committee to manage the Egyptian budget. As a result, an Englishman became Minister of Finance, a Frenchman was in charge of public works. Then difficult times began for the population, which was exhausted from numerous taxes.

The Egyptians tried in various ways to prevent the establishment of a foreign colony in Africa, but over time, England sent troops there to take over the country. The British were able to occupy Egypt by force and cunning, making it their colony.

France began the colonization of Africa from Algeria, in which for twenty years it proved its right to dominate by war. Also, with prolonged bloodshed, the French conquered Tunisia.

Agriculture was developed in these lands, so the conquerors organized their own huge estates with vast lands, on which Arab peasants were forced to work. Local peoples were convened to build facilities for the needs of the occupiers (roads and ports).

And although Morocco was a very important object for many European countries, it remained free for a long time thanks to the rivalry of its enemies. Only after the strengthening of power in Tunisia and Algeria did France begin to subdue Morocco.

In addition to these countries in the north, Europeans began to explore South Africa. There, the British easily pushed back the local tribes (San, Koikoin) to deserted territories. Only the Bantu peoples did not submit for a long time.

As a result, in the 70s of the 19th century, the English colonies occupied the southern coast, without penetrating deep into the mainland.

The influx of people to this region is timed to coincide with the discovery in the valley of the river. Orange diamond. Mines became the centers of settlements, cities were created. The formed joint-stock companies have always used the cheap power of the local population.

The British had to fight for Zululand, which was included in Natal. The Transvaal was not fully conquered, but the London Convention provided for certain restrictions on local government.

Germany also began to occupy these territories - from the mouth of the Orange River to Angola, the Germans declared their protectorate (southwest Africa).

If England sought to extend its power in the south, then France directed its efforts inland in order to colonize the continuous strip between the Atlantic and Indian oceans. As a result, under French rule was the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Guinea.

The British also owned some West African countries - mainly the coastal territories of the Gambia, Niger and Volta rivers, as well as the Sahara.

Germany in the west was able to conquer only Cameroon and Togo.

Belgium sent forces to the center of the African continent, so the Congo became its colony.

Italy got some lands in northeast Africa - huge Somalia and Eritrea. And fot Ethiopia was able to repel the attack of the Italians, as a result, it was this power that was practically the only one that retained its independence from the influence of Europeans.

Only two did not become European colonies:

• Ethiopia;
• Eastern Sudan.

Former colonies in Africa

Naturally, foreign possession of almost the entire continent could not last long, the local population sought to gain freedom, since their living conditions were usually deplorable. Therefore, since 1960, the colonies quickly began to be liberated.

This year, 17 African countries became independent again, most of them - the former colonies in Africa of France and those that were under the control of the UN. Lost colonies in addition to this and:

• UK - Nigeria;
• Belgium - Congo.

Somalia, divided between Britain and Italy, united to form the Somali Democratic Republic.

While most Africans became independent as a result of mass desire, strikes and negotiations, wars were still waged in some countries to gain freedom:

• Angola;
• Zimbabwe;
• Kenya;
• Namibia;
• Mozambique.

The rapid liberation of Africa from the colonists has led to the fact that in many created states, the geographical boundaries do not correspond to the ethnic and cultural composition of the population, and this becomes a reason for disagreements and civil wars.

And the new rulers do not always comply with democratic principles, which leads to massive dissatisfaction and the deterioration of the situation in many African countries.

Even now in Africa there are such territories that are controlled by European states:

• Spain - Canary Islands, Melilla and Ceuta (in Morocco);
• Great Britain - Chagos Archipelago, Ascension Islands, St. Helena, Tristan da Cunha;
• France - Reunion, the islands of Mayotte and Eparse;
• Portugal - Madeira.

Colonization of Africa

Territorial claims of European powers to African lands in 1913

Belgium UK

Germany Spain

Italy Portugal

France Independent countries

The early colonization of Africa by European powers began in the 15th and 16th centuries, when, after the Reconquista, the Spaniards and Portuguese turned their eyes to Africa. Already at the end of the 15th century, the Portuguese actually controlled the western coast of Africa and in the 16th century launched an active slave trade. Following them, almost all Western European powers rush to Africa: the Dutch, the French, and the British.

Arab trade with Zanzibar gradually led to the colonization of East Africa; Morocco's attempts to seize the Sahel failed.

In the second half of the 19th century, especially after 1885, the process of African colonization acquired such a scale that it was called the "race for Africa"; practically the entire continent (except for Ethiopia and Liberia, which remained independent) by 1900 was divided between a number of European powers: Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Portugal retained and somewhat expanded their old colonies.

During the First World War, Germany lost (mostly already in 1914) its African colonies, which after the war came under the administration of other colonial powers under League of Nations mandates.

Decolonization of Africa

After the Second World War, the process of decolonization of Africa quickly began. 1960 was declared the Year of Africa - the year of the liberation of the largest number of colonies. In this year, 13 states gained independence.

Due to the fact that the borders of African states during the "race for Africa" ​​were drawn artificially, without taking into account the resettlement of various peoples and tribes, as well as the fact that the traditional African society was not ready for democracy, in many African countries after gaining independence, civil war. Dictators came to power in many countries. The resulting regimes are characterized by disregard for human rights, bureaucracy, totalitarianism, which in turn leads to economic crisis and growing poverty.

Geography of Africa

Relief For the most part - flat, in the north-west are the Atlas Mountains, in the Sahara - the highlands of Ahaggar and Tibesti. In the east - the Ethiopian highlands, to the south of it - the volcano Kilimanjaro (5895 m) - the highest point on the mainland. To the south are the Cape and Dragon Mountains. The lowest point (157 meters below sea level) is located in Djibouti, this is the Assal salt lake.

Minerals

Africa is known primarily for its richest deposits of diamonds (South Africa, Zimbabwe) and gold (South Africa, Ghana, Republic of the Congo). There are oil fields in Algeria; bauxite is mined in Guinea and Ghana. The resources of phosphorites, as well as manganese, iron and lead-zinc ores are concentrated in the zone of the northern coast of Africa.

Inland waters

Africa is home to the second longest river in the world, the Nile, which flows from south to north. Other major rivers are the Niger in the west, the Congo in central Africa, and the Zambezi, Limpopo and Orange rivers in the south.

