To what extend was the colonisation and decolonisation of Britain’s Africa driven by individuals within Africa? Before the 1870’s Africa was largely unknown to the outside world but, in the 1880’s the scramble of Africa began, where European counties, especially Britain all wanted to colonise Africa. Was the whole reason for British colonising Africa economically or strategically driven or was it led by individuals in Africa (men on the spot) or was it more of a top down process led by the government in Britain? And even though Britain fought so hard to control large parts of Africa it is clear that after World II Britain’s empire was declining especially after India gain independence in 1947. However, the British did try to revive their African empire in the late 40’s and early 50’s but their sudden fall into a steep imperial decline with the Suez crises saw individuals like Macmillan to acknowledge that decolonisation was the only way forward, as it would be more beneficial for Britain to decolonise than to resist the rise of nationalism.
How does Joseph Conrad portray nature in Part II of Heart of Darkness? Nature is portrayed throughout Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness as a force combatting the white man’s imperialistic ambitions and dominates the imagery and thematic concerns throughout the novella. Part Two of the book gives vivid descriptions of the Congo’s natural envczironment through Marlow’s narrative as he travels in the repaired steamer downriver deeper into the African continent towards the Inner Station and Kurtz himself. In the middle chapter of the book, nature plays a key role in setting the scene and providing a backdrop to Western imperialism. Conrad creates this image through his portrayal of the environment as an extremely foreboding and overbearing setting, a disease spreading force hostile to colonisation and as the precursor to civilization.
The nature of the way the Congolese live is considered savage by the Europeans due to how uncivilized they are. Furthermore, the natives attack Marlow’s steamer while he is on his way to the Inner Station. The river is perfectly quiet, until “[the boat is] being shot at!... [Marlow makes] out, deep in the tangled gloom, naked breasts, arms, legs, glaring eyes—the bush [is] swarming with human limbs in movement, glistening of bronze colour” (74). The natives, for no apparent reason ambush the steamer, further confirming the barbaric nature of the Congolese peoples.
King Leopold's Ghost tells a story of the Belgian King Leopold II and his misrule of an African colony, named (at the time) the Congo Free State. It is a wild and unpleasant story of a man's capacity for evil and the peculiar manifestation of it. In telling this story, Hochschild does a wonderful job of giving detailed descriptions, especially of the colorful individuals involved, both good and bad. His analysis of the situation is very solid, starting with the movement when the Congolese hero (Morel) finds out a very terrible fact and moving on through his (Morel) analysis and actions, all the while telling the story of a treacherous monster. Set in the palaces and boardrooms of Europe and in the villages of central Africa, it tells the story of the tragedy that took place during Leopold's so called rule, a tragedy that is so familiar to African-Americans, being told of our African brothers residing in the homeland.
Europe wanted to set up and colonize in Africa, mainly because of Africa's raw materials it was purely economic. . (Iweriebor, 2011) The African's did not take kind to this, and it provoked not only African political responses but also diplomatic responses and military resistance. A lot of treaties of protection for the leaders of African societies, states, and empires went out. There was a lot of controversy about these treaties and eventually the military had to step in.
Since the Congo was relatively unknown to most Europeans, Leopold II turned to Henry Morton Stanley, the man responsible for opening up Africa for colonization when he successfully crossed Africa from east to west. With Stanley’s help, it was possible for Belgium to colonize the central African country. Leopold II believed that a colony had to make money for the mother country. Unlike the other colonizing countries, he did not believe in investing in colonies to maintain them. For Leopold II, the end always justified the means, and the end was always money.
He then establishes a system of forced labor that keeps the people of the Congo in a condition of slavery for ivory and rubber. So, we can deduce that the novel itself, its excerpt to Joseph Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness, and journalism within the Free Congo State portrayed the situation with the darkness it deserved. In the novel, Hochschild shines light on the darkness of the situation in Belgium Congo. Hochschild captures the essence of Leopold’s true intentions and the darkness of his nature when he says, “What mattered was the size of the profit. His drive for colonies, however, was shaped by a desire not only for money but for power”.
After witnessing two thriving centers of capitalism, Nkrumah returned home with hopes of turning his homeland around. One thing that was occurring in Africa and not the United States was a process known as “balkanization”. The United States were strong because they realized that even a confederacy was not adequate to maintain a successful capitalist state. Africa was continually being exploited due to the many isolated governments that could be swayed by powerful foreign investors. One of the examples Nkrumah used was cocoa production.
His idealism is seen in his exchange with his aunt before departing for the Congo; Marlow is uneasy with the idea that the company, which claims to be bringing the light of civilization to the savage African masses, is being run only for profit. His aunt, who is older and one can assume has more worldly experience and wisdom than her young nephew, reminds him that “the laborer is worthy of his hire” (Conrad 10), suggesting through an allusion to Timothy 5:18 that the company has every right to profit from their work. Marlow scoffs at “how out of touch with the truth women are” (10), yet it would seem that at that point it is Marlow who is out of touch with the truth, caught up in the ideal that a company can be run for either
Some of the first civilizations started in Africa, and forever after other civilizations wanted to conquer Africa as a means of showing their global superiority. Africa's worst domination, however, came from the Europeans. European colonization set the stage for imperialism that Africa deals with to this day. Before the resurgence of imperialism Africa was a resourceful continent. During imperialism, Europeans went into Africa and stripped its land of its resources and this also changed the climate negatively.