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A Brief History of Africa. Africa: major historical events. What civilizations of Africa were destroyed by European colonialists History of Africa briefly

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History of Africa

Introduction

The oldest archaeological finds that testify to the processing of grain in Africa date back to the thirteenth millennium BC. e. Pastoralism in the Sahara began c. 7500 BC e., and organized agriculture in the Nile region appeared in the 6th millennium BC. e. In the Sahara, which was then a fertile territory, groups of hunters-fishermen lived, as evidenced by archaeological finds. Many petroglyphs and rock paintings have been discovered throughout the Sahara, dating from 6000 BC to 6000 BC. e. until the 7th century AD. e. The most famous monument of the primitive art of North Africa is the Tassilin-Ajer plateau.

1. Ancient Africa

In the 6-5th millennium BC. in the Nile Valley, agricultural cultures (Tasian culture, Faiyum, Merimde) were formed, based on the civilization of Christian Ethiopia (XII-XVI centuries). These centers of civilization were surrounded by the pastoral tribes of the Libyans, as well as the ancestors of the modern Cushite- and Nilotic-speaking peoples. On the territory of the modern Sahara desert (which was then a savannah favorable for habitation) by the 4th millennium BC. e. a cattle-breeding and agricultural economy is taking shape. From the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. e., when the drying of the Sahara begins, the population of the Sahara retreats to the south, pushing the local population of Tropical Africa.

By the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. the horse is spreading in the Sahara. On the basis of horse breeding (from the first centuries AD - also camel breeding) and oasis agriculture in the Sahara, an urban civilization was formed (the cities of Telgi, Debris, Garama), and the Libyan letter appeared. On the Mediterranean coast of Africa in the XII-II centuries BC. e. the Phoenician-Carthaginian civilization flourished. In Africa south of the Sahara in the 1st millennium BC. e. iron metallurgy is spreading everywhere. The culture of the Bronze Age did not develop here, and there was a direct transition from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. Iron Age cultures spread both west (Nok) and east (northeast Zambia and southwest Tanzania) of Tropical Africa.

The spread of iron contributed to the development of new territories, primarily tropical forests, and became one of the reasons for the settlement of Bantu-speaking peoples throughout most of Tropical and South Africa, pushing the representatives of the Ethiopian and capoid races to the north and south.

2. The emergence of the first states in Africa

According to modern historical science, the first state (south of the Sahara) appeared on the territory of Mali in the 3rd century - it was the state of Ghana. Ancient Ghana traded gold and metals even with the Roman Empire and Byzantium. Perhaps this state arose much earlier, but during the existence of the colonial authorities of England and France there, all information about Ghana disappeared (the colonialists did not want to admit that Ghana is much older than England and France).

Under the influence of Ghana, other states later appeared in West Africa - Mali, Songhai, Kanem, Tekrur, Hausa, Ife, Kano and other states of West Africa. Another hotbed of the emergence of states in Africa is the vicinity of Lake Victoria (the territory of modern Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi). The first state appeared there around the 11th century - it was the state of Kitara.

In my opinion, the state of Kitara was created by settlers from the territory of modern Sudan - Nilotic tribes, who were forced out of their territory by Arab settlers. Later, other states appeared there - Buganda, Rwanda, Ankole. Around the same time (according to scientific history) - in the 11th century, the Mopomotale state appeared in southern Africa, which will disappear at the end of the 17th century (it will be destroyed by wild tribes). I believe that Mopomotale began to exist much earlier, and the inhabitants of this state are the descendants of the most ancient metallurgists of the world, who had connections with the Asuras and Atlanteans.

Around the middle of the 12th century, the first state appeared in the center of Africa - Ndongo (this is a territory in the north of modern Angola). Later, other states appeared in the center of Africa - Congo, Matamba, Mwata and Baluba. Since the 15th century, they began to interfere in the process of statehood development in Africa colonial states Europe - Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, England, France and Germany. If at first they were interested in gold, silver and precious stones, then later slaves became the main commodity (and these countries were engaged in countries that officially rejected the existence of slavery). Slaves were exported by the thousands to the plantations of America. Only much later, at the end of the 19th century, the colonialists began to attract natural resources in Africa. And it is for this reason that vast colonial territories appeared in Africa.

The colonies in Africa interrupted the development of the peoples of Africa and distorted its entire history. Until now, significant archaeological research has not been carried out in Africa (the African countries themselves are poor, and England and France do not need a true history of Africa, just like in Russia, Russia also has good research on ancient history Russia is not carried out, money is spent on buying castles and yachts in Europe, total corruption deprives science of real research).

3. Africa in the Middle Ages

The centers of civilizations in Tropical Africa spread from north to south (in the eastern part of the continent) and partly from east to west (especially in the western part) as they moved away from the high civilizations of North Africa and the Middle East. Most of the large socio-cultural communities of Tropical Africa had an incomplete set of signs of civilization, so they can more accurately be called proto-civilizations. From the end of the 3rd century A.D. e. in West Africa, in the basins of Senegal and Niger, the Western Sudanese (Ghana) develops, from the VIII-IX centuries - the Central Sudanese (Kanem) civilizations that arose on the basis of trans-Saharan trade with the Mediterranean countries.

After the Arab conquests of North Africa (7th century), the Arabs for a long time became the only intermediaries between Tropical Africa and the rest of the world, including across the Indian Ocean, where the Arab fleet dominated. Under Arab influence, new urban civilizations are emerging in Nubia, Ethiopia, and East Africa. The cultures of Western and Central Sudan merged into a single West African or Sudanese zone of civilizations that stretched from Senegal to the modern Republic of Sudan.