The largest lake is Victoria. Other large lakes are Nyasa and Tanganyika, located in lithospheric faults. They are elongated from north to south.

Climate

The center of Africa and the coastal regions of the Gulf of Guinea belong to the equatorial zone, there is abundant rainfall throughout the year and there is no change of seasons. To the north and south of the equatorial belt are subequatorial belts. Here, humid equatorial air masses dominate in summer (rainy season), and in winter - dry air of tropical trade winds (dry season). To the north and south of the subequatorial belts are the northern and southern tropical belts. They are characterized by high temperatures with low rainfall, which leads to the formation of deserts.

To the north is the largest desert on Earth, the Sahara Desert, to the south, the Kalahari Desert. The northern and southern extremities of the mainland are included in the corresponding subtropical belts.

European colonization affected not only North and South America, Australia and other lands, but the entire African continent. From the former power of Ancient Egypt, which you studied in the 5th grade, there is no trace left. Now all these are colonies divided among different European countries. In this lesson, you will learn how the process of European colonization took place in Africa and whether there were any attempts to resist this process.

In 1882, popular discontent broke out in Egypt, and England sent its troops into the country under the pretext of protecting its economic interests, which meant the Suez Canal.

Another powerful state that extended its influence to the African states in modern times was Omani empire. Oman was located in the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula. Active Arab traders carried out trading operations along almost the entire coast of the Indian Ocean. As a result, numerous trade trading posts(small trading colonies of merchants of a certain country on the territory of another state) on the coast of East Africa, in the Comoros and in the north of the island of Madagascar. It was with the Arab traders that the Portuguese navigator encountered Vasco da Gama(Fig. 2), when he managed to go around Africa and pass through the Mozambique Strait to the shores of East Africa: modern Tanzania and Kenya.

Rice. 2. Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama ()

It was this event that marked the beginning of European colonization. The Omani empire could not stand the competition with the Portuguese and other European navigators and collapsed. The remnants of this empire are considered to be the Sultanate of Zanzibar and a few sultanates on the coast of East Africa. By the end of the 19th century, they all disappeared under the onslaught of Europeans.

The first colonizers who settled in sub-Saharan Africa were Portuguese. First, the sailors of the XV century, and then Vasco da Gama, who in 1497-1499. rounded Africa and reached India by sea, exerted their influence on the policy of local rulers. As a result, the coasts of countries such as Angola and Mozambique were explored by them by the beginning of the 16th century.

The Portuguese extended their influence to other lands, some of which were considered less effective. The main interest for the European colonizers was the slave trade. It was not necessary to found large colonies, countries set up their trading posts on the coast of Africa and were engaged in the exchange of European products for slaves or conquest campaigns to capture slaves and went to trade them in America or Europe. This slave trade continued in Africa until the end of the 19th century. Gradually, different countries banned slavery and the slave trade. At the end of the 19th century, there was a hunt for slave-owning ships, but all this was of little use. Slavery continued to exist.

The conditions of the slaves were monstrous (Fig. 3). In the process of transporting slaves across the Atlantic Ocean, at least half died. Their bodies were thrown overboard. There was no record of slaves. At least 3 million people, and modern historians claim that up to 15 million, Africa lost due to the slave trade. The scale of trade changed from century to century, and it reached its peak at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries.

Rice. 3. African slaves are transported across the Atlantic Ocean to America ()

After the appearance of the Portuguese colonialists, other European countries began to claim the territory of Africa. In 1652, Holland showed activity. At that time Jan van Riebeeck(Fig. 4) captured a point in the extreme south of the African continent and named it Kapstad. In 1806, this city was captured by the British and renamed Cape Town(Fig. 5). The city still exists today and bears the same name. It was from this point that the spread of the Dutch colonialists throughout South Africa began. The Dutch colonizers called themselves Boers(Fig. 6) (translated from Dutch - “peasant”). Peasants made up the bulk of the Dutch colonists who lacked land in Europe.

Rice. 4. Jan van Riebeeck ()

Rice. 5. Cape Town on the map of Africa ()

Just as in North America, the colonists clashed with the Indians, in South Africa, the Dutch colonists clashed with the local peoples. First of all, with the people scythe, the Dutch called them kaffirs. In the struggle for the territory, which received the name Kaffir Wars, the Dutch colonists gradually pushed the native tribes further and further to the center of Africa. The territories they captured, however, were small.

In 1806, the British arrived in southern Africa. The Boers did not like this and refused to submit to the British crown. They began to retreat further north. So there were people who called themselves Boer Settlers, or Burtrekers. This great campaign continued for several decades. It led to the formation of two independent Boer states in the northern part of present-day South Africa: Transvaal and the Orange Republic(Fig. 7).

Rice. 7. Independent Boer States: Transvaal and Orange Free State ()

The British were unhappy with this retreat of the Boers, because she wanted to control the entire territory of southern Africa, and not just the coast. As a result, in 1877-1881. The first Anglo-Boer War took place. The British demanded that these territories become part of the British Empire, but the Boers strongly disagreed with this. It is generally accepted that about 3,000 Boers took part in this war, and the entire English army was 1,200 people. The resistance of the Boers was so fierce that England abandoned attempts to influence the independent Boer states.

But in 1885 in the area of ​​modern Johannesburg, deposits of gold and diamonds were discovered. The economic factor in colonization was always the most important, and England could not allow the Boers to benefit from gold and diamonds. In 1899-1902. The second Anglo-Boer War broke out. Despite the fact that the war was fought on the territory of Africa, it took place, in fact, between two European peoples: the Dutch (Boers) and the British. The bitter war ended with the fact that the Boer republics lost their independence and were forced to become part of the South African colony of Great Britain.

Together with the Dutch, the Portuguese and the British, representatives of other European powers quickly appeared in Africa. Thus, in the 1830s, active colonization activities were carried out by France, which captured vast territories in North and Equatorial Africa. Actively colonized and Belgium, especially during the reign of the king LeopoldII. The Belgians created their own colony in central Africa called Free State of the Congo. It existed from 1885 to 1908. It was believed that this was the personal territory of the Belgian king Leopold II. This state was only in words m. In fact, it was inherent in the violation of all the principles of international law, and the local population was driven to work on the royal plantations. A huge number of people on these plantations died. There were special punitive detachments that were supposed to punish those who collected too little rubber(sap of the hevea tree, the main raw material for the manufacture of rubber). As proof that the punitive detachments coped with their task, they had to bring to the point where the Belgian army was located, the severed hands and feet of the people they were punishing.