In the 2nd millennium, this zone was united politically and economically in the Muslim empires: Mali (XIII-XV century), to which the small political formations of the peoples of the Fulbe, Wolof, Serer, Susu and Songhay (Tekrur, Jolof, Sin, Salum, Kayor, Soco and others), Songhai (mid-15th - late 16th century) and Bornu (late 15th - early 18th century) - Kanem's successor. From the beginning of the 16th century, between Songhai and Bornu, the Hausan city-states (Daura, Zamfara, Kano, Rano, Gobir, Katsina, Zaria, Biram, Kebbi, etc.) were strengthened, to which in the 17th century the role of the main centers of the trans-Saharan trade. South of the Sudanese civilizations in the 1st millennium CE. e. the Ife proto-civilization is taking shape, which became the cradle of the Yoruba and Bini civilization (Benin, Oyo). Its influence was experienced by the Dahomeans, Igbos, Nupe, and others. To the west of it, in the 2nd millennium, the Akano-Ashanti proto-civilization was formed, which flourished in the 17th - early 19th centuries. To the south of the great bend of the Niger, a political center arose, founded by the Mosi and other peoples speaking Gur languages (the so-called Mosi-Dagomba-Mamprusi complex) and turned into a Voltian proto-civilization by the middle of the 15th century (the early political formations of Ouagadugu, Yatenga, Gurma , Dagomba, Mamprusi).

In Central Cameroon, the proto-civilization of Bamum and Bamileke arose, in the Congo River basin - the proto-civilization of Vungu (the early political formations of the Congo, Ngola, Loango, Ngoyo, Kakongo), to the south of it (in the 16th century) - the proto-civilization of the southern savannahs (the early political formations of Cuba, Lunda, Luba), in the Great Lakes region - an inter-lake proto-civilization: early political formations of Buganda (XIII century), Kitara (XIII-XV century), Bunyoro (from the XVI century), later - Nkore (XVI century), Rwanda (XVI century), Burundi (XVI century), Karagwe (XVII century), Kiziba (XVII century), Busoga (XVII century), Ukereve (late XIX century), Toro (late XIX century), etc. In East Africa, flourished since the X century Swahili Muslim civilization (city-states of Kilwa, Pate, Mombasa, Lamu, Malindi, Sofala, etc., the Sultanate of Zanzibar), in Southeast Africa - Zimbabwean (Zimbabwe, Monomotapa) proto-civilization (X-XIX century), in Madagascar state formation process ended in early XIX century by the unification of all the early political formations of the island around Imerin, which arose around the 15th century. Most African civilizations and proto-civilizations experienced an upswing in the late 15th-16th centuries.

From the end of the 16th century, with the penetration of Europeans and the development of the transatlantic slave trade, which lasted until the middle of the 19th century, their decline took place. All North Africa (except Morocco) became part of the Ottoman Empire by the beginning of the 17th century. With the final division of Africa between the European powers (1880s), the colonial period began, forcibly introducing Africans to industrial civilization.

4. Colonization of Africa

tasian african colonization slave trade

In ancient times, North Africa was the object of colonization by Europe and Asia Minor. The first attempts by Europeans to subjugate African territories date back to the times of the ancient Greek colonization of the 7th-5th centuries BC, when numerous Greek colonies appeared on the coast of Libya and Egypt. The conquests of Alexander the Great marked the beginning of a rather long period of Hellenization of Egypt. Although the bulk of its inhabitants, the Copts, were never Hellenized, the rulers of this country (including the last queen Cleopatra) adopted the Greek language and culture, which completely dominated Alexandria. The city of Carthage was founded on the territory of modern Tunisia by the Phoenicians and was one of the most important powers of the Mediterranean until the 4th century BC. e.

After the Third Punic War, it was conquered by the Romans and became the center of the province of Africa. In the early Middle Ages, the kingdom of the Vandals was founded on this territory, and later it was part of Byzantium. The invasions of the Roman troops made it possible to consolidate the entire northern coast of Africa under the control of the Romans. Despite the extensive economic and architectural activities of the Romans, the territories underwent weak Romanization, apparently due to excessive aridity and the ongoing activity of the Berber tribes, pushed back but not conquered by the Romans. Ancient Egyptian civilization also fell under the rule of the Greeks first, and then the Romans. In the context of the decline of the empire, the Berbers, activated by the vandals, finally destroy the centers of European, as well as Christian civilization in North Africa on the eve of the invasion of the Arabs, who brought Islam with them and pushed back the Byzantine Empire, which still controlled Egypt.

By the beginning of the 7th century A.D. e. the activities of the early European states in Africa completely cease, on the contrary, the expansion of the Arabs from Africa takes place in many regions of southern Europe. Attacks of the Spanish and Portuguese troops in the XV-XVI centuries. led to the capture of a number of strongholds in Africa (the Canary Islands, as well as the fortresses of Ceuta, Melilla, Oran, Tunisia, and many others). Italian navigators from Venice and Genoa have also traded extensively with the region since the 13th century. At the end of the 15th century, the Portuguese actually controlled the western coast of Africa and launched an active slave trade. Following them, other Western European powers rush to Africa: the Dutch, the French, and the British.