As a result, almost all African territories by the endXIXcenturies were divided among the European powers(Fig. 8). The activity of European countries in annexing new territories was so great that this era was called "race for Africa" ​​or "fight for Africa". The Portuguese, who owned the territory of modern Angola and Mozambique, counted on the capture of the intermediate territory, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi, and, thus, on the creation of a network of their colonies on the African continent. But it was impossible to implement this project, since the British had their own plans for these territories. Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, based in Cape Town, Cecil John Rhodes, believed that Great Britain should create a chain of its own colonies. It should start in Egypt (in Cairo) and end in Cape Town. Thus, the British hoped to build their own colonial strip and stretch the railway along this strip from Cairo to Cape Town. After the First World War, the British managed to build the chain, but the railway was unfinished. It doesn't exist to this day.

Rice. 8. Possessions of European colonialists in Africa by the beginning of the 20th century ()

In 1884-1885, the European powers held a conference in Berlin, which made a decision on the question of which country belongs to this or that sphere of influence in Africa. As a result, almost the entire territory of the continent was divided between them.

As a result, by the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, Europeans had mastered the entire territory of the continent. Only 2 semi-independent states remained: Ethiopia and Liberia. This is due to the fact that Ethiopia was difficult to colonize, because one of the main tasks of the colonizers was the spread of Christianity, and Ethiopia since the early Middle Ages has been a Christian state.

Liberia, in fact, was a territory created by the United States. It was on this territory that former American slaves were taken out of the United States by decision of President Monroe.

As a result, the British, French, Germans, Italians and other nations began to conflict in England. The Germans and Italians, who had few colonies, were dissatisfied with the decisions of the Berlin Congress. Other countries also wanted to get their hands on as much territory as possible. AT 1898 year between the British and French occurred fascist incident. Major Marchand of the French army captured a stronghold in modern South Sudan. The British considered these lands their own, and the French wanted to spread their influence there. As a result, a conflict broke out, during which relations between England and France deteriorated greatly.

Naturally, the Africans resisted the European colonizers, but the forces were unequal. Only one successful attempt can be singled out in the 19th century, when Muhammad ibn abd-Allah, who called himself Mahdi(Fig. 9), created a theocratic state in Sudan in 1881. It was a state based on the principles of Islam. In 1885, he managed to capture Khartoum (the capital of Sudan), and even though the Mahdi himself did not live long, this state existed until 1898 and was one of the few truly independent territories on the African continent.

Rice. 9. Muhammad ibn abd-Allah (Mahdi) ()

The most famous of the Ethiopian rulers of this era fought against European influence. MenelikII, who ruled from 1893 to 1913. He united the country, carried out active conquests and successfully resisted the Italians. He also maintained good relations with Russia, despite the significant remoteness of these two countries.

But all these attempts at confrontation were only isolated and could not give a serious result.

The revival of Africa began only in the second half of the 20th century, when African countries began to gain independence one after another.

Bibliography

1. Vedyushkin V.A., Burin S.N. History textbook for grade 8. - M.: Bustard, 2008.

2. Drogovoz I. The Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. - Minsk: Harvest, 2004.

3. Nikitina I.A. Capture of the Boer Republics by England (1899-1902). - M., 1970.

4. Noskov V.V., Andreevskaya T.P. General history. 8th grade. - M., 2013.

5. Yudovskaya A.Ya. General history. History of the New Age, 1800-1900, Grade 8. - M., 2012.

6. Yakovleva E.V. The colonial division of Africa and the position of Russia: the second half of the 19th century. - 1914 - Irkutsk, 2004.

Homework

1. Tell us about European colonization in Egypt. Why didn't the Egyptians want the Suez Canal to open?

2. Tell us about the European colonization of the southern part of the African continent.

3. Who are the Boers and why did the Anglo-Boer Wars break out? What were their results and consequences?

4. Were there attempts to resist European colonization and how did they manifest themselves?

XVIII--XIX centuries. Mass colonization of Africa

Cape Colony (Dutch Kaapkolonie, from Kaap de Goede Hoop - Cape of Good Hope), Dutch and then English possession in South Africa. It was founded in 1652 at the Cape of Good Hope by the Dutch East India Company. In 1795, the Cape Colony was captured by Great Britain, in 1803-1806 it was under the control of the Dutch authorities, in 1806 again captured by Great Britain. The territory of the Cape Colony was constantly expanding due to the lands of Africans: Bushmen, Hottentots, Bantu peoples. As a result of a series of wars of conquest by the Boer and British colonialists, the eastern border of the Cape Colony reached the Umtamvuna River by 1894. In 1895, the southern part of the Bechuan lands, annexed in 1884-1885, was included in the Cape Colony.

The creation of the Cape Colony was the beginning of the mass European colonization of Africa, when many states joined the colonization struggle for the most valuable areas of the Black Continent.

Colonial policy from the very beginning was associated with wars. The so-called trade wars of the 17th and 18th centuries were fought by European states for colonial and commercial dominance. At the same time, they were one of the forms of primitive accumulation. These wars were accompanied by predatory attacks on foreign colonial possessions and the development of piracy. Trade wars also engulfed the coast of Africa. They contributed to the involvement of new overseas countries and peoples in the sphere of European colonial conquests. The reasons for the exceptional profitability of trade with colonial countries lay not only in its colonial character. For the colonies, this trade was always non-equivalent, and with the progress of European industry and the growing use of machinery, this non-equivalence steadily increased. In addition, the colonialists often acquired the products of the colonial countries through direct violence and robbery.

In the struggle of European states, the question was decided which of them would win commercial, maritime and colonial hegemony and thereby provide the most favorable conditions for the development of their own industry.

The Dutch and British put an end to the maritime and colonial predominance of Spain and Portugal at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries. As the model capitalist state of the time, Holland surpassed any other European state in the number and importance of its colonial acquisitions. At the Cape of Good Hope, Holland founded its "settlement" colonies.

A struggle unfolded between Europeans for colonies in Africa. At the very beginning of the 19th century, the British captured the Cape Colony. The Boers pushed back to the north on the lands taken from the indigenous population created the Republic of South Africa (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State. Then the Boers took Natal from the Zulus. In the next 50 years, England waged wars of extermination directed against the indigenous population (Kaffir Wars), as a result of which it expanded its possessions of the Cape Colony to the north. In 1843 they drove out the Boers and occupied Natal.

The northern coast of Africa was mainly invaded by France, which by the middle of the 19th century had taken possession of all of Algeria.

In the early 20s of the 19th century, the United States bought land on the west coast of Africa from the leader of one of the local tribes to organize a settlement of blacks. The colony of Liberia, created here, was declared an independent republic in 1847, but in fact remained dependent on the United States.

In addition, the Spaniards (Spanish Guinea, Rio de Oro), the French (Senegal, Gabon) and the British (Sierra Leone, Gambia, Gold Coast, Lagos) owned strongholds on the west coast of Africa.

The division of Africa was preceded by a series of new geographical explorations of the continent by Europeans. In the middle of the century, large Central African lakes were discovered and the sources of the Nile were found. The English traveler Livingston was the first European to cross the continent from the Indian Ocean (Quelimane in Mozambique) to the Atlantic (Luanda in Angola). He explored the entire course of the Zambezi, Lake Nyasa and Tanganyika, discovered the Victoria Falls, as well as Lakes Ngami, Mweru and Bangweolo, crossed the Kalahari Desert. The last of the major geographical discoveries in Africa was the exploration of the Congo in the 70s by the British Cameron and Stanley.

One of the most widespread forms of penetration of Europeans into Africa was the continuously expanding trade in manufactured goods in exchange for the products of tropical countries through unequal settlements; despite the official prohibition, the slave trade was carried on; enterprising adventurers penetrated deep into the country and, under the flag of the fight against the slave trade, were engaged in robbery. Christian missionaries also played a significant role in strengthening the positions of the European powers on the Black Continent.

European colonialists were attracted to Africa by its huge natural wealth - valuable wild trees (oil palms and rubber plants), the possibility of growing cotton, cocoa, coffee, and sugar cane here. On the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, as well as in South Africa, gold and diamonds were found. The partition of Africa has become a matter of big policy for European governments.

South Africa, along with North Africa, Senegal and the Gold Coast, belongs to those areas of the mainland where the colonists began to move inland. Back in the middle of the 17th century, Dutch, and then German and French settlers acquired large plots in the Cape Province. The Dutch prevailed among the colonists, so they were all called Boers (from the Dutch "boer" - "peasant"). The Boers, however, soon became not at all peaceful farmers and pastoralists who earned their livelihood by their own labor. The colonists - their number was constantly replenished by newly arrived settlers - by the beginning of the 19th century already owned vast fields and pastures and stubbornly filtered further into the interior. At the same time, they destroyed or expelled the fiercely resisting Bushmen and other peoples of the Khoisan-speaking group, took away their land and livestock.

British missionaries, seeking to justify the colonial policy of England, at the beginning of the 19th century wrote with indignation in their reports about the brutal, inhuman destruction of the local population by the Boers. The English authors Barrow and Percival portrayed the Boers as lazy, rude, ignorant people, cruelly exploiting "half-savage natives." Indeed, hiding behind the dogmas of Calvinism, the Boers declared their "divine right" to enslave people with skin of a different color. Some of the conquered Africans were used on farms and were almost in the position of slaves. This applies primarily to the hinterland of the Cape Province, where the colonists had huge herds of cattle.

The farms were mostly subsistence farming. The herd often numbered 1,500-2,000 heads of cattle and several thousand sheep; Africans looked after them, forced to work by force. Near urban settlements - Kapstad, Stellenbosch, Graf Reinst - in addition, the labor of slaves brought from afar was used. They worked in the household, in agricultural enterprises, vineyards and fields, as dependent artisans. The Boers constantly pushed the boundaries of their possessions, and only the scythe, with heroic efforts, held them back on the Fish River. In the first hundred and fifty years of its existence, the Cape Colony served mainly as a way station for the Dutch East India Company on the way to India, but then the colonists got out of its control. They founded, primarily under the influence of the French Revolution, "autonomous regions", where, extolling freedom in words, they actually carried out territorial expansion and exploitation of the African population. At the beginning of the 19th century, Great Britain captured the Cape Colony. Since 1806, the residence of the English governor was located in Kapstad. Between the two groups interested in colonial expansion - the Boers and the British - a struggle began. Both pursued the same goal - to exploit the population of Africa, but they differed in their immediate tasks, motives and forms of their activity, for they represented different stages and driving forces of colonial expansion.

The Boers lost in this duel - they were not in a position to resolutely switch to capitalist methods of exploitation. This was preceded by numerous disagreements and clashes, and for many authors the entire history of South Africa in the 19th century even appears exclusively in the light of the "Anglo-Boer conflict".

Shortly after the Cape Colony became an English possession, administrative power passed from the Dutch authorities to English officials. Colonial troops were created, which included African "auxiliary" units. Boer farmers were heavily taxed. Since 1821, an increased influx of English settlers began. First of all, the administration provided them with the most fertile lands in the eastern part of the colony. From here they, having broken the resistance of the spit that lasted for decades, moved to the river Kei. By 1850, this area was annexed to the English colony, and then the entire territory of the Xhosa settlement was conquered.

The British authorities supported the capitalist colonization with appropriate measures, including the involvement of natives in the economy as a labor force. Slavery often continued to exist, albeit in an indirect form, in the form of forced labor or a system of working off. On the large farms, it only gradually gave way to the still existing capitalist exploitation of African rural workers and tenants ("squatter systems"). These forms of exploitation were by no means more humane for the African population than slave labor and other forms of dependence on Boer farms. Boer farmers considered themselves disadvantaged in their economic and political rights. They were particularly protested by the prohibition of slavery, the legislative acts of the British administration regarding the attraction and use of African workers, the conversion of Boer farms into concessions, the depreciation of the Dutch riksdaler, and other factors of this kind.