From the 17th century, Arab trade with Africa south of the Sahara led to the gradual colonization of East Africa, in the Zanzibar region. And although Arab quarters appeared in some cities of West Africa, they did not become colonies, and Morocco's attempt to subjugate the lands of the Sahel ended unsuccessfully. Early European expeditions focused on colonizing uninhabited islands such as Cape Verde and Sao Tome, and establishing forts along the coast as trading bases. In the second half of the 19th century, especially after the Berlin Conference of 1885, the process of African colonization acquired such a scale that it was called the "race for Africa"; practically the entire continent (except for the remaining independent Ethiopia and Liberia) 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. The Russian Empire never claimed to colonize Africa, despite its traditionally strong position in Ethiopia, except for the Sagallo incident in 1889.

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Ancient history of Africa

In the second half of the 4th millennium BC social differentiation intensified in North and North-East Africa and on the basis of territorial entities - nomes, two political associations arose - Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. The struggle between them ended by 3000 BC. the emergence of a single (so-called Ancient Egypt). During the reign of the 1st and 2nd dynasties (30-28 centuries BC), a unified irrigation system for the whole country was formed, the foundations of statehood were laid. In the era of the Old Kingdom (3rd-4th dynasties, 28th-23rd centuries BC), a centralized despotism headed by the pharaoh, the unlimited master of the whole country, took shape. Diversified (royal and temple) became the economic basis of the power of the pharaohs.

Simultaneously with the rise of economic life, the local nobility strengthened, which again led to the disintegration of Egypt into many nomes, to the destruction of irrigation systems. In the course of the 23rd-21st centuries BC (7th-11th dynasty) there was a struggle for a new unification of Egypt. State power was especially strengthened during the 12th dynasty during the Middle Kingdom (21-18 centuries BC). But again, the discontent of the nobility led to the disintegration of the state into many independent regions (14-17 dynasty, 18-16 centuries BC).

The nomadic tribes of the Hyksos took advantage of the weakening of Egypt. About 1700 B.D. they took possession of Lower Egypt, and by the middle of the 17th century BC. already ruled the whole country. At the same time, the liberation struggle began, which by 1580 before A.D. finished Ahmose 1 who founded the 18th dynasty. With this began the period of the New Kingdom (rule of 18-20 dynasties). The New Kingdom (16-11 centuries BC) is the time of the highest economic growth and cultural upsurge of the country. The centralization of power increased - local government passed from independent hereditary nomarchs into the hands of officials.

As a result, Egypt experienced invasions of the Libyans. In 945 B.D. The Libyan military leader Sheshonk (22nd dynasty) proclaimed himself pharaoh. In 525 B.D. Egypt was conquered by the Persians, in 332 by Alexander the Great. In 323 B.D. after the death of Alexander, Egypt went to his commander Ptolemy Lag, who in 305 BC. declared himself king and Egypt became the state of the Ptolemies. But endless wars undermined the country, and by the 2nd century BC. Egypt was conquered by Rome. In 395 AD, Egypt became part of the Eastern Roman Empire, from 476 - as part of the Byzantine Empire.

In the 12th-13th centuries, the crusaders also made a number of attempts to conquer, which further aggravated the economic decline. In the 12th-15th centuries, rice and cotton crops, sericulture and winemaking gradually disappeared, and the production of flax and other industrial crops fell. The population of the centers of agriculture, including the valley, shifted to the production of cereals, as well as dates, olives and horticultural crops. Huge areas were occupied by extensive cattle breeding. The process of the so-called Bedouinization of the population proceeded exceptionally fast. At the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, most of North Africa, and by the 14th century Upper Egypt, turned into dry semi-desert. Almost all cities and thousands of villages disappeared. During the 11th-15th centuries, the population of North Africa decreased, according to Tunisian historians, by about 60-65%.

Feudal arbitrariness and tax oppression, the deteriorating environmental situation led to the fact that Islamic rulers could not simultaneously restrain the discontent of the people and withstand an external threat. Therefore, at the turn of the 15th-16th centuries, many cities and territories of North Africa were captured by the Spaniards, the Portuguese and the Order of St. John.

Under these conditions, the Ottoman Empire, acting as the defenders of Islam, with the support of the local population, overthrew the power of the local sultans (Mamluks in Egypt) and raised anti-Spanish uprisings. As a result, by the end of the 16th century, almost all the territories of North Africa became provinces. Ottoman Empire. The expulsion of the conquerors, the cessation of feudal wars and the restriction of nomadism by the Ottoman Turks led to the revival of cities, the development of crafts and agriculture, the emergence of new crops (corn, tobacco, citrus fruits).

Much less is known about the development of sub-Saharan Africa in the Middle Ages. A rather large role was played by trade and intermediary contacts with North and Western Asia, which required great attention to the military-organizational aspects of the functioning of society to the detriment of the development of production, and this naturally led to a further lag in Tropical Africa. But on the other hand, according to most scientists, Tropical Africa did not know the slave system, that is, it passed from the communal system to a class society in an early feudal form. The main centers for the development of Tropical Africa in the Middle Ages are: Central and Western, the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, the basin, the Great Lakes region.

New African History

As already noted, by the 17th century, the countries of North Africa (except Morocco) and Egypt were part of the Ottoman Empire. These were feudal societies with long traditions of urban life and highly developed handicraft production. The peculiarity of the social and economic structure of North Africa was the coexistence of agriculture and extensive pastoralism, which was carried out by nomadic tribes who preserved the traditions of tribal relations.