By this time, the consequences of the primitive, predatory methods of using the arable land and pastures of the Cape had also affected. Extensive pastoralism and the current order of inheritance of the land had previously pushed the colonists to move further inland and seize new areas. In 1836, a significant part of the Boers left their place to free themselves from the pressure of the British authorities. The "great track" began, the resettlement of 5-10 thousand Boers to the north. In colonial apologetic historiography, it is often romanticized and called the march of freedom. The Boers rode in heavy wagons drawn by oxen, which served as their dwelling on the way, and during armed skirmishes with the Africans, turned into a fortress on wheels. Huge herds moved nearby, armed horsemen guarded them.

The Boers left the Orange River far behind, and here in 1837 they first met the Matabele. The Africans courageously defended their herds and kraals, but in the decisive battle of Mosig, their capital, in the south of the Transvaal, matabele warriors who fought only with spears could not resist the modern weapons of the Boers, although they fought to the last drop of blood. Thousands of them were killed. The Matabele with all their people hurriedly retreated north, through the Limpopo, and drove off their cattle.

Another group of Boers, also carried away by a thirst for conquest, under the leadership of their leader Retief, crossed the Drakensberg Mountains into Natal. In 1838 they perpetrated a massacre among the Zulu who lived here, established themselves on their lands and in 1839 proclaimed the independent Republic of Natal with Pietermaritzburg as its capital. It was run by the people's council. They built the city of Durban (or Port Natal, after the name of the coast, in honor of the landing of Vasco da Gama on it on Christmas Day 1497) and thus secured access to the sea. The land was divided into large farms of 3,000 morgens (morgen is about 0.25 hectares) or more each. However, the British colonial administration of the Cape Province also long ago coveted the fertile lands of Natal. The British occupied Natal and in 1843 declared it a colony. Although the right of settlement was recognized for the Boer farmers, most of them left their homes. They again crossed the Dragon Mountains with their herds and wagons and rejoined the Boers of the Transvaal. Near them, north of the Waal River, they formed three republics: Leidenburg, Zoutpansberg and Utrecht, which in 1853 united to form the Republic of South Africa (Transvaal).

A year later, the Orange Free State was proclaimed to the south of it. The government of England and the colonial authorities of the Cape were forced to recognize the sovereignty of the newly formed Boer states, but did everything to keep them under their influence. The Orange Free State and the Transvaal were republics, peasant in essence, religious-ascetic in appearance. From the middle of the XIX century. merchants and artisans also settled on the territory of the Orange Free State, and a certain number of English colonists appeared.

The Calvinist Church, following its principles of isolation, adopted the ossified forms of dogma.

To justify the exploitation of the African population, she developed a kind of system of racial discrimination and declared it "divine providence." In reality, the Boers drove from the land and enslaved the settled indigenous population and tribal groups of the Suto and Tswana tribes, seized vast territories and turned them into farms. Some of the Africans were driven back to the reserves, some were doomed to forced labor on farms. The Tswana defended themselves against "defense" measures imposed by force; many went to the west, to waterless areas that looked like deserts. But here, too, their leaders experienced pressure from two sides very early.

Britain realized that these areas, devoid of economic value, were of great strategic importance: whoever owns them, it is not difficult to surround the possessions of the Boers and secure their interests in the neighboring Transvaal. Then the German Empire, which also encroached on central Bechuanaland, captured Southwest Africa, and this sealed the fate of the Tswana tribes. Great Britain hastened to take advantage of the "aid" treaties which she had long ago entered into fraudulently with some of their leaders, and in 1885 a small detachment of English colonial units actually occupied their territory.

Another important enclave for years successfully resisted the armed detachments of the Boers and their "trek", undertaken in search of rich pastures and cheap labor, the Suto territory, led by the tribal leader Moshesh.

The Southern Suto tribes lived in the mountainous upper reaches of the Orange River in what is now Lesotho. Fertile and rich in mountain pastures, this area was densely populated. Naturally, she early became the object of desire of the Boer pastoralists, and then of the English farmers. Here, during the defensive battles against the Zulu and Matabele, an association of the Suto tribes was formed and strengthened. Under Moshesh I, a brilliant military leader and organizer, his people were united in the struggle against European colonialism. In three wars (1858, 1865-1866, 1867-1868) they managed to defend their rich pastures and the independence of Basutoland.

But the leaders of the Sutos could not for long resist the sophisticated tactics of the British colonial authorities, who sent merchants, agents and missionaries from the Cape ahead of them. Moses even himself turned to the British with a request for help in order to protect himself from the encroachments of the Boers. In pursuance of the treaties, in 1868 Great Britain established a protectorate over Basutoland, and a few years later directly subordinated it to the British administration of the Cape Colony. Then the Sutos took up arms again. The Sutos responded to the mass seizure of land, the introduction of a system of reserves, colonial taxation and the project of disarmament of Africans with a mighty uprising that lasted from 1879 to 1884. The British, not limited to punitive expeditions, somewhat modified and in some ways even weakened the protectorate system. As a result, they managed to bribe some of the leaders, make them more accommodating, and eventually turn them into an important support for the colonial exploitation of Basutoland.

Thus, in the 70s, Great Britain established dominance over the Cape Colony, Natal and Basutoland. Now she purposefully directed her actions against the Zulu state north of Natal, plotting at the same time to encircle and capture the Boer republics of Orange and Transvaal. The struggle of the colonial powers for the mastery of South Africa soon received a powerful new impetus: on the hot summer days of 1867, the first diamonds were found on the banks of the Orange River. Thousands of miners, merchants and small entrepreneurs rushed here. New urban settlements sprang up.

The area east of the Waal River to Spear and Wornisigt, named after the British Colonial Minister Kimberley, was littered with diamond placers. The British colonial administration of the Cape Colony provided its entrepreneurs and merchants with control over the diamond mining zone and free access to it. In 1877, British troops attacked the Transvaal, but the Boers managed to repulse the attack, defend their sovereignty and preserve the colonies, and in 1884 Great Britain again confirmed the Transvaal's limited independence.

However, the discovery of diamond placers on the Orange, and in the early 80s - rich gold deposits near Johannesburg in the Transvaal set in motion such forces that the Boers could not resist pastoralists and farmers, and even more so the African tribes and peoples, although the latter exerted heroic resistance. From now on, colonial policy was determined by large British companies and associations of finance capital. Their operations were directed by Cecil Rhodes (1853--1902), who made his fortune on the exchange speculation in the shares of mining enterprises. It took only a few years for him to acquire many diamond mining concessions and then monopolize all diamond and gold mining in South Africa. In the 80s and 90s, the Rhodes group occupied a dominant position in the rapidly developing South African industry. With the support of Lord Rothschild, Rhodes became the leading financial magnate of his day.

From the 80s of the XIX century. the British monopolists dreamed of a continuous colonial complex in Africa "from Cap to Cairo." In making these dreams come true, they broke the Matabele resistance north of Limpopo and herded tens of thousands of African miners and seasonal workers into labor camps. Overwork brought them to complete exhaustion, and sometimes to physical death.

The resistance of the inhabitants of South Africa developed under exceptionally difficult conditions. Because of the complex intrigues waged against each other by the British and the Boers, the Africans sometimes did not understand that both of these colonial forces were equally dangerous to the independence of the indigenous people. Often they tried to maneuver between the two fronts, concluding agreements with the invader, which at that moment seemed to them less dangerous. The more terrible were the consequences of such mistakes. While the Africans were gathering forces to repulse one foreign invader, another, no less dangerous colonial robber, treacherously hiding behind the mask of an ally, crept up to the borders of their lands and villages and took them by surprise.

The Xhosa tribes were the first to rebel against the Boer farmers, who were striving for land grabs, and the English colonialists. As far back as the 18th century, English settlers reached the Fish River and from this point infiltrated into the rich pastures of the spit breeders. The Xhosa, however, could not accept the incessant reduction of their pastures, cattle rustling, as well as the agreement imposed on them, which established the Fish River as the boundary of their settlement. They invariably returned to their usual places of pastures and settlements, especially during periods of drought. Then the Boers sent punitive expeditions against the kraals of the Xhosa.

The war of the Xhosa tribes, first against the Boer and then the English invaders, lasted for almost a hundred years. It appears in colonial historiography as the eight "Kaffir" wars. The first clashes with the Europeans took place in an environment of hostility between individual tribal groups, in particular between the leaders of Gaik and Ndlambe. Thanks to this, the Boer, and most importantly, the English invaders successfully prevented the formation of a united African front and were able to neutralize individual leaders. An example is the war of 1811, when, with the approval of Gaiki, English troops took punitive action against some Xhosa groups under Ndlambe. Before that, the leaders of Ndlambe and Tsungwa, bribed by the extremist circles of the Boers and relying on the help of the Hottentots fleeing forced labor, defeated the troops of the English general Vandeleur and approached the Keiman River. Therefore, the punitive actions of the British were distinguished by cruelty, they did not take prisoners and killed the wounded on the battlefield.

The disparate Xhosa groups needed to unite and act together. Such was the situation when a prophet named Nhele (Makana) entered the scene. By promoting his teachings and "visions" based on traditional African and Christian religious ideas, he tried to rally the Xhosa in the fight against the colonial exploiters. Only Ndlambe recognized him, and the British colonialists, capitalizing on this circumstance, concluded an "alliance pact" with Gaika. More than 2,000 Xhosa warriors died in the battle with the allies, and Nhele Kosa itself lost all territory up to the Keiskama River: it was annexed to the Cape Colony. This war, the fourth in a row, was an important turning point. The threat of colonial conquest forced the leaders of individual tribes to forget their feuds and continue to act together. Defensive battles strengthened the combat capability of tribal alliances. In 1834, all the Xosa who inhabited the border regions revolted. They were well organized and employed new tactical methods of warfare. Some colonial units were destroyed by partisans. Nevertheless, in the end, the British again defeated the spit and annexed to their colony all areas west of the Kei River (1847). The capture of Natal, first by Boer immigrants, and in 1843 by the British colonial administration, split the previously united area of ​​\u200b\u200bsettlement of both Nguni peoples - the Xhosa and the Zulu.

From that time on, the British administration stubbornly sought new territorial conquests and the final conquest of the Xhos. All agreements with individual leaders were annulled, so war broke out again (1850-1852). The battles were notable for their special duration and persistence. It was the longest and most organized Xhosa uprising. Inspired by the new prophet, Mlandsheni, the Xhosa declared a "holy war" against the invaders. They were joined by thousands of Africans, forcibly dressed in the uniforms of colonial soldiers, and Hottentot policemen. Armed with modern weapons, they significantly increased the anti-colonial uprising. On Christmas Day 1850, thousands of Xhosa warriors crossed the borders of British Capraria.

These actions were led by the leader of the pebble Kreli. We emphasize that at the same time the supreme leader Suto Moshesh fought against the British troops, and in 1852 his cavalry numbering 6-7 thousand people inflicted a temporary defeat on the British. The rebels also negotiated with some of the Grikwa and Tswana leaders about joint action against the colonialists.

And yet the moment was missed when the uprising could be crowned with a victory, at least temporarily. The English colonialists again succeeded in wooing the leaders to their side by false promises and in capturing the last lands of the Xhos in the Transkei. Now the borders of the English colonies rested on the territory of the Zulu tribal association.

The last time individual Xhosa tribes rose up against colonial enslavement and complete loss of independence in 1856-1857. The chiefs of the Crelis and the Sandilis, with their tribes on a small piece of land, were besieged on all sides by the English armies, and they were threatened with starvation. In this hopeless situation, under the influence of the new prophet, they had chiliastic visions of the future: the judgment of God, they believed, would drive out the white strangers; in the "future kingdom", where the Christian doctrine will find no place for itself, the dead will rise, above all the immortal prophets and slain leaders, and all the lost cattle will be reborn. This will put an end to any kind of political and economic dependence. The prophet Umlakazar called in his sermons: "Do not sow, next year the ears will sprout by themselves. Destroy all the maize and bread in the bins; slaughter the cattle; buy axes and expand the kraals so that they can accommodate all those beautiful cattle that will rise with us ... God angry at the whites who killed his son ... One morning, waking up from a dream, we will see rows of tables laden with dishes; we will put on ourselves the best beads and jewelry.