The weakening of the power of the Turkish sultan at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries was accompanied by economic decline. The population (in Egypt) halved between 1600 and 1800. North Africa again disintegrated into a number of feudal states. These states recognized vassal dependence on the Ottoman Empire, but had independence in internal and external affairs. Under the banner of protecting Islam, they waged military operations against European fleets.

But by the beginning of the 19th century, European countries had achieved superiority at sea and, since 1815, the squadrons of Great Britain, France, and began to undertake military operations off the coast of North Africa. Since 1830, France began the colonization of Algeria, part of the territories of North Africa were captured.

Thanks to the Europeans, North Africa began to be drawn into the system. The export of cotton and grain grew, banks were opened, railways and telegraph lines. In 1869 the Suez Canal was opened.

But such penetration of foreigners caused discontent among the Islamists. And since 1860, propaganda of the ideas of jihad (holy war) began in all Muslim countries, which led to multiple uprisings.

Tropical Africa until the end of the 19th century served as a source of supply of slaves to the slave markets of America. Moreover, local coastal states most often played the role of intermediaries in the slave trade. Feudal relations in the 17-18 centuries developed precisely in these states (the Benin region), a large family community was spread in a separate territory, although formally there were many principalities (as an almost modern example - Bafut).

From the middle of the 19th century, the French expanded their possessions along, the Portuguese held the coastal regions of modern Angola and Mozambique.

This had a strong effect on the local economy: the range of food products was reduced (Europeans imported corn and cassava from America and widely distributed), many crafts fell into decay under the influence of European competition.

Since the end of the 19th century, the Belgians (since 1879), the Portuguese, have joined the struggle for the territory of Africa (since 1884), (since 1869).

By 1900, 90% of Africa was in the hands of the colonial invaders. The colonies were turned into agricultural and raw material appendages of the metropolises. The foundations were laid for the specialization of production in export crops (cotton in Sudan, peanuts in Senegal, cocoa and oil palms in Nigeria, etc.).

The beginning of the colonization of South Africa was laid in 1652, when about 90 people (Dutch and Germans) landed on the Cape of Good Hope in order to create a transshipment base for the East India Company. This was the beginning of the creation of the Cape Colony. The result of the creation of this colony was the extermination of the local population and the appearance of a colored population (since during the first decades of the existence of the colony, mixed marriages were allowed).

In 1806, Great Britain captured the Cape Colony, which led to an influx of immigrants from Britain, the abolition of slavery in 1834 and the introduction of in English. The Boers (Dutch colonists) took this negatively and moved north while destroying the African tribes (Xhosa, Zulu, Suto, etc.).

A very important fact. By establishing arbitrary political boundaries, chaining each colony to its own market, tying it to a certain currency zone, the Metropolises dismembered entire cultural and historical communities, disrupted traditional trade ties, and suspended the normal course of ethnic processes. As a result, no colony had a more or less ethnically homogeneous population. Within the same colony, there were many ethnic groups belonging to different language families, and sometimes to different races, which naturally complicated the development of the national liberation movement (although in the 20-30s of the 20th century, military uprisings took place in Angola, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Congo).

During World War II, the Germans tried to include the African colonies in the "living space" of the Third Reich. The war was fought on the territory of Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Equatorial Africa. But in general, the war gave impetus to the development of the mining and manufacturing industries, Africa supplied food and strategic raw materials to the warring powers.

During the war, national-political parties and organizations began to form in most of the colonies. In the first post-war years (with the help of the USSR), communist parties began to emerge, often leading armed uprisings, and options for the development of "African socialism" arose.
Sudan liberated in 1956

1957 - Gold Coast (Ghana),

After gaining independence, they went along different paths of development: a number of countries, mostly poor natural resources went along the socialist path (Benin, Madagascar, Angola, Congo, Ethiopia), a number of countries, mostly wealthy - along the capitalist path (Morocco, Gabon, Zaire, Nigeria, Senegal, Central African Republic, etc.). A number of countries carried out both reforms under socialist slogans (, etc.).

But in principle, there was no big difference between these countries. Both here and there, the nationalization of foreign property, land reforms were carried out. The only question was who paid for it - the USSR or the USA.

As a result of World War 1, all South Africa came under British rule.

In 1924, the "civilized labor" law was passed, according to which Africans were suspended from jobs requiring qualifications. In 1930, a law was passed on the distribution of land, according to which Africans were deprived of land ownership and were to be placed in 94 reserves.

PART VI Shaping the Modern World (1750-2000)
Chapter 21. Europe and the world (1750-1900)
21.19. Africa

For more than three hundred years after 1500, direct European control over Africa was limited to a few forts and trading posts, coupled with a small group of settlements in the area of the Cape of Good Hope. A major problem facing the continent, especially sub-Saharan Africa, was its very low population—in 1900, only about 100 million people lived in Africa. This, combined with poor communications and a mass of diseases, meant that the social and economic basis for building developed political structures did not exist here. When, at the end of the 19th century, Europeans began to exert more effective influence on Africa, it quickly destroyed all the structures that existed there. For the first time in world history, Africa, with the exception of the northern regions along the Mediterranean coast, was under the control of external powers.

In West Africa, the influence of the slave trade declined during the 19th century, and gradually other goods, not so much people, began to be sold, especially palm oil. The British controlled the area around the Gambia River, as well as the colony of Sierra Leone (where freed slaves were settled), as well as settlements on the Gold Coast and further east in Lagos. The Portuguese had several islands and the colony of Luanda on the mainland, the French had Saint-Louis in Senegal and Libreville (founded in 1849). In 1822, the United States founded the colony of Liberia in order to send free blacks there, because the Americans did not want them to live in America, in 1847 Liberia became completely independent.

In the early 1970s, the British moved inland from the Gold Coast and attacked the Ashanti kingdom, destroying its capital, Kumasi, and then retreated back to the coast so as not to be bound by any obligations. The dominant power in the region during this period was the Sokoto Caliphate, founded in 1817, a loose alliance of about thirty "states" that were governed by Islamic law and recognized the supremacy of a central ruler in Sokoto. It was the last major slave state in the world. Further east, Egyptian forces advanced south into Sudan, but very soon it was captured by the British (nominally becoming Anglo-Egyptian territory).

In South Africa at the beginning of the 19th century, almost constant fighting among the peoples of the Nguni language group was carried out, which led to the rise in the Mtetwa tribe of the previously insignificant leader Chaka, who founded the kingdom of the Zulu. Although he was assassinated in 1828, the kingdom, dominated by war chiefs, survived as a major regional power. Equally important was the creation of the Swazi kingdom to the north and west of the Zulu and the Ndebele kingdom in the southwest of present-day Zimbabwe, where chieftains who had fled north from the Zulus had ruled over the local Shona people since the 1940s.

The main pressure on these kingdoms came from the south - after the British captured the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope in 1806. In 1838, before the abolition of slavery in the British Empire, the number of slaves living in this colony reached a peak of over 40,000. Even after the abolition of slavery, black unskilled workers remained only half free, and from 1828 the British introduced strict national segregation in the regions east of the Cape of Good Hope. This proved unbearable for many poor whites, especially for Dutch-born (Afrikaner) farmers. They began moving north to the Orange River region and, by the 1940s, to the Transvaal to escape what they considered "racial equality."

The Afrikaners successfully achieved independence, but their states remained very small: even by 1870, only 45,000 whites still lived in the Orange Free State and the Transvaal. Further east, the British colony of Natal grew slowly (the Zulus continued to pose a serious threat to it for decades), but in general, in southern Africa, there were no major changes until the discovery in 1867 of huge diamond deposits in the Kimberley. The income from them was enough to finance the self-government of a small white community on the Cape of Good Hope.

In the late 1970s, the British tried to bring the two Boer republics to the north under their control, but failed. In the 1990s, the growing mineral wealth of the Transvaal prompted the British to take more decisive action. They were able to provoke a war - although it took them three years to crush the resistance of the Boers. Ultimately, the Boer republics were incorporated into the white-controlled Union of South Africa, created in 1910.

In East Africa, significant changes occurred at the beginning of the 19th century, after the expulsion of the Portuguese and the establishment of the rule of the Islamic Omani dynasty here. In 1785, Muslim rulers took control of Kilwa, and in 1800, the island of Zanzibar. Now all the ports on the mainland coast were under the rule of the Sultan of Zanzibar. Trade routes were opened to the hinterland, the main items of trade were ivory and slaves. Approximately 50,000 slaves per year were sent to the Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia, on the island of Zanzibar itself there were about 100,000 slaves - about half the population. They were mainly engaged in the cultivation of cloves for marketing in Europe.

In the interior of Africa, the states that existed here stubbornly refused external contacts - by 1878 Rwanda allowed only one Arab merchant to settle in the country. Elsewhere, especially in the Great Lakes region, outside influences have been much stronger. The long-standing kingdom of Buganda collapsed, unable to withstand external pressure, the local economy was rapidly transformed under the influence of active trade: cattle were driven about 600 miles to the coast for sale; caravans carrying ivory and slaves went in the same direction, new products were brought to meet them from the coast.

As in the past, the kingdom of Ethiopia remained for the most part free from these influences. From about 1750 to 1850, it could hardly be called an organized political unit - it was ruled by local military leaders. It was reunited only in the early seventies of the XIX century under the reign of Johannes IV. He and his successor Menelik (who ruled until 1913) turned Ethiopia into a serious regional power. The city of Addis Ababa became the new capital, reflecting the continued movement of the center of the state to the south, which had already been going on for 1500 years.

In 1896, Ethiopia was strong enough to repel an Italian attack and won a landslide victory at the Battle of Adua. She, too, became an empire - and Italy recognized her full independence. From 1880 to 1900, Ethiopia tripled in size, gaining control of the Tigre, several regions of Somalia, the Ogaden and Eritrea, where under its control were completely different groups of the population that had previously formed the core of the old kingdom.

The division of Africa among the European powers reflected internal pressure from Europe, and not the action of any factors that existed within Africa itself. Until the 1970s, the coastal forts and trading posts of the European powers merely controlled trade routes to the hinterland of the continent. Only a few regions were officially divided among the colonial countries, and with the exception of the Cape of Good Hope region (which was climatically suitable for European settlement), they all lay along the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, an area of extreme importance for European states. France captured Algeria in 1830, and Tunisia in 1881, the British dominated Egypt (although the French of the year could not come to terms with this until 1904).

The division of sub-Saharan Africa was the result of the common fear among European powers that if one of them did not achieve recognition of their own zones of control, these zones would be captured by rivals. Agreement on a significant part of these sections was achieved at a conference in Berlin in 1885-1886 (the Americans also participated in it and achieved the right to free trade in key areas). The French gained a large part of West Africa, but the British expanded their colonies on the Gold Coast and in Nigeria. South Africa became largely British, as did much of East Africa. Germany received its first large colonies - Cameroon, South-West Africa and East Africa (later Tanganyika). The Portuguese greatly expanded their empire, gaining Angola and Mozambique. The Belgian monarch was given the Congo as his private domain, and it was only in 1908 that it became Belgian proper, after two decades of extremely bad government, plunder of resources, and barbaric treatment of the population. During the reign of the Belgian monarch, about 8 million Africans died in the Congo.