Yielding to these religious suggestions, the Xhosa slaughtered all their cattle - one European missionaries give an impressive figure: 40 thousand heads - and began to wait for the "last judgment". After the "day of resurrection" expected on February 18-19, 1857, thousands of Xos died of starvation. The European conquerors, who allegedly had to leave the country due to a lack of food, did not even think about leaving. So the active struggle against colonialism was replaced by the expectation of the intervention of supernatural forces and the onset of the "kingdom of justice." Undoubtedly, the scythe driven into a dead end, who did not know the laws of social development, drew strength and hope from it. Only when the scythe was convinced that their visions had not come true did they take up arms again in complete desperation. English troops easily defeated people half-dead from hunger. Most of the scythe died during hostilities or starved to death. The rest obeyed. Thus ended almost a century of heroic resistance of the Xhos tragically.

In the fight against the Xhosa, the colonialists usually encountered separate disunited tribes, which only occasionally united in direct rebuff to the conquerors. A much more dangerous adversary was the military alliance of the tribes and the state of the Zulu.

The supreme leader of the Zulu, Dingaan, was at first very friendly to the Boers and, not understanding their colonialist plans, clearly in defiance of the English settlers and invaders recognized in the contract the ownership of the Boers in southern Natal. Soon, however, he realized his mistake and tried to correct it by ordering the death of the leader of the Boers Piet Retief and his companions. War became inevitable. Between the Zulu army and the troops of the Boers, a stubborn bloody struggle began for land and pastures in that part of Natal, which belonged to the Zulu under Shaka. In 1838, with the support of the British, the Boers went on the offensive. In vain did Dingaan's army of 12,000 men try to capture the Boer camp, which was defended by the Wagenburg. The Zulu suffered a heavy defeat. The battlefield was littered with the bodies of Africans, 3-4 thousand people fell. The river, in the valley of which the battle took place, has since been called the Blood River - the Blood River. Dingaan was forced to withdraw his army north of the Tugela River. The Boers took possession of the huge herds that used to belong to the Zulu, and forced Dingaan to pay a large indemnity in cattle.

Subsequently, in this state there were many dynastic civil strife, there was a struggle for predominance between individual leaders and military leaders.

The Boers kindled dissatisfaction with the supreme leader Dingaan, and subsequently even took a direct part in the hostilities of pretenders to the throne. In 1840 Dingaan was killed. A significant part of Natal fell into the hands of the Boer colonists, but the Zulu retained their independence, and even the English conquerors who appeared after the Boers did not dare to encroach on it for the time being.

However, the Zulu chiefs, unable to come to terms with the lack of grazing land and the threat of colonial annexation, organized resistance again and again. In 1872, Ketchwayo (1872-1883) became the main leader of the Zulu. Realizing how great the danger looming over him, he tried to unite the Zulu tribes to fight back. Ketchwayo reorganized the army, restored military kraals, and bought modern weapons from European merchants in the Portuguese colony of Mozambique. By this time, the Zulu army numbered 30,000 spearmen and 8,000 soldiers under arms. But the conflict arose earlier than the supreme leader expected.

The English colonial authorities of Natal sought, in parallel with the advance in the Transvaal, to completely subdue the Zulu. In 1878, they presented an ultimatum to Ketchwayo, in fact, depriving the Zulu state of independence.

The British demanded to recognize the power of their resident, to allow missionaries into the territory of the Zulu, to disband the combat-ready Zulu army, and to pay a huge tax. The Council of Chiefs and Warlords rejected the ultimatum. Then in January 1879, British troops invaded Zululand. This war, however, was destined to become one of the most difficult and bloody campaigns of English colonialism in the 19th century. Official figures put the military spending alone at £5 million.

Initially, the Zulu managed to inflict tangible blows on the colonialists. Their successes caused a number of uprisings along the borders of Natal and the Cape Colony, including among the Suthos. Only after the British troops received substantial reinforcements from the colonial administration were they able to defeat the Zulu. Ketchwayo was captured and sent to Robben Island. However, the British government has not yet decided to carry out the complete annexation of the Zulu territory. By dividing the powerful Zulu state into 13 tribal territories that were constantly at war with each other, it thereby weakened it and established its indirect control over it. Ketchwayo was even temporarily returned from exile on the terms of his recognition of a de facto British protectorate. But later Zululand was nevertheless annexed to the British possessions in Natal, and colonial relations of exploitation were established on its territory in the interests of European landowners and capitalists.

At all stages of pre-imperialist colonial expansion, the African peoples and tribes that became victims of the first colonial conquests resisted them. The glorious traditions of the African peoples, which modern Africans are justly proud of, include the defensive wars of the Ashanti, Xhosa, Basotho and Zulu, and also the Hajj of Omar and his followers in the first two thirds of the 19th century. Unfortunately, they arose, as a rule, still spontaneously. Separate tribes or tribal unions, headed by an aristocracy, i.e. semi-feudal nobility, often opposed foreign invaders disunitedly.

As in previous centuries, many anti-colonial movements and uprisings either took place under the religious flag of the renewal of Islam, or, as in South Africa, took on the character of Christian-animistic messianism or the preaching of the prophets. Belief in the supernatural powers of the leaders did not allow Africans to realistically assess the military superiority of their opponents. The visions and prophecies reflect the immaturity of the anti-colonial movement caused by the social conditions of the period. In addition, the resistance carried out by the tribes invariably aimed at restoring the old order. Even the liberation movement of the educated merchants, the intelligentsia, and some of the leaders of West Africa could demand reforms and participation in government, mostly on paper.

Although the Africans resolutely and courageously resisted colonialism, their struggle was doomed to failure. The social and, consequently, the military-technical superiority of Europe was too great for the peoples and tribes of Africa, who were at the stage of the primitive communal or early feudal system, to win not a temporary, but a lasting victory over it. Due to the rivalry between different ethnic groups and internecine strife within the tribal aristocracy and the feudal stratum, resistance to foreign invaders was usually inconsistent, contradictory, and most importantly, was deprived of unity and isolated from other performances of this kind.

OVERVIEW OF AFRICA

The name "Africa" ​​from the Latin africus - frost-free,

from a tribe of Africans who lived in North Africa.

The Greeks - "Libya".

AFRICA, the second largest continent after Eurasia. 29.2 million km2 (with islands 30.3 million km2).