Diplomats, drawing lines on the map, created colonies - but they completely did not take into account the real situation in Africa. People from close national groups were separated, and tribes that were very different from each other were brought together. But in Africa, maps meant little at all, and colonial rule was still being established—a process that included decades of war. From 1871 until the outbreak of the First World War, the French, British, Germans and Portuguese fought only during the colonial wars. Despite this, they still could not fully control their colonies. In 1900, the last major revolt of the Ashanti people in West Africa was suppressed, but only three years earlier the British had to leave a large part of the interior of Somalia and limit their influence to the coastal strip (this position did not change until 1920). In Morocco, by 1911, the French controlled only the eastern regions and the Atlantic coast, it took them another three years to conquer Fez and the Atlas Mountains. In 1909, the Spanish were defeated when they tried to extend control beyond their coastal enclaves. Although the Italians took Libya from the Turks in 1912, they controlled little more than the coastal strip here.

Even when the conquest and appeasement (“pacification” is the favorite word of the Europeans) was completed, the European powers faced a serious problem: they were both strong and weak at the same time. They were strong because, in the end, they could mobilize a huge military power - but weak because in any of their colonies they usually had only a limited military force and scattered administration.

Map 73. Africa at the beginning of the 20th century

In Nigeria, the British had 4,000 soldiers and the same number of police, but in these formations all but 75 officers were Africans. In Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) - an area the size of Britain, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland and the Benelux countries combined - the British had only a poorly equipped battalion of 750 Africans under the command of 19 British officers and 8 NCOs. At the beginning of the 20th century, the French forces in West Africa (whose population was 16 million people living in an area fourteen times the size of France) consisted of 2,700 French sergeants and officers, 230 translators, 6,000 armed African gardes civiles, 14,000 soldiers of African troops and one battalion, manned exclusively by the French.

Gardes civiles - civil guard. (Approx. transl.)

European administration in the colonies was equally small: in 1909, the British in the Ashanti region and the Gold Coast had five officials for half a million local population. With the exception of a few countries such as Algeria, South Africa, Kenya and Southern Rhodesia, European settlement was almost non-existent. In 1914, only ninety-six Europeans (including missionaries) lived in Rwanda. Thus, to govern these colonies, Europeans had to rely on collaborator groups to rule on their behalf at the local level. Sometimes, as in the case of Buganda, local rulers were given almost complete freedom of action. In Northern Nigeria, the structures of the Hausa (Fulani states), with a predominantly urban population, developed bureaucracy, courts, fiscal system, and an educated elite, were simply incorporated into the imperial structures.

At the beginning of the 19th century, as a result of the Fulani (Fulbe) uprising under the leadership of Osman dan Fodio, power in most of the Hausa states passed to the Fulani clan nobility. (Approx. transl.)

Elsewhere, the process proved more difficult, and often local nobles were appointed paid "chiefs" to govern artificially created "tribes."

A report about Africa will help prepare for the lesson. Descriptions of the mainland Africa are set out in this article. You can supplement a short message about Africa with interesting facts.

Brief message about mainland Africa

Africa is the hottest continent on Earth. It is the second largest continent after Eurasia.

Africa Square- 29.2 million km 2, and together with the islands it is 30.3 million km 2.

most high peak is Mount Kilimanjaro, and the deepest depression is Lake Assal. Most of the territory is occupied by plateaus and hills. By the way, in Africa there are much less mountainous areas, unlike other continents.

Geographical position of mainland Africa

The mainland belongs to the group of southern continents. It was formed after the split of a long-standing continent called Gondwana. Africa has the most flat coastline. The largest bay on the mainland is the Gulf of Guinea. There are also a large number of small bays in the Mediterranean Sea. But the only major peninsula is Somalia. It is worth noting that there are quite a few islands off the mainland - their area is 1.1 million km 2, the largest coastline belongs to the island of Madagascar.

Relief of Africa

Mostly the relief of Africa is flat, this is because the base of the mainland is represented by an ancient platform. Over time, it slowly rose, due to which high plains formed: plateaus, plateaus, mountain basins and ridges. In the north and west of Africa, plates predominate, while in the eastern and southern parts, on the contrary, shields. Here, the heights are above 1000 m. The continental East African faults stretch through the eastern part of the mainland. Faults led to the formation of grabens, horsts, uplands. It is here that volcanic eruptions and strong earthquakes constantly occur.

Climate of Africa

The climate of the mainland is due to its position in tropical and equatorial latitudes, as well as the flatness of the relief. From the equator to the south and north, climatic zones successively change from equatorial to subtropical. In the territories with a tropical belt, the most high temperatures on the planet. In the mountains, the temperature drops below 0°C. It is paradoxical that on the hottest mainland snow falls annually in the Atlas. And there are even glaciers at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. Atmospheric circulation is also special in Africa - the amount of precipitation decreases from the equator, and in the tropics their amount is the smallest. And in the subtropics there are more of them. A trend of decreasing rainfall from east to west can be seen.

Water resources of Africa

The deepest river is the Congo River. Large rivers include the Zambezi, the Niger, the Limpopo and the Orange. Large lakes - Rudolf, Tanganyika and Nyasa.

Natural areas and riches of Africa

Africa has such natural areas- the zone of equatorial forests, the zone of variable-humid forests, the zone of savannas and light forests, the zone of deserts and semi-deserts, evergreen forests and shrubs. Africa is considered the pantry of the world. Here are the richest deposits of gold, diamonds, uranium, copper, rare metals. In western and northern Africa, deposits of gas, oil, aluminum ores and phosphorites are common.

A Brief Message about the Peoples of Africa

The northern part is inhabited by Arabs, Berbers, who belong to the Indo-Mediterranean race. To the south of the Sahara live the peoples of the Negril, Negro and Bushman races. The peoples of the Ethiopian race live in Northeast Africa. South Asian and Negroid races live in the southern territories of Africa.

By the way, the largest mammals on land also live here.
The name Africa comes from the name of the tribe that once lived in the north and was called Afrigs.
The mainland accounts for half of the world's mined diamonds and gold.
Lake Malawi has the most species of fish on the planet.
The longest river in the world, the Nile, flows here.
Interestingly, the island of Chad has decreased by 95% over the past 38 years.

We hope that brief information about Africa has helped you. And you can leave your story about Africa through the comment form.

Calling sub-Saharan Africa "a continent without history" - and such an expression can still be heard today - people, in essence, want to say that we Europeans still know shamefully little about the history of this part of Africa. The reasons for this lack of awareness are complex. First, our concept of "history" is based, willingly or unwittingly, on an absurd ethnocentrism; history for most of us is national history or, at best, "European", "Western". If in our learning programs any elements of African history seep in, they are usually presented under the old-fashioned rubric of "European expansion". Secondly, as far as the history of West Africa is concerned, the written records dating back to the medieval period of its history, say before 1500 AD, are based almost entirely on Arabic sources.

But in their work, the Arabists rarely showed interest in sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, only a few Africanists - most of them were French, or Africans brought up in French traditions - possessed special training necessary for working on Arab historical monuments and documents. Finally, it should be recognized that we all, to one degree or another, continue to be victims of the influence of the colonialist ideology. It is sometimes difficult for us to realize that the peoples of Africa had their own distinct civilization many centuries before the Portuguese, and then other Europeans, began to impose their culture on the peoples of Africa at the end of the 15th century.

In fact, a civilization - and an extremely interesting one - has existed in Africa since at least the 8th century. It developed in an area known among the Arabs as "bilad al-sudan" (literally - "the country of black people"); this name was conditionally applied to a wide strip of savannas stretching south of the Sahara from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea. The largest states of Western Sudan - Ghana, later Mali (in the upper reaches of the Niger), Gao, located at the bend of the Niger, Kanem and Bornu (in the region of Lake Chad) - had a number of common features. These states owe their well-being, first of all, to the fact that they controlled the trade routes leading through the Sahara. Using these routes, the states of Western Sudan exported to North Africa and further to Europe gold mined in large quantities, as well as slaves, ivory, and kola nuts. In exchange, they received copper, cowries - shells that replaced money, fabrics, horses, cattle, beads.

In these states, relatively centralized forms of government developed under the rule of dynasties of deified kings. These dynasties in most cases survived for a surprisingly long time (the Sefava dynasty in the state of Kanem, later known as Bornu, was held for a millennium - approximately from the middle of the 9th to the middle of the 19th century). In the states of Western Sudan, there was a complex hierarchy of officials closely associated with the royal court, whose life passed according to carefully designed court ceremonial. Significant armed forces were also created. The administrative system of these states ensured under normal conditions the protection of public order and the collection of taxes in remote provinces.

Starting from the 11th century, the royal families and the ruling strata of these states converted to Islam. Islam was either enforced under the pressure of the Almoravids, or spread through the peaceful penetration of Muslim missionaries from North Africa. As a result of the spread of Islam, as well as the development of ties between the states of Western Sudan and the vast Muslim world - these ties passed through such large cultural centers as Fez, Tlemcen, Tunisia, Cairo and Mecca - their own centers of science arose in West Africa. The first place among these centers belongs to the cities of Timbuktu and Djenne.

Before the Scotsman Mungo Park penetrated deep into West Africa in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, followed by Gorneman, Denham and Clapperton, Laying and Kaye, Europe had hardly encountered the civilizations of Western Sudan. Hence our dependence in studying the history of the Sudanese states on Arab sources. These include not only the writings of Arab geographers and historians (beginning in the ninth century), but also the records of local West African historians and chroniclers who were educated in centers such as Timbuktu. Among the sources are a few Arabic inscriptions that have come down to us.

How, for example, do we know that the ruling dynasties of the states of Ghana, Mali (or Kangaba, as it was called in those days), Gao and Kanem converted to Islam in the 11th century? Partially from literary sources. Ibn Khaldun, a prominent Tunisian historian, sociologist and philosopher of the 14th century, gives short description the capture of Ghana by the Almoravids in 1076. As for the state of Gao, the evidence of historians is supported by several remarkable tombstones, discovered in 1939, a few kilometers from Gao.