The Atlantic is washed from the west. approx., from the north - the Mediterranean m., from the north-east. - Red m., with V. - Indian approx. The shores are slightly indented; max. cr. Hall. - Guinean, Somali Peninsula. Geologically, the advantage platform with a Precambrian crystalline base overlain by younger sedimentary rocks. Folded mountains are located only in the northwest. (Atlas) and to the south (Cape Mountains). Wed height above the level of m. 750 m. The relief is dominated by high stepped plains, plateaus and plateaus; in the inner districts - extensive tectonic depressions (Kalahari in South. A., Congo in Central. A., etc.). From the Red m. and to the river. Zambezi Africa is fragmented by the world's largest system of fault depressions (see East African Rift System), partly occupied by lakes (Tanganyika, Nyasa, and others). Along the edges of the depressions are the volcanoes Kilimanjaro (5895 m, the highest point of A.), Kenya, and others. Minerals of world importance: diamonds (South and West A.), gold, uranium (South A.), ores of iron, aluminum ( West A.), copper, cobalt, beryllium, lithium (mainly in South A.), phosphorites, oil, natural gas (North and West A.).

In A. to S. and S. from the zone of equiv. climates are followed by zones subeq., tropical. and subtropical. climate. Wed-mon. summer temperatures approx. 25-30oC. In winter, high positive temperatures also predominate. temperatures (10-25 oС), but in the mountains there are temperatures below 0 oС; snow falls annually in the Atlas Mountains. Naib. amount of precipitation in eq. zone (cf. 1500-2000 mm per year), on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea. up to 3000-4000 mm. To the north and south of the equator, precipitation decreases (100 mm or less in deserts). Main the runoff is directed to the Atlantic Ocean: the rivers: the Nile (the longest in Africa), the Congo (Zaire), the Niger, Senegal, the Gambia, the Orange, and others; cr. bass river. Ind. OK. - Zambezi. OK. 1/3A. - area inside runoff in the main time watercourses. Naib. cr. lakes - Victoria, Tanganyika, Nyasa (Malawi). Ch. types of vegetation - savannahs and deserts (the largest - the Sahara), occupying approx. 80% sq. A. Wet equiv. evergreen forests are typical for eq. zone and coastal districts subeq. zones. To the north or south of them - sparse tropical. forests turning into savannahs, and then into deserted savannahs. In the tropical A. (main arr. in reserves) - elephants, rhinos, hippos, zebras, antelopes, etc .; lions, cheetahs, leopards, etc. kr. predators. Numerous monkeys, small predators, rodents; in dry districts, an abundance of reptiles. Lots of birds including ostriches, ibises, flamingos. Termites, locusts, and tsetse fly damage the farm.

Political map of Africa

History of the colonization of Africa

Even at the end of the 19th century, there were only a few feudal monarchies in Africa (in Morocco, Ethiopia, Madagascar), the territories of Egypt, Tripolitania, Cyrenaica, Tunisia were formally part of the Ottoman Empire. South of the Sahara (on the territory of Sudan, Mali, Benin), early feudal states also developed, although weaker than in northern Africa. The majority of the population lived in a primitive communal system at the level of tribal unions. Bushmen and Pygmies lived in the Stone Age. In general, the history of sub-Saharan Africa is poorly understood.

It began with the journey of Vasco da Gama to India in 1498. Initially, only coastal territories were developed, where Europeans founded trading posts and strongholds for trading in slaves, ivory, gold, etc. In the XVII century, the Portuguese founded colonies in Guinea, Angola, Mozambique, on the so-called. Zanzibar (the coast of modern Kenya), etc., the Dutch are small lands in the Gulf of Guinea and in southern Africa the Cape Colony (it was inhabited by the Boers - the descendants of the Dutch were conquered by Great Britain in 1806, the Boers went deep, where they founded the Transvaal, Natal and the Orange Free state. In 1899-1902 conquered by Great Britain), the French - in Madagascar. By the middle of the 19th century, there was no significant increase in the area of ​​occupied territories in Africa, only new colonizers appeared, primarily the British, who turned around with might and main a little later. By 1870, the Portuguese possessions were localized (Portuguese Guinea, Angola, Mozambique), the Dutch disappeared, but the French expanded (Algeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Gabon). The Spaniards penetrated into northern Morocco, Western Sahara and Rio Muni (Eq. Guinea), the British - into the Slave Coast, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, southern Africa.

The mass penetration of Europeans into the interior of Africa began in the late 70s of the XIX century. The British captured the lands of the Zulu, Northern and Southern Rhodesia, Bechuanaland, Nigeria, Kenya, in 1881-82. Egypt (formally remaining subordinate to the Turkish Sultan, Egypt was an English colony), in 1898 Sudan (formally Sudan was an Anglo-Egyptian co-ownership). In the 1880s, the French conquered vast but sparsely populated territories in the Sahara, Sahel and equatorial Africa (French West Africa, French Equatorial Africa), as well as Morocco and Madagascar. Belgium got Ruanda-Urundi, the vast Belgian Congo (from 1885 to 1908 the personal possession of King Leopold II). Germany captured Southwest Africa and German East Africa (Tanganyika), Cameroon, Togo, Italy - Libya, Eritrea and most of Somalia. There were no US dominions. By 1914, when World War I broke out for the redivision of the world, there were only 3 independent states in Africa: Ethiopia (it was never a colony, only in 1935-41 it was occupied by Italy and included in Italian East Africa), Liberia (in December In 1821, the American colonization society bought a plot of land from the local leaders of the Kwa tribe and settled on it freed slaves - Negroes from the USA.In 1824, after the name of US President J. Monroe, the settlement was named Monrovia.Later, the territory of a number of settlements was named Liberia, and on July 26 A republic was proclaimed there in 1847. American capital firmly occupied key positions in the economy of the republic, the United States placed military bases in Liberia.) and South Africa (since 1910 the British dominion, since 1948 the National Party (Afrikaners) began to pursue a policy of apartheid (separate residence ), based on the concentration of all political and economic power in the hands of whites. Since 1961, it left the Commonwealth and became South Africa). After World War I, the German colonies passed to Great Britain (Tanganyika), South Africa (South-West Africa), France (Cameroon, Togo).

Egypt was the first country to free itself from colonialism in 1922.