These monuments, erected on the graves of members of the royal dynasty of Gao, are carved with Arabic inscriptions. The earliest tombstone is dated AH 494 according to Muslim chronology (1100 AD), the latest - AH 663, that is, approximately 1264-1265. The inscriptions on the most ancient tombstones are carefully engraved with the characters of the Kufic alphabet. The style of these inscriptions led Professor Sauvageer to believe that they were made by master artists from Almería, a city in southern Spain. Sauvage suggested that master stonemasons or even just finished tombstones were delivered by camel across the Sahara. Other tombstones are undoubtedly made by local artisans. Here is a translation of one of these gravestone inscriptions:

“Everything on earth is doomed to destruction. Here is the tomb of the most powerful noble king, champion of true religion; he believed in God, he carried out the commands of God, he fought for the cause of God. Mother, son of Kma, son of Aya, known as Omar ibn al-Khattab. May God have mercy on him. God called him to Himself on Sunday, Muharram 17, 514 AH (April 18, 1120)."

The line from the Koran with which this tombstone begins, the use of native Songhai names (Songai - the people of the state of Gao) next to Muslim names, the evidence of trade and cultural ties between Western Sudan and Southern Spain during the period of Almoravid rule - all this reinforces the conclusions of historians that that the spread of Islam in the area dates back to the 11th century.

Since the 9th century, valuable information about the states of Western Sudan has appeared in the works of Arab geographers and historians. So, for example, Yakubi, who wrote around 872, gives reports about the states of Ghana and Kanem. From his descriptions, we know that gold was exported to North Africa from Ghana, and slaves were exported from the state of Kanem, using trade routes leading to Fezzan for this. The Baghdadian Ibn Haukal, traveling in the first half of the 10th century, visited the Saharan city of Augast, located on the outskirts of the state of Ghana. Al-Bekri, whose narration "Masalik va mamalik" ("Ways and States") refers to about 1067, shortly after the conquest of England by the Normans, was well aware of the life of the states of Western Sudan, despite the fact that he spent most of his life in a Muslim State of Cordoba (Southern Spain).

Al-Bekri gives a classic description of the state of Ghana in its heyday, before its conquest by the Almoravids. According to al-Bekri, the capital of the state of Ghana consisted of two settlements located at a distance of six miles from each other - a pagan city in which the king lived, and a Muslim city. There were twelve mosques in the Muslim city. The king appeared before the people on the palace square. He sat on a throne, around which royal horses were placed, covered with blankets embroidered with gold. At the king's feet lay his dogs. The king was surrounded by a magnificent retinue: bodyguards with shields and spears with gold tips, sons of princes subject to the king, royal viziers, mostly Muslims, and also the ruler of the city. There were 200 thousand soldiers in the tsarist army, 40 thousand of them were archers. The tsar had a monopoly on gold nuggets; he also ordered the use of golden sand as money.

These testimonies of Arab historians are confirmed by the research of modern archaeologists. For example, the 16th-century historian Mahmoud Kati, who lived in Timbuktu, reports that the capital of the state of Ghana was called Kumbi. Excavations recently carried out by archaeologists Moni and Thomassey at Kumbi-Sale near the modern city of Nioro in French West Africa, about 300 kilometers north of Bamako, discovered the remains of the Muslim city reported by al-Bekri: solid stone houses, a mosque, and outside the city - tombstones.

In some respects, the most valuable of all Arab sources are the first-hand accounts of two - to my knowledge, only two - Arab travel writers who traveled extensively in Western Sudan. These are Ibn Battuta and the Lion of Africa. Both of them were remarkable people of their time. Muhammad ibn Abdullah Ibn Battuta was born in Tangier in 1304. Ibn Battuta devoted most of his life to traveling around the countries of the contemporary Muslim world. He traveled to Asia Minor, Khorasan, India, China and Indonesia, as well as West Africa, which he reached in 1352. At that time, Western Sudan was part of the state of Mali. Ibn Battuta gives a very interesting, lively description of some aspects of the organization of this state.

“Negroes have wonderful qualities. They are seldom unjust, and have a greater abhorrence of injustice than any other people. Their sultan does not spare anyone who is guilty. Complete security prevails in their country. Both the traveler and the local resident need not be afraid of thieves and robbers... The people carefully observe the hours of prayer... On Fridays, if a man does not come to the mosque early, he will not find a corner for prayer, such a large number of believers... Another good feature of them is the habit of putting on on Fridays, clean white clothes. Even if a person is so poor that he has only one old shirt, he diligently cleans and launders it, going to prayer on Friday. They diligently memorize verses from the Koran ... "

The Lion of Africa, originally known by his full name al-Hasan ibn-Muhammed al-Wazzan al-Zayati, was born in Granada, Spain, around 1490. At the age of seventeen, he accompanied his uncle, who, on behalf of the Sultan of Morocco, went on a diplomatic mission to the court of Mohammed Askia, the ruler of the Gao empire, which by that time had taken the place of the state of Mali and became the most powerful power in Western Sudan. Later, Leo Africanus undertook a new journey through sub-Saharan Africa. Around 1518, he was captured by Sicilian corsairs and handed over to Pope Leo X. In 1520, the Pope baptized the captive and gave him his name, calling him Johann Leo de Medici.

In Rome, Leo Africanus wrote his famous "Description of Africa", first published on Italian in 1550. Over the next two centuries, Europe drew from the work of Leo Africanus solid, albeit significantly outdated, information about the states and peoples of Western Sudan. The messages of Leo Africanus about the flourishing of trade and the spiritual life of the city of Timbuktu and other centers of the state of Ghana at the time of their power still have not lost their value: “In Timbuktu,” writes Leo Africanus, “there are many judges, doctors and clergymen. All of them are appointed by the king. He has a high regard for scientists. Many handwritten books brought from the country of the Berbers are sold in Timbuktu. The book trade is more profitable than all other branches of the trade."